Dennis Michael Fisher (born November 7, 1944) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He also serves as the Distinguished Jurist in Residence at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. A former politician, Fisher has served as a state representative, state senator, and as Attorney General of Pennsylvania. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002, losing to Ed Rendell.
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 14/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 236/year
Third Circuit Court of Appeals · 2003–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaAttorney general · 1997–2003
- Private practice, Pennsylvania1970–1997
- PennsylvaniaState senator · 1980–1996
- PennsylvaniaState representative · 1974–1980
U.S. Army1969–1975- ↳D.C. National Guard · 1969–1970
- ↳2073 USAR School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · 1970–1975
- Allegheny County, PennsylvaniaAssistant district attorney · 1970–1974
- Law clerk in private practice1969
Appointments
2003–2017 · Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican)
Education
J.D. · 1969- Georgetown UniversityA.B. · 1966