David Brookman "Brooks" Smith (born 1951) is a senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He was previously Chief Judge of both the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and is the only judge in the history of the Third Circuit to have served as both a chief district judge and chief of the Court of Appeals.
![D[avid] Brooks Smith](/images-webp/judges/david-brooks-smith.webp)
D[avid] Brooks Smith
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Born 1951 in Altoona, PA
FJC ID: 2213
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 2016–2021
- Court of Common Pleas of Blair County [Pennsylvania]Judge · 1984–1988
- ↳administrative judge · 1986–1988
- Private practice, Altoona, Pennsylvania1976–1984
- Blair County, PennsylvaniaDistrict attorney · 1983–1984
Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaSpecial assistant attorney general · 1981–1983- Blair County, PennsylvaniaAssistant district attorney · 1977–1979
Appointments
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third CircuitChief Judge2002–2021 · Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican)
1988–2002 · Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
- Dickinson School of Law (now Penn State Dickinson Law)J.D. · 1976
- Franklin and Marshall CollegeB.A. · 1973