Michael Arthur Chagares (born May 1, 1962) is an American lawyer who has served as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit since 2020. He was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2006.
Michael A. Chagares
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Born 1962 in Pittsburgh, PA
FJC ID: 3107
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 4/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 82/year
Third Circuit Court of Appeals · 2006–
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
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 2021–present
- Seton Hall School of LawAdjunct professor · 1991–2006
- Private practice, Hackensack, New Jersey2004–2006
District of New JerseyAssistant U.S. attorney · 1990–2004- ↳chief, Civil Division · 1999–2004
- Private practice, New Jersey1988–1990
Law clerk , Hon. Morton I. Greenberg · 1987–1988
Appointments
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third CircuitChief Judge2006–present · Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican)
Education
- Seton Hall University School of LawJ.D. · 1987
- Gettysburg CollegeB.A. · 1984