Peter Thorp Fay (January 18, 1929 – January 31, 2021) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He was previously a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. At the time of his death, he was one of 26 federal judges to have served for fifty years.
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 17/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 301/year
Florida Southern District Court · 1970–1976Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1976–1981Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1981–2021
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
- Private practice, Miami, Florida1956–1970
U.S. Air Force lieutenant1951–1953
Appointments
1976–1981 · Appointed by Gerald Ford (Republican)Term ended: Reassignment
1970–1976 · Appointed by Richard M. Nixon (Republican)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
- University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law)J.D. · 1956
- Rollins CollegeB.A. · 1951