Florence Y. Pan

Florence Y. Pan is an American jurist who serves as a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden and confirmed in September 2022, she previously held positions as a United States district judge for the District of Columbia (2021‑2022) and as an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (2009‑2021). Her career spans private‑sector finance, extensive service within the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, as well as academic appointments at two Washington, D.C., law schools.

Early life and legal career

Florence Yu Pan was born in 1966 to Taiwanese‑American parents who had immigrated to the United States in 1961. Her father is Wu‑Ching Pan and her mother is Felicia D. Pan. The family settled in New York City, where she was born, before moving to Tenafly, New Jersey, where she spent her formative years.

Pan pursued undergraduate studies at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, earning a dual Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree summa cum laude in 1988. Following graduation, she worked as a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs from 1988 to 1990, gaining experience in corporate finance before entering law school.

She attended Stanford Law School, graduating with distinction in 1993. While at Stanford, Pan served as an editor of both the Stanford Law Review and the Stanford Law and Policy Review and was a finalist in the school's moot court competition. After receiving her Juris Doctor, she completed two consecutive federal clerkships: first for Judge Michael Mukasey of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1993‑1994), then for Judge Ralph K. Winter Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1994‑1995).

Pan entered public service as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the Department of Justice from 1995 to 1996. She subsequently worked as an attorney in the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division of the same department between 1996 and 1998, handling appellate matters arising from federal criminal prosecutions. In 1998 she moved to the United States Department of the Treasury, first serving as senior advisor to the assistant secretary for financial markets and later, in 1999, as senior advisor to the undersecretary for domestic finance.

From 1999 through 2009 Pan served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia. During this decade she progressed to the role of deputy chief of the Appellate Section from 2007 to 2009, overseeing appellate litigation for the office. Concurrently, she contributed to legal education as an adjunct professor at American University Washington College of Law during the 2007‑2008 academic year and has been on the faculty of Georgetown University Law Center since 2012.

Federal appellate service

Pan’s first judicial appointment came in 2009 when President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Senate confirmed her by voice vote on May 21, 2009, and she was sworn in on June 8, 2009. She remained on that trial‑level court for more than a decade, handling a broad docket that included civil, criminal, family, and probate matters.

In April 2016 President Obama nominated Pan to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, filling the vacancy created by Judge Reggie Walton’s senior status. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination in July 2016 and reported it favorably by voice vote in September 2016. However, the nomination expired at the end of the 114th Congress on January 3, 2017.

President Joe Biden renewed Pan’s federal judicial prospects in March 2021, announcing his intent to nominate her to the district court seat vacated by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who had been elevated to the circuit court. The formal nomination was transmitted to the Senate on June 15, 2021. Following a Judiciary Committee hearing on July 14, 2021, the committee reported her nomination favorably by an 18–4 vote on August 5, 2021. The full Senate invoked cloture on September 20, 2021 (66‑27) and confirmed Pan on September 23, 2021 by a 68‑30 vote. She received her commission the same day, becoming the first Asian American woman to serve as a United States district judge for the District of Columbia. Her tenure on the district court concluded on September 28, 2022 when she was elevated to the appellate bench.

President Biden nominated Pan to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on May 25, 2022, designating her to replace Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who had been appointed to the Supreme Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing on June 22, 2022 and reported her nomination favorably by a 13‑9 vote on July 21, 2022. Cloture was filed on September 15, 2022; the Senate invoked cloture on September 19, 2022 (52‑38) and confirmed Pan on September 20, 2022 by a 52‑42 vote. She received her commission on September 26, 2022 and took the oath of office shortly thereafter. This appointment made her the first Chinese American to serve on the District of Columbia Circuit.

Jurisprudence and legacy

During her brief period as a circuit judge, Pan participated in several high‑profile panels. Notably, she sat on the three‑judge panel that heard United States v. Donald J. Trump in 2024, a case concerning former President Trump’s claim of absolute presidential immunity from criminal prosecution. The panel rejected the claim, and during oral argument Judge Pan questioned the legal premise by presenting a hypothetical scenario in which a president could order an assassination of a political rival yet remain immune from prosecution. Although the Supreme Court later reversed the circuit court’s decision and held that the president enjoys immunity for official acts, Pan’s probing questions highlighted her engagement with complex constitutional issues.

Beyond specific rulings, Pan’s career reflects several historic firsts that contribute to the diversification of the federal judiciary. Her service as a district judge marked the inaugural appointment of an Asian American woman to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Likewise, her elevation to the D.C. Circuit introduced the first Chinese American jurist to that influential appellate court, which often handles matters of national significance involving administrative law and executive authority.

Pan’s longstanding involvement in legal education further extends her influence. As an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center since 2012, she has taught courses that draw upon her extensive experience in appellate practice and federal prosecution. Her earlier teaching role at American University Washington College of Law added to her contributions to the development of future lawyers.

Collectively, Pan’s professional trajectory—from private‑sector finance through multiple senior roles within the Department of Justice and Treasury, to a decade on the Superior Court, a brief district court tenure, and now service on one of the nation’s most consequential appellate courts—illustrates a pattern of steady advancement grounded in both litigation expertise and judicial administration. While her time on the circuit bench is still relatively recent, her participation in landmark cases and her status as a trailblazer for Asian American representation suggest a lasting impact on the composition and jurisprudential outlook of the federal judiciary.