Second Circuit’s Livingston to Go Senior in New Trump Vacancy (1)

The chief judge of the New York-based federal appeals court plans to take a form of semi-retirement later this year.

Debra Ann Livingston, a George W. Bush appointee who has served on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, gave notice Friday of her plans to take senior status, according to the federal judiciary’s vacancy webpage.

Livingston joined a second Bush appointee, Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, in providing notice of plans to take senior status on the same day, giving President Donald Trump two appeals court vacancies.

Few federal judges have been leaving the bench since Trump returned to office last year, giving him fewer opportunities to restock the federal bench with his preferred nominees.

Livingston’s departure won’t do much to altar the balance on a court where Democrat-appointed judges outnumber Republican picks 16 to 11. Nine of the Democratic appointees have senior status. Five of the Republican appointees have senior status, but that number will bump up to six when Livingston switches over this summer.

Senior judges still handle cases at the court but can choose to have a reduced caseload. Senior judges handle about 20% of the total district and appellate caseload, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Last year, Livingston was part of a Second Circuit decision that overturned more than 25 years of precedent by ruling that a sentencing court must pronounce any non-mandatory conditions of supervised release in a criminal defendant’s presence.

In 2024, she led a majority opinion dismissing fiduciary breach claims workers brought against Deloitte LLP, paving a new way for employers to defend against lawsuits alleging excessive fees.

Livingston joined the Second Circuit in 2007 and became chief judge in 2020. She intends to take senior status on July 1, according to the judiciary website.

She previously served as an assistant US attorney, worked as a Paul Weiss associate, and taught courses on criminal procedure and appellate at Columbia Law School.