Judge Anthony J. Scirica

2017 Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Award for Professionalism and Ethics

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA—Anthony J. Scirica has been selected to receive the prestigious 2017 American Inns of Court Lewis F. Powell. Jr., Award for Professionalism and Ethics. The award will be presented at the organization’s annual Celebration of Excellence at the Supreme Court of the United States on October 21, 2017. The event will be hosted by Associate Justice Elena Kagan.

Scirica is a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He was nominated in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, who had previously nominated him to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1984. He served as chief judge of the circuit court from 2003 to 2010, and took senior status in 2013. He has served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, as chair of the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission, and as a judge on the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas.

Currently, Scirica chairs the Judicial Conference Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability. He previously chaired the Executive Committee as well as the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States. He was a member of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, chaired the Working Group on Mass Torts, and served as a member of the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation. In 2010, he was honored for his service to the federal judiciary with the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award.

After graduating from Wesleyan University and the University of Michigan Law School, Scirica began his career in public service as an assistant district attorney. He also was a Fulbright Scholar at Central University in Venezuela.

The Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Award for Professionalism and Ethics is awarded each year to a lawyer or judge who has rendered exemplary service in the areas of legal excellence, professionalism, and ethics.