Appeals to Third Circuit Judges assigned 4 | Established September 24, 1789 Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark | |
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The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington. Currently, four district judges and three magistrate judges preside over the court.
The Court is notable for hearing and trying a large number of patent and other complex commercial disputes. In addition, it has limited original and broad appellate jurisdiction over bankruptcy disputes which are filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Appeals from the Court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which sits in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).
The current Acting United States Attorney for the District of Delaware is David C. Weiss since March 11, 2017.
History
The court was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 73, on September 24, 1789. From its establishment until 1946, the court had a single judge. A temporary additional judgeship was authorized on July 24, 1946, by 60 Stat. 654, and was made permanent on September 5, 1950, by 64 Stat. 578. A third judge was authorized on February 10, 1954, by 68 Stat. 8, and a fourth on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333.