Spotlight: The Almanac of the Federal Judiciary

The Almanac of the Federal Judiciary is an invaluable resource for researching federal judges. Published by Wolters Kluwer, it provides biographic profiles, financial disclosure information, noteworthy rulings, media coverage, and commentary by attorneys who have firsthand experience practicing in front of their local judges. It is updated semi-annually and covers all judges in the federal district and appellate courts, as well as U.S. Supreme Court justices. It also includes bankruptcy courts, magistrate judges, and specialized courts in the federal system.

The Almanac can be helpful for many legal research purposes; in the law school, it us often used by those researching federal clerkships. Practicing attorneys utilize the almanac to research presiding judges. Some judges’ profiles also include commentary on local practice and procedural rules.

The Almanac can be searched in a number of ways, including by circuit or district, name, education, position, noteworthy case, previous private practice, honors and awards, and more.

While the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library has long kept an updated copy of the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary in print, we have recently added a digital version to our collection. IT is available through VitalLaw (formerly Cheetah), which can be accessed by the UNC law community through our legal databases page. Once you sign in with your ONYEN, click on the “my solutions” button on the top right hand corner of the page, and the drop down menu will provide a link to the Almanac.