Thomas Hardiman

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Thomas Michael Hardiman (born July 8, 1965 in Winchester, Massachusetts) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He was previously a United States District Court judge.

He maintains chambers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His first precedential opinion for the court, United States v. Fisher, was published on September 10, 2007. In that case, he wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel that held a judge could find facts to enhance a criminal sentence according to the preponderance of the evidence standard of proof.

[edit] Federal bench nominations and confirmations

Hardiman was nominated to the Third Circuit by President George W. Bush on September 13, 2006 to fill a seat vacated by Judge Richard Lowell Nygaard, who assumed senior status in 2005. He was confirmed to that seat over seven months later by the U.S. Senate on March 15, 2007 by a vote of 95-0. He is the seventh judge appointed to the Third Circuit by Bush.

Hardiman was earlier appointed by Bush to be a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He was nominated to that position on April 9, 2003 and confirmed by voice vote on October 22, 2003.

[edit] Education and career

Hardiman went to college at the University of Notre Dame, where he received a B.A. in 1987. He studied law at the Georgetown University Law Center and received a J.D. in 1990.

Hardiman worked in private practice in Washington, DC and Pittsburgh prior to joining the federal bench. He was part of the firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in D.C. from 1989-1992. From 1992-1999, he practiced with the Pittsburgh firm of Titus & McConomy, first as an associate, and then from 1996-1999, as a partner. From 1999-2003, he was a partner in the law firm of Reed Smith, also in Pittsburgh. His practice consisted mainly of civil and white collar criminal litigation.

Hardiman is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar.