Paul V. Niemeyer

Paul Victor Niemeyer (born April 5, 1941) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Biography

Niemeyer was born in Princeton, New Jersey. He attended Kenyon College (A.B., 1962), where he played on the school's baseball team. He then studied at the University of Munich, before pursuing his legal education at Notre Dame Law School (J.D., 1966). Niemeyer was admitted to the Maryland bar and practiced commercial law at Piper & Marbury (now DLA Piper) in Baltimore, Maryland from 1966 to 1988. In 1984, Niemeyer co-authored the Maryland Rules Commentary,^[1] a treatise on the rules of procedure in the Maryland state courts. From 1973 to 1988, he was a member of the Maryland Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure.^[2] In 2006, Niemeyer published A Path Remembered: The Lives of Gerhart & Lucie Niemeyer.^[3] Niemeyer's father, Gerhart Niemeyer (1907–1997),^[4] was a political philosopher and professor of government at the University of Notre Dame. Niemeyer is married and has three sons.

Judiciary

Niemeyer was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 11, 1987 to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, to fill the seat vacated by Frank A. Kaufman. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 19, 1988, and received his commission on February 22, 1988. Niemeyer served on the district court until his appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was nominated to the Fourth Circuit by President George H. W. Bush on May 11, 1990, to fill the seat vacated by Harrison Lee Winter. Niemeyer was confirmed with the unanimous consent of the United States Senate on August 3, 1990, and received his commission on August 7, 1990. In 1993, Niemeyer became a member of the Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He served as chair of the committee from 1996 through 2000. Niemeyer is a member of the American Law Institute and has taught Appellate Practice at Duke Law School. His chambers are located in Baltimore, Maryland.

On 28 July 2014, Niemeyer dissented from a 4th Circuit ruling that struck down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. In his dissent, he argued that under a rational basis test Virginia's ban should be deemed constitutional.^[5]

Clerks

Sources

• Paul V. Niemeyer at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

References

External links

• Maryland State Archives