Gerald Bard Tjoflat

Gerald Bard Tjoflat (born (1929-12-06)December 6, 1929, age 95) is an American lawyer and federal judge. He is currently the longest serving federal appeals court judge still in active service, having chosen not to assume senior status despite eligibility.

Tjoflat was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955, attaining the rank of corporal. Tjoflat earned his LL.B. from Duke University School of Law in 1957. He was in private practice in Jacksonville, Florida from 1957 to 1968 and served as a judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida in Jacksonville from 1968 to 1970.

President Richard M. Nixon nominated Tjoflat to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on October 7, 1970, to a new seat created by 84 Stat. 294. Confirmed by the Senate on October 13, 1970, he received commission three days later.

President Gerald Ford nominated Tjoflat to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on November 3, 1975, to a seat vacated by John Milton Bryan Simpson. Confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 1975, he received his commission the next day and began serving on the court on December 12, 1975. Tjoflat was reassigned to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on October 1, 1981, when that court was established. He served as chief judge from 1989 to 1996.

Tjoflat was elected to the American Law Institute in 1972 and became a life member in 1997.

In 1995, the Duke Law Journal at the Duke University School of Law published a tribute to Tjoflat that included articles by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, retired Justices Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and Byron R. White, and Judge Edward R. Becker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, among others.

Sources

• Gerald Bard Tjoflat at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Legal offices
New seat	Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida 1970–1975	Succeeded by Howell Melton
Preceded by John Simpson	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 1975–1981	Seat abolished
New seat	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 1981–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Paul Roney	Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 1989–1996	Succeeded by Joseph Hatchett