U.S. Senate confirms Notre Dame Law School alumnus Joshua Dunlap as federal judge | News | The Law School

A smiling man with glasses and a goatee wears a dark suit, white shirt, and blue patterned tie against a light gray background.

On Tuesday, November 4, the U.S. Senate confirmed Notre Dame Law School graduate Joshua Dunlap ’08 J.D. as a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

“We extend our congratulations to Joshua Dunlap on his confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit,” said G. Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. “The Notre Dame Law School community is immensely proud of his achievement.”

President Donald Trump nominated Dunlap in July 2025 to fill a vacancy on the First Circuit, which hears appeals from federal courts in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island.

Dunlap brings to the bench a distinguished academic and professional record. At Notre Dame Law School he earned the Colonel William J. Hoynes Award, the Law School’s highest academic honor, and served as note editor for the Notre Dame Law Review. He was also a research assistant to Richard Garnett, the Paul J. Schierl Professor of Law.

"It was an honor to teach, and to work with, Judge Dunlap. He was an outstanding student, he is an exemplary attorney, and he will be an excellent judge," said Garnett.

Following law school, Dunlap clerked for the Hon. Paul J. Kelly Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He also acted as a law clerk for two Special Masters appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court in original jurisdiction proceedings.

In 2009, he joined the Portland, Maine law firm Pierce Atwood LLP, where he became a partner in 2017. He is a member of Pierce Atwood’s Litigation Practice Group and co-chairs the firm’s Appellate & Amici team, arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Dunlap defended clients in complex litigation, including class actions and multidistrict litigation. Much of his practice involved representing financial institutions, manufacturers, retailers, and other major institutional clients in state and national consumer class actions involving various issues, including bank overdrafts, products liability, and electronic data breaches.

He recently served as chair of the Advisory Committee on the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure.