David Bryan Sentelle at a glance
- Current role
- Judge
- Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Jurisdiction
- National federal courts · Federal
- Judicial service
- September 11, 1987–present
David Bryan Sentelle
Judge · U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Available research
Biography
Professional career
- Professional Career: Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 2008-2013
- Professional Career: Visiting professor, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 1977
- Professional Career: Private practice, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1977-1985
- Professional Career: Sentelle, David B. "Interview with Judge David Sentelle." Interview conducted September 28 and October 13, 1994, by William Kearns Davis, Jr. Law School Oral History Project, Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1995.
- Professional Career: Private practice, Asheville, North Carolina, 1968-1970
- Visiting professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1991-1992
- Private practice, Charlotte, NC, 1977-1985
- Visiting professor, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 1977-present
- Judge, Mecklenburg County North Carolina District Court, 1974-1977
- Assistant U.S. attorney, Western District of North Carolina, 1970-1974
- Private practice, Asheville, NC, 1968-1970
Judicial service
- Judge, District Court, W.D. North Carolina, 1985-1987
- Judge, District Court, District of Columbia, 1987-2013
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
- Professional Career: Judge, Mecklenburg County [North Carolina] District Court, 1974-1977
Education
- University of North Carolina · B.A., 1965
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of North Carolina School of Law · J.D., 1968
Personal record
Born 1943 · Canton, NC
Courtroom rules and guidance
Appellate Oral Argument
In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation.
Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessaryFederal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument ↗
Sources
Federal Judicial Center biography
Identity source · HTML · checked July 25, 2026
https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387586CourtListener judicial biographical directory
Identity source · HTML · checked August 2, 2026
https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2905/david-bryan-sentelle/Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument
Judge research source · HTML · checked July 26, 2026
https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure