Judge Florence Y. Pan
D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Florence Ye Pan was born in November 1966 in New York City. She earned a double undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School. She earned a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School. She clerked at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and later at the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Pan worked for the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office of the Solicitor General and later at the appellate section of the Criminal Division. She worked at the U.S. Department of Treasury, where she held several positions. For ten years, she was an assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
She was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, confirmed by the Senate, and assumed that office in May 2009. President Obama later nominated her to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Although her nomination expired at the end of the 114th Congress without a Senate floor vote.
President Joe Biden nominated Pan to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was confirmed by the Senate and received her commission in September 2021. Less than a year later, President Biden nominated her to the seat vacated by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. She was confirmed by the Senate and assumed her position in September 2022.
She is married to Max Stier. They have two sons.
In the News…
Judge Florence Pan is part of the panel of the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that ruled the Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration did not sufficiently consider the safety risks of transporting liquid natural gas (LNG) by rail. A group of state attorneys general, environmental groups, and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians brought the challenge in federal court since there was no environmental impact statement in the agency’s process of making the rule.
Judge Pan wrote, “LNG is dangerous. If LNG is warmed, it reverts to a gaseous state, which causes it to expand. Such expansion can place tremendous pressure on the vessel that contains the LNG, creating the risk of an explosion.“
She continued, “LNG is also highly flammable. Thus, if it leaks and encounters an ignition source, it can cause a conflagration that burns at a temperature of 2,426° F. Moreover, if LNG spills without igniting, it can form an ultra-cold gas cloud that can spread over a wide area, severely injuring people and damaging property in its path.“
“LNG typically is transported either by pipeline or by truck. Shipping LNG by rail has been authorized only on an ad hoc basis by special permit or approval,“ Judge Pan wrote. “The new final rule (“LNG Rule”) imposed no limit on the number of LNG tank cars that could be included in a single train and set no mandatory speed limit for trains that carry LNG. PHMSA noted that one company contemplated a single train with 80 tank cars containing LNG.“
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Pan today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Florence Y. Pan
D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse
333 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001
