Third Circuit D. Michael Fisher has taken senior status, effective February 1. I’d predicted here that he would and made passing mention here that he had, but it’s an important event that warrants its own post.

Judge Fisher, 72, served as an active judge on the court since 2003. He had been eligible to go senior since 2014. His assumption of senior status creates a third open seat on the court.

The same day Judge Fisher assumed senior status, he was named the University of Pittsburgh Law School’s first Distinguished Jurist in Residence:

Currently an adjunct professor at Pitt Law, he is expected to teach two courses every fall term and be on site during the spring term to meet with students and participate in other activities.

“The Distinguished Jurist in Residence program advances the law school’s twin goals of excellence in teaching in order to ensure that our graduates are practice-ready and of encouraging the kind of public service to which Judge Fisher has dedicated his career,” said Pitt Law Dean William M. Carter Jr. “This new program will bring extraordinary judges to the law school to enrich the educational experience of our students, and I am proud and honored that Judge Fisher has agreed to serve as our inaugural Distinguished Jurist in Residence.”

“I have had a longtime association with the University of Pittsburgh and its law school as a Trustee and adjunct professor,” said Fisher. “It is exciting to have this opportunity to take a more significant role at the law school to work with outstanding faculty under the leadership of Dean Carter and to help in the education of our excellent students.”

It’s a well-deserved honor for the court’s newest senior judge.