Gloucester Catholic Alum and Delaware’s longest-serving federal judge to retire
Monday, May 17, 2010
U.S. District Judge Joseph J. Farnan, Jr. ’63, the longest-serving member
of the federal bench in Delaware, will retire July 31. Joe was appointed to the bench in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan and served as chief judge in the Delaware court from 1996 to 2000.
A former US Attorney for Delaware, Joe submitted a letter of resignation to President Barack Obama and plans to return to private practice upon leaving the bench. Before his appointment as a federal judge, Joe had also been an assistant state public defender, a county attorney for New Castle County and Chief Deputy Attorney General for Delaware from 1979 to 1981.
Farnan received his juris doctor from The University of Toledo College of Law in 1970. While at Toledo, he served as an editor of The University of Toledo Law Review and was awarded the alumni scholarship in recognition of academic achievement.
After graduating from UT, Farnan moved to Delaware and served as dean of students
and director of the Criminal Justice Program from 1970 to 1973 at Wilmington University, where he taught as an adjunct faculty member until 1981. He also was in private practice and served as a part-time assistant public defender from 1972 to 1976.
In 1976, Farnan was
appointed county attorney for New Castle County, Delaware. He served in that
position until 1979 when he was appointed the chief deputy attorney general for
the state of Delaware.
The UT graduate was responsible for the
investigation and prosecution of Frank Sheeran, president of the Delaware
Teamster Union, who admitted to the murder of Jimmy Hoffa.
He has presided over and decided
high-profile corporate disputes and patent infringement actions, including the
Pantry Pride/Revlon securities case, the Diet Coke pricing case, the
DaimlerChrysler merger case and the Lipitor patent case. He now is presiding
over the Intel antitrust case.
Farnan is a member of both the New Jersey Bar (1970) and the Delaware Bar (1972).
A press release from the U. S. District Court stated “During his tenure on the bench, Judge Farnan was pivotal in cementing the court’s reputation as a national venue for complex litigation. His wit and unique perspective will be sorely missed by his colleagues, court personnel and federal practitioners alike.”
