The meteoric rise of Delaware’s history-making Judge Tamika Montgomery-Reeves confirms she will join the Third Circuit | State and region

Judge Tamika Montgomery-Reeves was the first black judge to serve on the Delaware Court of Chancery in 2015 and on the state Supreme Court in 2020. Now the US Senate has confirmed her as a new member of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Senators voted 53 to 35 to confirm her nomination.

“A loss for the Delaware Supreme Court will be a win for our country,” U.S. Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware said ahead of this week’s vote. “She will bring a spirit of collegiality and consensus to the Third Circuit, as she did to the courts where she served in Delaware. She is not an ideologue. She is the perfect judge.”

Before joining the Chancery Court as a vice chancellor in 2015, Montgomery-Reeves was a partner at a Wilmington law firm specializing in corporate governance and shareholder class actions. She also served as Chancellor of the Court of William Chandler.

“It has been an extraordinary honor and privilege to serve the people of Delaware for the past seven years,” Montgomery-Reeves wrote in her resignation letter to Gov. John Carney this week.

“I am also incredibly fortunate to have spent this time working with dedicated judicial officers and staff who are committed to the rule of law and treat everyone who comes before them with dignity and respect. I have learned so much from them and their service in Delaware has inspired me.”

During her brief tenure on the state’s highest court, Montgomery-Reeves joined Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Collins J. Zaitsa Jr. in an initiative to improve diversity among both judges and trial lawyers.

“Look at the makeup of the citizens in our state … I think our bench should look like this,” Montgomery-Reeves told WHYY News in May 2021. “I hope, as the Chief Justice said, that I’m no longer in a room where I’m the only colored person or one of the few where I can count on my fingers the number of colored lawyers practicing.”

Seitz pointed to those efforts in a written statement after her confirmation.

“While we are saddened by the loss of a valued colleague on the Delaware Supreme Court, we are happy for her and for the Federal judiciary,” he said. “The Third District is recruiting a judge of extraordinary intelligence and wisdom. I am especially grateful for her work on the Delaware Judiciary’s Strategic Plan to Improve the Diversity of the Delaware Bar.”

Her resignation from the Delaware Supreme Court will come when President Joe Biden signs her assignment to the U.S. Third Circuit. An exact date has not been set, but it is expected to take place in February.