Upon graduating from law school in 1951, Joseph F. Spaniol, Jr. was hired by The Administrative Office of United States Courts where he served in various capacities including Division Chief and Assistant Director. In 1977, Joe was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court to be the Deputy Director of the Administrative Office of United States Courts where he served until 1985. In August 1985, the Chief Justice appointed Joe to be the Clerk of the United States Supreme Court until his retirement in February 1991.
During his tenure at the Administrative Office, Joe organized the first Judicial Conference of the United States in 1966, and attended every Judicial Conference 1966 to 1985. From 1977 to 1985, he served as the Recording Secretary of the Judicial Conference. At the Judicial Conferences over the years, Joe also served as the Advisor and Secretary of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure for Bankruptcy Rules; Criminal Rules; and Civil Rules. After retirement, from 1991 to 2020, he served as a Consultant for the Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure.
He is a former Editor of the Federal Bar News and Federal Bar Journal.
After retirement, Joe was a Contributing Editor to Black’s Law Dictionary Seventh and Eighth Editions.
EDUCATION
John Carroll University, A.B., 1949
Case Western Reserve Law School, LL.B., 1951
Georgetown University Law School, LL.M., 1953
MILITARY SERVICE
World War II, 1944-1946
Sergeant, United States Army 86th Infantry “Black Hawk” Division, 342nd Regiment: awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star Medal, and one Battle Star.
Served in both The Battle for Central Europe and the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations, Philippine Islands.