Gregory M. Sleet

Sleet was born in New York City, New York. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampton University in 1973. He received a Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law–Camden in 1976, where he was an Earl Warren Scholar. He was an assistant public defender, Defender Association of Philadelphia from 1976 to 1983. He was in private practice of law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1983 to 1990. He was a deputy attorney general of Department of Justice, State of Delaware from 1990 to 1992. He was a Counsel, Hercules Inc. from 1992 to 1994. He was the United States Attorney for the District of Delaware from 1994 to 1998. He was the first African American to be appointed United States Attorney in Delaware, and the first to be appointed the federal bench in Delaware.[1]

Sleet is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. At the recommendation of then Delaware United States Senator Joe Biden, Sleet was nominated by President Bill Clinton on January 27, 1998, to a seat vacated by Joseph J. Longobardi. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 27, 1998, and received commission on April 30, 1998. He served as chief judge, from 2007 to 2014. He took senior status on May 1, 2017.[2] In February 2018, Sleet announced his plan to take retirement in fall 2018.[3] He retired from active service on September 28, 2018.

Due to the expertise and experience in patent law that Judge Sleet has acquired from hearing numerous patent cases during his tenure as a District Judge and Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, he also teaches courses in Patent Litigation at Duke University School of Law,[4] Widener University School of Law and Rutgers University School of Law.[2]

In 1995, Sleet was appointed by then U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for a 2-year term to the Attorney General's Advisory Committee ("AGAC"), a group designed to set policy and strategy for the United States Department of Justice, and also a group which Sleet was made Vice Chair of in 1995-1995 by Reno in August 1995.[2] In 1998, Delaware Today magazine selected Judge Sleet as "Delawarean of the Year" and in 2000, he was named one of "Fifty of the Finest" graduates in the first fifty years of Rutgers University.[2]

Additionally, Judge Sleet was presented the Distinguished Service Award in 1994 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Central Delaware Branch.[5] Sleet is also a member of the Third Circuit Committee on Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions, the Third Circuit Judicial Council Automation & Technology Committee, the Third Circuit Judicial Council Facilities and Security Committee and Member of the Third Circuit Judicial Council Case Management Committee.

He is the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Moneta Sleet Jr.[1]

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