More than two years after the much-discussed “flip” in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from a Democratic majority to a Republican one, the court’s rulings have not taken any major shift to the right, but the newest judges’ influence is seen in a handful of cases on the margins, court watchers said.

Long after former President Donald Trump’s departure from the White House, some of the more than 200 judges he appointed to the federal bench continue to trigger controversy. But the four judges that Trump appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit— Stephanos Bibas, David Porter, Paul Matey and Peter Phipps—have earned respect from litigators.

Lisa Mathewson of The Law Offices of Lisa Mathewson in Philadelphia. Courtesy photo