All Article III federal judges are appointed for life, given good behavior. Federal law allows an Article III judge with the requisite tenure on the bench to retire as early as age 65 at current salary. But many judges choose, instead, to take senior status and continue to serve the Judiciary.

     Senior judges maintain an office and a staff, and are required to handle at least 25 percent of an active judge’s caseload. Nationwide, senior judges typically handle about 15 percent of the federal courts’ workload annually.

     The “Rule of 80" is the commonly used shorthand for the age and service requirement for a judge to assume senior status. Eligible are judges who are at least 65 with 15 years experience, or judges at least 70 with 10 years experience.

     An active Article III judge’s decision to take senior status creates a vacancy, allowing appointment of a new judge to that court.