John P. Fullam


John Patrick Fullam was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Education and career

Born in Gardenville, Pennsylvania, Fullam graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1942. From 1942 to 1948 Fullam served in the United States Navy Reserve. He received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1948. From 1948 to 1960 he worked in private practice in Bristol, Pennsylvania. He was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 8th District in the 1954 and 1956 elections but was defeated by Karl C. King and Willard S. Curtin, respectively. From 1960 to 1966 he was a Judge on the Court of Common Pleas for Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Federal judicial service

On January 19, 1966 President Lyndon Johnson nominated Fullam to the Eastern District, to a seat vacated by Judge Abraham Lincoln Freedman. Fullam was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 10, 1966, and received commission on August 11, 1966. Fullam served as Chief Judge from 1986 to 1990 and assumed senior status on April 1, 1990. He took inactive senior status on April 15, 2011.

Notable cases

During his 45 years on the Federal bench, Fullam presided over such cases as the bankruptcy of the Penn Central Transportation Company, the largest corporate bankruptcy at that time, and the Abscam political corruption probe.

Personal Life and Death

Fullam met his wife Alice while in law school at Harvard, and the two married in 1950. They commissioned the architect Paul Rudolph to design a home for their family in Wrightstown, Pennsylvania. The residence was designated a National Historic Place in 2019. The couple raised four children and remained married until Alice's death in 2016. John Fullam died on March 8, 2018 at Plush Mills Senior Living in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.