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William "Skip" Arbuckle was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania. Educated at Grove City College (1971, B.A. with honors), and the University of Akron School of Law (J.D. 1974). While at Akron, he was a twice published member of the Law Review and won the Sixth Circuit Moot Court Competition in 1973.
During his legal career, Attorney Arbuckle has been a lawyer for the Pennsylvania Judicial Inquiry and Review Board, and the successor agency, the Judicial Conduct Board, where he was Chief Counsel. He has served as Pennsylvania's Chief Deputy Attorney General for Organized Crime and Public Corruption and before that was the Chief Public Defender of Erie County. He also spent two years as a litigation associate at Knox Graham McLaughlin & Sennett (now Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett). While living in Ohio he was both a prosecutor and public defender.
In 1988 a group of lawyers and judges, including Mr. Arbuckle, formed Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of PA, an independent non-profit corporation dedicated to helping lawyers, judges, and law students who are at risk as a result of alcohol and drug use, gambling, depression or other serious mental illness. He has served on the LCL Board of Directors for the past 31 years.
Judge Arbuckle is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, The U.S. District Courts for the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania, and the Northern District of Ohio as well as the Supreme Courts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
In 1994, Attorney Arbuckle entered private law practice in Centre County, where he was a shareholder at the Mazza Law Group, P.C.
Judge Arbuckle previously taught Civil Pre-Trial Advocacy at The Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law and Criminal Law; Criminal Procedure; Civil Law; and Judicial Ethics for the Pennsylvania Minor Judiciary Education Board. He frequently lectures for various professional groups including PBI and PBA. Since 1980 he has regularly taught various undergraduate courses at Penn State University and Harrisburg Area Community College and graduate courses at Widener Commonwealth Law School and Dickinson Law.
In July 2008 he was appointed to serve as the part-time United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Williamsport. In 2014 he was elected to the Board of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association. In 2017 his position as a United States Magistrate Judge became full time. He retired from the bench in 2025.
