He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College in 1975 and earned a Juris Doctor from Dickinson School of Law in 1978.

[1] Vanaskie worked in private legal practice in Scranton, Pennsylvania from 1980 to 1994.

[1] On August 6, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Vanaskie to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that was created when Judge Franklin Stuart Van Antwerpen assumed senior status in 2006.

[2] On November 5, 2009, Vanaskie's nomination was considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

[3] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on Vanaskie's nomination on April 15, 2010.