David S. Tatel (born March 16, 1942) is an American lawyer who serves as a
Senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
United States circuit judge of the
.
Education and career
Tatel received his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
and his
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...
from the
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dis ...
.
After graduating from law school, he served as an instructor at the
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...
before joining
Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,000 lawyers in 20 offices worldwide. The firm's headquarters is at One South Dearborn in Chicago's Loop. The firm specializes in a variety of areas in both litigati ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
. He served as founding director of the
Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Director of the National
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, or simply the Lawyers' Committee, is a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. At the time, Alabama Governor George Wallace had vowed to resist cou ...
, and Director of the Office for Civil Rights of the
United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
during the
Carter Administration
Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican Preside ...
. Returning to private practice in 1979, Tatel joined
Hogan & Hartson
Hogan Lovells is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, DC. The firm was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. It employs about 2,400 lawyers acr ...
, where he founded and headed the firm's education practice until his appointment to the D.C. Circuit. While on sabbatical from Hogan & Hartson, Tatel spent a year as a lecturer at
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...
. He also previously served as Acting General Counsel for the
Legal Services Corporation.
Federal judicial service
Tatel was nominated by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
on June 20, 1994, to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated by Judge
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...
. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and po ...
on October 6, 1994, by a
voice vote
In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...
, and received commission on October 7, 1994. He announced his intent to assume
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...
upon confirmation of a successor on February 12, 2021. Tatel assumed
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...
on May 16, 2022.
In June 2017, Tatel found the
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not prevent the survivors of a
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
victim from suing to recover art stolen by
Nazi plunder
Nazi plunder (german: Raubkunst) was the stealing of art and other items which occurred as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Nazi Party in Germany. The looting of Polish and Jewish property was a k ...
ers, over the partial dissent of Senior Judge
A. Raymond Randolph.
In October 2019, Tatel filed the majority opinion in ''
Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP'', finding that the
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform had the authority to compel
Mazars, via subpoena, to produce documents relating to the personal financial information of President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, including several years' worth of income tax returns. That decision was
vacated
A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. ...
and
remanded, 7–2, by the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in an opinion written by Chief Justice
John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...
on July 9, 2020.
Personal life
Tatel serves as co-chair of the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...
' Committee on Science, Technology, and Law. He is a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
. He serves on the Trustee Board of the
Foundation Fighting Blindness
The mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness is to fund research that will lead to the prevention, treatment and cures for the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, Usher syndro ...
. He chaired the Board of
The Spencer Foundation
The Spencer Foundation was established in 1962 by Lyle M. Spencer. This foundation makes grants to support research in areas of education that are widely construed.
Founder
Lyle M. Spencer was the founder of The Spencer Foundation. Spencer gre ...
from 1990 to 1997 and the Board of
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) is a U.S.-based education policy and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress. Among its most nota ...
from 2005 to 2009.
Tatel and his wife, Edith, have had four children and eight grandchildren.
Tatel has been
blind since 1972 due to
retinitis pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may ...
.
His guide dog, Vixen, is a
German Shepherd
The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899.
It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...
.
Selected publications and speeches
*Tatel, David S. (September 13, 1997). ''Alexander F. Morrison Lecture''. Annual Meeting of the California State Bar, San Diego, CA
*Tatel, David S. (June 25, 2002). ''Remarks of David S. Tatel on the Occasion of the Spencer Foundation's 30th Anniversary Dinner''. Chicago, IL
*Tatel, David S. (October 16, 2003). ''Remarks on the Occasion of the Portrait Hanging Ceremony for the Honorable Patricia Wald''. Washington, D.C.
*Tatel, David S. (January 19, 2004). ''Macalester College Graduation Ceremony Speech''. St. Paul, MN
*Tatel, David S., "Madison Lecture: Judicial Methodology, Southern School Desegregation, and the Rule of Law'', 79 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1071 (2004).
*Tatel, David S. (October 27, 2006). “Remarks on the Occasion of the Portrait Hanging Ceremony for the Honorable Stephen F. Williams”. Washington, D.C.
*Tatel, David S. (November 15, 2008). ''Remarks of David S. Tatel''. The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA
*Tatel, David S. (January 17, 2009). ''Litigation and Integration Then and Now''. Delivered at ''Passing the Torch: the Past, Present, and Future of Interdistrict School Desegregation'', Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
*Tatel, David S. (December 8, 2009). ''Remarks on the Occasion of the Portrait Hanging Ceremony for the Honorable James Robertson''. Washington, D.C.
*Tatel, David S. (April 23, 2012). ''Habeas Corpus: Remarks of Judge David S. Tatel''. Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.
*Tatel, David S. (April 5, 2013). ''Remarks on the Occasion of the Portrait Hanging Ceremony for the Honorable David B. Sentelle''. Washington, D.C.
*Tatel, David S. (November 15, 2013). ''Remarks of David S. Tatel''. The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA
See also
*
References
External links
*
White House press release announcing Tatel's nominationOfficial D.C. Circuit Biography*
*Finding aid to th
David S. Tatel papersat th
Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatel, David S.
1942 births
Living people
20th-century American judges
21st-century American judges
American civil rights lawyers
American blind people
Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
People from Washington, D.C.
United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton
University of Chicago Law School alumni
University of Michigan Law School faculty
University of Michigan alumni