Tiffany Patrice Cunningham (born May 27, 1976) is a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

Education

After graduating from the Roeper School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Cunningham received her

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 1998 and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2001.

Career

Cunningham began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Timothy B. Dyk of the

from 2001 to 2002. In 2002, she joined the Chicago office of

Kirkland & Ellis Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1909, Kirkland & Ellis is the largest law firm in the world by revenue and the seventh-largest by number of attorneys, and was the first la ...

as an associate, and was elevated to partner in 2007, where she remained until 2014. From 2014 to 2021, she was a partner at

Perkins Coie Perkins Coie is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1912, it is recognized as an Am Law 50 firm. It is the largest law firm headquartered in the Pacific Northwest and has 20 offices across the Un ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where she was a member of the

patent litigation Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may va ...

practice and served on the 17-member executive committee of the firm. She is also a registered patent attorney before the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

Federal judicial service

On March 30, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Cunningham to serve as a

for the

. On April 19, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Cunningham to the seat vacated by Judge

Evan Wallach Evan Jonathan Wallach (born November 11, 1949) is an American lawyer and Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A former United States Judge of the United States Court of International T ...

, who 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 31, 2021. On May 26, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

. On June 17, 2021, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 16–6 vote. On July 15, 2021, 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 pow ...

invoked cloture on her nomination by a 63–34 vote. On July 19, 2021, her nomination was confirmed by a 63–33 vote. She received her judicial commission on August 6, 2021. Cunningham is the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

judge to ever sit on the Federal Circuit. On January 28, 2022, following Justice Stephen Breyer's announcement of his intention to retire as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Cunningham was mentioned as one of the potential nominees for a Supreme Court appointment by President Joe Biden.

References

External links

* 1976 births Living people 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges African-American women lawyers African-American lawyers African-American judges Harvard Law School alumni Illinois lawyers Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit People associated with Kirkland & Ellis Lawyers from Detroit Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People associated with Perkins Coie United States court of appeals judges appointed by Joe Biden {{US-federal-judge-stub

Education

Career

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links