Todd Michael Hughes (born November 1966) 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 ...

Biography

Hughes was born in November, 1966, in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

with an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1989. He earned both a Juris Doctor with honors and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in English at a joint degree program at Duke University in 1992. He clerked for

Robert B. Krupansky Robert Bazil Krupansky (August 15, 1921 – November 8, 2004) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern Dis ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of ...

. In 1994, he joined the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division at the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

as a trial attorney. He was appointed Assistant Director for Commercial Litigation in 1999 and became Deputy Director in 2007, serving until 2013. At the DOJ, Hughes handled matters of federal personnel law, veterans' benefits, international trade, government contracts, and jurisdictional issues regarding the United States Court of Federal Claims. He has extensive experience before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the

United States Court of International Trade The United States Court of International Trade (case citations: Int'l Trade or Intl. Trade) is a U.S. federal court that adjudicates civil actions arising out of U.S. customs and international trade laws. Seated in New York City, it exercises ...

, and the

United States Court of Federal Claims The United States Court of Federal Claims (in case citations, Fed. Cl. or C.F.C.) is a United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. It was established by statute in 1982 as the United States Claims Court, ...

. Hughes has been awarded several special commendations from the DOJ and a special contribution award from the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

. He has taught at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Duke University's writing program.

Federal judicial service

On February 7, 2013, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

nominated Hughes to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, to the seat vacated by Judge William Curtis Bryson 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 January 7, 2013. He received a hearing 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 19, 2013, and was reported to the floor of the Senate on July 18, 2013, 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 ...

. The Senate confirmed his nomination on September 24, 2013 by a 98–0 vote. He received his commission on September 24, 2013. He assumed office on September 30, 2013. Hughes is the first openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

judge on a federal circuit court. Obama previously nominated another gay lawyer,

Edward C. DuMont Edward Carroll DuMont (born December 1961) is a former Solicitor General of California. In 2010 and 2011 he was nominated by President Barack Obama to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

, to the same court, but DuMont withdrew his name when it became clear that his nomination was not going to proceed in the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Todd M. 1966 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Duke University School of Law alumni Gay men Harvard College alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit LGBT appointed officials in the United States LGBT judges LGBT lawyers LGBT people from Ohio People from Delaware, Ohio United States court of appeals judges appointed by Barack Obama United States Department of Justice lawyers United States Department of Justice officials

Biography

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links