[Federal Circuit Seal]
Judges of the Federal Circuit
PAUL R. MICHEL
DANIEL M. FRIEDMAN
PAULINE NEWMAN
GLENN L. ARCHER, JR.
HALDANE ROBERT MAYER
S. JAY PLAGER
ALAN D. LOURIE
RAYMOND C. CLEVENGER, III
RANDALL R. RADER
ALVIN A. SCHALL
WILLIAM C. BRYSON
ARTHUR J. GAJARSA
RICHARD LINN
TIMOTHY B. DYK
SHARON PROST
KIMBERLY A. MOORE
Former Judges
HOWARD T. MARKEY
WILSON COWEN

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Judicial Biographies

PAUL R. MICHEL, Chief Circuit Judge
PAUL R. MICHEL was appointed as a Circuit Judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. On December 25, 2004, after 16 years on the court, he assumed the duties of Chief Judge. Chief Judge Michel has written over 300 opinions in patent, trademark, takings, contract, tax, veterans' rights, international trade and government personnel cases. He is the recipient of the Eli Whitney Prize, the Katz-Kiley Prize, and the Jefferson Medal for "outstanding contribution … to the progress of science and useful arts." In 2003, he was named by Managing Intellectual Property magazine as one of the 50 most influential people in the world in intellectual property. Prior to his appointment to the court, Chief Judge Michel served in the executive and legislative branches of government for 22 years. Following graduation from Williams College in 1963 and the University of Virginia Law School in 1966, he served as Assistant District Attorney and Deputy District Attorney for Investigations in Philadelphia under Arlen Specter; as Assistant Special Watergate Prosecutor under Leon Jaworski responsible for the Howard Hughes-Bebe Rebozo investigation; and under Dick Thornburgh as Deputy Chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section directing the "Koreagate" investigation. In 1978 he was appointed by Benjamin Civiletti as Associate Deputy Attorney General, helping to supervise United States Attorneys, the FBI, and the Marshals Service. From April 1981 until his appointment to the court in March of 1988, he served on Senator Arlen Specter's staff, including as Chief of Staff. Since October 2005, he has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the governing body of the Judicial Branch. He has taught at George Washington and other law schools, made many presentations to various city, state, national and international bar associations and participated in the training of judges of other nations. With two co-authors, he helped produce a casebook for law students, entitled, Modern Patent Litigation and Strategy. He has published many articles on appellate advocacy.

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DANIEL M. FRIEDMAN, Senior Circuit Judge
DANIEL M. FRIEDMAN was nominated by President Jimmy Carter as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Claims on March 22, 1978, was confirmed by the Senate on May 17, 1978, and assumed duties on May 24, 1978. On October 1, 1982, Judge Friedman continued in office as judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, where he assumed senior status in 1989. In 1977, Judge Friedman served as Acting Solicitor General, United States Department of Justice. He also served in the Appellate Section, Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice from 1951 to 1959, and in the Solicitor General's Office from 1959 to 1978, where he was second and first assistant to the Solicitor General. Judge Friedman served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946, and was on the legal staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1942 and from 1946 to 1951. Judge Friedman is a graduate of Columbia College and received his LL.B. from Columbia Law School in 1940.

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PAULINE NEWMAN, Circuit Judge
PAULINE NEWMAN was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. From 1982 to 1984, Judge Newman was Special Adviser to the United States Delegation to the Diplomatic Conference on the Revision of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. She served on the advisory committee to the Domestic Policy Review of Industrial Innovation from 1978 to 1979 and on the State Department Advisory Committee on International Intellectual Property from 1974 to 1984. From 1969 to 1984, Judge Newman served as director, Patent, Trademark and Licensing Department, FMC Corp. From 1961 to 1962 she worked for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a science policy specialist in the Department of Natural Resources. She served as patent attorney and house counsel of FMC Corp. from 1954 to 1969 and as research scientist, American Cyanamid Co. from 1951 to 1954. Judge Newman received a B.A. from Vassar College in 1947, an M.A. from Columbia University in 1948, a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1952 and an LL.B. from New York University School of Law in 1958.

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GLENN L. ARCHER, JR., Senior Circuit Judge
GLENN L. ARCHER, JR. was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and assumed duties as Circuit Judge on December 23, 1985. He became Chief Judge on March 18, 1994, and served in that capacity until December 24, 1997. He assumed senior status on December 25, 1997. Judge Archer served as Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division, United States Department of Justice from 1982 to 1984. Prior to that appointment, he was an associate in the Washington, DC law firm of Hamel, Park, McCabe and Saunders from 1956 to1960 and a partner from 1960 to 1981. Judge Archer served as First Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General's Office, United States Air Force from 1954 to 1956. He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1952 and a J.D., with honors, from George Washington University Law School in 1954.

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HALDANE ROBERT MAYER, Circuit Judge
HALDANE ROBERT MAYER was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, and served as Chief Judge from 1997 to 2004. Judge Mayer served on the United States Claims Court from 1982 until his appointment to the Federal Circuit. He was an adjunct professor at George Washington University National Law Center and the University of Virginia School of Law. He served as Deputy and Acting Special Counsel, and was in private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the 1970s, and in Washington, DC, in the early 1980s. Judge Mayer served as Special Assistant to the Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger, for three years, and as Law Clerk to the Honorable John D. Butzner, Jr., United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Judge Mayer served in the Army from 1963 to 1975, in the Infantry and the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service, and Army Commendation Medals, the Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, and Ranger Combat Badge. He retired as Lieutenant Colonel. Judge Mayer received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy, and a J.D. from The College of William and Mary, where he was editor-in-chief of the William and Mary Law Review.

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S. JAY PLAGER, Senior Circuit Judge
S. JAY PLAGER was appointed Circuit Judge by President George H. W. Bush in 1989, and assumed the status of Senior Circuit Judge in 2000. Prior to his appointment, Judge Plager served in the Executive Office of the President from 1987 to 1989, as Associate Director of OMB and as Administrator, OIRA. He served as Counselor to the Under Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services from 1986 to 1987. Judge Plager was Dean and Professor, Indiana University School of Law from 1977 to 1984. He was Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Illinois from 1964 to 1977, and from 1958 to 1964 was Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Florida. Judge Plager was Visiting Scholar, Stanford University Law School from 1984 to 1985, Visiting Fellow, Trinity College, and Visiting Professor, Cambridge University in 1980, and Visiting Research Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin from 1967 to 1968. Judge Plager served on active duty in the United States Navy during the Korean Conflict. Judge Plager, in 1952, received an A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina, a J.D. in 1958 from the University of Florida, with high honors, where he was editor-in-chief of the Florida Law Review, and in 1961 an LL.M. from Columbia University.

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ALAN D. LOURIE, Circuit Judge
ALAN D. LOURIE was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1990. Prior to his appointment, Judge Lourie was Vice President, Corporate Patents and Trademarks and Associate General Counsel from 1977 to 1990, Director, Corporate Patents from 1976 to 1977, Assistant Director, Corporate Patents from 1970 to 1976, and Patent Agent from 1964 to 1970 at SmithKline Beecham Corporation. From 1959 to 1964, he served as Chemist, Literature Specialist and Patent Liaison Specialist with Wyeth Laboratories. He was a Chemist at Monsanto Co. from 1957 to 1959. He also held the position of Vice Chairman, Industry Functional Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights for Trade Policy Matters (IFAC 3) for the Department of Commerce and the Office of the United States Trade Representative from 1987 to 1990. He was a member of the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure from 1990 to 1998, and is a member of the Committee on Codes of Conduct from 2005 to present. He was awarded the Jefferson Medal for outstanding contributions to intellectual property law in 1998. Judge Lourie received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1956, an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin in 1958, a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965, and a J.D. from Temple University in 1970.

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RAYMOND C. CLEVENGER, III, Senior Circuit Judge
RAYMOND C. CLEVENGER, III was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1990. Judge Clevenger received a B.A. from Yale University in 1959. As a Carnegie Teaching Fellow, he taught European History at Yale College in the 1959-1960 academic year. From 1960 to 1963, he was employed by the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in New York City. He received an LL.B. from Yale University in 1966. Judge Clevenger served as a law clerk to Mr. Justice White in October Term 1966. Judge Clevenger joined Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in 1967, serving as a partner in the firm from 1974 until his appointment to the bench. Judge Clevenger assumed senior status on February 1, 2006.

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RANDALL R. RADER, Circuit Judge
RANDALL R. RADER was appointed to the United States Claims Court by President George H. W. Bush in 1989 and served on that court until his appointment to the Federal Circuit in 1990. Prior to his appointment, Judge Rader served as Minority Chief Counsel, Staff Director, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights from 1987 to 1988. He also served as General Counsel and Chief of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on the Constitution from 1981 to 1986, and as Counsel in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1980. Judge Rader taught Patent Law at the University of Virginia School of Law and at the George Washington University National Law Center, and Comparative Patent Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Judge Rader is the author of a casebook entitled Patent Law, published by West Publishing in 1998.

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ALVIN A. SCHALL, Circuit Judge
ALVIN A. SCHALL was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1992. Prior to his appointment, Judge Schall served as Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States from 1988 to 1992. He was a member of the Washington, DC law firm of Perlman and Partners from 1987 to 1988. He served as Trial Attorney and Senior Trial Counsel, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, from 1978 to 1987. Judge Schall was an Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, from 1973 to 1978, and served as Chief of the Appeals Division from 1977 to 1978. From 1969 to 1973, Judge Schall was in private practice with the New York City law firm of Shearman & Sterling. Judge Schall received a B.A. degree from Princeton University in 1966 and a J.D. degree from Tulane Law School in 1969.

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WILLIAM C. BRYSON, Circuit Judge
WILLIAM C. BRYSON was appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1994. Prior to his appointment, Judge Bryson was with the United States Department of Justice from 1978 to 1994. He was with the United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, from 1979 to 1986 and he was an Associate at the Washington, DC law firm of Miller, Cassidy, Larroca and Lewin from 1975 to 1978. Judge Bryson served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Henry J. Friendly, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1973 to 1974, and as Law Clerk to the Honorable Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court of the United States, from 1974 to 1975. Judge Bryson received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1969 and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1973.

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ARTHUR J. GAJARSA, Circuit Judge
ARTHUR J. GAJARSA was appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1997. Prior to his appointment, Judge Gajarsa was a partner in the Washington, DC law firm of Joseph, Gajarsa, McDermott and Reiner, P.C. from 1987 to 1997. Since 2003, Judge Gajarsa has been an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. From 1980 to 1987, he was a Partner in the law firm of Wender, Murase and White. From 1978 to 1980 he was a Partner in the law firm of Gajarsa, Liss, and Conroy and from 1971 to 1972 he was an Associate with Duncan and Brown. Judge Gajarsa served as Special Counsel and Assistant to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Interior from 1969 to 1971. He was an attorney with the Office of General Counsel, Aetna Life and Casualty Co. from 1968 to 1969. Judge Gajarsa served as Law Clerk to Honorable Joseph McGarraghy, United States District Court for the District of Columbia from 1967 to 1968. Judge Gajarsa received a B.S.E.E. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1962, an M.A. from Catholic University of America in 1968, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1967.

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RICHARD LINN, Circuit Judge
RICHARD LINN was appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1999. Prior to his appointment, Judge Linn was a Partner and Practice Group Leader at the Washington, DC law firm of Foley and Lardner from 1997 to 1999. He was a Partner and head of the intellectual property department at Marks and Murase, L.L.P. from 1977 to 1997. Judge Linn served as Patent Advisor, United States Naval Air Systems Command from 1971 to 1972, was a Patent Agent at the United States Naval Research Laboratory from 1968 to 1969, and served as a Patent Examiner at the United States Patent Office from 1965 to 1968. He was a member of the founding Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Section on Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law and served as Chairman in 1975. Judge Linn was a recipient in 2000 of the Rensselaer Alumni Association Fellows Award. He served as an Adjunct Professor and Professional Lecturer in Law at George Washington University Law School from 2001 to 2004. Judge Linn is a past president of the Giles Sutherland Rich Inn of Court and an honorary member of the Richard Linn American Inn of Court. He received a B.E.E. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1965, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969.

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TIMOTHY B. DYK, Circuit Judge
TIMOTHY B. DYK was appointed by President William J. Clinton in 2000. Prior to his appointment, Judge Dyk was Partner and Chair, Issues and Appeals Practice Area, at Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue from 1990 to 2000. He was Adjunct Professor at Yale Law School from 1986 to 1987 and 1989, at the University of Virginia Law School in 1984 and 1985, and from 1987 to 1988, and at the Georgetown University Law Center in 1983, 1986, 1989 and 1991. Judge Dyk was Associate and Partner, Wilmer Cutler and Pickering from 1964 to 1990. From 1963 to 1964, Judge Dyk served as Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Louis F. Oberdorfer. He also served as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Warren from 1962 to 1963, and to Justices Reed and Burton (retired) from 1961 to 1962. Judge Dyk received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1958 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1961. He was First President of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court from 2000 to 2002 and President of the Giles Sutherland Rich Inn of Court from 2006 to 2007.

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SHARON PROST, Circuit Judge
SHARON PROST was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001. Prior to her appointment, Judge Prost served as Minority Chief Counsel, Deputy Chief Counsel, and Chief Counsel of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate from 1993 to 2001. She also served as Chief Labor Counsel (Minority), Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources from 1989 to 1993. She was Assistant Solicitor, Associate Solicitor, and Acting Solicitor of the National Labor Relations Board from 1984 to 1989. She was an Attorney at the Internal Revenue Service from 1983 to 1984, and Field Attorney at the Federal Labor Relations Authority from 1980 to 1983. Judge Prost also served as Labor Relations Specialist/Auditor at the United States General Accounting Office from 1976 to 1980 and Labor Relations Specialist at the United States Civil Service Commission from 1973 to 1976. Judge Prost received a B.S. from Cornell University in 1973, an M.B.A. from George Washington University in 1975, a J.D. from the Washington College of Law, American University in 1979, and an LL.M. from George Washington University School of Law in 1984.

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KIMBERLY A. MOORE, Circuit Judge
KIMBERLY A. MOORE was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006. Prior to her appointment, Judge Moore was a Professor of Law from 2004-2006 and Associate Professor of Law from 2000 to 2004 at the George Mason University School of Law. She was an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law from 1999 to 2000. She served both as an Assistant Professor of Law from 1997 to 1999 and the Associate Director of the Intellectual Property Law Program from 1998 to 1999 at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. Judge Moore clerked from 1995 to 1997 for the Honorable Glenn L. Archer, Jr., Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and was an Associate at Kirkland & Ellis from 1994 to 1995. From 1988 to 1992, Judge Moore was employed in electrical engineering with the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Judge Moore received her B.S.E.E. in 1990, M.S. in 1991, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her J.D. (cum laude) from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1994. Judge Moore has written and presented widely on patent litigation. She co-authored a legal casebook entitled Patent Litigation and Strategy and served as the Editor of The Federal Circuit Bar Journal from 1998 to 2006.

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Former Judges

HOWARD T. MARKEY
Former Chief Judge Howard T. Markey died May 3, 2006. Read Chief Judge Michel's tribute as it appeared in the Legal Times, and his remarks at a service held before Judge Markey's burial at Arlington National Cemetery on June 23, 2006.
WILSON COWEN
Senior judge; born near Clifton, TX, December 20, 1905; son of John R. and Florence (McFadden) Cowen; LL.B., University of Texas, 1928; married to Florence Elizabeth Walker, April 18, 1930; children: Wilson Walker and John Elwin; admitted to Texas bar in 1928; private practice in Dalhart, TX, 1928–34; county judge, Dallam County, TX, 1935–38; State director for Texas, 1938–40, and regional director, 1940–42, Farm Security Administration, region XII; commissioner, U.S. Court of Claims, 1942–43; assistant administrator, War Food Administration, 1943–44; returned to the Court of Claims as commissioner in 1945, and was designated chief commissioner in 1959; nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson as chief judge, U.S. Court of Claims, June 16, 1964, and assumed duties of the office July 14, 1964; retired from active service as chief judge, March 1, 1977, and assumed status as senior judge; as of October 1, 1982, continued in office as senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, pursuant to §165, Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982, Public Law 97–164, 96 Stat. 50.; assumed the status of inactive senior judge on August 1, 1997; died on October 28, 2007.

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Revised Wednesday, April 11, 2007 4:00 PM

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