Name David Tatel Role Jurist | ||
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Born March 16, 1942 (age 82) Washington, D.C., U.S. ( 1942-03-16 ) |
David S. Tatel (born March 16, 1942) is an American jurist and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1994.
Contents
- Education and career
- Federal judicial service
- Personal life
- Selected publications and speeches
- References

Education and career
Tatel received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School. Following law school, he served as an instructor at the University of Michigan Law School and then joined Sidley Austin in Chicago. Since then, 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, and Director of the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare during the Carter Administration. Returning to private practice in 1979, Tatel joined Hogan & Hartson, 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. He also previously served as Acting General Counsel for the Legal Services Corporation.
Federal judicial service
Tatel was nominated by President Bill Clinton on June 20, 1994, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated by Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 6, 1994, and received commission on October 7, 1994.
Personal life
Tatel serves as co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Science, Technology, and Law and a member of the Board of the Federal Judicial Center. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Education. He chaired the Board of The Spencer Foundation from 1990 to 1997 and the Board of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching from 2005 to 2009. Tatel and his wife, Edith, have four children and eight grandchildren.
Tatel has been blind since 1972 due to retinitis pigmentosa.