Preceded by Curtis Lynn Collier Role Judge Name Thomas Varlan | Preceded by Robert Leon Jordan Appointed by George W. Bush | |
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Alma mater University of Tennessee
Vanderbilt University Law School Education Vanderbilt University Law School, University of Tennessee | ||
U.S. Naturalization Ceremony in Knoxville
Thomas Alexander Varlan (born 1956) is the Chief United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
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Education and career
Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Varlan received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee in 1978 and a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1981. He was in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1981 to 1987. He was the law director for the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, from 1988 to 1998, thereafter returning to private practice in Knoxville from 1998 to 2003.
District court service
On January 7, 2003, Varlan was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee vacated by Robert Leon Jordan. Varlan was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 13, 2003, and received his commission on March 14, 2003. He became Chief Judge on October 8, 2012.