Former Partner at DLA Piper Begins Judicial Career After 10 Years with the Firm
WASHINGTON February 13, 2006 –LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP is pleased to announce that Thomas C. Wheeler, a partner in the firm’s Washington D.C. office, was recently sworn in as a judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Wheeler, who had been with the firm for more than a decade, was nominated last June by President Bush to serve on the court for a 15 year term. The U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination in October. Later that month, the President commissioned his appointment. Wheeler began service at the court in November and his investiture was held on Friday, February 3 at the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building. After the ceremony, DLA Piper hosted a reception at the Dolley Madison House in Washington D.C.
“This is a well deserved accomplishment for Judge Wheeler and an important milestone in his career,” said Jeffrey F. Liss, co-managing partner of DLA Piper, U.S. “For more than 10 years, we have enjoyed working with Tom and watching him excel as a lawyer. He has earned admiration and respect from the legal community and his many colleagues in the firm. Although he is departing, it is a distinguished honor to have one of our own become part of the judiciary.”
“I am overjoyed about starting my new career on the bench of ‘the People’s Court,’” said The Honorable Thomas Wheeler, U.S. Court of Federal Claims. “I will have the opportunity to work with wonderful colleagues on the court, many of whom I knew previously from practicing before them. But I am also leaving some wonderful colleagues at DLA Piper, for whom I shall retain respect and friendship always.”
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims hears claims by the citizenry against the government. The court is comprised of 16 judges who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The court has nationwide jurisdiction over money claims founded on federal statutes, executive regulations, government contracts, and the Constitution. Cases heard by the Court involve government contract disputes and Constitutional claims, actions for patent and copyright infringement, tax refunds, Indian claims, federal contract bid protests, civilian and military pay claims, and vaccine injury claims.
Wheeler joined the Washington D.C. office of what was then Piper & Marbury as a partner in 1995. During the following decade, he focused on government contract claims, litigation, and counseling for large and small business clients. Wheeler appeared before many agency boards of contract appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of appeals for the Federal Circuit, a number of U.S. District Courts, and the Government Accountability Office.
Wheeler earned a B.A. from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association’s Public Contracts and Litigation Sections.
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