Judge Biographies

KIMBERLY A. MOORE was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006 and assumed the duties of Chief Circuit Judge on May 22, 2021.  Prior to her appointment, Chief Judge Moore was a Professor of Law from 2004 to 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.  Chief 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.  She was an Associate at Kirkland & Ellis from 1994 to 1995.  From 1988 to 1992, Chief Judge Moore was employed in electrical engineering with the Naval Surface Warfare Center.  Chief 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.  Chief 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.​

PAULINE NEWMAN was appointed by President Ronald W. Reagan in 1984.  From 1969 to 1984, Judge Newman served as Director, Patent, Trademark and Licensing Department, FMC Corporation, and as house counsel from 1954.  She worked as a research scientist at the American Cyanamid Company from 1951 to 1954.  From 1961 to 1962, she worked for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a science policy specialist.  She served on the Domestic Policy Review of Industrial Innovation from 1978 to 1979, on the State Department Advisory Committee on International Intellectual Property from 1974 to 1984, and from 1982 to 1984 as 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 as Distinguished Professor of Law at the George Mason University School of Law.  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.

HALDANE ROBERT MAYER was appointed by President Ronald W. Reagan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 1987, and served as Chief Judge from 1997 to 2004.  He served on what is now the United States Court of Federal Claims from 1982 until his appointment to the Federal Circuit.  Judge Mayer received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and served in the regular 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 RVN Ranger Combat Badge.  He transferred to the Reserves and retired as Lieutenant Colonel.  Judge Mayer received a J.D. from the College of William and Mary Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the William and Mary Law Review.  He served as Special Assistant to the Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger, for three years, and was a law clerk to the Honorable John D. Butzner, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  He also served as Deputy and Acting United States Special Counsel.  He was an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and George Washington University National Law Center, and was in private law practice in Charlottesville, Virginia and Washington, DC.  Judge Mayer assumed senior status on June 30, 2010. 

S. JAY PLAGER was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1989.  Prior to his appointment Judge Plager served in the Executive Office of Presidents Reagan and Bush: under President Reagan he was Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and under both Presidents Reagan and Bush he was Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.  He earlier served as Counselor to the Under Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.  Before coming to Washington, Judge Plager was Dean and Professor at the Indiana University School of Law; Professor, Faculty of Law, at the University of Illinois; and Professor, Faculty of Law, at the University of Florida, as well as visiting professor at Stanford University, University of Wisconsin, and Cambridge University, England.  Judge Plager was commissioned in the United States Navy and served on active duty during the Korean Conflict.  After his active duty, Judge Plager entered the Naval Reserve and held a number of posts until leaving the Navy as a Commander.  He received his A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina; a J.D. from the University of Florida, with high honors, and an LL.M. from Columbia University.  Judge Plager continues to be active in organizations in the environmental, land use, and natural resources area, fields in which he taught. He is the author of numerous academic publications, including recent studies about the judicial system.  Judge Plager assumed senior status on November 30, 2000.  

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 at SmithKline Beecham Corporation.  He also held various leadership positions in bar, industry, and government advisory organizations.  He was a member of the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure from 1990 to 1998, and was a member of the Committee on Codes of Conduct from 2005 to 2013.  He was awarded the Jefferson Medal for outstanding contributions to intellectual property law in 1998; the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation Distinguished Intellectual Property Professional Award in 2008; the Philadelphia Intellectual Property Law Association’s Award for Outstanding IP Achievement in 2010; the Boston Patent Law Association’s Distinguished Public Service Award in 2011; the “lifetime achievement” award from The Sedona Conference in 2011; the Outstanding Public Service Award from the New York Intellectual Property Law Association in 2012; and the Professionalism Award from the American Inns of Court in 2020.  The Boston IP Inn of Court renamed itself as the Alan D. Lourie Boston IP Court in 2020.  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. ​

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 to 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 Justice Byron R. White in October 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.

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 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.  Judge Schall assumed senior status on October 5, 2009.

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 Office of the Solicitor General from 1978 to 1979 and 1986 to 1994, and the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice from 1979 to 1986.  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.  Judge Bryson assumed senior status on January 7, 2013.

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 Foley and Lardner from 1997 to 1999 and a partner and head of the intellectual property department of Marks and Murase from 1977 to 1997.  Judge Linn served as a Patent Examiner from 1965 to 1968.  He was a member of the founding Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Patent Section and served as Chairman in 1975.  In 2009 he received the NYIPLA Leadership Award and the NJIPLA Jefferson Medal.  In 2010, Judge Linn was awarded the Outstanding Public Service Award by the NYIPLA.  In 2011, he was awarded the inaugural Mark Banner Award by the ABA and the A. Sherman Christensen Award by the American Inns of Court.  In 2012, Judge Linn was awarded the Outstanding IP Achievement Award by the Philadelphia IPLA.  In 2013, he received the Distinguished Judicial Service Award from the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago.  He received the Honorable William C. Conner American Inn of Court Excellence Award in 2014.  That year, he also received the Distinguished IP Professional Award from the IPO Education Foundation.  In 2015, Judge Linn was recognized by the Board of Directors of the AIPLA with its highest award, the Excellence Award.  He served as an Adjunct Professor and Professorial Lecturer at The George Washington University Law School from 2001 to 2003 and served for over a decade on the Law School’s IP Advisory Board.  Judge Linn is a past president of the Giles Sutherland Rich American Inn of Court, a member of the Richard Linn American Inn of Court, a visiting member of the Honorable William C. Conner American Inn of Court, and an honorary lifetime member of the Benjamin Franklin 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.  Judge Linn assumed senior status on November 1, 2012.

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 & 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 & 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 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 2001 and President of the Giles Sutherland Rich Inn of Court from 2006 to 2007.  Judge Dyk is co-author of the Chapter on Patents in the Fifth Edition of the treatise, Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts.  He was the recipient of the 2012 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Federal Circuit and the 2016 Honorable William C. Conner Inn of Court Excellence Award.  He is a member of the American Law Institute.

SHARON PROST was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001.  Judge Prost served as Chief Circuit Judge from May 31, 2014 to May 21, 2021.  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.  Prior to her work on Capitol Hill, she served for fifteen years in five different agencies of the executive branch.  These agencies included the Department of Treasury, National Labor Relations Board, and General Accounting Office.  Judge Prost received a B.S. from Cornell University in 1973, an M.B.A. from The George Washington University in 1975, a J.D. from the Washington College of Law, American University in 1979, and an LL.M. in tax law from The George Washington University School of Law in 1984.

JIMMIE V. REYNA was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Barack Obama in 2011.  He was confirmed by the Senate 86 to 0.  Prior to his appointment, Judge Reyna was an international trade attorney with Williams Mullen and a member of its board of directors.  Before that, he was an associate and partner at the Washington law firm of Stewart and Stewart (1986–98).  Prior to locating in Washington, Judge Reyna was a solo practitioner in Albuquerque, New Mexico and, before that, an associate at an Albuquerque, New Mexico law firm.

Judge Reyna was appointed to and served on the U.S. roster of dispute settlement panelists for trade disputes under Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (1994–2011), and the U.S. Indicative List of Non-Governmental Panelists for the World Trade Organization, Dispute Settlement Mechanism, for disputes in both trade in goods and trade in services (1995–2011).  Judge Reyna has authored two books, Passport to North American Trade: Rules of Origin and Customs Procedures Under the NAFTA (Shepards 1995), and The GATT Uruguay Round, A Negotiating History: Services, 1986-1992 (Kluwer 1993), and numerous articles on international trade and customs issues, as well as in other areas of law.  He was the founder and senior co-editor of the Hispanic National Bar Association Journal of Law and Policy.

Judge Reyna has worked throughout his career towards the positive development of the U.S. legal profession.  He served in various leadership positions in the ABA Section on International Law and the Section on Dispute Settlement.  He was a founder and member of the board of directors of the U.S.-Mexico Law Institute.  He has provided over two decades of leadership in the Hispanic National Bar Association, including serving as its National President (2006–07). 

Judge Reyna is active in educational and pro bono projects involving U.S. patent law.  He has also participated as a lecturer in judicial ethics and rule of law training programs in Mexico (2017) and Colombia (2020).  He is currently serving as a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) Advisory Board of Judges for the 2023-2024 term.

Judge Reyna has received numerous awards, including the Ohtli Award (the highest honor bestowed by the Mexican government on non-Mexican citizens), and has been recognized as among the nation’s 100 most influential Latino leaders by the Hispanic Business Magazine (2011), the Latino Leaders Magazine (2011–12 and 2015–18), and the Washington Business Journal (2010).  In 2015, the first intellectual property Inn of Court in Minnesota was founded, and it was named the Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna Intellectual Property American Inn of Court.  In 2017, Judge Reyna received The Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal, the University of Rochester’s highest alumni award presented for career achievements and notable service.  In 2018, he received The Hon. William C. Conner Inn Excellence Award. In 2022, Judge Reyna received the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association (NJIPLA)’s Jefferson Medal for his exceptional contributions to the field of intellectual property law.

EVAN J. WALLACH was appointed by President Barack H. Obama in 2011.  Prior to his appointment, he served for 16 years as a judge of the United States Court of International Trade, having been appointed to the court by President William J. Clinton in 1995.  During his tenure on the Court of International Trade, Judge Wallach served as an adjunct professor teaching seminars on the law of war at Brooklyn Law School, New York Law School, George Mason University School of Law, and the University of Münster in Münster, Germany.  He is currently an adjunct professor at The George Washington Law School teaching a seminar on the law governing fully autonomous fighting vehicles.  He has also published numerous law review articles and, a work of fiction for young adults called “Jake and Me,” and a casebook titled “The Law of War in the 21st Century.”  He is a member of the American Law Institute and served on the Board of the Lieber Society of the American Society of International Law.  Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was an associate, and then partner, with Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1976 to 1995.  While on a sabbatical from 1987 to 1988, he served as Senator Harry Reid’s General Counsel and Public Policy Advisor.  During the First Gulf War he served at the Pentagon as an Attorney/Advisor in the International Affairs Division of the Office of the Judge Advocate of the Army.  Judge Wallach was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal for his enlisted services in the 8th Engr. Bn. 1st Cav. Div. (AM) during the Vietnam War, and the Meritorious Service Medal (oak leaf cluster) and the Nevada Medal of Merit for his service with the National Guard.  He received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Arizona in 1973, a J.D. from the University of California Berkeley in 1976, and an LL.B. in Public International Law from the University of Cambridge in 1981.  He began section hiking the Appalachian Trail in 1999 and completed it in 2017, becoming the only active federal judge to date to do so.  Judge Wallach assumed senior status on May 31, 2021.

RICHARD G. TARANTO was appointed by President Barack H. Obama in 2013.  Judge Taranto practiced law with the firm of Farr & Taranto from 1989 to 2013, where he specialized in appellate litigation.  From 1986 to 1989, he served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, representing the United States in the Supreme Court.  He was in private practice from 1984 to 1986 with the firm of Onek, Klein & Farr.  Judge Taranto served as a law clerk at all three levels of the federal court system.  He clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1983 to 1984; for Judge Robert Bork of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1982 to 1983; and for Judge Abraham Sofaer of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1981 to 1982.  Judge Taranto received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1981 and a B.A. from Pomona College in 1977.

RAYMOND T. CHEN was appointed by President Barack H. Obama in 2013.  Judge Chen served as Deputy General Counsel for Intellectual Property Law and Solicitor at the United States Patent and Trademark Office from 2008 to 2013.  He was an Associate Solicitor in that office from 1998 to 2008.  From 1996 to 1998, Judge Chen served as a Technical Assistant at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  Before joining the court staff, Judge Chen was an associate with Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear from 1994 to 1996.  Before entering law school, Judge Chen worked as a scientist at the law firm of Hecker & Harriman from 1989 to 1991.  Judge Chen received his J.D. from the New York University School of Law in 1994 and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1990.

TODD M. HUGHES was appointed by President Barack H. Obama in 2013.  Judge Hughes served as Deputy Director of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice from 2007 to 2013.  He was the Assistant Director in that office from 1999 to 2007 and a Trial Attorney from 1994 to 1999.  From 1992 to 1994, Judge Hughes clerked for Circuit Judge Robert Krupansky of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  He was an Adjunct Lecturer in Law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law during the Spring 1994 semester.  Judge Hughes received a J.D. from Duke Law School in 1992, an M.A. from Duke University in 1992, and an A.B. from Harvard College in 1989.

KARA FARNANDEZ STOLL was appointed by President Barack H. Obama in July 2015.  Prior to her appointment, Judge Stoll practiced law for seventeen years with the firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner, LLP, where she specialized in patent litigation.  Judge Stoll served as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University Law School in 2019, at George Mason University School of Law from 2008 to 2015, and at Howard University School of Law from 2004 to 2008.  From 1997 to 1998, she clerked for the Honorable Alvin A. Schall of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Judge Stoll worked at the United States Patent and Trademark Office from 1991 to 1997 as a patent examiner, at the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, and in the Solicitor’s Office.  She received a J.D. from Georgetown University School of Law in 1997 and a B.S.E.E. from Michigan State University in 1991.​

TIFFANY P. CUNNINGHAM was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden in 2021 and assumed duties of her office on September 1, 2021.  Prior to her appointment, she served as trial and appellate counsel for companies and individuals in complex patent and trade secret disputes.  From 2014 to 2021, Judge Cunningham served as a partner at Perkins Coie LLP in Chicago, Illinois.  She also was a member of the Executive Committee of Perkins Coie LLP from 2020 to 2021.  She served as a partner at the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP from 2007 to 2014 and as an associate at the same office from 2002 to 2007.  During her time in private practice, she was recognized on The Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and Leading Lawyers lists.  Judge Cunningham clerked from 2001 to 2002 for the Honorable Timothy B. Dyk, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  Judge Cunningham received her S.B. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998 and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2001.  She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi honor societies.​

LEONARD P. STARK was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden in March 2022.  He came to the Federal Circuit from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, where he was appointed as a District Judge by President Barack H. Obama in August 2010.  He served as Chief Judge of the District of Delaware from July 1, 2014 until June 30, 2021.  Judge Stark’s judicial tenure began in August 2007, when he was appointed a Magistrate Judge for the District of Delaware.  Prior to taking the bench, Judge Stark served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Delaware (2002 – 2007) and an associate with the Wilmington, Delaware office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (1997 – 2001).  Judge Stark clerked for the Honorable Walter King Stapleton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1996 to 1997.  Judge Stark graduated from the University of Delaware in 1991 with an M.A. in History, a B.S. in Economics, and a B.A. in Political Science.  In 1993, he earned a doctorate degree in Politics from Magdalen College at the University of Oxford, which he attended as Rhodes Scholar.  He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1996.  Judge Stark has taught intellectual property and complex litigation courses as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.