Timothy B. Dyk

Timothy B. Dyk (born February 14, 1937) is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Education and early career

The son of noted women's suffragist Ruth Belcher Dyk, Dyk was born in Boston. He earned his bachelor's degree cum laude from Harvard College in 1958, and earned his law degree magna cum laude in 1961 from the Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the law review. Dyk clerked for retired U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stanley Reed and Harold Burton in 1961 and 1962, and clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1962-1963. From 1963 until 1964, Dyk completed a one-year assignment with the U.S. Department of Justice as Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division.

Private practice

Dyk worked in private practice as an attorney from 1964 until 2000, first with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, and later with Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. Immediately prior to being nominated to the Federal Circuit in 1998, Dyk was a partner at Jones Day, specializing in First Amendment law. In an August 4, 1997 article in the Washington Post, Dyk was identified as one of "only a handful of repeat performers considered heavyweights" in representing clients before the U.S. Supreme Court. Dyk also made the news in the early and mid-1990s for his desire to open federal courtrooms to news media organizations. After the Judicial Conference of the United States voted on September 20, 1994 to keep cameras out of federal courtrooms by ending a pilot program that had allowed cameras at civil trials and appeals in eight courts, Dyk told the Washington Post in an article that was published on September 21, 1994 that "they appear to have slammed the door on a very important experiment, which, if it had been expanded, would have benefited people throughout the country."

Federal judicial service

On April 6, 1998, President Clinton nominated Dyk to his current post. With the U.S. Senate controlled by Republicans, Dyk's nomination languished for more than two years. The delay was due in part to some Republican senators' views that the Federal Circuit did not need another judge. Dyk was confirmed to his federal circuit seat by the U.S. Senate by a voice vote on May 24, 2000. He received his commission on May 25, 2000.

Personal

Dyk's wife, Sally Katzen, was the Deputy Director for Management Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration.

External links

* [http://air.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2861 Federal Judicial Center Profile]