ALEXANDRIA, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–David S. Tatel has been selected to receive the 2023 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the DC Circuit. Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit will present the award during the DC Circuit Judicial Conference. Since 1994, Tatel has been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. He took senior status recently and will retire from the court in August and join the pro bono department at Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC.
“Judge Tatel has dedicated his life to upholding the rule of law, imparting equal justice, and ensuring access to legal services for all citizens,” writes Judge Patricia A. Millett of the DC Circuit, who nominated Tatel for the award. “He is a beloved and highly respected member of our court, and a true treasure to the justice system.”
Three years after earning his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1966, Tatel became the founding director of the Chicago branch of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He later became the director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, supporting desegregation efforts and other civil rights causes around the country. In 1977, he joined President Jimmy Carter’s administration as director of the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, reinvigorating the agency’s efforts to enforce anti-discrimination laws. He then entered private practice at the law firm Hogan & Hartson, now Hogan Lovells. He first headed the firm’s Community Services Department, which provides pro bono services, then developed and led the firm’s education practice. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Tatel to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
With a lifelong interest in science, Tatel cochaired the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Science, Technology, and Law, which works to strengthen the relationship between science and law, for almost two decades. He currently serves on a committee charged with updating the Federal Judicial Center’s Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence. Tatel has also served on the Federal Judicial Center’s Advisory Board and the American Society of International Law’s Judicial Advisory Board.
Tatel has received the Pioneer for Justice Award from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of College and University Attorneys, and the National Exemplar Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
The American Inns of Court, in Alexandria, Virginia, inspires the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring. The organization’s membership includes nearly 30,000 federal, state, and local judges; lawyers; law professors; and law students in more than 360 chapters nationwide. More information is available at www.innsofcourt.org.
