In Memoriam: Hon. Theodore B. Olson
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Ted Olson’s contributions to the legal profession and to the Federalist Society are unparalleled. His accomplishments over the course of an amazingly rich and wide-ranging legal career are manifest and awe-inspiring: brilliantly effective and successful both as a trial lawyer and in the appellate courts, sagacious and insightful as a counselor and advisor to Presidents, would-be Presidents, and innumerable other clients. Ted was a truly superb advocate at every level of the judicial system, whether conducting a cross-examination of a hostile witness or arguing the case of the century before the Supreme Court. His resonant voice would fill the courtroom and make it seem unreasonable -- even a bit ridiculous -- to disagree with him; he had an unfailingly accurate intuitive sense of the most compelling way to frame even the most complex legal arguments; and he was unexcelled in his ability to cut through extraneous complexities to focus his audience on the core of the issue, always in a manner calculated to persuade. But beyond all of that, Ted was one of the most generous, warm, and gracious people I have been privileged to work with. The mentoring, guidance, and assistance he provided over the course of his career to countless conservative lawyers and colleagues has had an immense impact on the development of the profession and the success of the Society, and will continue to do so for decades to come. We will not soon see his equal. Ted Olson will be greatly missed.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Thomas G. Hungar is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson Dunn. His practice focuses on appellate litigation, and he assists clients with congressional investigations and complex trial court litigation matters as well. He has presented oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States in 28 cases, including some of the Court’s most important patent, antitrust, securities, and environmental law decisions, and he has also appeared before numerous lower federal and state courts.
Thomas served as General Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives from July 2016 until January 2019. As General Counsel, he provided legal advice and litigation representation on a non-partisan basis to the House and its leadership, members, officers, and staff, and he worked closely with numerous House committees in connection with their oversight and investigative activities. Previously, he served as a Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. In that position, he supervised business-related appellate litigation for the federal government, with particular emphasis on patent, antitrust, securities, and environmental appellate cases, and he also oversaw appellate litigation in banking, bankruptcy, tax, government contracts, communications, copyright, labor, trademark, and international trade matters. In private practice, Thomas’s appellate experience has encompassed those areas as well as class actions, constitutional law, employment law, product liability, administrative procedure, insurance coverage and bad faith, and general commercial litigation. He has handled scores of business-related appeals in the Supreme Court and lower appellate courts, and has briefed and argued many high-profile matters.
Thomas is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and is a frequent lecturer in his areas of expertise. While at the Department of Justice, he served as Appellate Counsel to the Intellectual Property Task Force Executive Staff, and he was awarded the John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement, the Department’s highest award presented to attorneys for contributions and excellence in legal performance, in recognition of his handling of patent-law matters before the Supreme Court.
Most recently, Thomas has garnered national recognition for his Appellate Practice in The Legal 500 – United States, Best Lawyers in America, and in Chambers USA, which has repeatedly highlighted Thomas for his “expertise in appellate litigation” and experience with employment and antitrust disputes, as well as Congressional Investigations. Thomas was also recently named a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation.
Thomas served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States from 1992-1994. He also served as a law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court and to Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1987, where he was a Senior Editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review. He received his Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude in mathematics/computer science and economics from Willamette University in 1984.
Thomas is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.