Judge Bios

United States District Judge John D. Bates will take his oath of office on Friday, February 1, 2002, at 4:30 p.m., in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse.

Judge Bates was appointed United States District Judge in December 2001. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1968 and received a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976. From 1968 to 1971, he served in the United States Army, including a tour in Vietnam.

Judge Bates clerked for Judge Roszel C. Thomsen of the United States District Court for

United States District Judge John D. Bates will take his oath of office on Friday, February 1, 2002, at 4:30 p.m., in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse.

Judge Bates was appointed United States District Judge in December 2001. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1968 and received a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976. From 1968 to 1971, he served in the United States Army, including a tour in Vietnam.

Judge Bates clerked for Judge Roszel C. Thomsen of the United States District Court for
the District of Maryland from 1976 to 1977 and was an associate at Steptoe & Johnson
from 1977 to 1980. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of
Columbia from 1980 to 1997, and was Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s
Office from 1987 to 1997. Judge Bates was on detail as Deputy Independent Counsel for
the Whitewater investigation from 1995 to mid-1997.

In 1998, he joined the Washington law firm of Miller & Chevalier, where he was Chair of
the Government Contracts/Litigation Department and a member of the Executive
Committee. Judge Bates has served on the Advisory Committee for Procedures of the D.C.
Circuit and on the Civil Justice Reform Committee for the District Court, and as Treasurer
of the D.C. Bar, Chairman of the Publications Committee of the D.C. Bar, and Chairman of
the Litigation Section of the Federal Bar Association. He was a member of the Board of
Directors of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.