[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 42 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3800-S3801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF THOMAS A. VARLAN

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, last week the Senate confirmed the 
Presidential nomination of Thomas A. Varlan to be a United States 
District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee. While I did not 
have an opportunity that day to make a floor statement in support of 
Mr. Varlan, I did want to come to the floor to express my support for 
him and to express my gratitude to my colleagues for the expeditious 
confirmation of this superb nominee.
  Mr. Varlan was recommended last year by the current Senate majority 
leader, my colleague, Senator Frist, and former Senator Thompson. As 
someone who, as Governor of Tennessee appointed some 50 judges, I am 
confident that Mr. Varlan will be an able Federal judge.
  Mr. Varlan was born and raised in Oak Ridge, TN. He received a 
Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee in 1978, 
graduating with the highest honors. He received his Juris Doctorate 
from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1981, where he served as an 
editor of the law review and was selected for membership in the Order 
of the Coif, the national law school honor society.
  After receiving his law degree, Mr. Varlan worked for 6 years as an 
associate with the law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan in Atlanta, 
Georgia. In 1988, he returned home to Tennessee and from 1988 through 
1998 he served as Law Director for the city of Knoxville, managing all 
the legal affairs for Tennessee's third largest city. Mr. Varlan

[[Page S3801]]

has been a partner at the Knoxville law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC 
since 1998.
  Mr. Varlan has practiced law in the areas of employment, school, 
commercial, patent and trade secrets, antitrust, contracts, product 
liability, civil rights, tort, annexation, tax, zoning, condemnation, 
workers' compensation, constitutional, telecommunications, real 
property, governmental relations, and labor law. Mr. Varlan has 
practiced in federal, state, and administrative law courts throughout 
his career and has conducted a number of jury and bench trials.
  Mr. Varlan has also been active in his community, providing legal 
services to disadvantaged persons and for organizations such as 
Volunteer Legal Arts Services in Atlanta, GA, and the Knoxville Bar 
Association's Mentor for the Moment Program.
  I am confident that Mr. Varlan will be a fine addition to the Federal 
bench in Knoxville, and I thank all of my colleagues for their 
overwhelming support for him.

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