Thomas W. Thrash Jr.

Thomas W. Thrash Jr.
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
Incumbent
Assumed office May 8, 2021
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
In office July 31, 2014 – May 8, 2021
Preceded by	Julie E. Carnes
Succeeded by	Timothy Batten
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
In office August 1, 1997 – May 8, 2021
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Robert L. Vining Jr.
Succeeded by	Victoria Calvert
Personal details
Born	Thomas Woodrow Thrash Jr. (1951-05-08) May 8, 1951 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Children	2, including Maggie Thrash
Education	University of Virginia (BA) Harvard University (JD)

Thomas Woodrow Thrash Jr. (born May 8, 1951) is a Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Education and career

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Thrash received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in 1973 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1976. He was in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia from 1976 to 1977. He was then an assistant district attorney of Fulton County District Attorney's Office until 1980. He resumed his private practice in Atlanta from 1981 to 1997. He was a Law professor at Georgia State University from 1986 to 1997.

Federal judicial service

On January 7, 1997, Thrash was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia vacated by Robert L. Vining Jr. Thrash was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 31, 1997, and received his commission on August 1, 1997. He became Chief Judge on July 31, 2014. He assumed senior status on May 8, 2021.

Undisclosed luxury travel

In May 2024, NPR revealed that Thrash had received free travel in December 2021 to the Breakers Colloquium, a privately funded legal seminar hosted at The Breakers resort in Palm Beach, Florida, but had failed to disclose this on his required annual financial disclosure report for that year, in violation of federal law. In response, a representative of Thrash told NPR, "No comment."

Sources

• Thomas W. Thrash Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.