Thomas Walter Swan


Thomas Walter Swan was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Education and career

Born in Norwich, Connecticut Swan received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Yale University in 1900. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1903. He was in private practice of law in Chicago, Illinois from 1903 to 1916. He was a lecturer in law at the University of Chicago from 1903 to 1904, and in 1908. He was Dean and Professor of Law at Yale Law School from 1916 to 1927.

Federal judicial service

Swan was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge on December 15, 1926, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by Judge Henry Wade Rogers. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 22, 1926, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1951 to 1953. He assumed senior status on July 1, 1953. His service was terminated on July 13, 1975, due to his death.

Notable decisions as sitting judge