---
title: "Timothy B. Dyk | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/timothy-b-dyk"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-09"
---

# Timothy B. Dyk

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- State: National federal courts
- Role: U.S. Circuit Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- Current role: Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (2000–present)
- Private practice: Practiced in Washington, D.C., from 1964 to 2000, first at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, then as chair of the Issues and Appeals practice at Jones Day, specializing in First Amendment law
- Visiting professor and lecturer, University of Virginia School of Law, 1987-1988
- Visiting professor and lecturer, University of Virginia School of Law, 1984-1985
- Special assistant to the assistant attorney general, Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1963-1964
- Law clerk, Hon. Earl Warren, Supreme Court of the United States, 1962-1963
- Law clerkships: held the role of clerk for Supreme Court Justices Stanley Reed and Harold Burton (1961–1962) and for Chief Justice Earl Warren (1962–1963), during which he was involved in the landmark Gideon v
- Law clerk, Hon. Stanley Reed and Hon. Harold Burton, Supreme Court of the United States, 1961-1962
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- Academic roles: Lecturer at Georgetown University Law Center, visiting professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, and lecturer at Yale Law School

### Education

- Harvard University — J.D. (1961)
- J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1961, serving on the Harvard Law Review.
- Harvard University — B.A. (1958)

### Additional information

- Lecturer, Georgetown University Law Center, 1989-present
- Lecturer, Yale Law School, 1989-present
- Lecturer, Georgetown University Law Center, 1986-present
- Lecturer, Georgetown University Law Center, 1983-present
- In 2022, Dyk published Timothy B. Dyk: The Education of a Federal Judge, a memoir reflecting on his career, legal profession changes, and judicial experiences.
- President Bill Clinton nominated Dyk on January 26, 1999, to replace Glenn L. Archer Jr. The Senate confirmed him on May 24, 2000, and he assumed office the next day.
- Lecturer, Yale Law School, 1986-1987
- He graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1958
- Date of birth: 1937-01-01
- The American Bar Association rated him “Unanimously Qualified”.
- Wainwright case.
- Dyk is the son of Ruth Dyk, a women’s suffragist and psychologist, and Walter Dyk, a writer on the Navajo people.
- Birth place: Boston, MA

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### appellate oral argument

Scope: courtwide

In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation.

Evidence excerpt: Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessary

[Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### argument check in

Scope: courtwide

Arguing counsel must check in with the courtroom deputy at least 30 minutes before the day's session starts.

Evidence excerpt: Arguing counsel must check-in with the courtroom deputy at their assigned courtroom at least thirty minutes before the start of the day's session.

[Federal Circuit: Attending Oral Arguments](https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/oral-argument/attending-oral-arguments/)
Source checked: 2026-07-30

### same day changes

Scope: courtwide

Same-day changes to arguing counsel or time divisions are generally not allowed without a prior new appearance and amended response to the notice of oral argument.

Evidence excerpt: Same-day changes to arguing counsel or time divisions are generally not allowed, absent prior filing of a new entry of appearance and an amended Response to Notice of Oral Argument in the case.

[Federal Circuit: Attending Oral Arguments](https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/oral-argument/attending-oral-arguments/)
Source checked: 2026-07-30


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391141)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391141)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391141)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/956/timothy-b-dyk/)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [Federal Circuit: Attending Oral Arguments](https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/oral-argument/attending-oral-arguments/)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/956/timothy-b-dyk/)
- [Wikidata: Timothy B. Dyk](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7807036)

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