Wiley’s Thomas Johnson Appointed to Administrative Conference of the United States

August 4, 2022

Washington, DC – Wiley, a preeminent DC law firm, is pleased to announce that partner Thomas M. Johnson, Jr., co-chair of the firm’s Issues and Appeals Practice, has been appointed to serve as a Public Member on the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). As one of only 40 individuals outside government selected to serve in this capacity, Johnson will draw on his deep knowledge of the federal regulatory environment and his extensive appellate experience with respect to federal rulemakings. On ACUS, Johnson will join his Issues and Appeals Practice co-chair Claire J. Evans, who is also a Public Member.

“It is an honor to be appointed to serve as a Public Member of ACUS,” Johnson said. “Having previously served as General Counsel of a federal agency, I have seen firsthand how important ACUS guidelines are to ensuring that the federal government follows best practices in complex rulemakings.” 

Johnson is among seven newly appointed experts from the private sector and academia who will serve as Public Members of ACUS for a two-year term. ACUS is an independent agency within the Executive branch that develops recommendations for improving the fairness and efficiency of federal administrative procedures and the rulemaking process. The 101 voting members of ACUS include 40 Public Members as well as a Chairman, 10 Council Members, and 50 Government Members.

Johnson has advised clients on all stages of federal agency rulemaking, adjudication, and litigation, in fields ranging from communications to environmental law to securities to labor and employment. Prior to joining Wiley, he served as General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, where he briefed dozens of appeals in the federal courts of appeals in constitutional and administrative law challenges to the Commission’s orders and personally argued two. Johnson also served as Deputy Solicitor General for the State of West Virginia, where he briefed and argued appeals in both federal and state court, and as a law clerk to Judge Jerry E. Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He also previously worked for 10 years in private practice.

Wiley’s Issues and Appeals Practice has a deep bench of former judicial clerks and appellate practitioners. The firm’s “elite cadre of appellate lawyers” (Legal Times) is frequently called upon for “bet the company” cases or to reverse a lower court, regulatory, or legislative defeat. The group often takes the lead for an entire industry on a critical issue in litigation across the country, and also has extensive experience acting as a “private solicitor general” for its clients, moving issues across forums and finding the correct venue and timing for victory.