Honorable Amul R Thapar

United States District Judge, Eastern District of Kentucky

Amul R. Thapar, a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, is the youngest judge on the federal bench. He also has the privilege of being the first South Asian Article III judge.
Prior to his confirmation, Judge Thapar served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. While United States Attorney, Judge Thapar was appointed to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (“AGAC”) and chaired the AGAC’s Controlled Substances and Asset Forfeiture subcommittee. He also served on the Terrorism and National Security subcommittee, the Violent Crime subcommittee, and Child Exploitation working group.

Judge Thapar also worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Ohio and the District of Columbia. During his tenure, Judge Thapar assembled a team of agents and investigators to seas the Southern Ohio Mortgage Fraud Task Force, and successfully prosecuted approximately 40 defendants engaged in mortgage fraud. In 2005, Judge Thapar successfully prosecuted the ownof the Florence Freedom for, among other things, bank fraud and election fraud. Also, in 2005, Judge Thapar led a successful investigation and prosecution into a conspiracy ring that provided illegal aliens with Judge Thapar has also worked for the law firms of Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C., and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cincinnati, Ohio. Between 1994 and 1997, Judge Thapar served as a law clerk to the Honorable S. Arthur Spiegel, who sits on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones, who sat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut awarded Judge Thapar with their Distinguished Legal Professional award. The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association recognized him with its Best Lawyers Under 40 distinction. Judge Thapar’s commitment to service is longstanding, and while he was a judicial law clerk, he founded the “Street Law” program at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. The program continues to serve various underprivileged high schools in the greater Cincinnati area. He also has teaching experience at the University of Cincinnati College of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. Judge Thapar is currently a National Advisory Council Member for the North American South Asian Bar Association.

Judge Thapar received his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.