Thomas Kent Wetherell II (born August 26, 1970) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (in case citations, N.D. Fla.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

, and former Florida state court judge.

Early life and education

Wetherell was born on August 26, 1970, in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...

to a politically active family. He earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

, ''magna cum laude'', from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

, with high honors, from the

Florida State University College of Law The Florida State University College of Law is the law school of Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. It is currently the highest ranked law school in Florida and is ranked in the top 40 best law schools in the United States. ...

, where he was inducted into the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

and served as an articles editor of the ''

Florida State University Law Review The ''Florida State University Law Review'' is the flagship law review at the Florida State University College of Law. It publishes four issues per year and is generally recognized among the top 100 student-edited law reviews in the United States. ...

''."President Donald J. Trump Announces Thirteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees and Seventh Wave of United States Marshal Nominees, White House, April 26, 2018

Legal career

Wetherell spent four years in private practice at the

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

firm Hopping Green Sams & Smith, where his practice focused on representing landowners and

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

s on

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

matters before local governments and state agencies and representing corporate clients in administrative rule challenge and bid protest hearings. Before becoming a judge, he served for two years in the Office of the

Florida Attorney General The Florida attorney general is an elected Florida Cabinet, cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state, and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. The office is ...

as Deputy

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

State judicial service

Wetherell served for seven years as an

Administrative Law Judge An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is a judge and trier of fact who both presides over trials and adjudicates claims or disputes involving administrative law, thus involving administrative units of the executive branch of go ...

of the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, where he heard a wide variety of cases, involving rule challenges, bid protests, hospital certificates of need, environmental permit challenges,

employment discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, ...

claims, and professional license disputes. He was appointed a Judge of the

Florida First District Court of Appeal The Florida First District Court of Appeal, also known as the First DCA, is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, the state capital. It is unique among the six Florida District Courts of Appeal in that, much like the United States Court of Appeal ...

Florida Governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Florida and is the commander-in-chief of the Florida National Guard and Florida State Gu ...

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. ( ; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. represen ...

and took office on October 1, 2009. His service on the state court terminated when he was appointed a federal district judge.

Federal judicial service

On April 26, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

announced his intent to nominate Wetherell to serve as a United States District Judge of the

. On May 7, 2018, his nomination was sent to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge John Richard Smoak Jr., who assumed senior status on December 31, 2015. On October 17, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. On January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Wetherell for a federal judgeship. His nomination was sent to the Senate later that day. On February 7, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 18–4 vote. On July 9, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by an 82–16 vote. On July 10, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 78–15 vote. He received his judicial commission on July 12, 2019.

References

External links

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Official Biography on Florida First District Court of Appeal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wetherell, T. Kent II 1970 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers American accountants Florida lawyers Florida State University alumni Florida State University College of Law alumni Judges of the Florida District Courts of Appeal Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida People from Daytona Beach, Florida United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump