Rejection letter reveals 7th Circuit judge's plan to retire
Judge John Daniel Tinder of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t need to make a formal announcement about his plans to retire.
The information became public after Tinder indicated his plans in a rejection letter that was published by Above the Law.
The letter reads: “Thank you for applying for a clerkship with me. Your credentials are outstanding. However, I recently decided that I will be leaving the court in 2015 so I will not be hiring any additional clerks. I wish you well in obtaining a clerkship with someone else.”
Above the Law spoke with Tinder, who confirmed his retirement plans. “No good deed goes unpunished,” Tinder told the blog. “I wanted to give clerkship applicants some guidance about my future plans while holding off on a public announcement for a little bit longer. But it looks like you found out—as you always do—and here we are!”
Tinder will turn 65 in February 2015 and will be eligible to retire with full pay, based on his age and years of service. He will stop taking on additional work at that time and will work on completing pending opinions.
Tinder plans to leave the court, but has no firm plans for future work. “I don’t aspire to build a clientele or start a practice at this point in my career,” he told Above the Law. “I can think of things I’d enjoy doing in public interest, advocacy or arbitration. But I don’t have a particular target, just some vague notions that I will explore closer to the time.”
