Galen N. ThorpDirector
Bringing a wealth of civil litigation experience, Galen Thorp assists clients with complex commercial and government-related litigation at the trial and appellate levels. He is a director in the firm’s Oklahoma City office and a member of the Administrative & Regulatory, Appellate, Employee Benefits & ERISA, Healthcare, and Litigation & Trial Practice Groups. He has particular experience in litigation involving government agencies, including matters regarding ERISA fiduciary standards, regulatory matters, and e-discovery.
Galen’s practice is informed by his 16 years of experience at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Division. As a senior trial counsel at the DOJ’s Federal Programs Branch, he served as lead counsel for the federal government in a variety of high-stakes administrative and regulatory challenges. He has argued major cases in federal courts nationwide with several requiring extensive discovery management and deposition preparation for high level agency officials. He also prepared hundreds of briefs in regulatory challenges raising complex administrative and constitutional law questions.
From 2007-2008, Galen served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jerome A. Holmes, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Galen graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and served as an Articles Editor for the Georgetown Law Review. He graduated summa cum laude from Patrick Henry College with a bachelor of arts in government.
- Represented U.S. Department of Labor through summary judgment hearings in five district courts for challenges to ERISA fiduciary investment advice regulation affecting entire retirement industry;
- Led litigation team in complex Title VII class action involving 1,000 class members seeking nine-figure damages against Federal Aviation Administration hiring procedures;
- Successfully represented the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Services Administration, as first chair in five-day trial regarding credit discrimination;
- Successfully defended U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Service, in dispute regarding whether grant was properly issued to broadband internet provider in rural Oklahoma.
*Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different and must be judged on its merits.
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch
- Trial Attorney (2008-2016)
- Senior Counsel (2016-2020)
- Senior Trial Counsel (2020-2025)
Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, D.C.
J.D., 2007
Honors:
Magna Cum Laude
Order of the Coif
Dean's Scholar
Pro Bono Pledge Honoree
Articles Editor, Georgetown Law Journal
Student Award, Supreme Court Historical Society (2008)
Patrick Henry College
Purcellville, VA
B.A. in Government, 2004
Honors:
Summa Cum Laude
- Oklahoma (Pending)
- Virginia (2007)
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- American Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association
- Oklahoma County Bar Association
- Thorp, Galen N. "William Wirt." Journal of Supreme Court History, vol. 33 no. 3, 2008, p. 223-303.
