Thomas Collier Platt, Jr.

Thomas Collier Platt Jr. (May 29, 1925 – March 4, 2017) was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

A great-grandson of former U.S. Senator Thomas Collier Platt, he was born in New York, New York. He was a U.S. Naval Reserve from 1943 to 1946. He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1947, and an LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1950. While in law school, Platt married Anne Byrd Symington in 1948. After engaging in private practice in New York City from 1950 to 1953, he became an assistant U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of New York, serving from 1953 to 1956. He then returned to private practice in New York City, while also serving as an attorney for Village of Laurel Hollow, New York from 1958 to 1974, and acting police justice in Village of Lloyd Harbor, New York from 1958 to 1963.

Platt was nominated by President Richard M. Nixon on January 31, 1974, to a seat vacated by George Rosling. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 1, 1974, and received his commission on March 8, 1974. At the time of his nomination, he was the first federal district court judge from Suffolk County, New York. He served as chief judge of the Eastern District from 1988 to 1995. After over 25 years of active service, Platt assumed senior status on February 1, 2001 and served in that capacity until his death on March 4, 2017 in North Branford, Connecticut.