T.L. previously was a partner in the Washington, DC, office of Covington & Burling LLP, where his practice focused on litigation and arbitration. With Covington, he participated in a wide range of pro bono activity that included post-conviction litigation for a death row inmate in the Deep South. T.L. also served in government as Deputy Under Secretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy (2018−2021) and as an in-house counsel with an energy company (2003−2006). 

Before becoming President, T.L. had served on CAIL’s Board of Trustees and been a member of the advisory boards of CAIL’s Institute for Energy Law and Institute for Transnational Arbitration. He has taught in a program on international arbitration co-sponsored by Columbia Law School and is a member of the American Law Institute. T.L. received an undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin, both with high honors.