[3] Thomas also served as the standing bankruptcy trustee for all bankruptcy cases filed in the Billings Division of the United States District Court for the District of Montana from 1978 to 1981 and served as an adjunct instructor in law at Rocky Mountain College from 1982 to 1995.

[4] On July 19, 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated Thomas to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson.

[5] Judge Thomas is the en banc coordinator for the Ninth Circuit, whose parliamentarian-type duties can affect the outcome of any case.

"[8] Senior White House officials listed Thomas among the approximately 10 individuals who were considered to replace retiring United States Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.

Thomas authored the opinion in Nadarajah v. Gonzales,[11] a civil rights case in 2006 on a suspected Tamil Tiger immigrant.

[15] On May 13, 2021, Thomas ruled that an immigrant who arrived in the United States as a child does not need to have lawful permanent residency in order to derive citizenship from a parent who naturalized.