The President today announced his intention to nominate Thomas G. Allison, of Seattle, Wash., to be General Counsel of the Department of Transportation. He would replace Linda Heller Kamm, resigned. Allison has been with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Preston, Thorgrimson, Ellis & Holman since 1979.
He was born April 7, 1946, in Sacramento, Calif. He received an A.B. from the University of Kansas in 1968 and a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law in 1972.
In 1971 and 1972, Allison was a Rule 9 public defender in Seattle, Wash. From 1972 to 1974, he was staff counsel to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. From 1974 to 1977, he was transportation counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee and was responsible for transportation legislation and oversight coming within the jurisdiction of the committee.
From 1977 to 1978, Allison was chief counsel of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. From 1978 to 1979, he was general counsel to the Senate Appropriations Committee, and in 1979 he served as special counsel to Senator Bill Bradley.
Jimmy Carter, Department of Transportation Nomination of Thomas G. Allison To Be General Counsel. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/250587