Former Johnstown Resident to Take Oath of Office

WASHINGTON — Tim S. McClain, a former resident of Johnstown and graduate of Johnstown High School (Class of 1966), will participate in a ceremonial swearing-in on July 6 at the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.  McClain, a Presidential appointee, was officially sworn in as General Counsel of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on April 9.  The ceremonial swearing-in will include four graduates of the Naval Academy, all currently serving in the Bush Administration.

Before his nomination as General Counsel, McClain was a partner in a law practice in La Jolla, Calif., where he specialized in military administrative law, medical licensing, civil litigation and government administrative hearings.  As General Counsel, McClain manages VA’s Office of General Counsel and leads a staff of over 400 attorneys assigned throughout the United States.

Anthony J. Principi, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and a Naval Academy graduate (Class of 1967), will administer the ceremonial oath to McClain, a 1970 graduate, and two other Academy graduates who serve in Presidential appointment positions in VA.  It is unusual to have four Naval Academy graduates serving as Presidential appointees in one cabinet department.

While on active duty, McClain served as a surface warfare officer and later joined the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, including service as a general court-martial military judge.  Following his retirement from the Navy in 1990, he entered private practice with a litigation law firm, specializing in defense of professional negligence cases, especially medical malpractice.

McClain, the son of Donald W. McClain (deceased) and Mary Jo McClain of Moxham, currently resides in Alexandria, Va., with his wife, Lynn.

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