Judge Thompson was appointed United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut on October 11, 1994 and entered duty on October 31, 1994. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University in 1975 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1978.

Following his graduation from law school, Judge Thompson joined the Hartford office of Robinson & Cole as an Associate. He became a partner in that firm in 1985. In 1991, he was elected Managing Partner of Robinson & Cole, and he served the firm in that capacity until September 1994.

Judge Thompson is active in the Section of Business Law of the American Bar Association. His primary involvement is with the Committee on Business and Corporate Litigation, and he served as an officer of the Section from 2002-2007. He served as co-chair of the Section's Committee on Diversity from 1991-1995, as a member of the editorial board of Business Law Today from 1993-1999, and as a member of the Section's Council from 1995-1999. He was also a member of the ABA Commission on the American Jury from 2004-2005 and is currently a member of the Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness. He has been a speaker at various programs presented at meetings of the Section. He is also a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Federal Judges Association, the Connecticut Bar Association and the Hartford County Bar Association.

His other current involvements include service on the Hartford Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, the Trustees of the Warburton Chapel, and the Policy Advisory Committee for the Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation.