Karl Tilleman was a shooting guard throughout high school and college who joined Canada’s national basketball team and played in two Olympics. Tilleman then attended BYU’s law school and shortly after graduating worked as a clerk at the Supreme Court before becoming a partner at an international law firm. Below, a look at how Karl Tilleman managed to score impressive careers both on the court and in court is discussed.
Uniforms. Left, right, center. Rules. Stands. The Bench. Defense. Wins and losses. Whether addressing the coach or the judge, Karl Tilleman speaks fluent “court.” Who is this athletic attorney and why do some know him as a high-scoring player and others, a high-profile partner?
Tilleman’s Claim to Basketball Fame
Karl Tilleman’s basketball success story began with his outstanding performance on the team at his Calgary high school. Beginning in 1979, Tilleman played for the University of Calgary Dinos and throughout his time as an undergraduate was named University of Calgary Male Athlete of the Year twice as well as the school’s all-time top scorer on the basketball court.
Karl Tilleman also won several distinctions in the intercollegiate realm and beyond. From 1981-84, Tilleman was named a Canada West University Athletic Association all-star, and from 1981-83 he was selected as Conference Player of the Year by the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union. In 1983, Calgary Sports Media also named him City of Calgary Male Athlete of the Year.
Adding to his expanding sphere of recognition, Tilleman began playing on the Canadian National Men’s Basketball Team, with which he participated in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. In the 1984 Olympics, Tilleman found himself guarding Michael Jordan, and a photo of the two of them opposing each other on the court still hangs in Tilleman’s office.
In 1984, Karl Tilleman’s jersey number, 30, was retired by the University of Calgary Athletic Department. In later years, he was inducted to the University of Calgary Hall of Fame, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canada West Hall of Fame. Clips of Tilleman’s basketball highlights can be found in various online journals.
Tilleman’s Time at the Supreme Courts (Yes, Plural)
After graduating summa cum laude from BYU’s law school, Karl Tilleman became one of roughly 36 fledgling lawyers selected to serve as a law clerk under a Supreme Court Justice in office. From 1992 to 1993, Tilleman worked for both Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justice Clarence Thomas.
After accepting a position to study under some of the nation’s most skilled Court Justices, Karl Tilleman was pleasantly surprised by the opportunity to showcase his own skills on the court.
Several floors above the home of the Judicial Branch of the U.S. government sits what the building’s architect had intended to act as a storage room, but has since been converted into a slightly-too-small basketball court. As a clerk, Tilleman often joined those who worked in the building, from security guards to the justices themselves, in rag-tag games of his favorite sport.
After months of pleading with Justice Thomas, Tilleman finally got the opportunity to test his mentor’s skills on a court where he considered himself a master. While Thomas played well for the first half hour or so, the 44-year-old justice then tore his Achilles tendon, causing him to need surgery and to spend the next several weeks on crutches while recovering.
Lest Karl Tilleman forget, Thomas ensured that the formal photograph the two had taken together at the end of the term captured his walking cast. Today, this photo hangs on his wall next to his shot with Michael Jordan.
Tilleman as a Legal Partner and Mission Priest
After playing an important role on Canada’s national basketball team and breaking records as a high scorer, then playing and a somewhat less boast worthy role in the breaking of Thomas’s Achilles in D.C., Tilleman began practicing law with a prominent international law firm in Arizona, where he and his wife Holly moved to start a family.
Much like during his rise to recognition in the basketball world, Karl Tilleman received numerous awards and distinctions in the legal arena, and has been ranked as a leading lawyer for International Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and Insurance Law.
Several years into his career, Karl Tilleman took three years off to become a mission president in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While on a proselytizing call, Tilleman suffered a terrible injury after being bitten by a Bull Mastiff at the home he was visiting and subsequently falling down a flight of concrete stairs, landing him in hospital.
After being paralyzed from the neck down for several weeks, Tilleman regained the ability to walk and continued his work as a missionary and an attorney, though he still can’t lift his hands above his head due to the intense pain, leaving him unable to return to basketball.
Despite the life-altering injury following his accident, Karl Tilleman holds no resentment against the dog’s owner. He considers his recovery a blessing and has used it to grow closer to God, his family, and his faith.
