Henry Friendly

Henry Jacob Friendly (July 3, 1903 – March 11, 1986) was an American lawyer and jurist best known for his tenure as a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Henry Friendly
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office April 15, 1974 – March 11, 1986
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office July 20, 1971 – July 3, 1973
Preceded by	J. Edward Lumbard
Succeeded by	Irving Kaufman
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office September 10, 1959 – April 15, 1974
Appointed by	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Harold Medina
Succeeded by	Ellsworth Van Graafeiland
Personal details
Born	Henry Jacob Friendly (1903-07-03)July 3, 1903 Elmira, New York
Died	March 11, 1986(1986-03-11) (aged 82) New York City, New York
Education	Harvard University (A.B.) Harvard Law School (LL.B.)

Education and career

Born in Elmira, New York, Friendly received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Harvard College in 1923. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1927. On June 23, 1927, the Harvard Crimson reported that Friendly was the first Harvard Law graduate to receive a degree summa cum laude.[1] Felix Frankfurter, as a professor at Harvard Law School, sent his student Friendly to work as a clerk for Justice Louis Brandeis of the United States Supreme Court, where he served from 1927 to 1928.[2] He was in private practice of law in New York City, New York from 1928 to 1959. He was a founding partner of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where his law partners included George W. Ball and Melvin Steen. He was vice president and general counsel of Pan American World Airways in New York City from 1946 to 1959.[3]

Federal judicial service

Friendly was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 10, 1959, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by Judge Harold Medina. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 9, 1959, and received his commission on September 10, 1959. He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1971 to 1973. He assumed senior status on April 15, 1974. He was a Judge of the Special Railroad Court from 1974 to 1986, serving as Presiding Judge from 1974 to 1986. His service was terminated on March 11, 1986, due to his death.[3]

Death

Friendly took his own life at age 82 on March 11, 1986, in his Park Avenue apartment in New York City. Police said they found three notes in the apartment, one addressed to his resident maid and two unaddressed notes. In all three notes, the judge talked about his distress at his wife's death, his declining health and his failing eyesight, according to a police spokesman. His wife, the former Sophie M. Stern, had died a year and four days earlier.[4] They had been married for 55 years.[5]

Legacy

In a ceremony following Friendly's death, then-Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger said, "In my 30 years on the bench, I have never known a judge more qualified to sit on the Supreme Court." At the same ceremony, Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall called Friendly "a man of the law."[6] In a letter to the editor of The New York Times following Friendly's obituary, 2nd Circuit Judge Jon O. Newman called Friendly "quite simply the pre-eminent appellate judge of his era" who "authored the definitive opinions for the nation in each area of the law that he had occasion to consider."[7] In a statement after Friendly's death, Judge Wilfred Feinberg, the 2nd Circuit's chief judge at the time, called Friendly "one of the greatest Federal judges in the history of the Federal bench."[7] United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner described Friendly as "the most distinguished judge in this country during his years on the bench."[7]

Honors

Harvard Law School has a professorship named after Friendly. Paul C. Weiler, a Canadian constitutional law scholar, held it from 1993 to 2006;[8] William J. Stuntz, a scholar of criminal law and procedure, held it from 2006 until his death in March 2011.[9] The professorship is currently held by Carol S. Steiker, a specialist in criminal justice policy and capital punishment.[10] The Federal Bar Council awarded Friendly a Certificate of Distinguished Judicial Service posthumously in 1986.[11] The American Law Institute has an award named in memory of Friendly and endowed by his former law clerks.[12]

Family

Friendly's wife of 55 years died a year before his suicide.[13] He was survived by a son and two daughters.[2]

Notable former law clerks

• David P. Currie (1960–1961), Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago Law School[14]
• Peter B. Edelman (1961–1962), professor of law and co-director, joint degree in law and public policy, Georgetown Law Center[15]
• Stephen R. Barnett (1962–1963), Elizabeth Josselyn Boalt Professor of Law, emeritus, Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley[16]
• Pierre N. Leval (1963–1964), judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• Michael Boudin (1964–1965), chief judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit[17]
• Robert M. Berger (1966-1967), partner Mayer Brown & Platt, lecturer in law University of Chicago Law School, adjunct professor of Law Northwestern University Law School and John Marshall School of Law
• Bruce A. Ackerman (1967–1968), Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale Law School[18]
• Arthur Raymond Randolph (1969–1970), judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit[19]
• Walter Hellerstein (1970–1971), Francis Shackleford Distinguished Professor of Taxation Law, University of Georgia School of Law[20]
• Martin Glenn (1971–1972), Judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York[21]
• Lawrence B. Pedowitz (1972–1973), partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz[22]
• Frederick T. Davis (1972–1973), partner, litigation department, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Paris[23][24]
• William Curtis Bryson (1973–1974), judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit[25]
• James R. Smoot (1974–1975), dean and professor of law, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, The University of Memphis[26]
• Philip Bobbitt (1975–1976), Thomas M. Macioce Professor of Law, Columbia Law School[27]
• Ruth Wedgwood (1976–1977), Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy & Director of the International Law and Organization Program, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University; Member, United Nations Human Rights Committee
• Theodore N. Mirvis (1976–1977), partner, litigation department, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz [28]
• Merrick B. Garland (1977–1978), chief judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit[19]
• Mary I. Coombs (1978–1979), professor of law, University of Miami School of Law[29]
• John Roberts (1979–1980), Chief Justice of the United States[30]
• Marc Wolinsky (1980–1981), partner, litigation department, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz [31]
• Gary Born (1981–1982), partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr[32]
• Jonathan R. Macey (1982–1983), Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance and Securities Law, Yale Law School[33][34]
• David J. Seipp (1982–1983), professor of law, Boston University School of Law[35]
• Larry D. Kramer (1984–1985), president of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; on leave as Richard E. Lang professor of law and formerly the dean, Stanford Law School [36]
• Louis Kaplow, professor of law Harvard Law School
• Thomas G. Dagger (1986)[37] of AT&T[38]

References

1. No Writer Attributed (1927-06-23). "Over 200 Undergraduates Gain Honors in Graduation Awards | News | The Harvard Crimson". Thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
2. "From Learned Hand To Henry Friendly". New York Times. 1986-03-24. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
3. Henry Jacob Friendly at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
4. "Sophie M Friendly". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
5. Norman, Michael (1986-03-12). "Henry J. Friendly, Federal Judge in Court of Appeals, is Dead at 82 - Free Preview - The New York Times". Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
6. http://www.lexis.com/research/retrieve/frames?_m=c2c55cb12712faecf0c5b50798918330&docnum=18&_fmtstr=FULL&_startdoc=1&wchp=dGLbVzz-zSkAt&_md5=0c88b69ff076c882e26e91fd9d5efdae%5B%5D
7. "From Learned Hand To Henry Friendly". The New York Times. March 24, 1986.
8. "Paul C. Weiler". Law.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
9. "William J. Stuntz". Law.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
10. School, Harvard Law. "Carol S. Steiker - Harvard Law School". hls.harvard.edu.
11. "The New York Times: Search for 'Honors for 4 Judges And Ex-Prosecutor'". New York Times. 1986-11-27. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
12. "The American Law Institute - The Henry J. Friendly Medal". Archived from the original on 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
13. "From Learned Hand To Henry Friendly". New York Times. 1986-03-24. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
14. Archived December 27, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
15. "Georgetown Law - Full time Faculty". Law.georgetown.edu. Archived from the original on 2008-06-12. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
16. "Berkeley Law - Faculty Profiles". Law.berkeley.edu. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
17. Archived April 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
18. "Yale Law School | Bruce Ackerman". Law.yale.edu. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
19. "U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit - Home". Cadc.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
20. Archived September 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
21. "US Bankruptcy Court - Southern District of New York". Nysb.uscourts.gov. 2005-06-09. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
23. "Debevoise & Plimpton LLP | Lawyers | Frederick T. Davis". Debevoise.com. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
25. "FJC". Fjc.gov. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
26. "Cecil C Humphreys School of Law :: Faculty :: University of Memphis". Law.memphis.edu. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
27. "Columbia Law School : Full Time Faculty". Law.columbia.edu. 1961-11-09. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
29. "Professor Mary Coombs". Faculty.law.miami.edu. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
30. https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographiescurrent.pdf
31. "Marc Wolinsky - Attorneys - Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz". Wlrk.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
32. "Gary Born". WilmerHale. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
33. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-12-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
34. Archived February 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
35. "Boston University School of Law, David J. Seipp, Law Alumni Scholar, Professor of Law". Bu.edu. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
36. Archived February 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
37. Norman, Michael (1986-03-12). "Henry J. Friendly, Federal Judge in Court of Appeals, is Dead at 82 - Free Preview - The New York Times". Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
38. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210459/http://www.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/Lawyer_Locator/Search_Lawyer_Locator/search_result.xml?PG=0&STYPE=N&FNAME=thomas&LNAME=dagger&FN=&CN=&STS=&CRY=&bc=1. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Henry Jacob Friendly at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Legal offices
Preceded by Harold Medina	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 1959–1974	Succeeded by Ellsworth Van Graafeiland
Preceded by J. Edward Lumbard	Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 1971–1973	Succeeded by Irving Kaufman