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Judge Michael Boudin to Deliver the 2010 Roberts Lecture on "Judge Henry Friendly and the Craft of Deciding Cases"

April 01, 2010

A onetime clerk of Judge Friendly, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Michael Boudin will discuss his former mentor's judicial philosophy and scholarship and describe how judges decide cases and craft opinions.

 

The Honorable Michael Boudin

“If I have raised more problems than I have settled, that is the prerogative of a judge giving a lecture,” Judge Henry Friendly unapologetically concluded during his 1975 Owen J. Roberts Lecture in Constitutional Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Thirty-five years later, Judge Friendly’s onetime clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Michael Boudin, will have his own opportunity to raise more questions than answers.  During the 2010 Roberts Lecture, titled “Judge Friendly and the Craft of Deciding Cases,” Judge Boudin will discuss his former mentor’s judicial philosophy and scholarship and describe how judges decide cases and craft opinions.

Now an eminent jurist in his own right, Michael Boudin has been a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit since 1992, and from 2001 to 2008 was the Court’s chief judge. From 1990-1992, Judge Boudin served on the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. He previously was deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the justice department from 1987-1990. From 1965-1987, Judge Boudin practiced law at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. He has taught part time at Harvard Law School since 1982 and taught at Penn Law during the 1984-85 term. Judge Boudin began his legal career as a clerk for Judge Friendly and, subsequently, Justice Harlan. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
 
The Owen J. Roberts Lecture is the oldest and among the most distinguished of the endowed lectureships at Penn Law. This year’s lecture will be held at the Law School on Monday, April 12 at 5p.m., and will be followed by a reception in the Great Hall. The lecture is open to the public and attendees are eligible to receive CLE credit. Seating is limited, and registration is required. To register or for further information, contact Dori Pavel at dpavel@law.upenn.edu.