Richard Posner
Influential judge and most-cited American legal scholar.
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Richard Allen Posner (born January 11, 1939) is a retired American federal judge and legal scholar. He served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1981 to 2017, after being appointed by President Ronald Reagan, and was the circuit’s chief judge from 1993 to 2000. Before his judgeship, Posner taught law at the University of Chicago. According to *The Journal of Legal Studies*, he was the most-cited legal scholar of the 20th century, and as of 2021, he remains the most-cited American legal scholar ever. He is broadly regarded as one of the most influential legal minds in the country.
Posner is known for his wide-ranging scholarship, which extends well beyond law. His writings and books have tackled subjects like animal rights, feminism, drug prohibition, same-sex marriage, Keynesian economics, the intersection of law and literature, and academic moral philosophy. He has authored nearly 40 books, including *Economic Analysis of Law*, *The Economics of Justice*, *The Problems of Jurisprudence*, *Sex and Reason*, *Law, Pragmatism and Democracy*, and *The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy*. While generally considered politically conservative, Posner later distanced himself from Republican Party positions, issuing more liberal rulings on same-sex marriage and abortion. In *A Failure of Capitalism*, he wrote that the 2008 financial crisis led him to question the rational-choice, laissez-faire economic model central to his law and economics theory.
Posner was born on January 11, 1939, in New York City, to Blanche (Hofrichter) and Max Posner. His father’s family was of Romanian Jewish descent; his mother’s family were Ashkenazi Jews from Galicia in the Austrian Empire. After high school, he studied English literature at Yale University, graduating in 1959 with a B.A., summa cum laude, and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he was president of the *Harvard Law Review* and graduated first in his class in 1962 with an LL.B., magna cum laude.
Following law school, Posner clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. from 1962 to 1963. He then served as an attorney-advisor to Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Philip Elman; later, he argued the FTC should be abolished. He also worked in the Office of the Solicitor General under Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall. In 1968, he began teaching at Stanford Law School, and in 1969, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School. He was a founding editor of *The Journal of Legal Studies* in 1972. On October 27, 1981, President Reagan nominated him to the Seventh Circuit seat vacated by Judge Philip Willis Tone. The Senate confirmed him on November 24, 1981, and he received his commission on December 1, 1981. He served as chief judge from 1993 to 2000 while remaining a part-time senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. He retired from the bench on September 2, 2017, at age 78 instead of 80 as originally planned, citing disputes with other judges over the treatment of pro se litigants.
Philosophically a pragmatist and methodologically an economist, Posner has written extensively on law and economics, law and literature, the federal judiciary, moral theory, intellectual property, antitrust law, public intellectuals, and legal history. He has also written on current events, including the 2000 presidential election recount, Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and the resulting impeachment, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His analysis of the Lewinsky scandal cut across party and ideological lines. *The New York Times* called him “one of the most important antitrust scholars of the past half-century.” In December 2004, he co-founded “The Becker-Posner Blog” with Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker; the blog ended shortly before Becker’s death in May 2014. He also blogged at *The Atlantic* about the Great Recession. In 2005, he was mentioned as a potential nominee to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, but Robert S. Boynton wrote in *The Washington Post* that Posner would likely never sit on the Supreme Court due to his “obvious brilliance” and occasionally “outrageous conclusions,” such as arguing that the rule of law is accidental and dispensable, that a free market for buying and selling children could improve outcomes over regulated adoption, and supporting the legalization of marijuana and LSD.
From November 24, 2014, to January 5, 2015, University of Washington Law Professor Ronald K. L. Collins conducted a series of twelve Q&A posts with Posner, titled “Posner on Posner,” on the Concurring Opinions blog. In his youth and during his 1960s clerkship with Justice Brennan, Posner was generally considered a liberal.
- born
- January 11, 1939
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Most-cited legal scholar of the 20th century; law and economics; Seventh Circuit
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Richard Posner was born on January 11, 1939, in New York City to Blanche and Max Posner. His father's family were of Romanian Jewish descent, and his mother's family were Ashkenazi Jews from Galicia in the Austrian Empire. He studied English literature at Yale University, graduating in 1959 with a B.A., summa cum laude, and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he was president of the Harvard Law Review, graduating in 1962 ranked first in his class with an LL.B., magna cum laude. After law school, he clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1962 to 1963, then served as an attorney-advisor to Commissioner Philip Elman at the Federal Trade Commission, and later worked in the Office of the Solicitor General under Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall. In 1968, he accepted a position teaching at Stanford Law School, and in 1969 moved to the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School. He was a founding editor of The Journal of Legal Studies in 1972. On October 27, 1981, Posner was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the Seventh Circuit, confirmed on November 24, 1981, and received his commission on December 1, 1981. He served as Chief Judge from 1993 to 2000 and retired from the federal bench on September 2, 2017, citing disputes with other judges over treatment of pro se litigants. Posner is the author of nearly 40 books, including Economic Analysis of Law, The Economics of Justice, The Problems of Jurisprudence, Sex and Reason, Law, Pragmatism and Democracy, and The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy. He has written on topics including animal rights, feminism, drug prohibition, same-sex marriage, Keynesian economics, law and literature, and academic moral philosophy. Posner has generally been identified as politically conservative, but towards the end of his tenure he distanced himself from the Republican Party, authoring more liberal rulings involving same-sex marriage and abortion. In A Failure of Capitalism, he wrote that the 2008 financial crisis caused him to question the rational-choice, laissez-faire economic model at the heart of his law and economics theory.
Reader's Guide
Richard Posner's significance lies in his unparalleled influence on American legal thought, particularly through the law and economics movement. His 1973 book Economic Analysis of Law applied economic principles to legal questions. As a judge, he was known for a pragmatic approach: he stated, 'I pay very little attention to legal rules, statutes, constitutional provisions. ... A case is just a dispute. The first thing you do is ask yourself—forget about the law—what is a sensible resolution of this dispute?' He added that Supreme Court precedents are 'often extremely easy to get around.' His judicial votes placed him on the moderate-to-liberal wing of the Republican Party, and he became more isolated over time. In July 2012, Posner stated, 'I've become less conservative since the Republican Party started becoming goofy.' Posner's legacy includes his vast body of writing, his role as a founding editor of The Journal of Legal Studies, and his joint blog with Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker, titled 'The Becker-Posner Blog,' which ran from December 2004 until Becker's death in May 2014. He also had a blog at The Atlantic discussing the Great Recession. Posner was mentioned in 2005 as a potential nominee to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, but Robert S. Boynton wrote in The Washington Post that he believed Posner would never sit on the Supreme Court due to his occasionally 'outrageous conclusions,' such as his argument that buying and selling children on the free market would lead to better outcomes than government-regulated adoption, and his support for the legalization of marijuana and LSD. In November 2015, Posner authored a decision in Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin v. Schimel striking down regulations on abortion clinics, accusing the state of indirectly trying to ban abortions. Posner rejects an ethic of strong animal rights on pragmatic grounds, recognizing the philosophical force of such arguments but maintaining that human intuition about the paramount value of human life makes it impossible to accommodate them.
Did You Know?
- Posner was president of the Harvard Law Review and graduated first in his class in 1962.
- He clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1962 to 1963.
- Posner was a founding editor of The Journal of Legal Studies in 1972.
- He started a joint blog with Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker in December 2004.
- Posner retired from the bench at age 78 instead of his planned 80 due to disputes with other judges over treatment of pro se litigants.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Richard Posner?
Richard Posner is an American legal scholar and retired federal appellate judge who built his career at the crossroads of law and economics. He served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1981 until his 2017 retirement.
What was Richard Posner's role as a judge?
Appointed by President Reagan, Posner sat on the Seventh Circuit for 36 years and later led the court as chief judge from 1993 to 2000. His opinions were widely read for their practical, cost-benefit reasoning applied to legal disputes.
Why is Richard Posner considered so important in legal scholarship?
The Journal of Legal Studies named him the most-cited legal scholar of the twentieth century, and by 2021 he had become the most-cited American legal scholar of all time. His work fundamentally reshaped how both courts and academics think about legal rules through an economic lens.
What is Richard Posner best known for?
He is most closely associated with the law-and-economics movement, applying economic analysis to fields ranging from contract and criminal law to public policy. His prolific output of judicial opinions, books, and articles made his voice a constant presence in legal discourse.
How long did Richard Posner serve on the Seventh Circuit?
He served for 36 years, from his 1981 appointment through his 2017 retirement. That stretch included a seven-year stint as chief judge of the circuit.
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