--- title: "Richard Allen Posner | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/richard-allen-posner-2606" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Richard Allen Posner U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit - State: National federal courts - Role: U.S. Circuit Judge - Service status: former - Last verified: 2026-06-30 ## Biography ### Professional career - 1981-present Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law, 1978-1981 - United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Circuit Judge, 1981-2017 - American legal scholar and retired judge who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit — 1981–2017, and as its Chief Judge — 1993–2000 - Service: Judge, Seventh Circuit (Dec 1, 1981 – Sept 2, 2017) - Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School (1969–1981) - Professor of Law, 1969-1978 - Academic positions: Associate professor, Stanford Law School (1968–69) - Assistant to the solicitor general, U.S. Department of Justice, 1965-1967 - Early roles: Law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan Jr. (1962–63); legal assistant to FTC Commissioner Philip Elman (1963–65); assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General (1965–67); general counsel, President’s Task Force on Communications (1967–68) - Law clerk, Hon. William J. Brennan, Jr., Supreme Court of the United States, 1962-1963 ### Education - Harvard Law School, magna cum laude) — LL.B. (1962) - Harvard University — LL.B. (1962) - Harvard Law School — J.D. (1962) - Yale University, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) — B.A. (1959) - Yale College - Saybrook College ### Additional information - Faculty, University of Chicago Law School, 1969-present - Joined the court in 1981 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan and served on the court until his retirement from judicial service on September 2, 2017 - Carolyn Colvin (2014) - Henry J. Friendly Medal (2005) - Appointment: Nominated by President Ronald Reagan on October 27, 1981; confirmed by the Senate on November 24, 1981 - General counsel, President's Task Force on Communications, 1967-1968 - Legal assistant to the commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, 1963-1965 - Born January 11, 1939, New York City - Date of birth: 1939-01-01 - Edgemont Junior – Senior High School - He authored nearly 40 books, including Economic Analysis of Law, The Economics of Justice, Law and Literature, Sex and Reason, and A Failure of Capitalism - Lexecon Inc - Notable cases: Authored over 600 published opinions; among his most cited was Krystal Goins v - Widely regarded as the most-cited legal scholar of the 20th century and the most-cited American legal scholar of all time - Initially associated with law and economics and conservative legal thought, Posner later issued more liberal rulings on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion - His work spans jurisprudence, law and economics, antitrust law, and topics beyond law, such as animal rights, feminism, and same-sex marriage - He has been described as pragmatic, often emphasizing economic and social consequences in decision-making - Posner was valedictorian of his Harvard Law class - Honorary degrees from multiple U.S. and foreign universities - Honorary Bencher of the Inner Temple, London - Fellow of the British Academy - Birth place: New York, NY ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2606/richard-allen-posner/) - [Official roster](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2606/richard-allen-posner/) - [Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit current judicial profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2606/richard-allen-posner/) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2606/richard-allen-posner/) - [Richard Posner](https://ballotpedia.org/Richard_Posner) - [Richard A. Posner](https://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/posner-r) - [Wikidata: Richard Posner](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q533583) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/richard-allen-posner-2606", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/richard-allen-posner-2606", "name": "Richard Allen Posner | KnowJudges", "description": "Richard Allen Posner, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. 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