The American Law Institute will present J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and ALI Director Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Retired) the Henry J. Friendly Medal at the Institute’s 2023 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 20. Pierre N. Leval of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will present the award.
The medal was established in memory of Judge Henry J. Friendly, who was a member of the Council of The American Law Institute and a distinguished judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. It recognizes contributions to the law in the tradition of Judge Friendly and the Institute. It is not limited to ALI members or those associated with its projects. The medal is awarded on a periodic basis as appropriate.
“Judge Wilkinson and Judge Wood represent the very best traditions of the federal judiciary,” said ALI President David F. Levi. “In the tradition of Judge Henry Friendly, both have devoted their careers to careful judging, intellectual rigor, and service to the law. Through their opinions and engagement with the legal community, each has helped shape the development of the law while strengthening the institutions that sustain it. Both have served with distinction on the bench, in government, and in the academy. Jay has long been admired for the clarity and persuasiveness of his writing and his deep commitment to the ideals that animate our constitutional system. In addition to her distinguished service on the federal bench, Diane has also provided extraordinary leadership to the Institute over the years as first a member of the Council and now Director. Many of us have benefited directly from her wisdom and generosity. Together these two judges and ALI members exemplify the very best traditions of the federal judiciary.”
James Harvie Wilkinson III serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Born in 1944 in New York, New York, he was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 to a seat vacated by Judge John Decker Butzner, Jr., and served as chief judge from 1996 to 2003. During his tenure, he was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States and served on the Board of the Federal Judicial Center. He was elected to ALI in 1987.
Wilkinson earned his B.A. from Yale University and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Following service in the U.S. Army, he clerked for Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. of the Supreme Court of the United States. His career has included roles as a faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Law, editorial page editor of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia.
He has authored several books, including: Harry Byrd and the Changing Face of Virginia Politics (1968); Serving Justice: A Supreme Court Clerk’s View (1974); From Brown to Bakke: The Supreme Court and School Integration (1979); One Nation Indivisible: How Ethnic Separatism Threatens America (1997);Cosmic Constitutional Theory: Why Americans Are Losing Their Inalienable Right to Self-Governance (2012). His memoir, All Failing Faiths: Reflections on the Promise and Failure of the 1960s, was published in 2017.
Diane P. Wood was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1995, serving as its chief judge from 2013 to 2020. Prior to joining the court, she taught at the University of Chicago Law School, and she continues to teach there as a senior lecturer in law. She also served two years as deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Elected to ALI in 1990 and to the ALI Council in 2003, Wood has been an influential and active participant in the Institute’s work and its leadership. She assumed the role of ALI Director in May 2023, the first woman to hold this position. She has served as an Adviser to Restatement of the Law, The Law of American Indians; Restatement of the Law Fourth, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States – Jurisdiction; Legal and Economic Principles of World Trade Law; Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation; and as U.S. Adviser to Transnational Rules of Civil Procedure. She also served on the Members Consultative Group for Complex Litigation: Statutory Recommendations and Analysis.
She received her B.A. and her J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. After law school, she clerked for Judge Irving L. Goldberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the Supreme Court of the United States.
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About The American Law Institute
The American Law Institute is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. The ALI drafts, discusses, revises, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Model Codes, and Principles of Law that are influential in the courts and legislatures, as well as in legal scholarship and education. By participating in the Institute’s work, its distinguished members have the opportunity to influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas, to work with other eminent lawyers, judges, and academics, to support the rule of law and the legal system, and to contribute to the public good.