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Life Member

The Hon.
Harry
T.
Edwards

Location
Washington, DC, USA
Affiliation
U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Education
Cornell University
University of Michigan Law School

Harry T. Edwards is a Senior Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  He was appointed to the court in 1980 and served as Chief Judge from 1994 to 2001.  Before joining the court, he practiced law for five years in Chicago, Illinois.  He was then a tenured professor of law at the University of Michigan and Harvard Law Schools. Since joining the court, he has taught part-time at a number of law schools, including Michigan, Harvard, University of California Irvine, Duke, Pennsylvania, and Georgetown. Since 1990, he has taught at NYU School of Law, where he is a Professor of Law. He has co-authored five books, the most recent of which is Federal Standards of Review (co-authored with Linda Elliott); he has also published scores of articles and presented numerous papers dealing with forensic science, legal education, the effects of collegiality on appellate decision-making, the pitfalls of empirical studies that purport to measure judicial decision-making, judicial process, federalism, legal ethics, judicial administration, professionalism, labor law, equal employment opportunity, labor arbitration, higher education law, and alternative dispute resolution. In 1992, he published The Growing Disjunction Between Legal Education and the Legal Profession, 91 Mich. L. Rev. 34 (1992), which has been recognized as one of the most cited law review articles of all time. He is currently a member of the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law at the National Academy of Sciences; American Law Institute; and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Member News

Traynor on Liberty, Law, and Democracy

In his essay "Liberty, Law, and Democracy: Are There Grounds for Realistic Optimism?" Michael Traynor, former President of The American Law Institute, reflects on the challenges facing American democracy amid political polarization and institutional strain. He examines threats to the balance between liberty and law, citing dysfunction across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, while drawing on historical context and recent scholarship to frame these concerns.

Despite his sober assessment, Traynor maintains a guarded optimism rooted in America’s resilience, civic traditions, and individual potential to effect change. He highlights positive actions within the legal community, nonprofit organizations, and among engaged citizens, while outlining five practical steps Americans can take to strengthen democracy: improving civic education, demanding accountability, fostering open debate, participating in elections and local governance, and resisting simplistic solutions.

Traynor concludes that democracy is “stubborn work,” incremental, imperfect, and ongoing, but expresses confidence that Americans have the resolve to preserve it.

Read the full article The New Nationalist

Michael Traynor is senior counsel at Cobalt LLP in Berkeley California. He served as ALI President from 2000 to 2008, and as Chair of the Council from 2008 to 2011. He is also a recipient of ALI's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Traynor is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   He received the John P. Frank Outstanding Lawyer Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is an honorary life trustee of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of Earthjustice and a past President (1973) of the Bar Association of San Francisco.