In recent weeks, the Federal Circuit has lost two of its senior judges. Judge Daniel Friedman died on July 6 at age 95 and Judge Glenn Archer died yesterday at age 82.
Judge Friedman was the last surviving original member of the court that was founded in 1982. He served in a number of positions within the Federal government, including at the SEC and the Department of Justice. He also served in Europe during World War II. He worked in the Solicitor General’s Office from 1959-1978 when he was appointed to the Court of Claims. He continued his service on the Federal Circuit at its founding in 1982. Judge Friedman took senior status in 1989, but continued to serve on many panels of the court after that date.
The Federal Circuit posted this announcement regarding Judge Friedman on its website:
The Honorable Daniel M. Friedman died at his home on Wednesday July 6, 2011. Chief Judge Rader, in a message to the court announcing Judge Friedman’s death to the court, said: “ Yesterday we lost one of the grandest and best judges to ever grace this court – the last of the original members of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Indeed he was instrumental in the creation of our court. Dan was also the last Chief Judge of the oldest Circuit Court in United States history, the United States Court of Claims. Dan left us on the day before we open the renovated courtroom that preserves the Court of Claims legacy. Our flag will fly at half mast for three days to honor Dan Friedman. I mourn with you all.”
Judge Friedman was appointed Chief Judge of the Court of Claims by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. When the Court of Claims merged with the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals to form the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on October 1, 1982, Judge Friedman was elevated to the newly-established court on which he was deemed the first in seniority just below the Chief Judge. Judge Friedman assumed the status of senior judge on November 1, 1989, and continued to actively serve on the Federal Circuit and also to sit by designation with other Circuits. Judge Friedman authored over 470 opinions for the Federal Circuit, over seventy opinions for the Court of Claims, and over 160 opinions when sitting by designation with other U. S. circuit courts of appeals.
Judge Friedman’s legal career spanned almost seven decades, virtually all of it in public service. He began with a position at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the early 1940′s. From 1942 to 1946, he served in the U. S. Army in Europe. Returning to the SEC at the conclusion of World War II, he worked there for five more years before joining the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, working there from 1951 to 1959. In 1959, he joined the Office of the Solicitor General, serving as an Assistant Solicitor and First Deputy Solicitor from 1959 to 1978, where he served twice as Acting Solicitor General and argued eighty cases at the Supreme Court.
Judge Archer served on the Federal Circuit from 1985 until he took senior status in 1997, serving as chief judge from 1994-1997. He had worked in private practice for a number of years and also served in the Attorney General’s Office prior to his appointment to the court.
The Federal Circuit posted this announcement regarding Judge Archer on its website:
The Honorable Glenn L. Archer, Jr., died at Friendship Village’s Hospice of the Valley in Tempe, Arizona on July 27, 2011. Chief Judge Rader, in a message to the court announcing Judge Archer’s death said: “ Glenn was our third Chief Judge and the first Chief Judge of our court to start his judicial career with the Federal Circuit. He led our court through some of our most challenging transitional years. When we recall Glenn, we will speak of his magnificent service including his tenure as our Chief Judge, but we will mostly remember that his heart was grand enough to comprehend the hardships and challenges of every person he encountered. His great compassion made him a great judge and a great leader.”
Judge Archer was appointed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Ronald Reagan and assumed duties as Circuit Judge on December 23, 1985. He became Chief Judge on March 18, 1994, and served in that capacity until December 24, 1997, when he assumed senior status. While in senior status, Judge Archer continued to serve on the Federal Circuit and often sat by designation with the Ninth Circuit in both Pasadena and San Francisco, California.
Prior to his twenty-five years on the court, Judge Archer served as Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division, United States Department of Justice from 1982 to 1984. During his time in private practice, Judge Archer was an associate in the Washington, DC law firm of Hamel, Park, McCabe and Saunders from 1956 to1960 and a partner from 1960 to 1981. Judge Archer served as First Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General’s Office, United States Air Force from 1954 to 1956. He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1951 and a J.D., with honors, from George Washington University Law School in 1954.
