Jane Ann Restani (born February 27, 1948, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, ass ...

of the

United States Court of International Trade The United States Court of International Trade (case citations: Ct. Int'l Trade), or CIT, is a U.S. federal court that adjudicates civil actions arising out of U.S. customs and international trade laws. Seated in Lower Manhattan, New York City, ...

. She was appointed to the Court on November 16, 1983, by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. She served as Chief Judge of the Court from 2003 to 2010.

Early life and education

Born in

, Restani graduated first in her class in 1966 from Mercy High School, in San Francisco. She received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1969 in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, cum laude, from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she was a member of the Tower and Flame Honor Society. She received

teaching credential A certified teacher (also known as registered teacher, licensed teacher, or professional teacher based on jurisdiction) is an educator who has earned credentials from an authoritative source, such as a government's regulatory authority, an educ ...

s in 1970 from the

. In 1973, she received her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

(fifth in her class) at the

University of California, Davis School of Law The University of California, Davis School of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of California, Davis. The school received ABA approval in 1968. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1968. UC Dav ...

. She was a

law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also provide ...

staff writer in her second year, and articles editor in her third. She was a member of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

and

Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to the area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of educa ...

.in Folder: Court of Claims / Series: Correspondence Files of Ken Starr, 1981-83 / Acc. #60-880498 Box 2 / RG 60 Department of Justice

Department of Justice career

She was admitted to practice law in

in 1973 and began her legal career in the Civil Division of the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, where she served as a trial attorney from 1973 to 1976. She served as assistant chief of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division from 1976 to 1980. She served as Director of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division from 1980 to 1983.

Trade Court service

On November 3, 1983,

President Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party and became an important figure in ...

nominated Restani to serve as a Judge of the United States Court of International Trade, to the seat vacated by Judge Herbert N. Maletz. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on November 15, 1983, and received her commission the following day. She served as the Chief Judge from November 1, 2003, to November 1, 2010. She assumed senior status on March 1, 2015.

Notable decisions

In 2006, Restani sat by designation on a

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

panel hearing '' Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley, Ltd.'', in which the plaintiff appealed a holding that the defendant's unlicensed use of several images of

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

concert posters in its coffee-table history of the band was

fair use Fair use is a Legal doctrine, doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to bal ...

and not

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

. Restani wrote the unanimous opinion affirming the district court, holding that since the images had been used transformatively, the archives could not assert market harm, and that the publisher's negotiations for a licensing fee did not foreclose them from later asserting fair use. On May 28, 2025, the panel on which Judge Restani sat ruled that the

International Emergency Economic Powers Act The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of , is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinar ...

of 1977 did not authorize President Trump to impose the

Liberation Day tariffs On April 2, 2025, United States president Donald Trump held a White House Rose Garden ceremony where he announced what he called a " reciprocal tariff" strategy, which he had previously promised and described as necessary to correct what he ch ...

Professional honors and activities

*Member, Bankruptcy-Consumer and Commercial Subcommittee of the Corporation, Banking and Business Law Committee of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

Senior Executive Service The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the United States federal civil service equivalent to general officer or flag officer rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was created in 1979 when the Civil Service Reform Act of ...

Outstanding Performance Rating, September 1981 *Civil Division Performance Award, May 1980 *Meritorious Award, December 1979 *Outstanding Performance Rating, March 1979 *Department of Justice Special Achievement Award, October 1976 *Attorney General's Special Commendation, December 1975 *Guest Lecturer on Debtor-Creditor Law,

Antioch School of Law Antioch School of Law was a law school in Washington, D.C. which specialized in public advocacy. The school now operates as the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL). The school was located in the hist ...

*Author, "

Bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

," Civil Division Practice Manual

References

Sources

* * * * Reproduced in Biography Resource Center.

Farmington Hills, Michigan Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Farmington Hills is located roughly from downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States censu ...

. Gale, 2008.

External links

Senior Judge Jane A. Restani Biography on U.S. Court of International Trade website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Restani, Jane A. 1948 births Living people American people of Italian descent California Republicans Judges of the United States Court of International Trade Lawyers from San Francisco University of California, Berkeley alumni UC Davis School of Law alumni Critics of Wikipedia 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women United States federal judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Members of Phi Kappa Phi