Leonard I. Garth (April 7, 1921 – September 22, 2016) was a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...

and previously was a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. gover ...

Early life and career

Garth was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and graduated with 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 from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1942. He served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

from 1943 to 1946. Upon his return, he received his

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1952, and built a private practice in Paterson,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Federal judicial service

On July 22, 1969, Garth was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Thomas M. Madden. Garth 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 December 17, 1969, and received his commission on December 18, 1969. His service terminated on August 29, 1973, due to his elevation to the Third Circuit. On July 19, 1973, President Nixon nominated Garth to a seat on the

vacated by Judge James Rosen. Garth was confirmed by the Senate on August 3, 1973, and received his commission on August 6, 1973. He assumed senior status on June 30, 1986, serving in that status until his death on September 22, 2016.'Rutgers Law Mourns the Passing of Judge Leonard I. Garth,' Rutgers Law, September 23, 2016
/ref> Concurrent with his federal court service, Garth was a lecturer at

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

starting in 1978 and at Seton Hall University School of Law starting in 1980.

Notable case

Garth wrote the opinion in ''Sullivan v. Barnett'', 139 F.3d 158 (3d Cir. 1998). This decision was reversed by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

in ''American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company v. Sullivan'', 526 U.S. 40 (1999).

Notable clerks

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was Samuel Alito Supreme Court ...

clerked for Garth from 1976 to 1977 in his first job out of

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

. Law professors who clerked for Judge Garth include former Co-Dean Ronald Chen of Rutgers Law School, Orin Kerr of USC Gould School of Law, Norman I. Silber of Hofstra Law School (and Research Scholar at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

), Louis Virelli of Stetson Law School, and Benjamin Levin of Washington University School of Law. Harvey Rishikof is Professor of Law and National Security Studies at the National War College and previously the Dean of

Roger Williams University School of Law Roger Williams University School of Law is the law school of Roger Williams University, a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. It is the only law school in Rhode Island. It was established in 1993 as the first graduate degree program of R ...

Personal life

In 1942, he married Sarah Kaufman, and they had a daughter.

References

External links

* 1921 births 2016 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from New York City Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey Lawyers from Brooklyn Lawyers from Paterson, New Jersey Rutgers University faculty Seton Hall University School of Law faculty United States court of appeals judges appointed by Richard Nixon United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon United States Army officers {{US-federal-judge-stub