Lincoln W. Caplan, II (born 1950) is an American author, scholar, and journalist. He is the Truman Capote Visiting Lecturer in Law and a Senior Research Scholar in Law 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 ...

Early life and education

Caplan was born in 1950 in

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He attended

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

in Exeter, New Hampshire, where he graduated in 1968. He then attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, where he graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 1972, after which he attended Emmanuel College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, for one year. He earned a

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 ...

degree 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 1976.

Career

Caplan began his career in journalism as an intern for ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'' after his first year of law school. His first piece covered the oral argument in '' United States v. Nixon''. He began writing for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' in 1978, and worked on the newspaper for several decades as a member of the editorial board. From 1998 to 2006 he worked on the faculty of

, where he found and headed the '' Legal Affairs'' magazine in 2002. From July 2006 to July 2010, he served as a managing partner of Seachange Capital Partners. He has worked as a clerk for the chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, a management consultant for the

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

, and a White House Fellow. He was awarded the

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1989 for the study of general nonfiction. He has also taught at the University of Virginia School of Law. Caplan has authored six books on legal topics. His book, ''The Insanity Defense and the Trial of John W. Hinckley, Jr.'', was awarded a Silver Gavel Award by 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 ...

Personal life

Lincoln Caplan married Susan L. Carney, a judge for

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 ...

. Their daughter, Molly, was born in 1988.

Bibliography

* ''The Insanity Defense and the Trial of John W. Hinckley, Jr.'' (1984) * ''The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law'' (1987) * ''An Open Adoption'' (1990) * ''Skadden: Power, Money, and the Rise of a Legal Empire'' (1993) * ''Up Against the Law: Affirmative Action and the Supreme Court'' (1997) * ''American Justice 2016: The Political Supreme Court'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caplan, Lincoln Harvard Law School alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni White House Fellows Yale Law School faculty Journalists from Connecticut 1950 births Living people Harvard College alumni