Mozart of Legal Writing: Clerks Reflect on Posner’s Career

By Patrick L. Gregory, Bloomberg BNA

The most enduring part of Judge Richard A. Posner’s legacy could be his writing style, his former clerks say.

Posner retired abruptly Sept. 2 from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, where he served for more than 35 years after President Ronald Reagan nominated him in 1981. He served as chief judge from 1993 to 2000.

Clerking for Posner was “like being a music student who had the chance to work with Mozart,” former clerk Richard W. Porter told Bloomberg BNA by email.

“The sweeping breadth and depth of Judge Posner’s ...