(Billings) Learned Hand - Biography, Influence

Jurist, born in Albany, New York, USA. The son and grandson of judges, and cousin of Augustus Hand, he graduated from Harvard in 1893 and from Harvard Law School three years later. A bookish boy, he grew into a sceptical, open-minded adult. He practised in Albany and in New York City until 1909, when he received an appointment as US district judge for the Southern District of New York. In a 52-year career as district judge (1909–24), appeals court judge (1924–39), and chief judge (1939–51) of the 2nd US Court of Appeals, he issued some 3000 opinions touching virtually every area of law. His opinions were so highly regarded that he became known as the 10th judge of the US Supreme Court. In 1944, in a neat summary of his own intellectual approach, he declared: ‘The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right’. In a series of lectures at Harvard near the end of his life, he warned the judiciary not to exceed its constitutional authority by attempting to legislate from the bench.

Billings Learned Hand (January 27, 1872 – August 18, 1961) — usually called simply Learned Hand — was a famed American judge and an avid supporter of free speech, though he is most remembered for applying economic reasoning to American tort law. Hand is generally considered to be one of the most influential American judges never to have served on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Biography

Born in Albany, New York, he attended The Albany Academy before training in law and philosophy at Harvard, studying under William James, Josiah Royce and George Santayana. He started practicing law in Albany, and taught at Albany Law School, before moving on to New York City.

Hand served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1909 to 1924 (see Masses Publishing Co.

Hand's cousin, Augustus Noble Hand, was also a judge and also served on both the Southern District and the Second Circuit courts substantially during Learned's tenure at each.

Influence

Hand's judicial opinions are frequently considered classic formative statements of American contract and tort law.

The calculus requires that financial liability should only be imposed for a negligent tort if the burden of preventing the injury does not exceed the magnitude of the injury multiplied by its likelihood of occurring. p × L

Like many others in the law and economics school, most notably Judge Richard Posner, Hand was also influenced by philosophical pragmatism.

In 1944, Judge Hand delivered an address at a patriotic rally in New York City's Central Park.

One of the most famous quotes that Judge Learned Hand is known for is: "There is nothing sinister in so arranging one's affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible."

In another famous quote regarding the U.S. income tax law, Judge Hand wrote:

"Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; The irony in the Geregory case was that after giving the reader a very taxpayer friendly quote, Judge Hand disregards the taxpayer's convoluted transactions taken to avoid the tax despite following the correct form required by statute, thus giving impetus to the substance over form doctrine.