Richard Posner

Richard A. Posner is Circuit Judge, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.

He is America’s most cited legal scholar, and his books include Reflections on Judging and Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency.

From his 2013 Q & A with Noah Charney for The Daily Beast:

Do you enjoy courtroom drama novels and films, or is it too close to home? What are some favorites that are both entertaining and realistic?

Going back to the Greeks, there’s the trial of Orestes in Aeschylus. In Shakespeare there are trials, in King Lear and The Merchant of Venice. There are trial-like legal proceedings in Measure for Measure. Melville’s Billy Budd, Kafka’s The Trial. Loads of them really. Camus’ L’Etranger.

How about some of the more contemporary ones? Do you enjoy Scott Turow or John Grisham?

I don’t care for Grisham. Scott Turow, I’ve read two of his books: Presumed Innocent and Innocent. Very well-written. He’s an experienced lawyer and his books are very authentic. He’s a very good lawyer, also a very good writer, so his work is very good. Recent people, like William Gadis. James Gould Cousins did excellent legal writing. I’ve written a book on law and literature. Oh, and The Bonfire of the Vanities. That’s very good. And there are some excellent movies. This must be from the early ‘40s, the Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, Adam’s Rib. That’s terrific. And Twelve Angry Men, with Henry Fonda. The Rumpole television series is excellent. Our judicial system is modeled on the English, but they are more theatrical, rhetorical, eloquent. They use...[read on]

See Posner's 2007 Q & A with the political scientist Cary Federman.

--Marshal Zeringue