Michael Boudin


Michael Boudin is a Senior United States Circuit Judge and former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Early life and education

Boudin was born in New York City, the son of the civil liberties attorney Leonard Boudin and older brother of Weather Underground member Kathy Boudin. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1964. He was a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1964 to 1965, and then clerked for Justice John Marshall Harlan II of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1966.

Legal career

From 1966 to 1987 Boudin practiced regulatory law at Covington & Burling, a Washington, D.C. law firm. He spent 21 years at Covington & Burling, primarily drafting appellate briefs in complex regulatory matters for corporate clients. He worked as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School from 1982 to 1983, and then as a lecturer there from 1983 to 1998. He then served in President Reagan's Justice Department as a deputy assistant United States Attorney General of the Antitrust Division from 1987 to 1990.

Federal judicial service

On May 18, 1990, President George H. W. Bush nominated Boudin to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, to a seat vacated by John H. Pratt. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 1990, and received his commission on August 7. Boudin served on the District Court for about 18 months, but resigned on January 31, 1992 to return to Massachusetts. Two months later, on March 20, 1992, President Bush nominated Boudin to an appellate judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, headquartered in Boston, to the seat vacated when Judge Levin H. Campbell took senior status. He was confirmed by the Senate on May 21, 1992, and received his commission on May 26. Boudin served as Chief Judge of the First Circuit from 2001 to 2008. He took senior status on June 1, 2013.