Pierre N. Leval

Pierre N. Leval
Name	Pierre N. Leval
Office	Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Term start	January 1, 2002
Term end	present
Office1	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Term start1	June 30, 1993
Term end1	January 1, 2002
Appointer1	Bill Clinton
Predecessor1	John M. Walker Jr.
Successor1	José A. Cabranes
Birth date	1936
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Columbia University (BA, LLB)

Pierre N. Leval is an American jurist who has served as a Senior Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 2002 after appointment to the active bench in 1993. He is widely known for his influential opinions on copyright law, civil procedure, and appellate practice, and for shaping doctrines applied in the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, and other federal jurisdictions. Leval's career bridges private practice, public service, and academia, with notable interactions with institutions such as Columbia University, Harvard Law School, Princeton University, and the American Bar Association.

Early life and education

Born in New York City in 1936, Leval attended Columbia College (New York) where he received his Bachelor of Arts before matriculating at Columbia Law School for a Bachelor of Laws. During his student years he engaged with faculty associated with Richard A. Posner, Guido Calabresi, Herbert Wechsler, and contemporaries connected to Harvard Law School visiting programs. His legal formation occurred amid the post-World War II expansion of federal institutions such as the United States Supreme Court and in the era of landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education that reshaped American jurisprudence.

Legal career and academia

Leval entered private practice at the New York firm Shea & Gould and later worked in roles that connected him with litigators from Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Sullivan & Cromwell, and White & Case. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and later joined the faculty at Columbia Law School as a lecturer and adjunct, teaching alongside scholars from Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, and NYU School of Law. His scholarship and lectures addressed subjects relevant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Lanham Act, and intellectual property regimes shaped by cases from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Leval also held positions in public service that brought him into contact with officials from the Department of Justice, the Federal Judicial Center, and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. His interactions included collaborations with judges from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and clerks who later served on panels alongside jurists from the Second Circuit and the D.C. Circuit.

Federal judicial service

Nominated by President Bill Clinton to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1993 to a seat vacated by John M. Walker Jr., Leval was confirmed by the United States Senate and received his commission on June 30, 1993. On January 1, 2002, he assumed senior status, remaining active on panels alongside colleagues such as Jose A. Cabranes, Robert Katzmann, Sonia Sotomayor (prior to her elevation to the United States Supreme Court), and Richard C. Wesley. His chambers in Manhattan adjudicated appeals involving parties from entities including Time Inc., Viacom, The New York Times Company, and universities such as Columbia University and New York University.

Throughout his tenure on the Second Circuit, Leval participated in en banc considerations and authored opinions that confronted precedents from the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as circuit decisions from the Third Circuit, Fourth Circuit, and Seventh Circuit. He also contributed to judicial panels interpreting statutes like the Copyright Act of 1976 and doctrines developed in cases such as Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. and Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc..

Major opinions and jurisprudence

Leval is best known for his landmark 1990 Harvard Law Review article that informed his later opinions on transformative use and fair use within the United States copyright law framework, influencing decisions across circuits and cited in briefs before the Supreme Court of the United States. On the Second Circuit, he authored influential opinions addressing fair use balancing tests, copyright remedies, and injunction standards that engaged precedents from Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises and Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co..

His jurisprudence extends to civil procedure rulings interpreting the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, appellate jurisdiction under the All Writs Act, and sovereign immunity issues implicating entities such as the State of New York and federal agencies. Leval's opinions often engage analyses influenced by scholars from Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School, and practitioners from firms like WilmerHale and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Notable panels on which Leval sat produced precedent-shaping decisions involving media companies, publishing disputes, and technology firms that drew commentary in outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and periodicals connected to The Yale Law Journal and the Harvard Law Review.

Awards, honors, and affiliations

Leval has received honors from academic institutions and legal organizations such as Columbia University, the American Bar Association, and regional bar associations in New York City. He has lectured at forums hosted by Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and the Federal Judicial Center, and served on panels sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the Aspen Institute. His professional affiliations include membership in the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and contributions recognized by awards named by entities like the Legal Aid Society and various university law reviews.

Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:1936 births Category:Living people