Gerard Edmund Lynch (born September 4, 1951) is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was confirmed to that seat on September 17, 2009, after previously having been appointed in 2000 by President Bill Clinton to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Judge Lynch was the first appeals-court judge nominated by President Barack Obama to win confirmation from the United States Senate.
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 18/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 433/year
New York Southern District Court · 2000–2009Second Circuit Court of Appeals · 2009–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Columbia University School of LawProfessor · 1977–2000
- ↳vice dean · 1992–1997
- Private practice, New York City1992–2000
Assistant U.S. attorney · 1980–1983, 1990–1992- ↳chief, Criminal Division · 1990–1992
- Office of Independent Counsel, Iran-Contra investigationAssociate counsel · 1988–1990
Law clerk , Hon. William J. Brennan · 1976–1977
Law clerk , Hon. Wilfred Feinberg · 1975–1976
Appointments
- 2009–2016 · Appointed by Barack Obama (Democratic)
2000–2009 · Appointed by William J. Clinton (Democratic)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
J.D. · 1975- Columbia CollegeB.A. · 1972