James Lowell Oakes (February 21, 1924 – October 13, 2007) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.
James Lowell Oakes
Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Born 1924 in Springfield, IL
Died 2007 in Marthas Vineyard, MA
FJC ID: 1806
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 10/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 1,047/year
Vermont District Court · 1970–1971Second Circuit Court of Appeals · 1971–2007
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
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 1989–1992
- Private practice, Brattleboro, Vermont1950–1966, 1969–1970
- State of VermontAttorney general · 1967–1969
State senator · 1961–1965
Law clerk , Hon. Harrie B. Chase · 1947–1948, 1949–1950- Private practice, San Francisco, California1948–1949
Appointments
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitChief Judge1971–2007 · Appointed by Richard M. Nixon (Republican)Term ended: Death
1970–1971 · Appointed by Richard M. Nixon (Republican)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
LL.B. · 1947- Harvard UniversityA.B. · 1945