Laurence Hirsch Silberman (October 12, 1935 – October 2, 2022) was an American jurist and diplomat who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1985 until his death. He was appointed in October 1985 by President Ronald Reagan and took senior status on November 1, 2000. On June 11, 2008, President George W. Bush awarded Silberman the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Laurence Hirsch Silberman
District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals
Born 1935 in York, PA
Died 2022 in Washington, DC
FJC ID: 2189
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 22/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 366/year
District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals · 1985–2022District of Columbia District Court · 1985–2000
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
Faculty · 1987–present- ↳adjunct professor of law · 1987–1999
- ↳distinguished visitor from the judiciary · 2000–present
- President's Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass DestructionCo-chair · 2004–2005
- Private practice, Washington, D.C.1973–1974, 1978–1979, 1983–1985
- American Enterprise Institute1977–1985
- ↳senior fellow · 1977–1978
- ↳visiting fellow · 1978–1985
- Legal and Government Affairs, Crocker National Bank, San Francisco, CaliforniaExecutive vice president of strategic planning · 1979–1983
U.S. Department of StateAmbassador to Yugoslavia · 1975–1977- President's special envoy on International Labor Organization Affairs1976
U.S. Department of JusticeDeputy attorney general · 1974–1975- Undersecretary of labor1970–1973
U.S. Department of LaborSolicitor · 1969–1970
Appellate Division, National Labor Relations BoardAttorney · 1967–1969- Private practice, Honolulu, Hawaii1961–1967
- University of Hawaii Law SchoolLecturer · 1962–1963
U.S. Army private1957–1958
Appointments
1985–2022 · Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican)Term ended: Death
1985–2000
Education
LL.B. · 1961- Dartmouth CollegeA.B. · 1957