Lynn Steven Adelman (born October 1, 1939) is an American lawyer and former politician. He has served as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin since December 1997. Prior to becoming a federal judge, he served 20 years as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing southwest Milwaukee County and neighboring municipalities from 1977 to 1997. He also ran three times for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, 1982, and 1984.
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 3/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 15/year
Wisconsin Eastern District Court · 1997–
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
- Private practice, Milwaukee, Wisconsin1968–present
- WisconsinState senator · 1977–1997
- Legal Aid Society of WisconsinTrial attorney · 1967–1968
- Columbia University Law SchoolResearch assistant · 1965–1966
- attorney Richard H. KuhLaw clerk · 1966
Appointments
1997–present · Appointed by William J. Clinton (Democratic)
Education
LL.B. · 1965- Princeton UniversityA.B. · 1961