Michael Boudin ( boo-DEEN; November 29, 1939 – March 24, 2025) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1992 to 2021. He served as Chief Judge of that court from 2001 to 2008. Before his service on the First Circuit, he was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Michael Boudin
First Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Born 1939 in New York, NY
Died 2025 in Boston, MA
FJC ID: 218
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 43/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 768/year
District of Columbia District Court · 1990–1992First Circuit Court of Appeals · 1992–2021
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 · 2001–2008
Lecturer · 1983–1998
Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of JusticeDeputy assistant attorney general · 1987–1990- Private practice, Washington, D.C.1966–1987
- Visiting professor · 1982–1983
Law clerk , Hon. John Harlan · 1965–1966
Law clerk , Hon. Henry J. Friendly · 1964–1965
Appointments
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First CircuitChief Judge1992–2021 · Appointed by George H.W. Bush (Republican)Term ended: Retirement
1990–1992 · Appointed by George H.W. Bush (Republican)Term ended: Resignation
Education
- LL.B. · 1964
- Harvard UniversityB.A. · 1961