Richard Allen Posner
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, Richard Allen Posner was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1962. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1939 · age 87
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1981
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Yale College 1959 · Harvard Law School 1962
- Succeeded
- Philip Willis Tone
- Succeeded by
- Michael Yale Scudder Jr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Seventh Circuit succeeded Philip Willis Tone | Reagan (R) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| Yale College | A.B. | 1959 |
| Harvard Law School | LL.B. | 1962 |
Judicial Record
In our data, Posner authored 629 published opinions for the court (2007–2017). Most cited: Krystal Goins v. Carolyn Colvin (384 citations).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Krystal Goins v. Carolyn Colvin | 764 F.3d 677 | 384 |
| 2015 | Paul Burritt v. Lisa Ditlefsen | 807 F.3d 239 | 291 |
| 2015 | Ronald Beal v. Brian Foster | 803 F.3d 356 | 263 |
| 2015 | United States v. Domingo Blount | 777 F.3d 368 | 184 |
| 2013 | Larry Butler v. Sears, Roebuck & Company | 727 F.3d 796 | 183 |
| 2015 | Shane Kervin v. La Clair Barnes | 787 F.3d 833 | 174 |
| 2014 | Heather Browning v. Carolyn Colvin | 766 F.3d 702 | 167 |
| 2014 | Nathson Fields v. Lawrence Wharrie | 740 F.3d 1107 | 150 |
| 2017 | Estate of William A. Miller v. Helen Marberry | 847 F.3d 425 | 141 |
| 2017 | Chessie Logistics Company, LLC v. Krinos Holdings, Inc. | 867 F.3d 852 | 137 |
| 2017 | Joseph Lombardo v. United States | 860 F.3d 547 | 135 |
| 2015 | Daniel Hall v. Carolyn Colvin | 778 F.3d 688 | 120 |
| 2015 | William Price v. Carolyn Colvin | 794 F.3d 836 | 113 |
| 2014 | Michele A. Herrmann v. Carolyn W. Colvin | 772 F.3d 1110 | 113 |
| 2013 | Michael Georgakis v. Illinois State University | 722 F.3d 1075 | 113 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 629 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Richard Allen Posner?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Richard Allen Posner to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1981.
- Was Richard Allen Posner appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Richard Allen Posner was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Richard Allen Posner's confirmation vote?
- Richard Allen Posner was confirmed by voice vote on November 24, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Richard Allen Posner on?
- Richard Allen Posner was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: chensiyuan (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
35 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).