The Quotable Judge Posner: Selections from Twenty-Five Years of Judicial Opinions has just been added to the library’s collection. In his more than 25 years as a judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Judge Posner has written over 2,000 opinions, many of which have been cited by the Supreme Court. Unlike most appellate judges, who have their law clerks write their opinions, Judge Posner writes his own. They tend to be written in an informal style, with few, if any, footnotes and are known for their humor and wit. In 2007, for example, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan wrote: "Judge Posner does not know how to write dull opinions...his sardonic humor, his colorful voice, make all his opinions interesting to read."
The book features Judge Posner’s observations on 50 different topics, ranging from antitrust to civil rights to products liability. It also includes a separate category called Posnerian Wisdom. Legal citations are provided for each quote. The book also includes a foreword by Judge Posner in which he explains his approach to drafting opinions. You can read the introduction to the book here.
