
Every time I read one of his opinions I wonder what the deal is with this guy's name. I always assumed he thought highly of himself and changed his name. But, apparently he was born Billings Learned Hand. I guess I don't blame him for choosing Learned over Billings. He got his names from his Uncle and Grandfather, who were both named Billings Peck Learned. Judge Learned Hand's father was a famous New York appellate lawyer. Hand suffered from night terrors throughout his childhood and later admitted that he was a very insecure person. He studied Philosophy in his undergraduate work at Harvard and graduated from Harvard Law School. He was a federal Judge for the Southern District of NY from 1909-1924. In 1924 he was appointed to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and remained there until 1961, the year of his death.
1 comments:
I love the hand. He's a real important copyright judge. Supposedly, after making his judgment, he would walk over to the losing party and say, "What did Learned Hand say to the face?" then slap them as hard as he could.
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