List Of University Of Chicago Law School Alumni

This list of University of Chicago Law School alumni consists of notable people who graduated or attended the University of Chicago Law School. The law school has produced many distinguished alumni in the judiciary, government and politics, academia, and business, and other fields. Its alumni include heads of state and politicians around the world, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the President of the Supreme Court of Israel, judges of United States Courts of Appeals, several U.S. Attorneys General and Solicitors General, members of Congress and cabinet officials, Privy Counsellors, university presidents and faculty deans, founders of the law firms Kirkland & Ellis, Baker McKenzie, and Jenner & Block, CEOs and chairpersons of multinational corporations, and contributors to literature, journalism, and the arts. The law school counts among its alumni recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Fulbright Scholars, Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Commonwealth Fellows, National Humanities Medallists, and Pulitzer Prize winners.

Classes at the law school started in 1902. All degrees listed below are Juris Doctor (J.D.), unless noted otherwise.

Law and government

United States government

Executive branch

= U.S. Attorneys General

=
*John Ashcroft (1967), 79th U.S. Attorney General (2001–2005)
*Ramsey Clark (1950), 66th U.S. Attorney General (1966–1969)
*Edward H. Levi (1935), 71st U.S. Attorney General (1975–1977)

= U.S. Solicitors General

=
*Robert Bork (1953), 35th U.S. Solicitor General (1973–1977); also Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1982–1988)
*Noel Francisco (1996), 47th U.S. Solicitor General (2017–2020)
*Rex E. Lee (1963), 37th U.S. Solicitor General (1981–1985); also president of Brigham Young University (1989–1995)

=Other cabinet and cabinet-level officials

=
*Mary Azcuenaga (1973), Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (1984–1998)
*Pat Cipollone (1991), 39th White House Counsel (2018–2021)
*James Comey (1985), 7th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (2013–2017); also 31st U.S. Deputy Attorney General (2003–2005)
*Douglas M. Costle (1964), Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (1977–1981)
*Harold L. Ickes (1907), 32nd Secretary of the Interior (1933–1946); also High Commissioner to the Philippines (1942–1945)
*Kevin McAleenan (1998), United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2019); also Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (2017–2019)
*Abner Mikva (1951), 27th White House Counsel (1994–1995); also Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1979–1994); and recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom (2014)
*Lisa Monaco (1997), 39th U.S. Deputy Attorney General (2021–present), 6th U.S. Homeland Security Advisor (2013–2017), and Assistant Attorney General for National Security (2011–2013)
*Abraham Ribicoff (1933), 4th Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1961–1962); also U.S. Senator (D-Connecticut) (1963–1981) and 80th Governor of Connecticut (1955–1961)
*Eugene Scalia (1990), 28th United States Secretary of Labor (2019–2021)

Legislative branch (

U.S. Congress)

= Senators

=
*Carol Moseley Braun (1972), U.S. Senator (D-Illinois) (1993–1999); also United States Ambassador to New Zealand (1999–2001) and United States Ambassador to Samoa (2000–2001)
*Zales Ecton (1921), U.S. Senator (R-Montana) (1947–1953)
*Herbert E. Hitchcock, U.S. Senator (D-South Dakota) (1936–1938)
*Roman Hruska (did not graduate), U.S. Senator (R-Nebraska) (1954–1976)
* James W. Huffman (1922), U.S. Senator (D-Ohio) (1945–1946)
*Amy Klobuchar (1985), U.S. Senator (D-Minnesota) (2006–present)
*James P. Pope (1909), U.S. Senator (D-Idaho) (1933–1939); also 35th Mayor of Boise, Idaho (1929–1933)
*Abraham Ribicoff (1933), U.S. Senator (D-Connecticut) (1963–1981); also 4th Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1961–1962) and 80th Governor of Connecticut (1955–1961)
*David W. Stewart (1917), U.S. Senator (R-Iowa) (1926–1927)
*Jim Talent (1981), U.S. Senator (R-Missouri) (2002–2007)

= Representatives

=
*John B. Bennett (1926), U.S. Representative (R-Michigan) (1943–1945, 1947–1964)
*Albert M. Cole (1925), U.S. Representative (R-Kansas) (1945–1953)
*Elizabeth Cheney (1996), U.S. Representative (R-Wyoming) (2017–present) and Chair of the House Republican Conference (2019–2021)
*James I. Dolliver (1921), U.S. Representative (R-Iowa) (1945–1957)
*Edward C. Eicher (1906), U.S. Representative (D-Iowa)(1933–1938); also Chief Justice of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (1942–1944)
*Charles N. Fowler (1878),This alumnus attended the law school when it formed part of the Old University of Chicago, which closed in 1886 after it was damaged by a fire, and which was later renamed the University of Chicago. U.S. Representative (R-New Jersey) (1895–1911)
*Edgar A. Jonas (1910), U.S. Representative (R-Illinois) (1949–1955)
*David M. McIntosh (1983), U.S. Representative (R-Indiana) (1995–2001)
*David Minge (1967), U.S. Representative (D-Minnesota) (1993–2001); also Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals (2002–2012)
*Patsy Mink (1951), U.S. Representative (D-Hawaii) (1965–1971, 1990–2002) and recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom (2014)
*Samuel J. Nicholls (1909), U.S. Representative (D-South Carolina) (1915–1921)
*Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthy (1920), U.S. Representative (D-Kansas) (1933–1935)
*John Pickler (1871), U.S. Representative (R-South Dakota) (1889–1897)
*Jessie Sumner (1923), U.S. Representative (R-Illinois) (1939–1947)
*J. W. Robinson (1912), U.S. Representative (D-Utah) (1933–1947)
* Sidney R. Yates (1933), U.S. Representative (D-Illinois (1949–1963, 1965–1999)

Judicial branch

=Federal courts of appeals

=
*Danny Julian Boggs (1968), Judge and formerly Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1986–present)
*Frank H. Easterbrook (1973), Judge and formerly Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1985–present)
*Allison H. Eid (1991), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (2017–present); also Associate Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (2006–2017)
*Florence E. Allen (did not graduate), Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1934–1966); also Associate Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court (1923–1934)
*Philip J. Finnegan (1913), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1949–1959)
*Jerome Frank (1912), Judge of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1941–1957); Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1939–1941); and leading figure in the legal realism movement
*Douglas H. Ginsburg (1973), Judge and formerly Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1986–present)
*James C. Ho (1999), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (2018–present); also 4th Solicitor General of Texas (2008–2010)
*Michael W. McConnell (1979), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (2002–2009), also professor at Stanford Law School
* George Thomas McDermott (1909), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (1929–1937)
* Monroe G. McKay (1960), Judge and formerly Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (1977–2020)
*Abner Mikva (1951), Judge and Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1979-1994); recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom (2014)
* Eric D. Miller (1999), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2019–present)
* Eric E. Murphy (2005), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (2018–present); also 9th Solicitor General of Ohio (2013–2017)
* Walter Lyndon Pope (1912), Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1949–1969)
*Neomi Rao (1999), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2019–present); also administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (2017–2019)
* Julius N. Richardson (2003), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (2018–present)
*Beth Robinson (1989), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2021–present); also Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court (2011–2021)
*Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg (1912), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1954–1968)
*Mary M. Schroeder (1965), Judge and formerly Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1979–2011)
*Milan Smith (1969), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2006–present)
* Hardress Nathaniel Swaim (1916), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1950–1957); also Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court (1939–1945)
*David S. Tatel (1966), Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1994–present)

=Federal district courts

=
* Richard B. Austin (1926), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1961–1977)
* Axel J. Beck (1922), Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota (1958–1981)
* Morton A. Brody (1958), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine (1991–2000)
* Douglas R. Cole (1993), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (2019–present); also 5th Solicitor General of Ohio (2003–2006)
*Edward C. Eicher (1906), Chief Justice of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (1942–1944); also U.S. Representative (D-Iowa)(1933–1938)
* Roger Thomas Foley (1910), Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada (1945–1974)
* Paul Grewal (1996), Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (2010–2016); chief legal officer at Coinbase (2020–present)
* Terry J. Hatter Jr. (1960), Judge and formerly Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1979–present)
* William Charles Lee (1962), Judge and previously Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana (1981–present)
*Harry Leinenweber (1962), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1985–present)
* William J. Martínez (1980), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (2010–present)
* Claude C. McColloch (1909), Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon (1937–1959)
* Peter Jo Messitte (1966), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (2008–present)
*Robert Dale Morgan (1937), Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois (1979–2002) and Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (1967–1979)
*Walker David Miller (LL.M. 1965), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (1996–2013)
* Alexander J. Napoli (1929), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1966–1972)
*Carl J. Nichols (1996), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (2019–present)
*Howard C. Nielson Jr. (1997), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah (2019–present)
*Martha M. Pacold (2002), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2019–present)
* Rebecca R. Pallmeyer (1979), Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1998–present)
*Barrington D. Parker (1947), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (1969–1993)
*James Benton Parsons (1949), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1961–1993); also first African-American to serve as a United States federal judge
*Joseph Sam Perry (1927), Judge of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1951–1984)
* Casper Platt (1916), Judge and formerly Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois (1949–1965)
*Cheryl Pollak (1978), Chief Magistrate of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (1995–present)
* Willis William Ritter (1924), Judge and later Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah (1950–1978)
* Lee H. Rosenthal (1977), Judge and currently Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (1992–present)
*Mary M. Rowland (1988), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2019–present); also former Magistrate Judge of the same court (2012–2019)
* Milton Shadur (1949), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1980–2018)
* Manish S. Shah (1998), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2014–present)
*Herbert Jay Stern (1961), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (1973–1987) and Judge of the United States Court for Berlin (1979)
* Hubert Louis Will (1937), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1961–1995)
* George H. Wu (1975), Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (2007–present)

=Other federal courts

=
* Arnold R. Baar (1914), Judge of the U.S. Tax Court (1954)
*Renato Beghe (1954), Judge of the U.S. Tax Court (1991–2003)
*Richard Hertling (1985), Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (2019–present)
* Mark V. Holmes (1983), Judge of the U.S. Tax Court (2003–present)
* Christopher M. Klein, Judge of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California (1988–present)
*J. Warren Madden (1914), Judge of the United States Court of Claims (1941–1961); also chair of the National Labor Relations Board (1935–1940) and Medal of Freedom recipient (1947)
* Irvin Charles Mollison (1923), Judge of the United States Customs Court (1945–1962)
* Richard T. Morrison (1993), Judge of the U.S. Tax Court (2008–present)
* Allin H. Pierce (1923), Judge of the U.S. Tax Court (1955–1967)
* Stephen S. Schwartz (2008), Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (2020–present)
*Christopher S. Sontchi (1992), Judge and formerly Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for th
District of Delaware
(2006-present)

State government

=Governors

=
*Tony Earl (1961), 41st Governor of Wisconsin (1983–1987)
*Dwight H. Green (1922), 30th Governor of Illinois (1941–1949)
*A. W. Norblad (1902), 19th Governor of Oregon (1929–1931)
*Abraham Ribicoff (1933), 80th Governor of Connecticut (1955–1961); also 4th Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1961–1962) and U.S. Senator (D-Connecticut) (1963–1981)
*Ingram Stainback, 9th Governor of Hawaii (1942–1951)
*Matthew E. Welsh (1937), 41st Governor of Indiana (1961–1965)

=State politicians

=
* Miriam Balanoff (1963), member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1979–1983); also Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (1986–2000)
* Paul Berch (1970), member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives (2012–present)
*Jeanne Bodfish, 31st Comptroller of the Treasury of Tennessee (1953–1955)
* Jack E. Bowers, member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1965–1967) and of the Illinois Senate (1977–1983)
* John C. Brooks, North Carolina Commissioner of Labor (1977–1993)
* Allen Busby (1928), member of the Wisconsin State Senate (1936–1972)
*Clarence C. Caldwell (did not graduate), 9th Attorney General of South Dakota (1915–1919)
*John E. Cashman, member of the Wisconsin State Senate (1923–1938, 1941–1946)
* John William Chapman (1917), 37th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (1953–1961)
* Lycurgus Conner, member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1961–1963)
* Robert E. Coulson (1937), member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1957–1962) and member of the Illinois Senate (1963–1973)
*Richard W. DeKorte (1959), member of the New Jersey General Assembly (1967–1970)
*Peter Diamondstone (1960), co-founder of the Liberty Union Party
* Leif Erickson (1934), chair of the Montana Democratic Party (1956–1958); also Justice of the Montana Supreme Court (1939–1945)
*Thurlow Essington (1908), member of the Illinois Senate (1919–1927)
*Benjamin M. Flowers (2012), 10th Solicitor General of Ohio (2019–present)
* John A. Gale (1965), 26th Secretary of State of Nebraska (2000–2019)
*Don Harmon (1994), 39th president of the Illinois Senate (2021–present) and member of the Illinois Senate (2003–present)
*Mike Hilgers (2004), member of the Nebraska Legislature (2017–present)
*Sue Metzger Dickey Hough (1906), member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (1923–1924)
* F. Badger Ives (did not graduate), member of the Wisconsin State Assembly (1899–1914)
* Anthony Johnstone (1999), Solicitor General of Montana (2008–2011); current nominee for Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
* Nathan J. Kaplan, member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1956–1962)
*Alexandra Kasser (2003), member of the Connecticut State Senate (2019–2021)
* Harold A. Katz (1948), member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1965–1982)
*Mary Anne Krupsak (1962), 80th Lieutenant Governor of New York (1975–1978)
*Dan Liljenquist (2001), member of the Utah State Senate (2009–2011)
*Arthur C. Lueder, Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts (1941–1949)
*Rob McKenna (1988), 17th Attorney General of Washington (2005–2013)
* George D. Mills (1923), member of the Illinois Senate (1943–1948)
* Jonathan Mitchell (2001), 5th Solicitor General of Texas (2010–2015)
* Lewis V. Morgan (1954), member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1963–1970)
* Eric E. Murphy, 9th Solicitor General of Ohio (2013–2017); also Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
*Chris Nybo, member of the Illinois Senate (2014–2018) and member of the Illinois House of Representatives (2011–2013)
*Myron Orfield, (1987), member of the Minnesota Senate (2000-2002) and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (2000-2002); also professor at the University of Minnesota Law School
* Gertrude Polcar (1938), member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1969–1971)
* James Reilly (1972) member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1976–1978)
* Jesse Ruiz (1995), Deputy Governor of Illinois for Education (2011–present) and chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education (2004–2011)
*J. Clinton Searle (1913), member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1927–37, 1939–1952)
*Ken Simpler, State Treasurer of Delaware (2015–2019)
* Michele Smith (1979), member of the Chicago City Council (2011–present)
*Zack Stephenson (2010), member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (2019–present)
* Anton D. Strouf (1910), member of the Montana Senate (1920)
*Calvin Sutker (1950), member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1985–1991) and member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners (1994–2002)
*William Tong (2000), 25th Attorney General of Connecticut (2019–present) and member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (2007–present)
* A. Andrew Torrence, member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1939–1940)
* Mark Tremmel, member of the Iowa House of Representatives (2001–2003)
*Edward Vrdolyak (1963), member and later president of the Chicago City Council (1971–1987)
* Bill Witt (1976), member of the Oregon House of Representatives (1999–2003)
*Rob Witwer (1996), member of the Colorado House of Representatives (2005–2009)
*Tremaine Wright (1999), member of the New York State Assembly (2017–2021)

=State judges

=
* Donald G. Alexander, Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court (1998–2020)
*Norman Arterburn (1926) Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court (1955-1977)
* Miriam Balanoff (1963), Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (1986–2000); also member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1979–1983)
* Thomas A. Balmer (1977), Associate Justice and formerly Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1980), Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals (1995–2011); also member of the Michigan House of Representatives (1985–1994)
*Tim Bradbury (1972), Judge of the King County Superior Court (1995)
* William H. Bright Jr. (1987), Chief Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court (2017–present)
* Daniel Calabretta (2003), Judge of the Sacramento County Superior Court (2019–present); current nominee for Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
*William C. Christianson (1920), Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1946); also judge of the Nuremberg Military Tribunals (1948–1949)
* Charles H. Davis (1931), Justice and later Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court (1955–1960) and Justice and two-time Presiding Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court (1964–1970)
* Leif Erickson (1934), Justice of the Montana Supreme Court (1939–1945); also chair of the Montana Democratic Party (1956–1958)
*Hugo Friend (1908), Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (1920–1966)
* Christopher L. Garrett (2000), Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court

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