William Huntington Kirkpatrick (October 2, 1885 – November 28, 1970) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Phila ...

Education and career

Born the son of

William Sebring Kirkpatrick William Sebring Kirkpatrick (April 21, 1844 – November 3, 1932) was a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. William S. Kirkpatrick (father of William Huntington Kirkpatric ...

in Easton, Northampton County,

, Kirkpatrick attended the public schools, then received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

in 1905 and attended the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice of law in Easton starting in 1908. He served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as major and lieutenant colonel,

judge advocate Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions. Australia The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that provi ...

, and was a member of the board of review of

courts-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Congressional service

Kirkpatrick was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

of the

67th United States Congress The 67th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 192 ...

, serving from March 4, 1921 until March 3, 1923. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the

68th United States Congress The 68th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1923 ...

in 1922. He resumed private practice in Easton from 1923 to 1927.

Federal judicial service

Kirkpatrick was nominated by President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

on March 3, 1927, to the

, to a new seat created by 44 Stat. 1347. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on March 3, 1927, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge from 1948 to 1958. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on May 1, 1958. He was the last federal judge in active service to have been appointed to his position by President Coolidge. His service was terminated on November 28, 1970, due to his death in Cumberstone, an unincorporated community in

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Interment was in Christ Church Cemetery in West River, Maryland.

Notable cases

Kirkpatrick is remembered as "one of the unsung heroes of American

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and re ...

and

securities law Securities regulation in the United States is the field of U.S. law that covers transactions and other dealings with securities. The term is usually understood to include both federal and state-level regulation by governmental regulatory agencies, ...

," issuing early but influential decisions in ''Insurance Shares Corp. v. Northern Fiscal Corp.'', which described circumstances in which a corporation's controlling shareholder has a fiduciary duty not to sell the control block to a looter, and ''Kardon v. National Gypsum Co.'',69 F. Supp. 512 (E.D. Pa. 1946). first recognizing an implied private cause of action for

Rule 10b-5 SEC Rule 10b-5, codified at , is one of the most important rules targeting securities fraud promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, pursuant to its authority granted under § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The rule ...

violations.

Other service

Kirkpatrick was a trustee to Lafayette College from 1933 to 1961.

Notes

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, William H. 1885 births 1970 deaths Pennsylvania lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by Calvin Coolidge 20th-century American judges United States Army personnel of World War I Lafayette College alumni Lafayette College trustees University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Politicians from Easton, Pennsylvania