William Hughes Mulligan (March 5, 1918 – May 13, 1996) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...

Education and career

Born on March 5, 1918, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Mulligan received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1939 from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1942 from

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test take ...

. He served 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 ...

as a special agent for the

Counterintelligence Corps The Counter Intelligence Corps (Army CIC) was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army consisting of highly trained special agents. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and ...

from 1942 to 1946. He served on the faculty of Fordham University School of Law in a number of capacities from 1946 to 1971, specifically as a lecturer from 1946 to 1952, as an associate professor from 1953 to 1954, as assistant dean and professor of law from 1954 to 1956, as dean from 1956 to 1971 and as the Wilkinson Professor of Law from 1961 to 1971.

Federal judicial service

Mulligan was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

on April 26, 1971, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

J. Edward Lumbard Joseph Edward Lumbard Jr. (August 18, 1901 – June 3, 1999) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Education and career Born on August 18, 1901, in Harlem,New York City, New York, Lumba ...

. He was confirmed by the

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on May 20, 1971, and received his commission on May 27, 1971. He served as a board member of the

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of respo ...

from 1979 to 1981. His service terminated on March 31, 1981, due to his resignation. In resigning, he stated that the salary for federal appellate judges was too low to provide for his family. He once stated that while he could possibly live on a judge's salary, he could not afford to die on it.

Post judicial service and death

After his resignation from the federal bench, he engaged in the private practice of law with the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1948, the firm consistently ranks among the top U.S. law firms by revenue. The company is known for its wor ...

in New York City from 1981 to 1991. He retired in 1991 after suffering a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. He died in

Bronxville Bronxville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the town of Eastchester. The village comprises one square mile (2.5 km2) of land in its entirety, ...

, New York on May 13, 1996.

Other service and publication

In addition to his legal career, Mulligan was a successful public speaker delivering acclaimed humorous and serious remarks to a variety of organizations from

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

s to Irish-American civic groups. A collection of Mulligan's after-dinner speeches was edited and posthumously published with an introduction by Mulligan's son, William Hughes Mulligan, Jr., under the title ''Mulligan's Law: The Wit and Wisdom of William Hughes Mulligan'' (Fordham University Press 1997).

Honor

A summer intramural

moot court Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In most countries, the phrase " ...

competition at Fordham Law, for rising second-year students, is named for Mulligan. Students who do well receive invitations to join the Fordham Moot Court Board.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulligan, William Hughes 1918 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American judges Fordham University School of Law alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Deans of law schools in the United States Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people United States court of appeals judges appointed by Richard Nixon Lawyers from New York City Fordham University faculty