Jane Ann Restani (born February 27, 1948 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States Judge of the

United States Court of International Trade The United States Court of International Trade (case citations: Int'l Trade or Intl. Trade) is a U.S. federal court that adjudicates civil actions arising out of U.S. customs and international trade laws. Seated in New York City, it exercises ...

. She was appointed to the Court on November 16, 1983 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. She served as Chief Judge of the Court from 2003 to 2010.

Early life and education

Born in

, Restani graduated first in her class in 1966 from Mercy High School, in San Francisco. She received a

Bachelor of Arts 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 yea ...

degree in 1969 in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

, cum laude, from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, where she was a member of the Tower and Flame Honor Society. She received

teaching credential A United States teaching credential is a basic multiple or single subject credential obtained upon completion of a bachelor's degree, from a college or university that holds regional accreditation, and prescribed professional education requirement ...

s in 1970 from the

. In 1973, she received her

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 l ...

(fifth in her class) at the

University of California, Davis School of Law The University of California, Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King Jr. Hall), referred to as UC Davis School of Law and commonly known as King Hall, is the professional graduate law school of the University of California, Davis. The school rece ...

. She was a

law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also p ...

staff writer in her second year, and articles editor in her third. She was a member of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, ...

and

Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of education ...

.in Folder: Court of Claims / Series: Correspondence Files of Ken Starr, 1981-83 / Acc. #60-880498 Box 2 / RG 60 Department of Justice

Department of Justice career

She was admitted to practice law in

in 1973 and began her legal career in the Civil Division of the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, where she served as a trial attorney from 1973 to 1976. She served as assistant chief of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division from 1976 to 1980. She served as Director of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division from 1980 to 1983.

Trade Court service

On November 3, 1983,

President Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

nominated Restani to serve as a Judge of the United States Court of International Trade, to the seat vacated by Judge Herbert N. Maletz. She 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 po ...

on November 15, 1983 and received her commission the following day. She served as the Chief Judge from November 1, 2003 to November 1, 2010. She assumed

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

on March 1, 2015.

Notable decisions

In 2006, Restani sat by designation on a

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 ju ...

panel hearing '' Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley, Ltd.'', in which the plaintiff appealed a holding that the defendant's unlicensed use of several images of

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

concert posters in its coffee-table history of the band was

fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...

and not

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...

. Restani wrote the unanimous opinion affirming the district court, holding that since the images had been used transformatively, the archives could not assert market harm, and that the publisher's negotiations for a licensing fee did not foreclose them from later asserting fair use.

Views on Wikipedia

In the case ''BP Products North America v. US'', Court No. 06-00184, Restani wrote, "Based on the ability of any user to alter Wikipedia, the court is skeptical of it as a consistently reliable source of information. At this time, therefore, the court does not accept Wikipedia for the purposes of judicial notice."

Professional Honors and Activities

*Member, Bankruptcy-Consumer and Commercial Subcommittee of the Corporation, Banking and Business Law Committee of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

Senior Executive Service The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the civil service of the United States federal government equivalent to general officer or flag officer rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was created in 1979 when the Civil Service ...

Outstanding Performance Rating, September 1981 *Civil Division Performance Award, May 1980 *Meritorious Award, December 1979 *Outstanding Performance Rating, March 1979 *Department of Justice Special Achievement Award, October 1976 *Attorney General's Special Commendation, December 1975 *Guest Lecturer on Debtor-Creditor Law,

Antioch School of Law Antioch School of Law was a law school in Washington, D.C. which specialized in public advocacy. The school now operates as the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL). The school was located on 16th Str ...

*Author, "

Bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

," Civil Division Practice Manual

References

Sources

* * * * Reproduced in Biography Resource Center.

Farmington Hills, Michigan Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Troy, with a population of 83,986 at the 2 ...

. Gale, 2008.

External links

Senior Judge Jane A. Restani Biography on U.S. Court of International Trade website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Restani, Jane A. 1948 births Living people American people of Italian descent California Republicans Judges of the United States Court of International Trade Lawyers from San Francisco University of California, Berkeley alumni UC Davis School of Law alumni 20th-century American judges Critics of Wikipedia 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women United States federal judges appointed by Ronald Reagan