Herbert Funk Goodrich

Who was Herbert Funk Goodrich?

Herbert Funk Goodrich was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He also served as the Director of the American Law Institute and chaired the drafting committee for the original version of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Goodrich earned his bachelor's degree from Carleton College in 1911, and his law degree at Harvard Law School in 1914.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Goodrich served as a law professor at University of Iowa College of Law. He began teaching at Iowa in 1914, and became acting dean in 1921. He then taught first at the University of Michigan Law School, then at University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he served as dean from 1929 to 1940.

Goodrich was nominated to the bench of the Third Circuit by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 5, 1940, to a seat vacated by Francis Biddle; he was confirmed by the Senate on May 7, 1940, receiving his commission on May 10, 1940. In 1947, while serving on the bench of the Third Circuit, he became the Director of the American Law Institute, a position he would hold until his death in 1962.