GOODHART, ARTHUR LEHMAN

GOODHART, ARTHUR LEHMAN (1891–1978), U.S. jurist. Born in New York, Goodhart studied in America and Britain and was an officer in the United States Army during World War i. In 1919 he became a lecturer in law at Cambridge University and was editor of the Cambridge Law Journal from 1921 to 1925. In 1931 Goodhart was appointed professor of jurisprudence at Oxford University. In this position he exercised considerable influence both as a lecturer and writer, and his lucid exposition of legal problems, particularly in the field of contracts and torts, earned him a reputation as an outstanding jurist. He also served on several government legal committees, including the Royal Commission on the Police, the Monopolies Commission, and the Law Revision Committee.

In 1951 Goodhart was appointed master of University College, Oxford, the first Jew and the first American citizen to become master of an Oxford college. He was also the recipient of many other honors. He was made a king's counsel in 1943 and awarded a knighthood (honorary by virtue of his American citizenship). He was chairman of the International Law Association. His writings include Essays in Jurisprudence and the Common Law (1931); Precedent in English and Continental Law (1934); The Government of Great Britain (1946); and Five Jewish Lawyers of the Common Law (1950). He was also editor of the Law Quarterly Review, one of the most authoritative legal magazines in the world.

Goodhart took an interest in Jewish affairs and was a strong supporter of Israel. After the *Six-Day War he wrote several articles justifying the Israeli position in international law. His son philip j. goodhart (1925– ) was a Conservative Member of Parliament and a member of the British delegation to the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

bibliography:

Current Biography Yearbook 1964 (1964), 159–61.

[Israel Finestein]