Levin, A. Leo
LEVIN, A. LEO
LEVIN, A. LEO (1919– ), U.S. law professor and administrator. Born in New York City, Levin, son of an Orthodox rabbi and Mizrachi leader, graduated with a B.A. degree from Ye-shiva University (1939) and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School (1942). He began to teach law at the University of Pennsylvania in 1949 and became a full professor in 1953. From 1963 to 1968 he was vice provost at the university, and then for a year (1969–1970) he served as vice president for academic affairs at Yeshiva University. He returned to teaching law at the University of Pennsylvania in 1970. In 1989 he was named professor emeritus.
In addition to teaching law, Levin was prominently involved in judicial administration. In 1977 he was appointed director of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, d.c., an agency created by an act of Congress in 1967, to conduct research on the operation of federal courts, to conduct training programs for judges and court personnel, and to engage in related activities designed to make the federal court system efficient. He served in that capacity until 1987.
Other positions that Levin held are executive director of the Commission on Revision of the Federal Courts Appellate System (1973–75); chairman of the Pennsylvania State Legislative Reapportionment Commission (1971–73); founding director of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy; member of the Standing Committee on Practice and Procedure, Judicial Conference of the United States (1977–78); conference coordinator, National Conference on Causes of Dissatisfaction with the Administration of Justice (the so-called Pound Conference, 1976–77); and he has been a member of the National Institute of Corrections since 1977.
Levin is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an honorary trustee of Bar-Ilan University. He was formerly president of the Jewish Publication Society, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Judicature Society. He also served on the Planning Committee of the Claims Commission, which made recommendations regarding the proper allocation of reparation and restitution funds to be paid to Holocaust survivors.
Among his publications are a study of judicial administration in Pennsylvania, a casebook on civil procedure, and a book on trial advocacy, as well as numerous law review articles. These books include The American Judiciary (1982), Dispute Resolution Devices in a Democratic Society (1985), and Cases and Materials on Civil Procedure (with P. Schuchman et al., 1992)
[Milton Ridvas Konvitz /
Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)]