The Papers of Judge Edward S. Smith
Scope and Contents
The collection reflects the administrative process that took place "to restructure a portion of the intermediate appellate tier." Judge Smith was appointed Judge of the Court of Claims in 1979. There were too many appeals and very few judges, so it was necessaryy to allow the reorganization. In 1978-1979, Daniel J. Meador, Assistant Attorney General, sent a proposal for restructuring the court system. This set of papers, called the Meador Report, began the process that concluded with the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1979 and launched the necessary legislation to establish the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. There are proposals, commentaries, discussions, hearings, statements, and memoranda between judges. This collection can be an excellent source of information on how the courts work internally.
Dates
- 1964-1997
Creator
- Smith, Edward S., 1919-2001 (Person)
Language of Materials
Biographical / Historical
From 1947 to 1961 he was an associate and partner with the firm of Blair, Korner, Doyle, Worth, and Crampton (this firm changed names). From 1961, he worked in the Tax Division of the U. S. Department of Justice, as Chief of the Trial Section. There, he reorganized and administered several sections of the Tax Division and supervised civil refund litigation in all U. S. District Courts and the U. S. Courts of Claims. In 1962 and 1963, he served as deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights. From 1963 to 1977, he was partner in the law firm of Piper & Marbury Attorneys, in the city of Baltimore, where he was the head of the Tax and Estates Department. In 1978, he was appointed to the U. S. Courts of Claims as an associate judge. From 1982-1989, he was judge of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In 1989, he became a senior circuit judge and moved to Alabama, where he continued to work until his death.
Judge Smith was member of the ABA; the Bar Association of the city of Baltimore; the Baltimore Association of Tax Counsel; the National Tax Association; the Tax Institute of America; the Federal Bar Association; the District of Columbia Bar (1948, Tax Division); the Virginia State Bar (1947); the Bar Association of the District of Columbia (member of the Committee on U. S. Courts of Claims); and a permanent member of the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit. He was also a member of the Democratic Party. He taught as adjunct faculty at the University of Samford Law School and at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Judge Edward S. Smith died March 22, 2001 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Extent
3.75 Cubic Feet (9 archival boxes)
Arrangement
Service on U.S. Court of Claims: correspondence, letters of recommendation, memoranda between judges and personal notes regarding court of claims appointments, and court administration rules, dating from primarily from 1977-1982. Boxes 1-2.
Creation of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal District: Meador Report materials, dating from 1978-1991. Boxes 2-5.
Federal Circuit Administration: materials related to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, various surveys, reports, and rules regarding procedures, dating from 1976-1997. Boxes 6-8.
Personal: resume, published articles, letters, speeches, class notes, and working materials, dating from 1964-1985. Box 9.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Creator
- Smith, Edward S., 1919-2001 (Person)
- Title
- A Guide to The Papers of Judge Edward S. Smith,1964-1997 MSS 01-3
- Subtitle
- Smith, Judge Edward S., Papers, 1964-1997MSS 01-3
- Author
- Processed by Cecilia Brown in 2001.
- Date
- © 2009 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Description is inEnglish
Repository Details
Part of the Arthur J. Morris Law Library Special Collections Repository
Arthur J. Morris Law Library
580 Massie Road
University of Virginia
Charlottesville Virginia 22903 United States
archives@law.virginia.edu