Adam Liptak's NYT obit is
Judge Richard A. Posner Has Died. His Influence in Law Was Beyond Compare. He was the most-cited legal scholar of the latter half of the 20th century and an unapologetic iconoclast, favoring pragmatism over judicial tradition. He was 87.Judge Posner, who served from 1981 to 2017 on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, wrote thousands of judicial opinions and more than 50 books on a vast array of topics, along with countless scholarly articles, essays, book reviews and blog posts.
Judge Posner was the most-cited legal scholar in the second half of the 20th century, according to a 2000 study conducted by Fred R. Shapiro, beating the runner-up, Ronald Dworkin, by a factor of almost two.
In the casebooks that collect excerpts from judicial opinions and are the basis for much of legal education, Judge Posner’s work was featured for many years more often than that of any other judge.
Judge Posner called his approach to judging pragmatic. His critics called it lawless. “I pay very little attention to legal rules, statutes, constitutional provisions,” Judge Posner said in a 2017 interview. “A case is just a dispute. The first thing you do is ask yourself — forget about the law — what is a sensible resolution of this dispute?”
Breaking with the norms of appellate adjudication, in which judges are expected to confine themselves to the record prepared in the trial court, Judge Posner conducted internet research and even experiments in his chambers.
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