Max Rosenn

Max Rosenn was a United States circuit judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for more than three decades. Born in 1910 in northeastern Pennsylvania, he built a distinguished legal career in Wilkes-Barre before his appointment to the federal appellate bench by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican, in 1970. He served as an active circuit judge until 1981 and continued in senior status until his death in 2006, just days after his ninety-sixth birthday. His lengthy tenure on the Third Circuit and deep roots in the Wyoming Valley community of Pennsylvania made him a significant figure in both federal jurisprudence and regional civic life.

Early life and legal career

Max Rosenn was born on February 4, 1910, in Plains, Pennsylvania, to a Jewish family. He pursued his undergraduate education at Cornell University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1929. Following his graduation from Cornell, Rosenn attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1932. Upon completing his legal education during the early years of the Great Depression, he returned to northeastern Pennsylvania and established himself in private practice in Wilkes-Barre, the seat of Luzerne County.

Rosenn's early professional years combined private practice with public service. From 1941 to 1944, he served as an assistant district attorney in Wilkes-Barre, gaining prosecutorial experience during the World War II era. In 1944, he entered military service as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army, serving in the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the Philippines until 1946. This military legal service placed him in the Pacific theater during the final stages of the war and the beginning of the postwar occupation period.

After returning from military service, Rosenn resumed his legal career in Wilkes-Barre. In 1954, he co-founded the law firm of Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald with Mitchell Jenkins and Henry Greenwald. The firm would grow substantially over the decades, eventually expanding to approximately forty attorneys with offices in both Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton, Pennsylvania, becoming a significant regional legal practice in northeastern Pennsylvania. Rosenn's professional accomplishments earned him recognition as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honor reflecting his standing among trial practitioners.

Beyond his law practice, Rosenn took on significant public responsibilities. He served as Pennsylvania Secretary of Public Welfare from 1966 to 1967, a cabinet-level position in the state government that involved overseeing social services and assistance programs during a period of expanding state welfare functions. In 1972, following the devastating flood that struck Wilkes-Barre and the entire Wyoming Valley region, Rosenn chaired the Flood Recovery Task Force, playing a central role in coordinating the community's response to one of the area's worst natural disasters. This civic leadership during a crisis demonstrated his commitment to his community beyond his legal work.

Federal appellate service

On September 3, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon nominated Rosenn to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The vacancy had been created by the departure of Judge David Henry Stahl. The United States Senate confirmed Rosenn's nomination on October 6, 1970, and he received his commission the following day, beginning his service on the federal appellate bench. At the time of his appointment, Rosenn was sixty years old and brought nearly four decades of legal experience to the position.

The Third Circuit, headquartered in Philadelphia, exercises appellate jurisdiction over federal district courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands. As a circuit judge, Rosenn would have participated in three-judge panels reviewing appeals from these district courts, addressing questions of federal law across a wide range of civil and criminal matters. His background as both a prosecutor and a private practitioner, along with his military legal service, provided him with diverse perspectives on the legal issues that came before the court.

Rosenn served as an active circuit judge for just over a decade. On January 21, 1981, he assumed senior status, a form of semi-retirement available to federal judges who meet certain age and service requirements. Senior status allowed him to continue hearing cases on a reduced schedule while creating a vacancy for a new active judge to be appointed. Rosenn continued to serve in senior status for twenty-five years, maintaining his connection to the Third Circuit well into his nineties. His total federal judicial service spanned more than thirty-five years, from 1970 until his death in 2006.

Jurisprudence and legacy

In 1980, marking Rosenn's tenth anniversary on the federal bench, his former law clerks established the annual Max Rosenn Lecture Series in Law and Humanities at Wilkes College, which later became Wilkes University, in Wilkes-Barre. This lecture series represented an effort to honor his service and to create an ongoing educational program connecting legal practice with broader humanistic concerns. The establishment of such a series by former clerks suggested the impact Rosenn had on the young attorneys who worked closely with him during their clerkships.

Following Rosenn's death, his former law clerks formed the Association of Law Clerks of The Honorable Max Rosenn, creating a formal organization to preserve connections among those who had served in his chambers and to maintain his memory. Such associations are relatively uncommon and typically reflect particularly strong relationships between a judge and his or her clerks over many years of service.

Rosenn's connection to Wilkes-Barre and the broader northeastern Pennsylvania region remained strong throughout his life and is reflected in the memorials established in his name. The federal courthouse in Wilkes-Barre was named the Max Rosenn United States Courthouse in his honor, a significant recognition given that federal courthouses are typically named only for judges of particular distinction or long service. Additionally, the Max Rosenn Memorial Law Library in the Luzerne County Courthouse bears his name, connecting his legacy to both the federal and county legal systems in the area where he practiced and served for so many years.

Rosenn was married to Tillie Hershkowitz, who predeceased him in 1992. The couple had two sons. Rosenn died in Wilkes-Barre on February 7, 2006, three days after his ninety-sixth birthday, having lived nearly a full century and having maintained his senior status on the Third Circuit until the end of his life. His lengthy service, spanning from the Nixon administration through the early years of the twenty-first century, made him a witness to and participant in significant developments in federal law over more than three decades.