Pierre Leval has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 1993, and formerly was a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. After law school, he clerked for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Before joining the bench in 1977, he worked at the District Attorney’s Office of New York County, serving as First Assistant and Chief Assistant, and was in private practice at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, focusing on international finance and litigation. He began his legal career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he became Chief Appellate Attorney. Judge Leval has published and lectured on copyright, intellectual-property and free-speech issues.
Harvard College, B.A.; Harvard Law School, J.D.