Karl Nickerson Llywelyn

Karl Nickerson Llewellyn (May 22, 1893 – February 13, 1962) was an American jurisprudential scholar associated with the school of legal realism. The Journal of Legal Studies has identified Llewellyn as one of the twenty most cited American legal scholars of the 20th century. Llewellyn was born in Seattle, Washington, but grew up in Brooklyn. He studied at Yale University, where he earned his LLB and JD and was influenced by legal realism proponents Arthur L. Corbin and Wesley N. Hohfeld. During World War I, he fought with a German regiment and was wounded. After the war, he returned to Yale to complete his studies. He joined the faculty of Columbia Law School in 1925, where he taught until 1951 before moving to the University of Chicago Law School. Llewellyn was a major proponent of legal realism, emphasizing the practical realities of judicial decision-making over abstract legal rules. He famously stated that the law is what judges, lawyers, and law enforcement officers do about disputes. He also served as the principal drafter of the Uniform Commercial Code. Llewellyn married his former student, Soia Mentschikoff, who also became a prominent legal scholar and UCC drafter. Llewellyn died in Chicago of a heart attack.