In this guest column, "In Celebration of the American Jury,"
U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young discusses the
history of the American jury trial. The column is taken from a
speech Young gave last October at Massachusetts Continuing Legal
Education, Inc.
Click here to view a copy of his speech.
About the author
A U.S. District Court judge for the District of Massachusetts,
Hon. William G. Young has been an active trial judge for more than
25 years, serving on both the Massachusetts Superior Court and the
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. After
receiving his A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard
University in 1962, he served two years as an officer in the United
States Army. His legal career began in 1967 when he was admitted to
the Massachusetts bar upon graduating from the Harvard Law School.
He served as law clerk to the Hon. Raymond S. Wilkins, chief
justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. Following his clerkship, he
practiced law as an associate and then partner at the Boston law
firm of Bingham, Dana & Gould. His legal career has also
included stints as a special assistant attorney general and as
chief counsel for former Massachusetts Gov. Francis W.
Sargent.
A longtime teacher of evidence and trial advocacy, he has taught
at several law schools including Harvard, Boston College and Boston
University. Commonly referred to as the education judge, he is
active in judicial education at the Federal Judicial Center and the
Flaschner Judicial Institute. Moreover, he volunteers much of his
time to educating the bar and has been a staple at continuing legal
education programs and institutions.