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“exceptional gentleman, a leader on the bench on where he would continue to serve for 22 years.
important issues, and a very fine person.” During his tenure on the bench, Katzmann orga-
“He will be very much missed,” Wittes said. nized an interdisciplinary study group to address
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D- failures in the legal representation of the immigrant
New York, called the late judge a “kind, humble, poor. It would become a career-long passion, spawn-
compassionate human being, deeply admired by ev- ing ongoing efforts to increase access for justice for
eryone who knew him.” immigrants.
‘Incomparable’ On Constitution Day 2016, Katzmann presided
Born in Manhattan in 1953, Katzmann grew up over the largest naturalization ceremony in history
in Queens, attending New York City public schools. at Ellis Island, an experience he considered one of
His father, John Katzmann was an engineer and a the highlights of his judicial career.
refugee from Nazi Germany. His mother Sylvia was “It symbolizes that the greatness of this country is
a homemaker and the Brooklyn-born daughter of that we have welcomed and become greater because
Russian immigrants. of the immigrants who have come here,” Katzmann
Katzmann would go on to graduate summa cum told the Law Journal last year. “That day really stands

laude from Columbia College before receiving his out in my memory.”
A.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University, ‘Trying to do all that I could’
where he studied under then-professor Daniel Pat- Katzmann was also regarded for his strong leader-
rick Moynihan. Moynihan, for whom the federal ship of the Second Circuit throughout his tenure as
courthouse in Lower Manhattan is named, became chief judge.
a mentor for the future chief judge. When he assumed the role in 2013, federal courts
Katzmann later attended Yale Law School, and were facing possible shutdowns and sequester as the
clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Hugh result of a contentious congressional budget process
H. Bownes of the First Circuit before joining the in Washington. Most recently, he presided over the
Brookings Institution as a fellow of the government Second Circuit’s response to the unprecedented CO-
studies program. VID-19 pandemic, which forced the court to take its
In 1993 Moynihan tapped Katzmann to serve as operations remote for the first time since the Sept.
his special counsel on the confirmation of Justice 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, sparking a long relationship Through it all, though, the work of the court has
with the late icon of the U.S. Supreme Court. continued apace, as judges pressed on to hear oral
“Senator Moynihan thought it would be useful arguments via the court’s teleconferencing system.
for me to have a savvy, sympathique counselor as I For the first time in its history, the Second Circuit
made my way from one Senator’s office to another’s. is livestreaming audio of the proceedings directly to
Bob Katzmann was that counselor,” Ginsburg said, its website.
according to the Second Circuit’s announcement. “When I think about the past seven years, I think
Katzmann later described Ginsburg as “a friend about, first of all, trying to do all that I could in the
for all seasons, an incomparable friend, to me and face of various challenges,” Katzmann said in an in-
to my wife, Jennifer.” He was nominated by former terview with the Law Journal last year.
President Bill Clinton to serve as a judge on the Sec- He stepped back from an active role on the court
ond Circuit in 1999. in January, but continued to manage a full caseload
By that time, Katzmann had already authored the while teaching at New York University School of
book “Courts and Congress,” and was regarded as Law. He also expected to publish a new edition of
one of the nation’s leading scholars on the subject his acclaimed book “Judging Statutes.”
of judicial-legislative relations. He was confirmed to As chief, Katzmann also pioneered the Second
the court by voice vote on July 14, 1999, and official- Circuit’s Justice for All: Courts and the Commu-
ly took his seat two days later on the Second Circuit, ■ Continued on PAGE 20

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