Former Mass. Supreme Court Justice Gets HLS Chair

Professor of Law Charles Fried traded the bench for the lectern this summer, giving up a seat on the state's highest court for a post at Harvard Law School. In addition, the law school announced this Wednesday that Fried has been appointed to its recently endowed Beneficial Professorship.

Fried returned to the law school's faculty July 1 after serving for four years as an Associate Justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Before his stint on the court, Fried taught in various positions at the law school, beginning with an assistant professorship in 1961. He became the Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence in 1981.

"I never really left," said Fried, who lectured at the Law School part-time while he was serving on the bench.

"I'm still in the same office," he added.

But though the office is the same, the post is slightly different. In his new position, Fried can teach a wider range of subjects.

"The Carter [chair] was concerned with jurisprudence, and this chair can deal with any aspect of the law," said Michael J. Chmura, director of the law school's news office.

Still, Fried's previous course offerings covered a wide area, including appellate advocacy, labor law, legal philosophy and medical ethics. Fried said with his new professorship, he'll likely stick to his strengths.

"I'll mainly be teaching constitutional law and courses related to it--what I've been doing all along" he said. "It's not too much of a change."

Fried said he decided to return to full-time teaching to "make more of a contribution" to education. But he said his twin professions of professor and judge suited him well.

"I think they're complimentary," he said. "I was teaching about appellate cases and deciding appellate cases."

The Law School's gain is the Supreme Judicial Court's loss, and Massachusetts Governor A. Paul Cellucci is in the process of selecting nominees to fill the slots vacated by Fried and fellow justice Herbert Wilkins. Of the 15 nominees, four are Harvard Law School graduates.