John F. Davis

John F. Davis (July 11, 1907 – July 18, 2000) was an American lawyer and law professor whose career included ten years of service as Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States. A native of Maine, Davis attended Bates College, graduating in 1928, and Harvard Law School, from which he obtained his law degree in 1932. Prior to World War II, Davis spent several years as a government attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Uni... more

John F. Davis (July 11, 1907 – July 18, 2000) was an American lawyer and law professor whose career included ten years of service as Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States. A native of Maine, Davis attended Bates College, graduating in 1928, and Harvard Law School, from which he obtained his law degree in 1932. Prior to World War II, Davis spent several years as a government attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of the Interior. During the war, he worked as counsel for the United States Coast Guard. Following World War II, Davis spent several years as a lawyer in private practice in Washington, D.C.. He is best remembered as one of the defense attorneys who represented accused Soviet espionage agent Alger Hiss before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1948 and at Hiss's two 1949-50 trials for perjury in the Southern District of New York. During the 1950s, as an assistant Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of... less