John Thomas Elfvin (June 30, 1917 – January 6, 2009) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a Federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Elfvin became a federal judge following his nomination to the court by President Gerald Ford in 1974. He assumed senior judge status in 1987. Thus, he essentially acted as a pro bono, or volunteer, judge for 20 years because federal judges can retire at full pay.
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John Thomas Elfvin (June 30, 1917 – January 6, 2009) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a Federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Elfvin became a federal judge following his nomination to the court by President Gerald Ford in 1974. He assumed senior judge status in 1987. Thus, he essentially acted as a pro bono, or volunteer, judge for 20 years because federal judges can retire at full pay.
Born in Montour Falls, New York, Elfvin received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1942 and was a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity there. He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1947 from the Georgetown University Law School following service in the U.S. Navy as an electrical engineer in the Bureau of Ships during World War II, from 1943 to 1946.
Elfvin clerked for E. Barrett Prettyman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1947-48). After private practice in New York City at Cravath, Swaine &...
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