Richard A. Posner, one of the best known appellate judges in the nation, is retiring from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Saturday.

Posner, a teacher and a prolific writer on and off the bench, has served on the Chicago-based 7th Circuit for nearly 36 years.

“I am proud to have promoted a pragmatic approach to judging during my time on the Court, and to have had the opportunity to apply my view that judicial opinions should be easy to understand and that judges should focus on the right and wrong in every case,” Posner said in a statement.

“I look forward to continuing to teach and publish, with a particular focus on social justice reform.”

A leading proponent of the law-and-economics school of thought, Posner was widely regarded as a conservative when he was appointed to the bench in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan.

Read more at Chicago Daily Law Bulletin