Newsmaker: Arthur D. Hellman

Notable: New federal rules for judicial misconduct investigations incorporated recommendations Hellman made last fall, requiring federal courts to post the results of misconduct investigations online and loosening the criteria for publicly disclosing an investigation. Previously, some courts only made paper copies of decisions available, and those could only be picked up at the circuit court's office. Federal chief judges would only have to publicly acknowledge an investigation under “extraordinary circumstances,” but the new rules allow disclosure “when necessary or appropriate.”

Age: 72

Residence: Squirrel Hill

Background: Hellman has been a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law since 1975, teaching courses on federal courts, First Amendment law and constitutional law. Before that, he was a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. In addition to teaching and writing, he works with policymakers on federal judiciary rules and procedures.

Education: B.A. in history and literature, Harvard University, 1963; J.D., Yale Law School, 1966.

Quote: “Today, making something public means putting it on the Web. There are only 12 judicial circuits, so the nearest office could be hundreds of miles away. When the records were only on paper, as a practical matter, they were hidden.”