George Willi

George Willi III (May 1, 1924 – September 26, 2016) was a judge of the United States Court of Claims from 1965 to 1982, and of the United States Court of Federal Claims from 1982 to 1985.[1]

Born in New York, New York, Willi served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, from 1943 to 1946, achieving the rank of captain. He then received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin in 1950 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Wisconsin Law School the same year.[2] He was a Carriers' attorney for the National Railroad Adjustment Board from 1950 to 1951, and a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1951 to 1963, thereafter entering private practice in Washington, D.C., in 1964.[2]

In 1965, Willi became a trial judge of the U.S. Court of Claims.[2] On October 1, 1982, Willi was appointed by operation of the Federal Courts Improvement Act, 96 Stat. 27, to a new seat on the United States Court of Claims.[2] In 2003, Judge Alex Kozinski wrote in an article on his tenure as Chief Judge of the Court of Claims:

George Willi was in the building finishing off an opinion – I think he was still there when I left more than three years later – and he would stop in my office every so often to offer me sage, though often cryptic, advice: "No point plucking two chickens with one hand tied behind your back." I wasn't always quite sure what he meant, but gave him a knowing nod and he'd go back to writing up his opinion, long-hand. For all I know, he's still at it.[3]

Willi assumed senior status on December 14, 1982, and then resigned from the court entirely on January 4, 1985.[2] Willi was one of several judges originally assigned to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for whom no successor was appointed.[4]