Parker, Isaac (1768–1830)

US judge. A steady if unspectacular jurist, many of his decisions were acknowledged as authoritative in federal and other state courts. In 1817 he drew up a plan for what became Harvard Law School, at which he was a professor and overseer for several years.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. A goldsmith's son, he graduated from Harvard with high honours in 1786, taught school, then moved to Castine, Maine, where he set up a law practice. He served a term in Congress (1797–99) before accepting an appointment as US marshal for Maine. Named to the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1806, he became chief justice in 1814, a position he held until his death.