Traynor, Roger John

Traynor, Roger John, 1900–1983, American jurist, b. Park City, Utah, grad. Univ. of California at Berkeley (A.B., 1923, Ph.D., 1926, J.D., 1927.) After teaching political science and law at the Univ. of California at Berkeley (1926–40), he served as a justice on the California state supreme court (1940–70), serving as chief justice from 1964 to 1970. Traynor's major influence was on tort and product liability law, where he helped to establish the principle that some defendants can be held liable even in the absence of fault. He also contributed to major doctrinal developments in contract law and criminal law. He was one of the most influential and respected jurists of his era.