| William H. Kirkpatrick | |
| Office: | Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| Term Start: | May 1, 1958 |
| Term End: | November 28, 1970 |
| Office1: | Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| Term Start1: | 1948 |
| Term End1: | 1958 |
| Predecessor1: | Office established |
| Office2: | Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| Term Start2: | March 3, 1927 |
| Term End2: | May 1, 1958 |
| Appointer2: | Calvin Coolidge |
| Predecessor2: | Seat established by 44 Stat. 1347 |
| State3: | Pennsylvania |
| District3: | 26th |
| Term Start3: | March 4, 1921 |
| Term End3: | March 3, 1923 |
| Predecessor3: | Henry Joseph Steele |
| Successor3: | Thomas Wharton Phillips Jr. |
| Birth Name: | William Huntington Kirkpatrick |
| Birth Date: | 2 October 1885 |
| Birth Place: | Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Death Place: | Cumberstone, Maryland |
| Party: | Republican |
| Father: | William Sebring Kirkpatrick |
| Education: | Lafayette College (A.B.) University of Pennsylvania Law School |
William Huntington Kirkpatrick (October 2, 1885 – November 28, 1970) was a United States representative from Pennsylvania and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Born the son of William Sebring Kirkpatrick in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Kirkpatrick attended the public schools, then received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Lafayette College in 1905 and attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice of law in Easton starting in 1908. He served in World War I as major and lieutenant colonel, judge advocate, and was a member of the board of review of courts-martial in the United States Army.
Kirkpatrick was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives of the 67th United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1921 until March 3, 1923. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the 68th United States Congress in 1922. He resumed private practice in Easton from 1923 to 1927.
Kirkpatrick was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge on March 3, 1927, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to a new seat created by 44 Stat. 1347. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 3, 1927, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge from 1948 to 1958. He assumed senior status on May 1, 1958. He was the last federal judge in active service to have been appointed to his position by President Coolidge. His service was terminated on November 28, 1970, due to his death in Cumberstone,[1] an unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Interment was in Christ Church Cemetery in West River, Maryland.
Kirkpatrick is remembered as "one of the unsung heroes of American corporate and securities law," issuing early but influential decisions in Insurance Shares Corp. v. Northern Fiscal Corp.,[2] which described circumstances in which a corporation's controlling shareholder has a fiduciary duty not to sell the control block to a looter, and Kardon v. National Gypsum Co.,[3] first recognizing an implied private cause of action for Rule 10b-5 violations.
Kirkpatrick was a trustee to Lafayette College from 1933 to 1961.[4]