Supreme Court Justice Breyer has participated in five Fred Friendly Seminars, probing the legal underpinnings of challenging ethical issues and exploring the legal ramifications of policy positions.

President Clinton appointed Breyer to the U. S. Supreme Court in 1994 following a distinguished career as a judge. From 1980 to 1990, Breyer was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and he was its chief judge from 1990 to 1994. He also served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1990 to 1994, and was a member of the United States Sentencing Commission from 1985 to 1989.

Breyer served as a law clerk to Justice Arthur Goldberg of the U. S. Supreme Court during the 1964 term after graduating from Harvard Law School. He continued his law career in Washington as a special assistant to the Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Antitrust from 1965 to 1967.

In 1973, Breyer was Assistant Special Prosecutor of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. He served as special counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee from 1974 to 1975, and as chief counsel of the committee in 1979 and 1980.

Justice Breyer taught at Harvard Law School at different points throughout his career from 1967 to 1994. He has also been a professor at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and taught at the College of Law in Sydney, Australia and at the University of Rome.