Richard W. McLaren

Richard Wellington McLaren (April 21, 1918 – February 25, 1976) was a United States federal judge.

McLaren was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 21, 1918. He received a B.A. from Yale College in 1939 and an LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1942, and thereafter briefly entered private practice in New York City. He was in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, serving from 1942 to 1946, whereupon he returned to private practice in New York. In 1950, he moved back to Chicago. He became an Assistant U.S. Attorney General, supervising the Antitrust Division from 1969 until his appointment to the federal bench. As Assistant Attorney General, he argued for the Government in the United States Supreme Court in Blonder-Tongue Labs. v. University of Ill. Foundation and FTC v. Sperry & Hutchinson Co.

McLaren was nominated by President Richard Nixon on December 2, 1971, to a seat vacated by Julius J. Hoffman on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was confirmed on December 2, 1971, and received his commission on January 26, 1972. He remained on the court until his death on February 25, 1976, in Chicago.