Judge Maxwell was appointed the first United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of New York in 1971. Throughout his career as a Magistrate Judge, he refused to wear the traditional black robe in the courtroom. He said that it made him feel pretentious and put up an unnecessary barrier between him and the people who appeared before him. He was universally respected. For the entirety of his career, he would be reverently referred to by practitioners of the federal bar as “The Magistrate.”

Born on May 30, 1923, in Lackawanna, New York and raised in South Buffalo, Judge Maxwell was proud of his working-class roots. A devout Catholic, he graduated from Canisius High School. After starting college, his studies were put on hold while he served as a pilot in the Army Air Force during World War II. From 1943 to 1945, then-Second Lieutenant Maxwell flew dangerous reconnaissance missions over Europe in a P-51 Mustang. On such missions, he was not allowed to engage in combat unless being fired upon first. During one mission, he shot down an enemy aircraft after a dog fight, but his family said he never liked to talk about it.

After the war, he finished his degree at Canisius College in 1946, and went on to graduate from the University of Buffalo Law School in 1949. He was in private practice from 1949 until 1961. About private practice, he would say that once he got a client he was very happy (and very capable), but he did not much care for the process of getting clients.

He always felt the call of public service, and in 1961 he was appointed to the position of Assistant United States Attorney by then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. He was proud of his service as an Assistant United States Attorney and was among the founders of the Gen. William Donovan Club for federal prosecutors in Western New York, named in honor of fellow-Buffalonian and WWII intelligence master William “Wild Bill” Donovan.

From 1963 to 1971, he returned to private practice. In 1965, he was appointed as the United States Commissioner for the Western District of Buffalo. However, United States Commissioners were part-time, possessed limited authority and could only assist District Court Judges in a very narrow scope of matters. After an exhaustive Congressional study, the full-time position of United States Magistrate Judge was created with much expanded authority to assist District Court Judges in virtually all types of cases. Upon referral from a District Judge, a Magistrate Judge could preside over all parts of a case, including a jury trial, in any matter except criminal felony trials. Edmund F. Maxwell was the obvious choice for this new position and was quickly appointed to the first class of Magistrate Judges in 1971. As the first Magistrate Judge, he paved the way in which future Magistrate Judges would be used in the Western District of New York.

Judge Maxwell had a role in many of the biggest federal cases in Western New York. He was very proud of his Report & Recommendation in Arthur v. Nyquist, involving the desegregation of the Buffalo Public Schools. He was also involved in the lengthy proceedings regarding the 1971 rebellion at the Attica Correctional Facility, the Buffalo Parks Department scandal and thousands of other civil and criminal cases.

On the bench, and off, he was known for his compassion, friendliness, and wit. The lock on the door to his courtroom in the old federal court building would sometimes clasp inexplicably, leading a reporter to write that the media had been locked out of a certain proceeding. A few days later, that same reporter was attempting to leave the courtroom when the door lock again inexplicably clasped. As the reporter attempted to jiggle the door open, Judge Maxwell did not miss a beat and asked that the reporter note that this time the media had been locked in the courtroom.

He was married to Leona “Lee” Kleinman for 45 years. It was clear to his fellow judges, his law clerks and those who appeared before him that he loved the law. It was no surprise then that all four of his children became lawyers.

He would serve as a Magistrate Judge for 30 years until his death in 2001. He served without seeking praise or attention for himself. He continued to serve even through his long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Two months before he died, he was honored at the annual meeting of the Gen. William Donovan Club. Every person in the room stood up and applauded wildly, most with tears streaming down their faces as Judge Maxwell struggled to his feet to say a few words of thanks. It was a fitting sendoff for the man who defined the role of Magistrate Judge in the Western District of New York.

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This memorial was prepared with the assistance and contributions of James Arnone.