Marc Galanter, age 95, of Madison, Wisconsin, passed away on April 14, 2026. He was born on February 18, 1931, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jacob and Mary Galanter.

Marc grew up in Philadelphia before following his intellectual passions to the University of Chicago, where he earned his bachelor's, master's, and law degrees. Chicago is also where he met his future wife, Eve. In 1967, an invitation to a conference in Honolulu arrived just as Marc and Eve were planning their wedding. They made the trip their honeymoon -- a characteristically efficient solution that yielded 58 years of marriage. This model of mixing work, travel, and family allowed him to travel around the world and meet good close friends whom he kept in touch with by letters, calls, and deep conversation for decades. His license plate was AHV YMM, which stands for Ahav Yamim, which is Hebrew for Carpe Diem, seize the day and that is how he intended to live his life.

In 1977, he joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he would remain for the rest of his career. Madison became his home, and Wisconsin his institution. He was one of the most influential legal scholars of his generation. To his students and colleagues, though, he was also generous, curious, and endlessly engaged with the world. It was always a delight for students and colleagues alike to visit his study—whether in the basement in Buffalo or the attic in Madison—and have the chance to explore his floor-to-ceiling book collection.

His article, "Why the 'Haves' Come Out Ahead," became one of the most cited works in the history of American legal scholarship, giving lawyers, advocates, and ordinary people a new way of understanding why the legal system so often favors the powerful over the powerless.

His research took him repeatedly to India, where he spent years studying law and society and formed deep friendships and intellectual partnerships. His work on the Bhopal disaster helped shape how scholars and lawyers thought about corporate accountability across national borders.

His later book, "Lowering the Bar: Lawyer Jokes and Legal Culture," brought the same rigorous curiosity to a subject most scholars had overlooked entirely — and displayed, to the surprise of no one who knew him, an appreciation of humor both for itself and for what it signified.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jacob and Mary Galanter.

He is survived by his wife, Eve; his son, Seth Galanter, and his husband, Benjamin Leyland; his daughters Rachel Galanter and her wife Stacie White, and Sarah Galanter-Guziewski and her husband, Stephen Guziewski; and his grandchildren Jasmina, Liliana, and Zachary.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, April 20 at 4:00pm at Cress Funeral Home, 3610 Speedway Rd. The funeral will be available on livestream.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages a memorial gift to the Law & Society Association, PBS Wisconsin, or Wisconsin Public Radio.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Services

3610 Speedway Rd Madison

608-238-3434