Born in
Leeds, England on July 25, 1891, but went to
Milwaukee in 1905. Admitted to the
State Bar of Wisconsin in 1912. He was appointed legal counsel for the
Wisconsin State Federation of Labor three years later. He married Lydia Paetow on March 9, 1912. He was elected to the
Wisconsin State Senate on the
Socialist Party of America ticket and served in the 1925 session of the
Wisconsin State Legislature. Padway was twice appointed to the Milwaukee civil court bench (1924, 1926). After 1927 he was associated with the
Progressive Republicans in Wisconsin. Padway played a major role in shaping Wisconsin labor legislation between 1915 and 1935. Upon his appointment as the first general counsel of the American Federation of Labor, he moved to
Washington where he served until his death. In this capacity, he successfully defended the constitutionality of the
National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) before the
United States Supreme Court. He died in
San Francisco, California on October 9, 1947. ==References==