[2] He was a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan from 1893 to 1898, lecturing one half of each year.

[3] Angell was nominated by President William Howard Taft on February 25, 1911, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan vacated by Judge Henry Harrison Swan.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 2, 1911, and received his commission the same day.

[2] Following his resignation from the federal bench, Angell returned to private practice in Detroit from 1912 to 1932.

[2] Angell was the son of James Burrill Angell and Sarah Swope Caswell,[citation needed] and was named for his maternal grandfather, Alexis Caswell, later President of Brown University.