Law School Deans Without Law Degrees
posted by Dave Hoffman
Brian Leiter’s announcement of the new Dean search at Texas noted that:
My own view is that we’d hire someone outstanding who had a PhD, but not a JD, as long as their scholarly work was connected to law and they met the other desiderata.
This is interesting. Does anyone know, off-hand, if there are any law school deans who don’t possess JDs? It would seem (at first glance) pretty unlikely except at a certain type of school because of the need to connect with practicing attorney alumni. But perhaps it is the wave of the future?
February 3, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Posted in: Law School
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Responses (11)
KipEsquire - February 3, 2006 at 1:13 pm
I would think the AALS might have something to say about that.
John Jenkins - February 3, 2006 at 1:42 pm
That might be Prof. Leiter’s view, but I’d be willing to wager that won’t be the *outcome* of the search.
DartMan - February 3, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Interestingly, law profs have served in the administration of schools without law schools. Lee Bollinger was provost of Dartmouth, even though my beloved alma mater doestn’t have a law school.
I guess what’s good for the goose….
jw - February 3, 2006 at 4:22 pm
Perhaps a JD isn’t *necessary*, assuming the candidate’s PhD and academic speciality were closely related to law. But Leiter seems to be saying that, in his mind, a JD is a *deal-breaker* for an outstanding candidate, even if s/he has the PhD. That seems downright odd.
jw - February 3, 2006 at 4:25 pm
Oh, wait, on second thought, I think I’m mis-reading Leiter’s statement. He seems to be saying that he’d consider someone with a JD, provided his/her scholarly work related to law.
concurring opinions reader - February 3, 2006 at 4:42 pm
Didn’t Emory look seriously at a couple of people without law degrees for a dean search some years ago. I heard about some faculty memeber from Berkeley’s jsp program and an economist, too? Anyone remember the details of the story?
Dennis J. Tuchler - February 3, 2006 at 5:27 pm
Didn’t Notre Dame Law School have a non-JD dean many years ago?
Randy Picker - February 3, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Gerhard Casper, former Dean of Chicago, provost at Chicago and President of Stanford:
http://www.law.stanford.edu/faculty/casper/
Foreign law degrees and an LLM but no JD
Alfred Brophy - February 3, 2006 at 10:06 pm
Professor Picker’s comment suggests another question to the legal historian in me: who was the first dean to have a JD (or LLB)? Langell had an LLB, but did his predecessor as the Dane Professor (Theophilius Parsons)? In looking for information on Parsons, I’m realizing that he’s someone I ought to know a heck of a lot more about–an apparent traveler with the Transcendentalists and a Swedenborgian. All quite interesting. But to get back to my question: is it possible that Langdell was the first dean of a US law school with a law degree?
Alfred Brophy - February 3, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Err, that’s Theophilus Parsons (not Theophilius).
Barry Feld - February 4, 2006 at 11:31 am
I believe that back in the 1970s, Richard Schwartz was Dean of Buffalo law school with a Ph.D., but not a law degree. He was one of the leading scholars in the law and society area for several decades.
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