Meet Our Esteemed Faculty

William A. Birdthistle

The University of Chicago Law School

Agency and Partnerships / Corporations

William A. Birdthistle serves as a Professor from Practice at The University of Chicago Law School, teaching courses in investment funds, financial regulation, and corporate governance. He joined UChicago Law in April 2024 after nearly three years as the Director of the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He was a faculty member at Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology from 2006 to 2021.

Before joining academia, Birdthistle spent 5 years as a corporate associate at Ropes & Gray in Boston. His work there involved mutual and hedge funds, with a focus on governmental investigations into industry malfeasance.

His research interests include investment funds, executive compensation, and corporate governance. He authored “Empire of the Fund: The Way We Save Now” (Oxford Press) in 2016.

Sherman J. Clark

University of Michigan Law School

Evidence

Sherman J. Clark is the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where he teaches courses in torts, evidence, and sports law. He joined Michigan Law in 1995 and continues to explore how legal rules and institutions influence character development and personal flourishing.

Beyond academia, Clark has advised legal teams representing Wayne County, Michigan, and the City of Detroit in cases involving gun manufacturers' liability. His interdisciplinary approach enriches his teaching and scholarly contributions, reflecting a deep commitment to understanding law's broader societal implications.

Clark’s research spans law, politics, and philosophy, examining the nuanced impacts of these domains on individual well-being. Drawing on classical philosophy, positive psychology, and political theory, he has authored works on topics including direct democracy, the jury system, and criminal procedure.

George S. Geis

University of Virginia School of Law

Advanced Sales / Agency, Corporations, & Partnerships (FL & VA) / Contracts

George S. Geis is the William S. Potter Professor of Law and Glynn Family Bicentennial Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he teaches classes in contracts, corporations, accounting, and corporate finance. He joined UVA in 2008 and has served as the faculty adviser for the JD-MBA dual-degree program and vice dean of the law school during his tenure.

Prior to academia, Geis was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, specializing in corporate strategy, mergers, and marketing. He has worked at law firms including Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York and Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles.

Geis’s research focuses on problems related to corporate governance, shareholder litigation, corporate finance, and contract theory. He is the co-author of a casebook on corporate finance and a book on business partnership and alliance strategies.

John C. Jeffries Jr.

University of Virginia School of Law

National Director of Academics

John C. Jeffries Jr. is the David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he has taught since 1975. He is also the Counselor to the President. During his tenure at UVA, he has served as the Emerson Spies Professor of Law, Academic Associate Dean, Acting Dean, Dean, and Senior Vice President for Advancement. His academic focus spans civil rights, federal courts, criminal law, and constitutional law.

Prior to academia, Jeffries clerked for Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. before serving as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Jeffries has co-authored casebooks on civil rights, federal courts, and criminal law and written numerous articles in these areas. His notable works include a biography of Powell, reflecting his deep scholarly engagement and expertise in legal history and jurisprudence.

Pamela S. Karlan

Stanford Law School

Criminal Law / Criminal Procedure

Pamela S. Karlan is the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and Co-Director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at Stanford Law School, where she teaches constitutional law. Before joining the university in 1998, she was a Professor of Law at the University of Virginia.

Prior to academia, Karlan clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court. Her public service includes a term on California’s Fair Political Practices Commission and serving as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. She was also an Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Karlan is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute. In 2021, she received the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award, given to “women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence and paved the way for other women in the legal profession.”

Leslie Kendrick

University of Virginia School of Law

Torts

Leslie Kendrick is the Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law and the Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law. Since joining UVA in 2008, she has served as Vice Dean, Special Adviser to the Provost, Director of the Center for the First Amendment, and a fellow at the Shannon Center for Advanced Studies. She teaches courses on torts, property, and constitutional law and is an expert on freedom of speech issues.

Prior to academia, she clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Justice David Hackett Souter of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Kendrick is a co-author of the casebook “Tort Law: Responsibilities and Redress,” and her work has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Philosophy & Public Affairs, among other journals. She is a member of the American Law Institute.

Zak Kramer

Elon University School of Law

MPRE / Professional Responsibility / Real Property / Trusts / Wills

(National and Various States)

Zak Kramer has been the Dean of Elon University School of Law since 2023. Before joining the university, he held numerous roles including Interim Dean, Associate Dean of Faculty, and Associate Dean for Intellectual Life at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where he spent 13.5 years.

Since 2009, Kramer has been a revered lecturer for Themis Bar Review, recognized as its “legendary lecturer.” During his career, Kramer has served as the inaugural Charles R. Williams Teaching Fellow at UCLA School of Law and taught at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law and Penn State Law.

Kramer has authored a number of articles on civil rights law for leading law reviews.

Allison Orr Larsen

William & Mary Law School

Constitutional Law

Allison Orr Larsen is the Director of the Institute of the Bill of Rights Law and the Alfred Wilson & Mary I.W. Lee Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School. She has taught courses in constitutional law, administrative law, and statutory interpretation. She was an associate at O’Melveny and Myers in Washington, D.C., prior to joining the college in 2010. She has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University and was honored as the Daniel P.S. Paul Visiting Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School.

Before joining academia, Larsen clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson and Justice David Souter.

Larsen's research focuses on constitutional law and legal institutions, particularly information dynamics at the Supreme Court. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Maggie Lemos

Duke University School of Law

Federal Civil Procedure

Maggie Lemos is the Robert G. Seaks LL.B. ’34 Distinguished Professor of Law and faculty co-advisor for the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School. Lemos teaches courses on civil procedure, legislation, and judicial process. Her current research focuses on the institutions of law interpretation and enforcement and their effects on substantive rights. She joined Duke Law in 2011. Prior to Duke, she was an Associate Professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a Bristow Fellow at the Office of the Solicitor General.

Prior to academia, Lemos clerked for Judge Kermit V. Lipez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Lemos’s research includes federalism, administrative law, statutory interpretation, and civil procedure. She is a co-author of a new multidisciplinary coursebook on judicial decision-making. Her work has been featured in the Supreme Court Review, Harvard Law Review, and other law reviews.