Brian Leiter's Law School Reports

In Memoriam: Frederick Schauer (1946-2024)

I was shocked to learn from David Law on Facebook that Professor Schauer has died (yesterday according to his Virginia colleague Larry Solum).   He started his academic career at West Virginia University, moved to the College of William & Mary, then to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (where I was fortunate to have him), then to Harvard's Kennedy School and finally to the University of Virginia School of Law.  He was a prolific and wide-ranging scholar, one of the most-cited in the United States, but also well-known and influential internationally.  He first made a name for himself with his philosophically-minded work on free speech (his 1982 Free Speech:  A Philosophical Enquiry is still the best introduction to the subject), but then branched out widely into legal and jurisprudential topics, include rules, precedent, legal reasoning, stereotypes, American legal realism, constitutional law and theory, and a variety of topics in evidence law. 

At Michigan, I took a course with him on "American Legal Realism and Critical Legal Studies" in the fall of 1985, which proved to be a rather decisive event in my own intellectual trajectory.  Fred also kindly supervised as an independent study my "second dissertation" on legal indeterminacy and legal realism, and provided invaluable support on the law teaching market.  Fred was a friend and supporter for many years thereafter, for which I was very grateful.

Part of the shock is that Fred never seemed old.  Condolences to his wife, the psychologist Barbara Spellman.  I will add links to memorial notices as they appear.  I'll also open comments for remembrances from those knew Professor Schauer or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work.

(Please submit your comment only once, it may take awhile to appear.)

UPDATE:  The Virginia memorial notice.

ANOTHER:  Professor Christoph Bezemek, Professor of Public Law & Political Theory at the University of Graz, kindly shared a copy of the laudation he delivered on the occasion of Professor Schauer receiving an honorary degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business:  Download Bezemek laudatio Schauer

In Memoriam: Christopher F. Edley, Jr. (1953-2024)

An expert in administrative law and civil rights, Professor Edley spent the first two decades of his career at Harvard Law School, before becoming Dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley in 2004, a role he held until 2013, when he returned to the faculty.  I will add links to memorial notices as they appear.

UPDATE:   A memorial from Berkeley Law Dean Chemerinsky.

In Memoriam: Roberta Karmel (1937-2024)

Emerita at Brooklyn Law School, where she taught for more than three decades, Professor Karmel, an expert in securities regulation and corporate law, was also a partner at a major New York law firm and the first female commissioner of the S.E.C.  The BLS memorial notice is here.

In Memoriam: Larry Solan (1952-2024)

Recently emeritus at Brooklyn Law School (where he spent his academic career), Professor Solan did ground-breaking work at the intersection of linguistics and law, and founded BLS's unique Center for the Study of Law, Language, & Cognition.  The BLS memorial notice is here.

In Memoriam: Jerome Skolnick (1932-2024)

Professor Skolnick taught for many years at Berkeley (1970-1994), and then for the remainder of his career at NYU, where he was also emeritus.  A leading law & society scholar, he wrote influential work on different aspects of the criminal justice system, especially the police.  The Berkeley JSP memorial notice is here.

(Thanks to Richard Leo for the pointer.)

In Memoriam: Dan L. Burk (1962-2024)

A founding member of the law faculty at the University of California, Irvine, Professor Burk taught prior to that at the University of Minnesota and Seton Hall University.  He was a leading scholar in intellectual property and Cyberlaw (or "Internet law" as it was called when he was one of the first to write about it).  I will add links to memorial notices when they appear.

UPDATE:  A very nice remembrance from Lawprof Eric Goldman (Santa Clara).

ANOTHER:  UC Irvine's memorial notice.

In Memoriam: Marshall S. Shapo (1936-2023)

I only just learned of Professor Shapo's death in December.   He was a longtime member of the law faculty at Northwestern University, where he was emeritus, and a leading scholar in the fields of torts and products liability.  The Northwestern memorial notice is here.

In Memoriam: Charles Fried (1935-2024)

A longtime member of the Harvard Law faculty--who also served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and Solicitor General of the United States during the Reagan Administration--Professor Fried wrote widely in constitutional law, torts, contracts, and legal ethics, among other topics. I will add links to memorial notices as they appear.

UPDATE:  An informative obituary from the Harvard Crimson.

In Memoriam: Gerald Frug (1939-2023)

A longtime member of the Harvard law faculty, where he was emeritus, Professor Frug was a leading scholar of local government law.  The Harvard memorial notice is here.

In Memoriam: Linda Hirshman (1944-2023)

During her long and varied career, Professor Hirshman was a labor lawyer, a law professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, a philosophy professor at Brandeis, and a wide-ranging feminist theorist and activist.  There is an evocative memorial from Katha Pollitt in The Nation.