Paul Schiff Berman

Paul Schiff Berman

Paul Schiff Berman

Walter S. Cox Professor of Law


Contact:

2000 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20052

Paul Schiff Berman, the Walter S. Cox Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School, is one of the world’s foremost theorists on the interactions among legal systems. He is the author of over sixty scholarly works, including Global Legal Pluralism: A Jurisprudence of Law Beyond Borders, published by Cambridge University Press in 2012 and the Oxford Handbook of Global Legal Pluralism, published by Oxford University Press in 2020. He was also among the first legal scholars to focus on legal issues regarding online activity, and he is co-author of one of the leading casebooks in the field. 

In addition to his scholarly work, Professor Berman has extensive experience in university and law school administration, having served as Vice Provost for Online Education and Academic Innovation at the George Washington University from 2013 to 2016; Dean of the George Washington University Law School from 2011 to 2013; and Dean of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University from 2008 to 2011. He has previously served as the Jesse Root Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he taught from 1998-2008. For the 2006–07 academic year, Professor Berman was a Visiting Professor and Visiting Research Scholar at Princeton University in the Program in Law and Public Affairs. Since 2016, he has been a visiting global scholar at Queen Mary University of London, in 2014 he was Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the Centre for Transnational Studies at the University of Bremen, Germany, and in 2018, he was Distinguished Visiting Professor at Southern Cross University in Australia. He also has served two terms on the Organizing Committee of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities and was Chair of the International Law and Technology Interest Group of the American Society of International Law. 

Professor Berman graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1988 and earned his law degree from New York University in 1995. During law school, he served as Managing Editor of the NYU Law Review and received the University Graduation Prize for the graduating law student with the highest cumulative grade point average. He later clerked for Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to entering law school, Professor Berman was a Professional Theater Director in New York City and Artistic Director of Spin Theater, a not-for-profit theater company. He was also administrative director of two other not-for-profit theater companies in New York City: The Wooster Group and Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theatre at St. Mark’s Church. 

In the News

"Did 'grand bargain' fail to materialize in Trump ballot case? Metadata leads to speculation"

ABA Journal quoted Paul Schiff Berman’s speculation that the Court is making this decision in concurrence proving its outcome is not about politics.

WGN-Chicago | Paul Schiff Berman - March 5, 2024

WGN-Chicago spoke with Paul Schiff Berman on the outcome of Trump’s ballot eligibility argued before the Supreme Court.

"Supreme Court rules Trump can stay on Colorado ballot"

Nexstar Media Group quoted Paul Berman confirming the Supreme Court case about Trump’s ballot eligibility did not answer the question if the former President engaged in Jan 6 insurrection.