Professors Bertrall Ross and Micah Schwartzman ’05 of the University of Virginia School of Law have become members of the American Law Institute. The ALI announced its elections Friday.

There are now 34 members of the UVA Law faculty currently affiliated with the institute, which produces scholarly work meant to update or otherwise improve the law. The organization includes judges, lawyers and law professors from the U.S. and around the world who are “selected on the basis of professional achievement and demonstrated interest in improving the law,” according to the institute’s website.

Ross, who joined the faculty in 2021, is the Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law. He teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, constitutional theory, election law, administrative law and statutory interpretation.

Ross’ research is driven by a concern about democratic responsiveness and accountability, as well as the inclusion of marginalized communities in administrative and political processes. His past scholarship has been published in several books and journals, including the Columbia Law Review, New York University Law Review and the University of Chicago Law Review. Two of his articles were selected by the Yale/Harvard/Stanford Junior Faculty Forum.

Ross earned his undergraduate degree in international affairs and history from the University of Colorado, Boulder; his graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs; and his law degree from Yale Law School.

Schwartzman, who joined the faculty in 2007, is the Hardy Cross Dillard Professor of Law, and Roy L. and Rosamond Woodruff Morgan Professor of Law. His scholarship focuses on law and religion, jurisprudence, political philosophy and constitutional law.

Schwartzman received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his doctorate in politics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. His recent work has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Michigan Law Review and Supreme Court Review. He co-edited the book “The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty,” published by Oxford University Press, and is co-authoring a forthcoming casebook, “Constitutional Law and Religion.”

They both serve as directors of the school’s Karsh Center for Law and Democracy.

In addition, among the newly elected ALI members are alumni Bob Bauer ’76, a professor at New York University School of Law; Pamela Bookman ’06, a professor at Fordham Law School; and Valerie M. Nannery ’03, senior director of policy and program at the American Constitution Society.

Members were selected from confidential nominations submitted by ALI members. ALI formed in 1923 “to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work.”

UVA Law Faculty Members of the American Law Institute

Elected Members:

Life Members:

Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.

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