David B. Wilkins

Last updated
David B. Wilkins
1 david b wilkins 2018.jpg
Wilkins speaking at Singapore Management University in 2018
Born (1956-01-22) January 22, 1956 (age 68)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education Harvard University (BA, JD)
Occupation(s)Lawyer, professor

David B. Wilkins (born January 22, 1956) is an American legal scholar who is the Lester Kissel Professor of Law and faculty director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School. He is a senior research fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Harvard Law School's vice dean for global initiatives on the legal profession, and a faculty associate of the Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Wilkins is a Chicago native, and a graduate of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. His father, Julian Wilkins, headed the law firm of Wilkins, Wilkins & Wilkins, and became the first black partner at a major Chicago law firm in 1971. [2]

Wilkins graduated with honors from Harvard College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in government. He earned a Juris Doctor degree in 1980 from Harvard Law School. While at Harvard Law, he served as the Supreme Court editor of the Harvard Law Review and was also a member of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and the Harvard Black Law Student Association. [3]

Career

After graduating law school, he clerked for Justice Wilfred Feinberg, a United States Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He then clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall at the United States Supreme Court between 1981 and 1982. [4]

After clerking, in 1982, Wilkins became an associate with a specialization in civil litigation at the law firm of Nussbaum Owen & Webster in Washington, D.C. [5] Wilkins is a member of the Bar in the District of Columbia and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

In 1986, Wilkins joined the faculty at Harvard Law School, earning tenure six years later, and he has recently been mentioned as a potential candidate to become dean of Harvard Law. [6] His research focuses primarily on the legal profession, and he is the co-author (along with his Harvard Law School colleague Andrew Kaufman) of one of the leading casebooks in the field. [5]

In 2005, graduating seniors voted him the top teacher in Harvard Law's Center for Ethics. [7]

Personal life

Timothy A. Wilkins and David B. Wilkins Timothy A. Wilkins and David B. Wilkins of Harvard Law School.jpg
Timothy A. Wilkins and David B. Wilkins

Wilkins and his wife, Anne Marie, live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with their son. [4] Anne Marie Wilkins is an entertainment executive who has managed the career of entertainer Harry Connick Jr. since he was 18 years old. [8] She is also Director and Senior Advisor at Marsalis Music, a company she co-founded with Branford Marsalis in 2001. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Berklee College of Music and holds a law degree from Harvard Law School. In 2015 President Barack Obama appointed Anne Marie Wilkins as a General Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. [9]

David Wilkins instructed former First Lady Michelle Obama [10] and is friends with former U.S. president Barack Obama. [11] His father, Julian Wilkins, [12] was the first Black partner at a major law firm in Chicago. [13] He is the grandson of J. Ernest Wilkins Sr. and the nephew of J Ernest Wilkins Jr. [14] His brother, Timothy A. Wilkins, is a partner with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. [15]

Awards and distinctions

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Law School</span> Law school of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. According to the U.S. News & World Report, it currently ranks as the fourth best law school in the United States, trailing only behind Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, and University of Chicago Law School, tied with Duke University School of Law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law school in the United States</span> School offering post-graduate education in law

A law school in the United States is an educational institution where students obtain a professional education in law after first obtaining an undergraduate degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Chicago Law School</span> Law school in Chicago, US

The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 180 full-time and part-time faculty and hosts more than 600 students in its Juris Doctor program, while also offering the Master of Laws, Master of Studies in Law and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees in law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas H. Ginsburg</span> American federal judge

Douglas Howard Ginsburg is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior U.S. circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He is also a professor of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School.

<i>Harvard Law Review</i> Academic journal

The Harvard Law Review is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the Harvard Law Review's 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 journals in the category "Law". It is published monthly from November through June, with the November issue dedicated to covering the previous year's term of the Supreme Court of the United States. The journal also publishes the online-only Harvard Law Review Forum, a rolling journal of scholarly responses to the main journal's content. The law review is one of three honors societies at the law school, along with the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and the Board of Student Advisors. Students who are selected for more than one of these three organizations may only join one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cass Sunstein</span> American legal scholar, writer, blogger (born 1954)

Cass Robert Sunstein is an American legal scholar known for his work in constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and behavioral economics. He is also The New York Times best-selling author of The World According to Star Wars (2016) and Nudge (2008). He was the administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hart Ely</span> American legal scholar (1938–2003)

John Hart Ely was an American legal scholar. He was a professor of law at Yale Law School from 1968 to 1973, Harvard Law School from 1973 to 1982, Stanford Law School from 1982 to 1996, and at the University of Miami Law School from 1996 until his death. From 1982 until 1987, he was the 9th dean of Stanford Law School.

Lincoln's Inn Society was the only social club based at Harvard Law School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its name echoed Lincoln's Inn in London, which is one of the four Inns of Court where English barristers are based. Originally, Lincoln's Inn was known as Choate Inn of the International Legal Fraternity of Phi Delta Phi but became a private club when the Harvard Faculty voted to ban all fraternities in 1907. The Inn was a student-run refuge where students meet to relax after hard weeks of study. As a student-owned club, Lincoln's Inn is beyond university regulation. The Inn had a diverse and dynamic membership that was open to all members of the HLS community. Lincoln's Inn membership was once strictly male but it now admits women, and women have been President of the Society on numerous occasions. It has become especially popular with first-year students as a way to meet their classmates.

The Harvard Law Record is an independent student-edited newspaper based at Harvard Law School. Founded in 1946, it is the oldest law school newspaper in the United States.

Robert H. Sitkoff is the Austin Wakeman Scott Professor of Law and the John L. Gray Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he specializes in trusts and estates. He previously served as professor of law at New York University School of Law and Northwestern University School of Law.

Paul Abraham Freund was an American legal scholar. He taught most of his life at Harvard Law School and is known for his writings on the United States Constitution and the Supreme Court of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Manning</span> American legal academic (born 1961)

John Francis Manning is an American legal scholar who serves as the 13th Dean of Harvard Law School. On March 14, 2024, Manning was appointed as the interim provost of Harvard University, and is on a leave of absence from his deanship. He was previously the Bruce Bromley Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (HLS), where he is a scholar of administrative and constitutional law.

Tomiko Brown-Nagin is an American legal scholar, historian, and academic. She is dean of Harvard Radcliffe Institute. She is also the Daniel P.S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School and a Harvard University professor of history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle C. Gray</span> U.S. government official

Danielle Gray is the former Assistant to the President, Cabinet Secretary, and a Senior Advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama. Previously, Gray served as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. Gray is currently executive vice president and global chief legal officer of Walgreen Boots Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David J. Barron</span> American judge (born 1967)

David Jeremiah Barron is an American lawyer who serves as the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and former S. William Green Professor of Public Law at Harvard Law School. He previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel at the United States Department of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur E. Sutherland Jr.</span>

Arthur Eugene Sutherland Jr. was an American lawyer, law professor, and author.

Joseph L. Hoffmann is a leading scholar of criminal procedure and the death penalty, and a professor of law. As of 2022, Hoffmann teaches at the Maurer School of Law in Indiana.

Robert F. Brauneis is a professor of intellectual property law at the George Washington University Law School.

Anthony J. Casey is an American legal scholar who is currently the Donald M. Ephraim Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Chicago Law School. He is an expert on business law and bankruptcy law. In 2020, Casey was appointed as deputy dean of the law school.

Stephen Edward Sachs is an American legal scholar who is the Antonin Scalia Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He is a scholar of constitutional law, civil procedure, conflict of laws, and originalism.

References

  1. ↑ School, Harvard Law. "David B. Wilkins | Harvard Law School" . Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  2. ↑ "David B. Wilkins is Chicago-Kent's Order of the Coif Distinguished Visitor" (Press release). Chicago: Chicago-Kent College of Law. 2008-09-28. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  3. ↑ "David Wilkins | Speaker Profile and Speaking Topics". The American Program Bureau. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  4. 1 2 "David B. Wilkins's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  5. 1 2 "Professor David Wilkins Faculty Director Harvard Law Program Legal Profession". Harvard Law School. 2012-12-01. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  6. ↑ Groll, Elias J. (2009-06-03). "HLS Dean Search Narrows to Four | News | The Harvard Crimson". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  7. ↑ "Ethics at Harvard Law School". Harvard University. 2009-07-01. Archived from the original on 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  8. ↑ "Harry Connick Jr."s Boston connections". Boston Herald. 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  9. ↑ "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. 2015-05-01. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  10. ↑ "Profile of Michelle Obama - Michelle Obama Biography". About.com Women's Issues. Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  11. ↑ Kodama, Marie C. (2007-01-19). "Obama Left Mark on HLS | News | The Harvard Crimson". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  12. ↑ Booker, Simeon (1984-07-23). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company.
  13. ↑ "David B. Wilkins's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  14. ↑ Wilkins, Carolyn Marie (2010-10-10). Damn Near White: An African American Family's Rise from Slavery to Bittersweet Success. University of Missouri Press. ISBN   978-0-8262-7240-9.
  15. ↑ "Race, Sustainability, and Social Justice: A Conversation with the Wilkins Brothers". Harvard CLP. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  16. ↑ "David Wilkins Awarded The Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence". Harvard CLP.
  17. ↑ Wilkins, David Brian. "David Brian Wilkins resume" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-12-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.