Stephen Sachs

Stephen E. Sachs is the Antonin Scalia Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches civil procedure, conflict of laws, and seminars on constitutional law. His research focuses on the law and theory of constitutional interpretation, the jurisdiction of state and federal courts, the history of procedure and private law, and the role of the general common law in the U.S. legal system.

Sachs has authored numerous articles, essays, and book chapters. He is a member of the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, an elected member of the American Law Institute, an adviser to the ALI’s project on the Restatement of the Law (Third), Conflict of Laws, and a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance.

In 2020, Sachs received the Federalist Society’s Joseph Story Award, which recognizes a young academic who has demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact in a manner that advances the rule of law in a free society.

Sachs previously taught at Duke University School of Law and as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Before entering academia, he practiced in the Washington, D.C., litigation group of Mayer Brown LLP, and he clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. as well as for Judge Stephen F. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Sachs received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was executive editor of the Yale Law Journal and served both as executive editor and articles editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review. A Rhodes Scholar, he graduated from Oxford University with a first-class BA (Hons) degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. He received his A.B. degree summa cum laude in history from Harvard University, earning the Sophia Freund Prize.

Sachs is a licensed attorney in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, and he is authorized to practice before the D.C. Circuit, the Second Circuit, the Seventh Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Areas of Interest

• Constitutional Law
• Civil Procedure
• Conflict of Laws
• Legal Theory: Jurisprudence
• Legal History: American Legal and Constitutional History

Academic Appointment and Employment History

• Colin W. Brown Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law (2020 - 2021)
  Durham, North Carolina, United States
• Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law (2016 - 2020)
  Durham, North Carolina, United States
• Associate Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law (2014 - Present)
  Durham, North Carolina, United States
• Assistant Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law (2011 - 2014)
  Durham, North Carolina, United States
• Associate, Mayer Brown LLP (2010 - 2011)
  Litigation Group (Appellate)
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States
• Associate, Mayer Brown LLP (2008 - 2009)
  Litigation Group (Appellate)
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Bar Admissions

• Massachusetts, United States (2008)
• District of Columbia, United States (2009)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, United States (2010)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States (2011)
• Supreme Court of the United States, United States (2011)

Clerkships

• Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Supreme Court of the United States, 2009 - 2010
• Judge Stephen F. Williams, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 2007 - 2008

Education History

• A.B. History Harvard University, 2002
• B.A. Philosophy, politics and economics Merton College, Oxford University, 2004
• J.D. Yale Law School, 2007

Honors and Awards

• Federalist Society Joseph Story Award (Awards)
  March 2020
• American Law Institute (Professional Honors)
  Elected Member, December 2016
• Green Bag Exemplary Legal Writing Award 2013 (Awards)
  December 2013
• ASLH Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars (Hon. Mention) (Awards)
  August 2007
• Stephen E. Sachs, Finding Law, 107 Cal. L. Rev. 527 (2019) (Publications)
  April 2019
• Stephen E. Sachs, Pennoyer Was Right, 95 Tex. L. Rev. 1249 (2017) (Publications)
  May 2017
• Stephen E. Sachs, Originalism as a Theory of Legal Change, 38 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 817 (2015) (Publications)
  July 2015