Robert N. Covington
Professor of Law Emeritus
Voice: (615) 322-0036
Fax: (615) 322-6631
Email: robert.covington@vanderbilt.edu
Office: Room 286
View curriculum vitae (.pdf)
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Research Interest(s)
Employment law
Education
J.D. Vanderbilt University
B.A. Yale University
Biography
Bob Covington joined the law school faculty immediately after his graduation in 1961. During his 46-year tenure at Vanderbilt, Professor Covington established himself as a wide-ranging scholar and teacher, with a recognized expertise in labor law. In addition to his scholarship in labor law, over the course of his distinguished career, Professor Covington published books and articles on evidence, insurance, legal method and legal education. His current research focuses on various problems in employment law. In recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the university, he received the University's Thomas Jefferson Award in 1992.
Professor Covington has been a visiting professor at a number of prominent law schools, including Michigan, Texas, and California.
Representative Publications
Books
- Employment Law in a Nutshell (West Publishing Co., 2nd ed., 2002) (with K. Decker)
Articles
- "Benefits Denials and ERISA Preemption: The Ongoing Story," 12 Journal of Individual Employment Rights (2006)
- "Decisions of the United States Supreme Court in Labor and Employment Law Cases," chapter 11 in Preparing an Employment Case for Trial (Edwin Render and Cherry Henault, eds.) (2004)
- "(How Much) Is the Law to Blame for Baseball's Turbulent Labor Relations," 4 Journal of Sports Economics 356 (2003)
- "The Labor and Employment Law Opinions of Justice White: Deferral to the National Labor Relations Board," Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Southern Industrial Relations and Human Resource Conference (Hank Findley, ed. 2003) (compact disk)
- "Out of Control? The Declining Significance of Antitrust Law in Professional Sports Labor Relations," Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Southern Industrial Relations and Human Resource Conference, 86 (C. Donald & J. Ralston, eds., 2001)
- "Amending ERISA's Preemption Scheme," 8 Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy 1 (1999)
- "Employment Arbitration After Gilmer: Have Labor Courts Come to the United States?," 15 Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal 343 (1998)
