Vanderbilt University Law School
James W. Ely
Milton Underwood Chair in Law (retired) Professor of Law Emeritus Professor of History Emeritus Lecturer in Law
Voice: (615) 322-2434
Fax: (615) 322-6631
Email: james.ely@vanderbilt.edu
Office: Room 262
View curriculum vitae (.pdf)
Links
- SSRN Page
- Regulatory Program
- Program in Constitutional Law & Theory
- Judicial Reputation: A Conference on Neglected Justices
Research Interest(s)
Legal history, property law, property rights
Education
Ph.D. and M.A. (History) University of Virginia
L.L.B. Harvard University
A.B. Princeton University
Biography
Jim Ely is a renowned legal historian and property rights expert whose career accomplishments were recognized with both the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize and the Owner’s Counsel of American’s Crystal Eagle Award in 2006. He is the author of several books that have received widespread critical acclaim from legal scholars and historians, including The Guardian of Every Other Right: A Constitutional History of Property Rights; The Fuller Court: Justices, Rulings and Legacy, in which he examines the work of the Supreme Court between 1888 and 1910, and Railroads and American Law, in which he systematically explores the way that the rise of the railroads shaped American legal culture. He also served as an editor of the second edition of the Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court, and he is currently editing the second edition of the Oxford Guide to Supreme Court Decisions. Professor Ely received the Tennessee History Book Award for 2002 for A History of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Between 1987 and 1999, he served as an editor of the American Journal of Legal History. Since Professor Ely joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1972, he has been frequently recognized by students as one of the law school’s outstanding teachers. He holds a joint appointment in Vanderbilt’s history department.
Representative Publications
Books
The Guardian of Every Other Right: A Constitutional History of Property Rights, Oxford University Press (3rd ed. 2008, 2nd ed. 1998, 1st ed. 1992)
Cases and Materials on Modern Property Law, Thomson/West (6th ed. 2007) (with John W. Bruce)
The Bill of Rights in Modern America: After 200 Years, Indiana University Press (2nd ed. 2008, 1st ed. 1993) (co-edited with D. Bodenhamer)
Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court, Oxford University Press (2nd ed. 2005) (co-edited with K. Hall and J. Grossman)
American Legal History: Cases and Materials, Oxford University Press (3rd ed. 2005) (with Kermit L. Hall and Paul Finkelman)
Railroads and American Law (University Press of Kansas, 2001)
Articles
"'To pursue any lawful trade or avocation': The Evolution of Unenumerated Economic Rights in the Nineteenth Century," 8 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law 917 (2006)
"Impact of Richard A. Epstein," 15 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 2 (2006)
"Protection of Contractual Rights: A Tale of Two Constitutional Provisions," 1 NYU Journal of Law & Liberty 370 (2005)
Working Papers
"Rufus W. Peckham and Economic Liberty"
"Economic Liberties and the Original Meaning of the Constitution"
- "Origins and Development of the Contract Clause"
Presentations
Panelist, “Post-Kelo Reforms,” Federalist Society Faculty Conference, New York, January 4, 2008
Commentator, “Taking Property Rights Seriously?”, Conference on The United States Supreme Court: Contested Constitutional Doctrines, Michigan State University, March 27-29, 2008
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