John Owen Haley, distinguished scholar of comparative law, joins Vanderbilt’s faculty

Chris Guthrie, dean of Vanderbilt University Law School, has announced the appointment of distinguished scholar John Owen Haley to Vanderbilt’s Law Faculty.

Professor Haley was the William R. Ortwein Distinguished Professor of Law at Washington University Law School in St. Louis, where he directed the Whitney R. Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies from 2002-07. An internationally renowned scholar of comparative and international law and a pre-eminent scholar of Japanese law, his works have addressed international trade policy, comparative law, Japanese land-use law, Japanese and East Asian business transactions and Japanese law and contemporary society. His 1991 book, Authority without Power: Law and the Japanese Paradox, is a leading work in the field, and he was a pioneering scholar of Japanese law. Professor Haley retired from Washington University’s law faculty this spring.

“I’m extremely pleased to announce that a scholar of John Owen Haley’s stature is joining our international law faculty,” Dean Guthrie said. “John is a highly regarded teacher and a pioneering scholar of comparative law. He will have an immediate positive impact on the life of our law school.”

Professor Haley joined the law faculty at Washington University in 2000 after serving as the Garvey, Schubert and Barer Professor of Law and International Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. He earned his A.B. at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, his LL.B. at Yale Law School, and his LL.M. in Asian Law at the University of Washington.

“I can only describe the prospect of continuing my research and teaching in comparative law at Vanderbilt as exciting,” Professor Haley said. “The impressive quality of both faculty and students as well as Nashville’s reputation and spectacular rise as a center of Japan-related economic and cultural activities make Vanderbilt Law School an ideal academic home.”

“Professor Haley’s expertise as a scholar and his outstanding record as a teacher make him a wonderful addition to the International Legal Studies Program,” said Ingrid Wuerth, who directs Vanderbilt’s International Legal Studies Program. “Faculty and students alike will benefit from his rich and nuanced scholarship in comparative law and other areas, as well as his broad range of intellectual interests and experiences.”

Founded in 1875, Vanderbilt University Law School trains excellent lawyers for careers throughout the nation and around the world. Located on the Vanderbilt University campus in Nashville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt Law School combines the advantages of a top-tier faculty, a stimulating university community; a small, carefully selected student body, and one of the nation’s most modern, state-of-the-art facilities.

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