Curriculum Vitae

Academic Appointments ::

Duke University School of Law
Assistant Professor of Law, 2011–present

Education ::

Yale Law School
J.D., 2007
Joseph Parker Prize, for the best paper on legal history or Roman law, 2007
Jewell Prize, for the best 2L contribution to a journal other than the Yale Law Journal, 2006
Yale Law Journal, Executive Editor
Yale Law & Policy Review, Executive Editor, Articles Editor

Merton College, Oxford University
BA (Hons) (First Class) in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, 2004
Rhodes Scholar
MA (Oxon) awarded June 2008

Harvard University
A.B. summa cum laude in History, 2002
First in the graduating class (Sophia Freund Prize), Phi Beta Kappa
Focus on medieval economic and legal history
Senior honors thesis: “The ‘Law Merchant’ and the Fair Court of St. Ives, 1270–1324”
Thomas T. Hoopes Prize, for outstanding scholarly work, 2002
Philip Washburn Prize, for the best thesis on a historical subject, 2002
History Department Junior Essay Prize, Fall 2000, Spring 2001
The Harvard Crimson, Editorial Co-Chair, 2001

Experience ::

Mayer Brown LLP, Washington, D.C.
Associate, 2008–2009, 2010–2011; Summer associate, Summer 2006

Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C.
Law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., October Term 2009

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Washington, D.C.
Law clerk to Judge Stephen F. Williams, 2007–2008

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Miami, FL
Judicial intern to Judge Stanley Marcus, August 2006

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, D.C.
Legal intern, Appellate Staff, Summer 2005

U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, D.C.
Legislative intern, Minority Staff, Summers 2000 and 2001

Research Interests ::

Primary Interests:
Civil procedure, constitutional law, Anglo-American legal history, conflict of laws, corporate law

Additional Interests:
Legislation, federal jurisdiction, administrative law, criminal law

Publications and Works in Progress ::

Corruption, Clients, and Political Machines: A Response to Professor Issacharoff
124 Harv. L. Rev. F. 62 (2011)

Conflict Resolution at a Medieval English Fair
La Résolution des Conflits en Matière de Commerce Terrestre et Maritime (Albrecht Cordes et al. eds., forthcoming 2011)

Full Faith and Credit in the Early Congress
95 Va. L. Rev. 1201 (2009)

Commentary, Why John McCain Was a Citizen at Birth
107 Mich. L. Rev. First Impressions 49 (2008)

From St. Ives to Cyberspace: The Modern Distortion of the Medieval ‘Law Merchant’
21 Am. U. Int’l L. Rev. 685 (2006)

Comment, Saving Toby: Extortion, Blackmail, and the Right to Destroy
24 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 251 (2006)

“Full Faith and Credit to Laws” (in progress)

“Arms and Agents of the State” (in progress)

“The Feigned Issue in the Federal System” (in progress)

“Alternative Theories of the Crime” (in progress)

“Constitutional Backdrops” (in progress)

Shorter Works ::

Signed and Sealed: The foreclosure mess aside, making states recognize one another’s documents is a good idea.
Slate.com, Oct. 12, 2010

Other Honors and Awards ::

Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars, American Society for Legal History, honorable mention, 2007

Dante Prize, Dante Society of America, 1999

Presentations ::

“Law, Norms, and Conflict Resolution in a Medieval English Fair,” Presentation to La résolution des conflits: Justice publique et Justice privée: une frontière mouvante, 6th sess., “La résolution des conflits en matière de commerce, terrestre et maritime,” Roscoff, France (May 1, 2008)

“From St. Ives to Cyberspace: The Modern Distortion of the Medieval ‘Law Merchant,’” Presentation to the Yale Information Society Project (Apr. 12, 2005)

Discussant, Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh, “Law, Liberty, and the Terrorist Threat,” Address at New College, Oxford (May 19, 2004)

Professional Memberships and Licenses ::

American Society for Legal History

American Historical Association

Bar admissions:

Massachusetts
District of Columbia
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Supreme Court of the United States