Biography

Professor (by courtesy) of History and Professor (by courtesy) of Political Economy, Graduate School of Business

Larry Kramer joined Stanford Law School in 2004 as Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and Dean. As the school’s 12th dean, he has spearheaded significant educational reforms, including dramatically expanding joint degree programs as part of a multidisciplinary approach to legal studies, enlarging the clinical education program to promote reflective lawyering, revamping programs to foster a public service ethos, and building the international law program to support a growing emphasis on globalization in legal practice.

Dean Kramer has written and taught in such varied fields as constitutional law, conflict of laws, civil procedure, federalism and its history, and the role of courts in society. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute. In December 2008, Equal Justice Works named Dean Kramer to its Board of Directors. He has appointments (by courtesy) with the Stanford University Department of History and with the Graduate School of Business. Before joining the Stanford faculty, Dean Kramer served as Associate Dean for Research and Academics and Russell D. Niles Professor of Law at New York University School of Law; professor of law at the University of Chicago and University of Michigan law schools; and consultant for Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP. Early in his career, Dean Kramer clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Key Works

• Larry D. Kramer, "The Interest of the Man": James Madison, Popular Constitutionalism, and the Theory of Deliberative Democracy, 41 Valparaiso University Law Review 697 (Winter 2006).
• Larry D. Kramer, The People Themselves: Popular Constitutionalism and Judicial Review, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004. 352 pages.
• Larry D. Kramer, Putting the Politics Back Into the Political Safeguards of Federalism, 100 Columbia Law Review 215-293 (2000).
• Larry D. Kramer, Madison's Audience, 112 Harvard Law Review 611-679 (1999).
• Larry D. Kramer, Rethinking Choice of Law, 90 Columbia Law Review 277-345 (1990).

In the News

• State Bar Wants To Call The Tune
  The National Law Journal, April 30, 2012
• Law School Dean To Leave For Hewlett
  The Stanford Daily, April 11, 2012
• Law School Pioneers New Curriculum
  The Stanford Daily, February 21, 2012
• Vivek Wadhwa Emerges As Silicon Valley's Most Provocative Voice
  San Jose Mercury News, January 22, 2012
• Stanford, Asia Foundation Launch First Text To Focus On Laws Of Timor-Leste
  In Asia, December 07, 2011

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Legal Studies Workshop

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• Larry Kramer, Stanford Law School Dean: We Aim to Teach Our Students Not Just to Spot Problems, But to Solve Them, (The New Normal), Legal Rebels, March 29, 2012.
• Larry Kramer, Believing in the Goodness of People.: Book Review of Justice Brennan: Liberal Champion by Seth Stern & Stephen Wermiel, 89 Texas Law Review 1403 (2011).
• David P. Currie, Herma Hill Kay, Larry Kramer and Kermit Roosevelt, Conflict of Laws: Cases, Comments, Questions, St. Paul, MN: West. 8th ed. 2010.
• Larry Kramer, Political Organization and the Future of Democracy, in The Constitution in 2020, Jack M. Balkin and Reva B. Siegel, eds., New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
• Larry Kramer, Two (More) Problems with Originalism (Symposium Essays on Originalism: I. Originalism and Pragmatism), 31 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 907 (Summer 2008).
• Larry Kramer, Law School Education, Teaching Art, Korea Economic Daily, September 13, 2007.
• Larry Kramer, Panel on Originalism and Pragmatism, in Originalism: A Quarter-Century of Debate, Steven G. Calabresi, ed., Washington, D.C.: Regnery Pub., September 2007.
• Alan B. Morrison and Diane T. Chin, eds., Beyond the Big Firm: Profiles of Lawyers Who Want Something More, New York: Aspen Publishers, 2007.
• Larry D. Kramer, Foreword, in Beyond the Big Firm: Profiles of Lawyers Who Want Something More, Alan B. Morrison and Diane T. Chin, eds., New York: Aspen Publishers, 2007.
• Larry D. Kramer, "The Interest of the Man": James Madison, Popular Constitutionalism, and the Theory of Deliberative Democracy, 41 Valparaiso University Law Review 697 (Winter 2006).

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Reporter, Federal Courts Study Committee, Subcommittee on the Role of the Federal Courts and Their Relationship to the States, 1989-90
• Member, American Law Institute, 1991-present
• Member, Judicature Society, 1990-present
• Member of Board, Brennan Center for Justice, 1995-2004

Honors and Awards

• Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Elected Member, American Philosophical Society
• Elected Member, American Law Institute
• Recipient, L. Hart Wright Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Michigan Law School, 1991
• Recipient, Association of American Law Schools Award for Best Teacher, 2000
• Recipient, Order of the Coif, University of Chicago Law School