Biography

Deborah L. Rhode is one of the nation’s leading scholars in the fields of legal ethics and gender, law, and public policy. An author of 20 books, she is the most frequently cited scholar in legal ethics. She has headed Stanford Law School’s Keck Center on Legal Ethics and the Legal Profession, and is the founding director of Stanford University’s Center on Ethics.

Professor Rhode has served as President of the Association of American Law Schools, Chair of the American Bar Association Commission on Women and the Profession, Director of Stanford University’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender, and Special Counsel to the Judicial Committee of the House of Representatives during the Clinton impeachment proceedings. She is a regular columnist for the National Law Journal. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1979, she was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Key Works

• Barbara Kellerman and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., Women and Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, September 2007.
• Katharine T. Bartlett and Deborah L. Rhode, Gender and Law: Theory, Doctrine, Commentary, New York: Aspen Publishers, 4th ed., 2006.
• Deborah L. Rhode, Moral Leadership: The Theory and Practice of Power, Judgment, and Policy, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006.
• Deborah L. Rhode and Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr., Professional Responsibility and Regulation, New York: Foundation Press, 2d. ed., 2006
• Deborah L. Rhode, Pro Bono in Principle and Practice, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005.
• Deborah L. Rhode, Access to Justice, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Deborah L. Rhode and David Luban, Legal Ethics, New York, NY: Foundation Press, 4th edition, 2004.
• Deborah L. Rhode, Speaking of Sex: the Denial of Gender Inequality, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.

In the News

• ABA To Tackle Controversial Conflict-Of-Interest Issues
  Law.com, August 06, 2008
• Law Faculties with Most Scholarly Impact, 2008-09
  Brian Leiter's Law School Reports, July 31, 2008
• Integrity, Ethics Top Of The List At Law Conference
  The Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia), July 15, 2008
• Copying Issue Raises Hurdle For Bush Pick
  The New York Times, July 04, 2008
• Kozinski Calls for Investigation of Himself Over Racy Web Site
  Daily Journal, June 13, 2008

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Gender Law and Public Policy
• Legal Ethics
• Public Interest, Public Service, and Professional Ethics

Programs

• Stanford Center on the Legal Profession, Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• Deborah L. Rhode, Foreword: Personal Satisfaction in Professional Practice (Symposium: Perspectives on Lawyer Happiness), 58 Syracuse Law Review 217 (April 2008).
• Deborah L. Rhode, Public Interest Law: The Movement at Midlife, 60 Stanford Law Review 2027 (April 2008).
• Deborah L. Rhode, Politics and Pregnancy: Adolescent Mothers and Public Policy, in The Reproductive Rights Reader, Nancy Ehrenreich, ed., New York: New York University Press, January 2008.
• Deborah L. Rhode, Teaching Legal Ethics, 51 Saint Louis University Law Journal 1043 (Summer 2007).
• Barbara Kellerman and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., Women and Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, September 2007.
• Deborah L. Rhode, Cleavage and Comb-Overs in Politics, New Jersey Law Journal, August 17, 2007.
• Deborah L. Rhode, Appearance Issues, National Law Journal, August, 13, 2007, p. A23.
• Deborah L. Rhode, Gender Equity in College Athletics: Women Coaches as a Case Study, Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (forthcoming 2007).
• Deborah L. Rhode, Midlife Crisis for Title IX, San Francisco Chronicle, June 24, 2007, p. E1.
• Deborah Rhode, Title IX Today, Title IX Tomorrow: Gender Equity in College Athletics, Report, June 2007.

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Founding Director, Stanford Center on Ethics
• Chair, Panel on Gender Equity, Stanford University
• Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense Fund)
• Columnist, National Law Journal
• Chair, Stanford Law School Committee on Public Interest and Pro Bono Service
• President (1998-1999), Association of American Law Schools
• Chair (2000-2002), Commission on Women and the Profession, American Bar Association

Honors and Awards

• Recipient, American Bar Association Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award, 2006