Deborah Rhode
Encyclopedia
Deborah L. Rhode is one of the leading scholars in the fields of legal ethics and gender, law, and public policy. An author of 20 books, including Women and Leadership and Moral Leadership, she is the nation’s most frequently cited scholar in legal ethics. She is the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law at Stanford Law School
, and the director of the Stanford Center on the Legal Profession.
Professor Rhode is the former president of the Association of American Law Schools
, the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession, the founder and former director of Stanford’s Center on Ethics, and the former director of the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford. She also served as senior counsel to the Democrats of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary on presidential impeachment issues during the Clinton administration. She has received the American Bar Association’s Michael Franck award for contributions to the field of professional responsibility; the American Bar Foundation’s W. M. Keck Foundation Award for distinguished scholarship on legal ethics; and the American Bar Association
’s Pro Bono Publico Award for her work on expanding public service opportunities in law schools. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and vice chair of the board of Legal Momentum
(formerly the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund). She is currently a columnist for the National Law Journal.
In 2011, Rhode participated in a teleconference organized by the liberal advocacy group Common Cause
that called for an investigation by the U. S. Department of Justice into whether Clarence Thomas
and Antonin Scalia
should have recused themselves from the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Supreme Court case of 2010.
Before joining the Stanford Law faculty, Professor Rhode was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall
.
Professor Rhode graduated from Yale University
Summa Cum Laude in 1974. She earned a B.A. in Political Science with Honors, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Yale debate team
. She is a former member of the Yale Corporation
, the governing body of Yale University.
She is married to Ralph Cavanagh
, a senior attorney and co-director of Natural Resources Defense Council's energy program.
The Beauty Bias: the Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Managing Pro Bono: Doing Well by Doing Better, 78 Fordham Law Review, p. 2357 (April 2010)
Gender Law and Policy, New York: Aspen, 2010.
Women and Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change ( with Barbara Kellerman,
ed. Jossey-Bass, 2007).
In Pursuit of Knowledge: Scholars, Status, and Academic Culture (Stanford University Press,
2006).
Moral Leadership; The Theory and Practice of Power, Judgment, and Policy (Jossey Bass,
2006).
Gender and Law: Theory, Doctrine, and Commentary (with Katherine Bartlett, Aspen Press,
2006).
Pro Bono in Principle and in Practice: Public Service and the Profession (Stanford University
Press, 2005).
Brown at Fifty: The Unfinished Legacy (American Bar Association, 2004) (ed. with Charles J.
Ogletree, Jr.).
Access to Justice (Oxford University Press, 2004).
Legal Ethics ( with David Luban, Foundation Press, 4th Ed. 2004).
The Difference Difference Makes: Women and Leadership, editor (Stanford University Press,
2003).
Professional Responsibility and Regulation, with Geoffrey Hazard, Jr. (Foundation Press, 2002).
Gender and Law: Theory, Doctrine and Commentary, with Katharine T. Bartlett and Angela P.
Harris (Aspen, 2002).
In the Interests of Justice (Oxford University Press, 2000).
Ethics in Practice, editor (Oxford University Press, 2000).
Professional Responsibility: Ethics by the Pervasive Method, (Aspen, 2d ed., 1998).
Speaking of Sex (Harvard University Press, 1997).
Sex Discrimination and the Law, with Barbara Allen Babcock, Ann E. Freedman, Susan Deller
Ross, Wendy Webster Williams, Rhonda Copelon, Nadine H. Taub (Little, Brown & Co., 1996).
The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy, Editor, with Annette Lawson
(Yale University Press, 1993).
The Legal Profession: Responsibility and Regulation, with Geoffrey Hazard (Foundation Press,
3rd Ed. 1993).
Theoretical Perspectives on Sexual Difference, Editor (Yale University Press, 1990).
Justice and Gender (Harvard University Press, 1989).
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...
, and the director of the Stanford Center on the Legal Profession.
Professor Rhode is the former president of the Association of American Law Schools
Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools is a non-profit organization of 170 law schools in the United States. Another 25 schools are "non-member fee paid" schools, which are not members but choose to pay AALS dues. Its purpose is to improve the legal profession through the improvement of legal...
, the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession, the founder and former director of Stanford’s Center on Ethics, and the former director of the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford. She also served as senior counsel to the Democrats of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary on presidential impeachment issues during the Clinton administration. She has received the American Bar Association’s Michael Franck award for contributions to the field of professional responsibility; the American Bar Foundation’s W. M. Keck Foundation Award for distinguished scholarship on legal ethics; and the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
’s Pro Bono Publico Award for her work on expanding public service opportunities in law schools. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
and vice chair of the board of Legal Momentum
Legal Momentum
Legal Momentum, formerly known as NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, is the oldest legal advocacy group for women in the United States. Founded in 1970, Legal Momentum is a liberal multi-issue organization dedicated to advancing women’s rights across the country...
(formerly the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund). She is currently a columnist for the National Law Journal.
In 2011, Rhode participated in a teleconference organized by the liberal advocacy group Common Cause
Common Cause
Common Cause is a self-described nonpartisan, nonprofit lobby and advocacy organization. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican former cabinet secretary under Lyndon Johnson, as a "citizens' lobby" with a mission focused on making U.S. political institutions more open and...
that called for an investigation by the U. S. Department of Justice into whether Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....
and Antonin Scalia
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...
should have recused themselves from the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, , was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment prohibits government from censoring political broadcasts in candidate elections when those broadcasts are funded by corporations or unions...
Supreme Court case of 2010.
Before joining the Stanford Law faculty, Professor Rhode was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
.
Professor Rhode graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Summa Cum Laude in 1974. She earned a B.A. in Political Science with Honors, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Yale debate team
Yale Debate Association
The Yale Debate Association is Yale University's only competitive intercollegiate debate team. Founded in 1908, it is the most prolific winner of the American Parliamentary Debate Association's Club of the Year award. The YDA was also the first American team to win and have the top speaker at the...
. She is a former member of the Yale Corporation
Yale Corporation
The Yale Corporation, sometimes, and more formally, known as The President and Fellows of Yale College, is the governing body of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.The Corporation comprises 19 members:...
, the governing body of Yale University.
She is married to Ralph Cavanagh
Ralph Cavanagh
Ralph Cavanagh is a senior attorney and co-director of Natural Resources Defense Council's energy program. Cavanagh has been with the NRDC since 1979 and was on the Secretary of Energy Advisory board from 1993-2003...
, a senior attorney and co-director of Natural Resources Defense Council's energy program.
Publications
Prejudiced Toward Pretty, National Law Journal, May 3, 2010, p. 34The Beauty Bias: the Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Managing Pro Bono: Doing Well by Doing Better, 78 Fordham Law Review, p. 2357 (April 2010)
Gender Law and Policy, New York: Aspen, 2010.
Women and Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change ( with Barbara Kellerman,
ed. Jossey-Bass, 2007).
In Pursuit of Knowledge: Scholars, Status, and Academic Culture (Stanford University Press,
2006).
Moral Leadership; The Theory and Practice of Power, Judgment, and Policy (Jossey Bass,
2006).
Gender and Law: Theory, Doctrine, and Commentary (with Katherine Bartlett, Aspen Press,
2006).
Pro Bono in Principle and in Practice: Public Service and the Profession (Stanford University
Press, 2005).
Brown at Fifty: The Unfinished Legacy (American Bar Association, 2004) (ed. with Charles J.
Ogletree, Jr.).
Access to Justice (Oxford University Press, 2004).
Legal Ethics ( with David Luban, Foundation Press, 4th Ed. 2004).
The Difference Difference Makes: Women and Leadership, editor (Stanford University Press,
2003).
Professional Responsibility and Regulation, with Geoffrey Hazard, Jr. (Foundation Press, 2002).
Gender and Law: Theory, Doctrine and Commentary, with Katharine T. Bartlett and Angela P.
Harris (Aspen, 2002).
In the Interests of Justice (Oxford University Press, 2000).
Ethics in Practice, editor (Oxford University Press, 2000).
Professional Responsibility: Ethics by the Pervasive Method, (Aspen, 2d ed., 1998).
Speaking of Sex (Harvard University Press, 1997).
Sex Discrimination and the Law, with Barbara Allen Babcock, Ann E. Freedman, Susan Deller
Ross, Wendy Webster Williams, Rhonda Copelon, Nadine H. Taub (Little, Brown & Co., 1996).
The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy, Editor, with Annette Lawson
(Yale University Press, 1993).
The Legal Profession: Responsibility and Regulation, with Geoffrey Hazard (Foundation Press,
3rd Ed. 1993).
Theoretical Perspectives on Sexual Difference, Editor (Yale University Press, 1990).
Justice and Gender (Harvard University Press, 1989).