NORMAN — Noted legal history scholar Ross E. Davies will present “Five Little Lessons in Lawyering from Thurgood Marshall” as the keynote speaker of the 2017 Henry Lecture Series, set for noon Monday, Oct. 23, in the Dick Bell Courtroom at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
“The Henry Lecture Series is our premier annual speaker event, bringing the brightest legal scholars and talent in the nation to OU Law,” said OU College of Law Dean Joseph Harroz Jr. “It is an honor to continue this tradition that creates such unique learning opportunities for our students, this year featuring the witty and brilliant Ross Davies.”
A professor of law at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, Davies teaches administrative law, contracts, employment discrimination, legal history, legal profession and torts. He joined the faculty in 2002 after clerking for Judge Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and practicing law at the Washington, D.C., firms of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Shea & Gardner (now Goodwin Procter). He is a member of the American Law Institute and of the bars of the District of Columbia and Ohio.
Davies also serves as the editor of The Green Bag: An Entertaining Journal of Law and The Journal of Law, A Periodical Laboratory of Legal Scholarship, among others. He also is the creator of The Green Bag’s signature line of Supreme Court bobbleheads, which have become well known for their light-hearted representations of the personalities and passions of the justices of the Supreme Court.
His other interests include his membership in the Baker Street Irregulars, a literary society dedicated to the study of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Victorian world. In addition, Davies has been honored by the Society for American Baseball Research as a two-time winner of its Doug Pappas Award, which recognizes the best oral research presentation at the society’s annual convention.
Davies earned his J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. with honors from Washington University in St. Louis.
The Henry Lecture Series was initiated in 2000 to inspire and educate future generations of scholars, lawyers and public servants. Five members of the Henry family graduated from the OU College of Law: the Honorable Lloyd H. Henry and his sons, the Honorable L. Wayne Henry and Oklahoma City University President Robert H. Henry, and the Honorable Charles T. Henry and his son, Brad Henry, Governor of Oklahoma from 2003 to 2011.
The annual event has brought many notable speakers to OU Law such as Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor with the U.S. Supreme Court; Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts U.S. Senator and Professor Emerita from Harvard Law School; Judge Frank H. Easterbrook with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit; Judge Jeffrey Sutton with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit; Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar of the California Supreme Court; the Obama Administration’s White House Counsel Greg Craig; Michael McConnell from Stanford Law School; the late Elizabeth Garrett from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law; and Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr. from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Limited seating for the lecture is available by reservation for OU students, faculty and staff, and the public. For reservations, more information and accommodations, please call the OU College of Law at (405) 325-9175 or email lawevents@ou.edu.
Founded in 1909, the OU College of Law is Oklahoma’s premier law school. OU Law offers small sections and class sizes that encourage a strong sense of community; accomplished faculty with international expertise; and a state-of-the-art facility equipped with the latest technology. The OU College of Law is the academic home of more than 500 students enrolled in the juris doctor program, the John B. Turner Master of Laws Program, the master of legal studies program and various dual degree programs. For more information about OU Law, visit law.ou.edu.
