Prominent constitutional law scholar to deliver Campbell law address

 

Raleigh, N.C.—Erwin Chemerinsky, well-known scholar and expert on U.S. constitutional law and founding dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, will deliver the commencement address at the hooding service for Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. The service will take place on Friday, May 21, at 10 a.m. in the Meymandi Concert Hall of the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

An outspoken defender of freedom of speech, Chermerinsky frequently argues appellate cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals. He helped write the Los Angeles city charter and was a key figure in the drafting of a constitution for the Republic of Belarus. Chermerinsky also served as a primary legal analyst on the O.J. Simpson trial for CBS News.

Hailing from a working-class family on Chicago’s South Side, Chemerinsky earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from Northwestern University in 1975 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1978. He taught for over 20 years at the University of Southern California Law School and DePaul University College of Law before moving to Duke University in 2004. In 2008, he became founding dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law.

This marks the law school’s first graduation ceremony held in Raleigh since relocating to the city last fall. A total of 108 degrees are expected to be conferred on May 21.

Photo Copy: Erwin Chemerinsky

Bulletin: 16514

Date: May/6/10