Thomas W. Merrill

Charles Evans Hughes Professor of Law

Office: 435 West 116th Street
Room 720
New York NY 10027
Tel: 212.854.9764
Fax: 212-854-7946
Email: tmerri@law.columbia.edu

Assistant Info

Name: Alexander Blechman
Phone: 212.854.0696
Email: ablech1@law.columbia.edu

Courses/Current Research

  • Property
  • Environmental law
  • Administrative law
  • Eminent domain
  • The U.S. Supreme Court

Education

  • University of Chicago, J.D., 1977, cum laude
  • Oxford University, B.A., 1973, first-class honors
  • Grinnell College, B.A., 1971, with honors

Media Contact:

Detailed Biography:

B.A., with honors in history, Grinnell College, 1971; B.A., with first-class honors in philosophy, politics, and economics, Oxford University, 1973; J.D., cum laude, University of Chicago, 1977. Formerly John Paul Stevens Professor of Law at Northwestern University, 1993-2003; Professor of law, 1986-93; associate professor of law, 1984-86; assistant professor of law, 1981-84; of counsel (1981-2003) and associate (1979-81) at Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. Law clerk, the Hon. Harry A. Blackmun, U.S. Supreme Court, 1978-79; and the Hon. David L. Bazelon, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1977-78. From 1987 to 1990 served as deputy solicitor general in the Department of Justice, where he represented the United States before the U.S. Supreme Court. Teaching and research interests include administrative law, property, and environmental law. Publications include "Agency Rules with the Force of Law: The Original Convention," Harvard Law Review (with Kathryn Watts, 2002); "Property: Takings," (with David Dana, 2002); "Chevron's Domain," Georgetown Law Journal (with Kristin Hickman, 2001); "Optimal Standardization in the Law of Property: The Numerus Clausus Principle," Yale Law Journal (with Henry Smith, 2000); "The Landscape of Constitutional Property," Virginia Law Review (2000); "The Economics of Public Use" Cornell L. Rev. 1986 and "The Making of the Second Rehnquist Court" St. Louis L. J. 2003.