James S. Liebman

Education

• Stanford Law School, J.D., 1977
• Yale College, B.A., 1974

Media Contact:

• Public Affairs, (212) 854-2650.
  

Detailed Biography:

James S. Liebman, Simon H. Rifkind Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law. B.A., Yale, 1974; J.D., Stanford, 1977. President, Stanford Law Review. Law clerk to Judge Carl McGowan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1977-78, and to Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. States Supreme Court, 1978-79. Assistant counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, 1979-85 specializing in school desegregation, capital punishment, and habeas corpus. Joined the Columbia faculty in 1985. Vice Dean, 1991-92. Co-chair and chair of the appointments committee, 1997-2000. Coauthor with Randy Hertz of Federal Habeas Corpus Practice & Procedure; coauthor with Richard Lempert and Sam Gross of A Modern Approach to Evidence; coauthor with Professor Jeffrey Fagan and Valerie West of A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995 (2000) and coauthor with Professors Fagan and Andrew Gelman and with Ms. West, Garth Davies and Alexander Kiss of A Broken System, Part II: Why There Is So Much Error in Capital Cases and What Can Be Done About It (2002). Author of articles on the death penalty, federal habeas corpus, public education reform, equal protection and evidence. Argued several habeas corpus and death penalty appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court. Principal areas of interest and teaching are criminal law, evidence, ethics, habeas corpus, the death penalty, equality and equal protection, public interest advocacy, and education and the law. 2002 Law & Society Association Article Prize; 2002 National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Champion of Justice Award; 2000 Soros Senior Justice Fellow.