Faculty Profile

Austen L. Parrish

Interim Dean and Professor of Law

B.A., Political Science/Economics, 1994, University of Washington; J.D., 1997, Columbia University; Member, California State Bar

Courses    Publications

Email:
Phone: (213) 738-6710
Office: BW500

The Southwestern Board of Trustees appointed Austen Parrish, formerly Vice Dean and Professor of Law, as Interim Dean and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2012.

Since joining Southwestern's faculty in 2002, Dean Parrish has earned accolades as a legal educator and administrator. During his tenure as Vice Dean from 2008 to 2012, he worked closely with Dean Bryant Garth in creating a number of new academic programs, dramatically enhancing student services and academic support, and recruiting leading legal scholars and rising stars to the faculty.

"From the construction of student housing, to the school's 100th Anniversary capital campaign, to our innovative new online entertainment law LL.M. program, to our deepening ties with Claremont Graduate University, to the hiring of talented faculty, exciting things are happening at the school. I am looking forward to continuing these initiatives and to aggressively take advantage of new opportunities for Southwestern during this interim year."

"It is an honor to have the confidence of the Board and the faculty as we continue the momentum and build on Dean Garth’s accomplishments," Dean Parrish said. "From the construction of student housing, to the school's 100th Anniversary capital campaign, to our innovative new online entertainment law LL.M. program, to our deepening ties with Claremont Graduate University, to the hiring of talented faculty, exciting things are happening at the school. I am looking forward to continuing these initiatives and to aggressively take advantage of new opportunities for Southwestern during this interim year."

Dean Parrish has taught a variety of courses at Southwestern, including Advanced Topics in American Law, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, International Environmental Law, and Public International Law. He also served as Director of the Summer Law Program in Vancouver, B.C. Canada for eight years. He was named as Southwestern's Irwin R. Buchalter Professor of Law in 2007, has been the recipient of the First-Year Professor Excellence in Teaching Award, and has been selected numerous times as Commencement Grand Marshal by the graduating class.

Dean Parrish brings an international perspective to the law classroom, with particular expertise in the areas of transnational litigation and civil procedure, international law and relations, and conflicts of law. He is one of the top scholars on Canada-U.S. transboundary relations and has served as an expert witness in a number of Canadian cases involving transboundary disputes. In his recent publications, he has focused on critiquing the use of extraterritorial domestic laws and the role that national courts play in solving global challenges.

Dean Parrish is the author of numerous scholarly articles that have been published in leading law reviews including the Minnesota Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Boston University Law Review, and the George Washington University Law Review, among others. He also is the co-author of two books, Effective Lawyering: A Checklist Approach to Legal Writing, widely used by lawyers and law firms, and Hard-Nosed Advice From a Cranky Law Professor, a popular guide for new law students.

During his own student days at Columbia Law School, Dean Parrish was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and served as Managing Editor of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law and as a student-editor of the Columbia Journal of European Law. He practiced complex business litigation in both federal and state trial and appellate courts as an attorney at O’Melveny & Myers LLP prior to joining the Southwestern faculty. Active in pro bono activities, he has worked with a number of local public interest organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, and Public Counsel Law Center.