Lisa Schultz Bressman
Vice Dean and David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair in Law
Lisa Schultz Bressman is the Vice Dean and David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair in Law at Vanderbilt Law School, where she is one of the nation's most influential scholars of administrative law and statutory interpretation. Her work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court on multiple occasions, and she was ranked among the top 10 most-cited scholars in public law. She clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Jose A. Cabranes of the Second Circuit, and served in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice before joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 1998.
Teaching Style
Professor Bressman is a meticulous and well-organized Socratic questioner who systematically walks students through the architecture of the regulatory state. Her cold calls are carefully sequenced to build understanding layer by layer, starting with statutory text and progressing through agency interpretation and judicial review. She is known for her clarity and patience but expects thorough preparation, and her questions frequently test whether students can apply abstract administrative law frameworks to concrete regulatory problems.
Cold Call Tips
- 1Master the key administrative law frameworks, especially Chevron deference and its recent developments
- 2Pay close attention to statutory text and be ready to parse specific language in assigned statutes
- 3Understand the procedural requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act inside and out
- 4Be prepared to discuss separation of powers concerns underlying agency rulemaking and adjudication
Areas of Expertise
Education
- J.D., with honors, University of Chicago Law School
- B.A., magna cum laude, Wellesley College
Notable Publications
- The Regulatory State (casebook, co-authored with Rubin and Stack)
- Chevron's Mistake (Duke Law Journal)
- Procedures as Politics in Administrative Law (Columbia Law Review)