Vanderbilt University Law School Professor John Goldberg, an expert in tort law, tort theory, and political philosophy, will join the Harvard Law School faculty as a tenured professor this fall.
“John Goldberg is one of the most original and thoughtful scholars writing today about our tort and compensation systems,” said Dean Elena Kagan ’86. “His work combines philosophical sophistication with deep understanding of legal doctrine to produce fascinating insights into the nature and purpose of tort law. And, as our students learned while he was a visiting professor here last fall, he is a simply exceptional teacher.”
Goldberg has taught at Vanderbilt since 1995 when he joined that faculty. He is the author of a leading tort law casebook, “Tort Law: Responsibilities and Redress” (Aspen Press, 2004), now in its second edition. In addition, Goldberg has published over 30 scholarly articles in leading law reviews, most on aspects of the tort system. He serves on the editorial board of the law journal “Legal Theory” and he is a senior editor of “Journal of Tort Law.”
“I am thrilled to be joining the extraordinarily accomplished faculty and students of Harvard Law School,” said Goldberg. “There simply is no better place to teach, study, and write about the law.”
While teaching an unusually broad array of first-year and upper-level courses, Goldberg has consistently been recognized for excellence in the classroom, winning four teaching prizes at Vanderbilt. Each award was received for teaching a different subject, including courses in Advanced Torts/Philosophy of Law, Torts, Contracts, and Civil Procedure.
Goldberg has been an active participant in the American Law Institute’s drafting of the Third Torts Restatement, and next year he will serve as president of the Torts and Compensation Systems section of the Association of American Law Schools.
After receiving his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1991, Goldberg clerked for District Judge Jack Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York and for Supreme Court Justice Byron White. He then practiced law at Hill and Barlow in Boston until joining the Vanderbilt faculty.
Goldberg received his B.A. with high honors in Social Studies from Wesleyan University. He holds an M. Phil. in politics from St. Antony’s College at Oxford University and an M.A. in politics from Princeton University.