LAW PORTAL
- About
About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 120-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
- Academics
Academics
Learn about our interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and specialized areas.
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- Admissions
Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
- Students
Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
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- Careers
Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
- Faculty
Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
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David Slawson
USC Gould School of Law
- FACULTY DIRECTORY
- LECTURERS IN LAW DIRECTORY
- EXPERTS DIRECTORY
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- SCHOLARSHIP AND PUBLICATIONS
- DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
- + CENTERS AND INITIATIVES
- CENTER FOR LAW AND PHILOSOPHY (CLP)
- CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (CLASS)
- CENTER FOR LAW, HISTORY AND CULTURE (CLHC)
- CENTER FOR TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND BUSINESS (CTLB)
- INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM INSTITUTE (IRI)
- PACIFIC CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS
- SAKS INSTITUTE FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW, POLICY, AND ETHICS
- + WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES
Torrey H. Webb Professor Emeritus of Law
699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA
Last Updated: February 17, 2022
A highly respected scholar in the field of contract law who retired from USC Law in 2004, W. David Slawson is working on a new textbook and continues to write for law review publication. While at USC, he taught Administrative Law, Agency, Antitrust, Contracts and Insurance.
Slawson joined the faculty in 1967. His 37 years of teaching law were interrupted only once, when he served a year as general counsel to the Price Commission in the 1971-72 Economic Stabilization Program. He was a co-founder of the contracts doctrine of reasonable expectations. His book, Binding Promises: The Late 20th Century Reformation of Contract Law, received laudatory reviews as a modern classic in the field.
Prior to joining USC Gould School of Law, Slawson was a partner at Davis, Graham & Stubbs in Denver, Colorado, an assistant counsel to the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, and an attorney-advisor with the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. He graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College, received an MA from Princeton, and earned an LLB, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was note editor of the Harvard Law Review.
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
Bloomberg Government
June 22, 2022
Re: Franita Tolson
Franita Tolson was interviewed about how federal lawsuits from North Carolina, Alabama, and Arkansas test the limits of the Voting Rights Act, the boundaries of state government authority, and the ability of voting rights groups to file racial gerrymandering cases. “These doctrines and approaches in these cases fundamentally reset the rules of the game,” she said. “In 2030 we will live in a completely different world than we lived in in 2020, and 2020 was not favorable to minority voters at all.”
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Robin Craig
March, 2022
"Saltwater Sovereignty: Tribal Marine Management Authority Along the Pacific Coast.” Online Environmental Law Workshop. University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, MD.
Daniel Klerman
March, 2022
“Comment on Choi, Erickson, & Pritchard, ‘Coalitions among Plaintiffs’ Attorneys in Securities Class Actions’,” Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, Virtual, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Robin Craig
March, 2022
“Who’s on First? The Mind-Blowing Attempt to Conceptualize Deference in the Midst of Decision Delays and Agency Repeals,” J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Symposium for the George Washington University School of Law, Virtual, Washington, D.C.
