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Meet the Faculty

Photo of Kenneth W. Starr, J.D.

Kenneth W. Starr, J.D.
Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law

Office: School of Law (SOL)
E-mail: ken.starr@pepperdine.edu

  • J.D., Duke University, 1973
  • M.A., Brown University, 1969
  • A.B., George Washington University, 1968

SSRN Author Page

Dean Starr is admitted to practice in California, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. In the 1970's, he clerked for The Honorable David W. Dyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and for Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.

While in private practice, he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. In addition to working in the private sector, he has served as Counselor to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith, Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, Solicitor General of the United States, and Independent Counsel on the Whitewater matter. As Solicitor General, he argued twenty-five cases before the Supreme Court.

Dean Starr is a member of numerous professional organizations and boards, including the American Law Institute, the Supreme Court Historical Society, and the American Inns of Court. An enthusiastic writer and scholar, he has authored many law review articles. His best-selling book, First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life was published in 2002.

Dean Starr's areas of expertise are constitutional law, federal courts, federal jurisdiction, and antitrust. He teaches Current Constitutional Issues and Civil Procedure.

Selected Works:
  • From Fraser to Frederick: Bong Hits and the Decline of Civic Culture, 42 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 661 (2009) (symposium issue).
  • The Roberts Court at Age Three: A Response, 54 WAYNE L. REV. 1015 (2008) (symposium issue).
  • Our Libertarian Court: Bong Hits and the Enduring Hamiltonian-Jeffersonian Colloquy, 12 LEWIS & CLARK L. REV. 1 (2008) (symposium issue).
  • The Roberts Court & the Business Cases, 35 PEPP. L. REV. 541 (2008) (symposium issue).
  • Transcript of Speech on the Commerce Clause, 3 J. L. ECON. & POL'Y 127 (2007) (symposium issue).
  • The Roberts Court Gets Down to Business: The Business Cases, 34 PEPP. L. REV. 599 (2007) (symposium issue).
  • Marriage Equality In California: Legal And Political Prospects, 40 LOY. L. REV. 1209 (2007) (Transcript of Debate).
  • The Supreme Court and its Shrinking Docket: The Ghost of William Howard Taft, 90 MINN. L. REV. 1363 (2006).
  • The Court of Pragmatism and Internationalization: A Response to Professors Chemerinsky and Amann, 94 GEO. L.J. 1565 (2006).
  • Morality, Community, and the Legal Profession, 5 WYO. L. REV. 403 (2005).
  • 'Divided America' and the American Constitutional Tradition, 3 GEO. J. L. & PUB. POL'Y 1 (2005).
  • Christian Service in the Practice of Law, 32 PEPP. L. REV. 451 (2005).
  • Reflections on Hines v. Davidowitz: The Future of Obstacle Preemption, 33 PEPP. L. REV. 1 (2005).
  • Leviathan: The Federal Republic and the Challenge to Freedom, 90 CORNELL L. REV. 1639 (2005) (book review).
  • Legislative Restraint in the Confirmation Process, 38 U. RICH. L. REV. 597 (2004).
  • Shoddy Construction: Kenneth Starr Responds, LEGAL AFFAIRS, May-Jun. 2002, at 49.
  • 2000 J.A. Vickers, Sr. and Robert F. Vickers, Sr. Memorial Lecture, 49 U. KAN. L. REV. 631 (2001).
  • Keynote Address, 15 ST. JOHN'S J. LEGAL COMMENT. 253 (2001) (symposium issue).
  • Reflections on Federalism, 25 OKLA. CITY U. L. REV. 813 (2001).
  • Symposium Summation, 51 HASTINGS L.J. 727, 785 (2000) (symposium issue).
  • The Independent Counsel Act, 51 HASTINGS L.J. 727, 785 (2000) (symposium issue).
  • Foreword to Recent Decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 68 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 579 (2000).
  • The Pledge of Allegiance, in WHY WE'LL WIN: THE RIGHT'S LEADING VOICES ARGUE THE CASE FOR AMERICA'S TOUGHEST ISSUES (Sourcebooks, Inc. 2007).
  • Kenneth W. Starr, William French Smith, in YALE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN LAW (Roger K. Newman ed., Yale University Press 2006).
  • FIRST AMONG EQUALS: THE SUPREME COURT IN AMERICAN LIFE (Warner Books 2002).
  • JURIES AND JUSTICE (Nat'l Legal Center 2000).