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Bob Cochran head shot

Robert F. Cochran Jr.

Professor Emeritus
Caruso School of Law
310.506.4676
Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Professor Cochran is the co-author or co-editor of Agape, Justice and Law: How Might Christian Love Shape Law?, Cambridge University Press (2017); Law and the Bible, IVP (2013); Lawyers, Clients, and Moral Responsibility, 2nd ed. West (2009); Cases and Materials on the Legal Profession, 3rd ed. (2002); The Counselor-at-Law: A Collaborative Approach to Client Interviewing and Counseling, 3rd ed. Matthew Bender (2014); Christian Perspectives on Legal Thought, Yale University Press (2001); Law and Community: The Case of Torts, Rowman and Littlefield (2003); and Faith and Law: How Religious Traditions from Calvinism to Islam View American Law, NYU Press (2008).

He is the founder of Pepperdine's Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics, and co-founder of the Global Justice Program. In recent years, he has traveled to Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia assisting with students in justice projects and lecturing on law and religion.

Professor Cochran teaches Torts, Legal Ethics, Religion and Law, and Family Law. "I teach because I think that truth is important. My hope is that, in interaction with my students, we will discover the truth," he says.

Education

  • J.D., University of Virginia, 1976
  • B.A., Carson-Newman College, 1973, magna cum laude

 

Books

  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. (ed.), AGAPE, JUSTICE, AND LAW: HOW MIGHT CHRISTIAN LOVE SHAPE LAW? (Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Zachary Calo eds., Cambridge Univ. Press, 2017).  Worldcat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. (ed.), THE INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION DEBATE: DIALOGUES ACROSS DISCIPLINES (Robert L. Ballard, Naomi H. Goodno, Robert F. Cochran & Jay A. Millbrandt eds., Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2015). WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., John M.A. DiPippa & Martha M. Peters, THE COUNSELOR-AT-LAW: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO CLIENT INTERVIEWING AND COUNSELING (LexisNexis 2014). WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., David VanDrunen and John Witte, Jr., LAW AND THE BIBLE: JUSTICE, MERCY AND LEGAL INSTITUTIONS (IVP Academic 2013).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., LOUIS D. BRANDEIS'S MIT LECTURES ON BUSINESS LAW (Carolina Academic Press 2012). WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Thomas L. Shaffer, LAWYERS, CLIENTS, AND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY (West, 2d ed. 2009). WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., FAITH AND LAW: HOW RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS FROM CALVINISM TO ISLAM VIEW AMERICAN LAW (Robert F. Cochran, Jr. ed., NYU Press 2008). WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., John M.A. DiPippa & Martha M. Peters, THE COUNSELOR-AT-LAW: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO CLIENT INTERVIEWING AND COUNSELING (LexisNexis, 2d ed. 2006). WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., LAW AND COMMUNITY: THE CASE OF TORTS (Rowman & Littlefield 2004). WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Teresa S. Collett, CASES AND MATERIALS ON THE LEGAL PROFESSION (West, 2d ed. 2003). WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES ON LEGAL THOUGHT (Robert F. Cochran et al. eds., Yale Univ. Press 2001).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., John M.A. DiPippa & Martha M. Peters, THE COUNSELOR-AT-LAW: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO CLIENT INTERVIEWING AND COUNSELING (Lexis 1999).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Teresa S. Collett, CASES AND MATERIALS ON THE RULES OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION (West 1996).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Thomas L. Shaffer, LAWYERS, CLIENTS, AND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY (West 1994).

Book Chapters

  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Jesus, Agape, and Law, in AGAPE, JUSTICE, AND LAW: HOW MIGHT CHRISTIAN LOVE SHAPE LAW? (Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Zachary Calo eds., Cambridge Univ. Press, 2017).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Introductory Essay, in LOUIS D. BRANDEIS'S MIT LECTURES ON BUSINESS LAW (Carolina Academic Press 2012) . SSRN
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. (ed.), Evangelicals, Law, and Abortion, in FAITH AND LAW: HOW RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS FROM CALVINISM TO ISLAM VIEW AMERICAN LAW (Robert F. Cochran, Jr. ed., NYU Press 2008) .
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The Bible, Positive Law, and the Legal Academy, in THE BIBLE AND THE UNIVERSITY (David Lyle Jeffrey & C. Stephen Evans eds., Paternoster Press 2007) . WorldCat
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Christian Traditions, Culture and Law, in CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES ON LEGAL THOUGHT (Robert F. Cochran et al. eds., Yale Univ. Press 2001) .
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Tort Law and Intermediate Communities: Calvinist and Catholic Insights, in CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES ON LEGAL THOUGHT (Robert F. Cochran et al. eds., Yale Univ. Press 2001) .

Articles

  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Christianity and Law Practice, 13 J. CHRISTIAN LEGAL THOUGHT 20 (2023) HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Jesus and the Mosaic Law: Agapic Love as the Foundation and Objective of Law, 36 TOURO L. REV. 23 (2020) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., "Christian Traditions, Culture, and Law": An Update and a Few Reflections, 47 Pepp. L. Rev. 563 (2020) SSRN HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Festschrift Response: "With a Grateful Heart", 47 Pepp. L. Rev. ix (2020) SSRN HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Louis D. Brandeis and the Lawyer Advocacy System, 40 PEPP. L. REV. 351 (2013) SSRN HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Church Freedom and Accountability in Sexual Exploitation Cases: The Possibility of Both Through Limited Strict Liability, 21 J. CONTEMP. LEGAL ISSUES 427 (2013)
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. and Michael A. Helfand, The Competing Claims of Law and Religion: Who Should Influence Whom?: Introduction, 39 PEPP. L. REV. 1051 (2013) (symposium issue) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Which Client-Centered Counselors?: A Reply to Professor Freedman, 40 HOFSTRA L. REV. 355-66 (2012) (responding to Monroe Freedman's critique of my client counseling theory) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Introduction: Blessed are the Compromisers?, 38 PEPP. L. Rev. 813 (2011) HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Collaborative Practice's Radical Possibilities For the Legal Profession: "[Two Lawyers And Two Clients] For The Situation", 11 PEPP. DISP. RESOL. L.J. 229 (2011)SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Legal Ethics and Collaborative Practice Ethics, 38 HOFSTRA L. REV. 537 (2010) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Is there a Higher Law? Does it Matter?: Introduction, 36 PEPP. L. REV. [Special Issue] I (2009) (symposium issue) HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Lawyers, Actors, and Role-Playing: Private Lives and Professional Roles?, CHRISTIAN LAW., Spring 2007, at 16
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Thomas L. Shaffer, "Technical" Defenses: Ethics, Morals, and the Lawyer as Friend, 14 CLINICAL L. REV. 337 (2007) HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Catholic and Evangelical Supreme Court Justices: A Theological Analysis, 4 U. ST. THOMAS L.J. 296 (2006) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The Catholic Court Appeal: Why So Many Catholic Justices on the Supreme Court? Why Now?, TOUCHSTONE, Jul./Aug. 2006, at 40
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Introduction: Can The Ordinary Practice of Law be a Religious Calling?, 32 PEPP. L. REV. 373 (2005) (symposium issue) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., "How Do You Plead, Guilty or Not Guilty?": Does the Plea Inquiry Violate the Defendant's Right to Silence?, 26 CARDOZO L. REV. 1409 (2005) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Raising Required Exam Score Likely Will Result in Lower Ethical Standards, L.A. DAILY J., Dec. 3, 2004, at 6
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Robert M. Ackerman, Law, Community, and Personal Injury, 14 THE RESPONSIVE COMMUNITY 77 (2004)
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Introduction: Three Approaches to Moral Issues in Law Office Counseling, 30 PEPP. L. REV. 591 (2003) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Educating Clients on ADR Alternatives: The Rules of Professional Conduct Should Require Lawyers to Inform Clients About ADR, L.A. LAW., Oct. 2002, at 52 HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Hedonic Product Liability: Will Alcohol Follow the Tobacco Road?, THE BRIEF, Fall 2002, at 12
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Lawyers and Confession: Moral Discourse, NAT'L L.J., Oct. 15, 2001, at A25
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Professional Rules and ADR: Control of Alternative Dispute Resolution Under the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission Proposal and Other Professional Responsibility Standards, 28 FORDHAM URB. L.J. 895 (2001) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., From Cigarettes to Alcohol: The Next Step in Hedonic Product Liability?, 27 PEPP. L. REV. 701 (2000) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Honor as a Deficient Aspiration for "The Honorable Profession": The Lawyer as Nostromo, 69 FORDHAM L. REV. 859 (2000) HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Professionalism in the Postmodern Age: Its Death, Attempts at Resuscitation, and Alternate Sources of Virtue, 14 NOTRE DAME J.L. ETHICS & PUB. POL'Y 305 (2000) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The Criminal Defense Attorney: Roadblock or Bridge to Restorative Justice, 14 J.L. & RELIGION 211 (1999-2000) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Professional and Christian Responsibilities to the Poor, 19 PEPP. L. 14 (Spring 1999)
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., ADR, the ABA, and Client Control: A Proposal that the Model Rules Require Lawyers to Present ADR Options to Clients, 41 S. TEX. L. REV. 183 (1999) HeinOnline

Book Reviews

  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Christianity and Law: An Introduction, 25 J. L. & RELIGION 249 (2010) (book review). HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., American Lawyers & Their Communities: Ethics in the Legal Profession, 16 J.L. & RELIGION 751 (2001) (book review). HeinOnline
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The Rule of Law(yers), 65 MO. L. REV. 571 (2000) (book review). HeinOnline

Popular Press

  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Speaker, The Bible and the Law, Christian Legal Theory Symposium, Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Atlanta, Georgia (Mar. 22, 2013).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Speaker, Louis Brandeis: Law Clerk, Lawyer, Professor, and Supreme Court Justice, Byrne Judicial Clerkship Institute, Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, Malibu, California (Mar. 15, 2013).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Speaker, Jesus and the Civil Law, BYU Law and Religion Colloquium, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (Mar. 14, 2013).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The Christian Responsibility for Social Justice: Theory and Practice, The Fifth International Conference on Christian Higher Education and Scholarship, Baekseok University, Korea (June 2011).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Jesus and the Law, Christian Legal Theory, Law Professors' Fellowship/Lumen Christi Institute Conference, San Francisco, California (Jan. 2011).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Church-State Relations in the United States, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Conference for Southern Sudan Government, Business, and Religious Leaders, Juba, Sudan (Oct. 2010).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Jesus and the Law, Religious Legal Theory Conference, St. Johns University School of Law, New York, New York (Nov. 2010).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Christ, the Law, and the Legal Profession, Uganda Christian University, Mukono, Uganda (June 2010).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Domestic Violence, the Bible, and Rwandan Law, Saddleback Church, Justice Task Force, Kigali, Rwanda (May 2010).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Property Grabbing, Widows, and Rwandan Law, Saddleback Church, Justice Task Force, Kigali, Rwanda (May 2010).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Louis D. Brandeis: Humble, Pragmatic, Prudent Prophet, Religiously Affiliated Law Schools Conference, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (March 2010).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Client Counseling and Moral Responsibility, Regent University Law School Faculty and Student Luncheon, Virginia Beach, Virginia (Nov. 2009).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Christian Traditions, Culture, and Law: Possible Futures, Religious Legal Theory Conference, Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, New Jersey (Nov. 2009).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Louis Brandeis' MIT Lectures on Law, University of Virginia Faculty Law and Humanities Workshop, Charlottesville, Virginia (Nov. 2009).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The Ethics and Future of Collaborative Practice, Collaborative Divorce Solutions of Orange County Luncheon, Orange, California (July 2009).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Client Counseling Models: Godfathers, Hired Guns, Gurus, and Friends, American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers, Annual Meeting, Kauai, Hawaii (March 2009).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Subsidiarity, Sphere Sovereignty, and the Public Good, Communitarian Studies and Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools, Annual Meeting, San Diego, California (Jan. 2009).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., William Wilberforce, Glanville Sharp, and the Fight Against Slavery in England, Christian Scholars Conference on the Christian Faith, Life of the Mind, and the Public Square, Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee (June 2008).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Lawyers, Actors, and Role Playing, Christian Legal Society of Los Angeles Luncheon Address, Los Angeles, California (June 2008).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., What's Right and Wrong with the Religious Right, Law Professors' Christian Fellowship/ Lumen Christi Institute Conference, New York City, New York (organized and moderated panel composed of Richard John Neuhaus and William Stuntz) (Jan. 2008).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Law as a Christian Calling: Litigator, Counselor, Scholar, Christian Scholar's Conference, Destin, Florida (Nov. 2007).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The Lawyer's Callings: Litigator, Counselor, and Scholar, Annual Professionalism Lecture, Campbell University School of Law, Buis Creek, North Carolina (Oct. 2007).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Why a Catholic Court? Why Now?, J. Reuben Clark Society Forum, Chapman University School of Law, Orange, California (March 2007).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Law Practice as a Religious Calling, Los Angeles Christian Legal Society Chapter, Los Angeles, California (March 2007).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Christian Traditions, Culture, and Law, J. Reuben Clark Law Society National Conference, Los Angeles, California (Feb. 2007).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Modesty and the Limits of Law: A Response to Professors Skeel and Stuntz, Law Professors' Christian Fellowship/Lumen Christi Institute Conference, Washington, D.C. (Jan. 2007).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Catholics and the Court: The Relevance of Faith to Jurisprudence, University of St. Thomas Law School, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Nov. 2006).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Christian Faith and Law, Catholic University of America Conference, "Roundtable on Religion in the Public Square: Religions Traditions in Shaping Law and Public Policy, Washington, D.C. (Sept. 2006).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Law and the Bible, National Faculty Leadership Conference, "The Two Tasks: Redeeming the Soul, Redeeming the Mind," Campus Crusade for Christ, Washington, D.C. (June 2006).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The Bible, Positive Law, and the Legal Academy, The Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar's 9th International Consultation, "The Bible and the Academy: The View Both Ways," Baylor University (June 2006).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Organizer and Moderator, Lawyers and Lying, Religiously Affiliated Law Schools conference, Baylor University (March 2006).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., A Prayer Service for the Judiciary, Race Relations, and New Orleans, Law Professors Christian Fellowship (organized and led service; organized earlier panels) (Jan. 2006).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., A Conversation About Abortion, Association of American Law Schools Law and Communitarian Studies Section Program, Washington, D.C. (organized and moderated the panel of Jack Balkin, Elizabeth Mensch, and Teresa Collett) (Jan. 2006).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Religious Faith and Law School, Association of American Law Schools Workshop, "A Search for Balance in the Whirlwind of Law School," Washington, D.C. (Jan. 2006).
  • Robert F. Cochran, Jr., The American Lawyer and the Religious Traditions, Association of American Law Schools Professional Responsibility Section Program, "Professional Responsibility and the Religious Traditions," Washington, D.C. (Jan. 2006).

Topics

  • Criminal Law
  • Ethics
  • Law and Religion
  • Torts

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