Facebook pixel Jeffrey R. Baker | Faculty | Pepperdine Caruso School of Law Skip to main content
Pepperdine | Caruso School of Law
Jeff Baker headshot

Jeffrey R. Baker

Associate Dean of Clinical Education and Global Programs
Clinical Professor of Law
Caruso School of Law
Phone310.506.6350
AttachmentCurriculum Vitae

Biography

Professor Baker is a full Clinical Professor of Law and the Associate Dean of Clinical Education and Global Programs at Caruso School of Law. He teaches and supervises the Community Justice Clinic and other courses. As Associate Dean, he directs the program of clinical education, including the legal clinics, externships, pro bono programs, practicum courses, and the experiential learning curriculum. He also leads the law school’s global programs, including the London Program, Washington DC Externship Semester, the Augsburg Exchange Program, and law school programs at the Chateau d’Hauteville in Switzerland. 

In the Community Justice Clinic, Professor Baker practices with law students to provide pro bono legal services to local nonprofits, community organizations, and international nongovernmental organizations dedicated to justice, human rights, and empowerment among vulnerable and marginalized populations. The Clinic serves as general counsel to these clients in corporate, transactional, compliance, and policy matters. 

Professor Baker graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School before returning to his home state of Mississippi where he had a diverse trial and appellate practice in complex litigation with the firm of Watkins & Eager. From 2006-2013, Baker was an associate professor of law and Director of Clinical Programs at Faulkner University Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was Professor of the Year in 2012.

Professor Baker has also led legal clinics addressing domestic violence, elder law, and natural disaster responses. He has extensive experience as a civil litigator, corporate counsel, advocate, and negotiator. He is also a mediator and regularly teaches and consults on negotiation and conflict resolution.

His scholarship focuses on issues of human rights and dignity, social justice, legal education, and ethics, at the intersections of law, theology, jurisprudence, and public policy. Professor Baker speaks and writes regularly on clinical education, professional formation, public interest lawyering, and social justice. He also edits the Clinical Law Prof Blog and is actively involved with the Clinical Legal Education Association and the Section on Clinical Legal Education of the Association of American Law Schools.

In Alabama, he received the Montgomery Advertiser's Martin Luther King Spirit Honors Award and the Justice for Victims Award from the area domestic violence shelter. There he also served in leadership and direction for nonprofits, community and professional organizations.

In California, he serves on the boards of nonprofits committed to expanding justice, resources, and health for vulnerable communities. He is active in church and neighborhood ministries. In 2020, he received a Dolphin Award for Citizens of the Year from the Malibu Times.

He is a member of the Mississippi, Alabama, and California bars.

Education

  • J.D., Vanderbilt University, 2000
  • B.A., Harding University, 1997, magna cum laude

 

Articles

  • Jeffrey R. Baker,  A Sermon on the Law: The Jurisprudence of Love, 15 WASH.  UNIV.  JURIS.  REV.  313 (2023) SSRN
  • Jeffrey R. Baker,  The Community Justice Clinic: Pepperdine Caruso School of Law Legal History in the Making, 17 CAL. LEGAL HIST. 7 (2022) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Jeffrey R. Baker & Allyson McKinney Timm, Zero-Tolerance: The Trump Administration's Human Rights Violations Against Migrants on the Southern Border, 13 DREXEL L. REV.  581 (2021) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Too Big to Care: Promoting Ethics When Ethics Are Not Profitable, 17 J. BUS. ETHICS EDUC.  221 (2020), peer-reviewed case study, with co-authors Profs. Doreen Shanahan, Stephen Rapier and Nancy Dodd of Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.  Pepperdine Dig. Commons
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Christine Cerniglia, Davida Finger, Luz Herrera, & JoNel Newman, In Times of Chaos: Creating Blueprints for Law School Responses to Natural Disasters, 80 LOUISIANA L. REV. 421 (2020) SSRN HeinOnline
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Stephen M. Rapier, Doreen E. Shanahan, & Nancy E. Dodd, The Unmaking of Video Symphony: Personal Ethics, Business Decisions, and Management Practices, THE CASE J. (2018).
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, The Failure and Promise of Common Law Equity in Domestic Abuse Cases, 58 LOYOLA L. REV. 559 (2012) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Trifling Violence: The U.S. Supreme Court, Domestic Violence and a Theory of Love, 42 CUMB. L. REV. 65 (2012) (also presented at the 2014 Nootbaar Institute Annual Conference, Pepperdine Univ. and at the 2011 Journal of Faith & the Academy Conference, Faulkner Univ.) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Necessary Third Parties: Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Inadequate Professional Privileges in Domestic Violence Practice, 21 COLUM. J. GENDER & L. 283 (2011) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Whom Would Jesus Cover? A Biblical, Ethical Lens for the Contemporary American Health Care Debate, 23 J.L. & HEALTH 1 (2010) (Cleveland State Univ. Cleveland-Marshall College of Law) (also presented at the 2008 Christian Scholars Conference, Lipscomb Univ.) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Enjoining Coercion: Squaring Civil Protection Orders with the Reality of Domestic Abuse, 11 J. L. & FAM. STUD. 35 (2008) (Univ. of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law) SSRNHeinOnline
  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Teaching Troublemakers: Experiential Learning in Christian Higher Education, 1 J. FAITH & ACAD. 61 (2008) (Faulkner Univ., Institute of Faith and the Academy)(also presented at 2008 Christian Scholars Conference, Lipscomb Univ.) SSRN

Book Reviews

  • Jeffrey R. Baker, Book Review reviewing BUILDING ON BEST PRACTICES: TRANSFORMING LEGAL EDUCATION IN A CHANGING WORLD by DEBORAH A. MARANVILLE et al. (2015), 65 J. Legal Educ. 988 (2016) HeinOnline .

Topics

  • Civil Procedure
  • Clinical Law
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Ethics
  • Family Law
  • Human Rights
  • Mediation
  • Public Interest Law
  • Torts
  • Trial Advocacy

Links