*10/21/16 Richard Fallon - Harvard Law School - SCOTUS
Posted by David Clough
“What Lies Ahead for the Short-Handed Supreme Court”
Only two groups of people at the U.S. Supreme Court – justices and their law clerks – have insiders’ knowledge of how the Court chooses which cases to hear and what opinions to issue on those cases after oral arguments. Dick Fallon has that perspective as a law clerk to Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., from 1981-1982.Dick joined the Harvard Law School faculty in 1982, was promoted to full professor in 1987, and is currently the Ralph S. Tyler, Jr., professor of constitutional law. He has written extensively about U.S. constitutional law and federal courts law, and he ranks 9th on a list of the 20 most-cited constitutional and public law faculty in the United States (2010-2014).
Dick is a two-time winner of the Harvard Law School’s Sacks-Freund Award (2001 and 2006), which is voted annually by the School’s graduating class to honor excellence in teaching. Comments from former students include: “[H]e does a great job of explaining difficult and complex topics” and “If you get a chance to take a class of his while at the College, do it! You won't regret it!”
An Augusta native and graduate of Cony High School, Dick attended Yale University (History, 1975) and Yale Law School (1980). He served as press secretary to then-Congressman Bill Cohen from 1974-1975 (Nixon impeachment years) and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, B.A., 1977).
When he wants to escape to Maine, Dick and his family heads to their seasonal home in Bar Harbor.