Paul F. Kirgis is a Professor of Law and
Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship at St. John's University
School of Law, where he began teaching in 1998.
Professor Kirgis teaches negotiation, alternative dispute
resolution, and evidence. His scholarship focuses
on dispute resolution both within and outside of the traditional
civil litigation paradigm. He has written a number of
articles analyzing the role of juries as decisionmakers in the
civil justice system. In recent years, he has turned his
attention to the increasing use of arbitration and other
extrajudicial dispute reolution processes as alternatives to the
court system. His articles have appeared in the
Oregon Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, Ohio State Law
Review, Georgia Law Review, and the peer-reviewed International
Journal of Evidence & Proof, among others.
Professor Kirgis received his J.D., magna cum laude, from
Washington & Lee University School of Law, where he served as
Editor in Chief of the Washington & Lee Law Review and was
elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his B.A. from Colgate
University. Prior to coming to St. John's, Professor Kirgis
practiced with two major law firms in Washington, D.C., where he
had extensive litigation experience in areas including defamation,
insurance coverage, commercial disputes, antitrust, government
contracts, and tax. He is a certified community mediator in
New York and a member of the Mediation Panel for the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Professor Kirgis was named the 2001-02
School of Law Professor of the Year. He was a Visiting
Professor at William & Mary School of Law in the fall of
2004.