June 21, 2008
Dean Mary C. Daly announced today that Professor Paul F. Kirgis
has been named the new Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship,
effective July 1, 2008. In announcing the appointment, Dean
Daly praised Professor Kirgis’s accomplishments as a scholar and a
teacher. She noted that Professor Kirgis’s “talents lend
themselves to the nurturing and advisement of junior faculty
members, to the development of strategies that will raise the
scholarly profile of the Law School, and to the creation of an
intellectual culture that will foster excellence and productivity
in scholarship.” Dean Daly added that she is “looking forward to
working with Professor Kirgis on our shared mission to improve the
scholarly reputation of the law school.”
As Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship, Professor Kirgis will
be broadly responsible for facilitating and coordinating faculty
scholarly activities, for publicizing faculty scholarship, and for
promoting productivity and excellence in faculty scholarship.
Specific activities will include coordinating the planning of
academic conferences, faculty workshops, and other opportunities
for scholarly exchange, advising junior faculty members on
scholarship issues, and advising the Dean on matters relating to
faculty scholarship. The position, which was created in 2005,
is designed to rotate among tenured faculty members.
Dean Daly also thanked Professor Michael A. Simons for the work
that he did over the past three years as the Law School’s first
Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship. “Professor Simons’
leadership was exemplary,” she said, “and his initiatives were
instrumental in helping us recruit accomplished new scholars and
teachers to the faculty and in supporting their scholarly and
teaching endeavors.”
Professor Kirgis, who joined the St. John’s faculty in 1998,
teaches negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, and
evidence. His scholarship focuses on dispute resolution both
within and outside of the traditional civil litigation
paradigm. 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. 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. 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.
Professor Kirgis lives in Port Washington, New York with his
wife and children. More information about Professor Kirgis’s
background and publications is available here.