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Joel Richard Paul

Alfred and Hanna Fromm Professor of International Law

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Bio

Professor Joel Richard Paul teaches and writes about constitutional law, international business and trade, and foreign relations and national security law.

Professor Paul has taught on the law faculties at U.C. Berkeley, Yale, Leiden, University of Connecticut, and American University.

Professor Paul has lectured or published in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He is the author of “Unlikely Allies: How a Merchant, a Playwright, and a Spy Saved the American Revolution” and “Without Precedent: How John Marshall Invented American Diplomacy.” In his spare time Professor Paul writes stage plays and screenplays.

As the former Associate Academic Dean for Global Programs, he initiated the law school’s 18 global exchange programs and joint degrees, LL.M. program, summer program, and foreign visiting scholars program.

Professor Paul attended Amherst College, B.A. History, Economics and Political Science; the London School of Economics and Political Science; and Harvard Law School, J.D.; Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, MALD in international law and economic development.

Paul was the first openly gay man hired on a U.S. law faculty. He has drafted federal trade legislation, advised the Clinton presidential campaign on trade policy, challenged the military’s exclusion of gay service members and brought other first amendment cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, testified before Congress, managed political campaigns, and worked on affordable housing policies. In 1991 Professor Paul corroborated the testimony of Professor Anita Hill before the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas.

Courses Taught: Constitutional Law I and II, International Business Transactions, International Trade Law and Policy, Seminar on Global Inequalities, National Security and Foreign Relations Law, and Public International Law.

Education

  • Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
    MALD, International Law and Economic Development

  • Harvard Law School
    J.D., Law

  • The London School of Economics and Political Science
    General Course in International Economics and International Relations

  • Amherst College
    B.A., History, Economics, and Political Science

Selected Scholarship

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Courses

  • Foreign Relations Law
  • International Trade Law and Policy
  • Constitutional Law I
  • Constitutional Law II
  • International Business Transactions

Expertise