Lawrence Friedman

Friedman holds a chaired professorship at Stanford University Law School and is the author or editor of more than 20 books on American legal history, the relationship of law and society, age discrimination, family and succession law, criminal justice and other topics.

Among his most noted works is A History of American Law, first published in 1973, with a second edition in 1985. Encyclopedic in scope, the book established him as the nation’s preeminent legal historian. More recent works have included Crime and Punishment in American History (1993) and American Law in the 20th Century (2002). A review of the latter noted: “One of the strengths of the book is that Friedman sees the law not as an insular, technical field but as an integral part of American politics and culture, something that both reflects and affects society at large.”

Friedman graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, where he also earned a master’s degree in law. He practiced law in Chicago, and then taught law at St. Louis University and the University of Wisconsin before moving to Stanford. He was appointed Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law at Stanford in 1976.

Friedman is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and past president of the Law and Society Association and the American Society for Legal History. He has been honored by the Association of American Law Schools for distinction in legal scholarship.

“Fitting the tradition of Charter Lectures at the University of Georgia, Lawrence Friedman’s address should cut across disciplines by attracting students and scholars with interest in law, history, and American society,” says legal historian Ed Larson, who serves on the Charter Lecture committee. “His lecture should provide useful historical perspective for anyone interested in developments in American law during the current war against terrorism.”