Barry Cushman

Barry Cushman is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame, with concurrent professorships in Political Science and History. He joined in 2012 after serving as the James Monroe Distinguished Professor of Law and Professor of History at the University of Virginia. His work focuses on late 19th and early 20th century constitutional law, political economy, and social reform movements. Notable contributions include Rethinking the New Deal Court, which won the Littleton-Griswold Prize. He has taught widely across constitutional law, legal history, trusts & estates, and taxation, earning the University of Virginia’s All-University Teaching Award in 2003.

Research interests encompass judicial behavior, constitutional crises (e.g., the New Deal era), and the interplay between law and economic policy. His scholarship critiques historical legal doctrines like Lochner and examines institutional dynamics of the Supreme Court, including docket management and clerk influence. He has held fellowships at NYU Law and Princeton University, and served on the American Society for Legal History’s Executive Committee.

Key awards include the Littleton-Griswold Prize and the All-University Teaching Award. His advisory role involves mentoring students in legal history and constitutional law, though specific advisees are not listed. He has authored over 40 articles and book chapters, analyzing topics from judicial reforms of 1937 to the evolution of estate law doctrines.

Cushman’s career bridges law, history, and political science, with affiliations spanning multiple departments. His work emphasizes empirical analysis of court records (e.g., docket books) to illuminate judicial decision-making processes during transformative periods.