معرفی
Dov Waisman serves as Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School, where he joined the LAWS faculty in 2007, became Associate Professor of Law in 2013, and was promoted to full Professor in 2017. He served as Vice Dean from 2018 to 2022 under Deans Susan Westerberg Prager and Darby Dickerson, teaching Contracts, Community Property, and Trial Practice while emphasizing analytical precision and policy analysis in legal reasoning.
His educational background includes an A.B. in Philosophy, magna cum laude, from Harvard College (1995), an M.A. in Philosophy from UC San Diego (2000), and a J.D. from UCLA (2003), where he served on the Moot Court Honors Program and UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs. Prior to academia, he worked as a housing coordinator for Project Renewal in New York, research assistant for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, litigation associate at Sidley Austin, and family law associate at Harris-Ginsberg.
Waisman's research spans Contract Law, Property Law, and Climate Change Litigation, characterized by deep interrogation of legal principles' underlying policies. His scholarship consistently examines the intersection of moral philosophy and legal doctrine, particularly in negligence, unconscionability, and climate adaptation frameworks. The recurring theme across his work is the critical examination of why legal rules exist as they do, rather than merely accepting doctrinal constructs.
His publications reveal a progression from foundational torts and contracts scholarship toward contemporary environmental and regulatory challenges. Early works focused on negligence immunity and unconscionability doctrine, while recent articles address climate litigation's evolving role in regulatory gaps. The 2024 publications demonstrate his pivot toward analyzing legal systems' capacity to manage worsening environmental risks through underutilized litigation strategies.
- Susan Westerberg Prager Excellence in Teaching Award (2024)
- Excellence in Teaching Award (2017)
- Criminal Justice Award, ACLU of Southern California (2005)
- Harvard College Scholarship (undergraduate)
- UC Regents Fellowship (graduate)
As a Certified Mediator with the Los Angeles County Bar Association and founding member of the ACLU of Southern California Advisory Board, Waisman integrates practical dispute resolution with academic rigor. His teaching philosophy focuses on training students to identify the 'deep policies, principles and values' behind legal rules, preparing them for both precise legal analysis and effective client representation. His judicial externship with Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit informs his emphasis on real-world application of theoretical frameworks.
