College of Law — Faculty

Acclaimed Legal Educators

Norman R. Williams

Norman R. Williams

Professor of Law; Director of the Center for Law and Government

  • J.D. New York University, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif
  • B.A. Harvard University, magna cum laude

Curriculum Vitae

Professor Williams graduated from New York University School of Law, where he was senior articles editor of the NYU Law Review. After graduation in 1995, Williams clerked for Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. From 1996 to 2001, he practiced in the U.S. Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group of the New York law firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt. He joined the Willamette law faculty in 2001. He teaches Constitutional Law I, Constitutional Law II, Administrative Law, Advanced Constitutional Law (seminar) and Advanced Administrative Law (seminar). In addition to directing the Willamette Center for Law and Government, Williams is faculty co-advisor to the Willamette Law Review.

SSRN Author Page

Books, Chapters and Contributions

  • "Nixon v. United States," in THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES (Macmillan Gale, David S. Tanenhaus ed., forthcoming 2008).
  • "State Sovereignty," in THE OXFORD INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LEGAL HISTORY (Oxford University Press, Stanley N. Katz, ed., forthcoming 2008).
  • Teacher's Manual for Breyer, Stewart, Sunstein, and Vermeule, Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy: Problems, Texts and Cases (6th ed. 2006).

Law Review Articles

  • "The New Protectionism and the Dormant Commerce Clause," currently under submission (co-authored with Brannon Denning).
  • "Direct Democracy, The Guaranty Clause and the Politics of the Political Question Doctrine: Revisiting Pacific Telephone," 87 Oregon L. Rev. _ (forthcoming 2009).
  • "The Foundations of the American Common Market," 84 Notre Dame L. Rev. 409 (2008).
  • "Taking Care of Ourselves: State Citizenship, the Market, and the State," 69 Ohio St. L.J. 469 (2008).
  • "The Commerce Clause and the Myth of Dual Federalism," 54 UCLA L. Rev. 1847 (2007).
  • "Executive Review in the Fragmented Executive: State Constitutionalism and Same-Sex Marriage," 154 U. Penn. L. Rev. 565 (2006).
  • "Why Congress May Not 'Overrule' the Dormant Commerce Clause," 53 UCLA L. Rev. 153 (2005).
  • "The Dormant Commerce Clause: Why Gibbons v. Ogden Should Be Restored to the Canon," 49 St. Louis Univ. L. J. 817 (2005).
  • "The People's Constitution," 57 Stanford L. Rev. 257 (2004).
  • "Gibbons," 79 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1398 (2004).
  • "The Failings of Originalism: The Federal Courts and the Power of Precedent," 37 U.C. Davis. L. Rev. 761 (2004).
  • "Suburbanization and Market Failure: An Analysis of Government Policies Promoting Suburban Growth and Ethnic Assimilation," 27 Fordham Urb. L. J. 197 (Oct. 1999) (coauthored with William E. Nelson).
  • "Rising Above Factionalism: A Madisonian Theory of Judicial Review," 69 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 963 (Oct.-Nov. 1994).

Other Writings

  • "The Immigration Debate: One (Mexican) American's View," Op-ed, Oregonian, May 15, 2006.
  • "Special Trial Judges after Ballard: A Call for Reform," Tax Notes, May 23, 2005, p.1033.
  • "The U.S. Tax Court: A Return to Fair and Transparent Proceedings," in For the District of Oregon, a quarterly newsletter of the Oregon chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Summer 2005.
  • "People's Law," Op-ed, Oregonian, March 17, 2004.