David N. Schleicher

Professor of Law
(on leave, spring 2024)
Education

J.D., Harvard Law School, 2004

M.Sc., London School of Economics, 2001

A.B., Dartmouth College, 2000

Courses Taught
  • Local Government Law
  • Procedure I
  • The State and Local Budget Crisis
  • Property Law
David Schleicher headshot

David N. Schleicher is a Professor of Law at Yale Law School and is an expert in local government law, land use, federalism, state and local finance and urban development. His work has been published widely in academic journals, including the Yale Law Journal and the University of Chicago Law Review, as well as in popular outlets like The Atlantic and Slate. He is also the host of the hit podcast, “Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast.”

Professor Schleicher’s scholarship focuses on state and local elections, the relationship between local government law and agglomeration economics, and pathologies in land use politics and procedure. He has been called “the most important thinker we have on the subject of local government” and “ingenious” by National Review and one of the “most interesting writers on land use” by Washington Monthly. His work has been described as “great but old fashioned” by Vox, “interesting” by The Nation, “clever” by The Economist, “neat” by Slate, “prescient” by City Observatory, “excellent” by Forbes, and discussed extensively in The Atlantic, National Affairs, Reuters, and a number of other places. 

Schleicher was previously an Associate Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, where he won the university’s Teaching Excellence Award. He has also taught at Georgetown, Harvard, and New York University. He is a 2004 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. He also holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and an AB in Economics and Government from Dartmouth College.

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