An interior shot of the stained glass windows on the second floor entrance of the Law Library.

Legal History Forum

Legal History Forum

MedallionThe Legal History Forum brings legal history scholars to the Law School from around the University, from around the United States, and from around the world, to present works-in-progress for discussion and debate. Organized by rotating student Legal History Fellows, the Forum aims to host cutting-edge work in the field of legal history in a collegial setting suited to searching dialogue and debate. Papers will be pre-circulated.

List of Past Presenters

Yale Legal History Forum 2025–2026

Fall 2025

Brittany Farr | NYU School of Law 
Warranting Violence 
Tuesday, September 9 (Co-sponsored by the Public Law Workshop)   
Location: Baker 116 
Time: 12:10-1:30pm

Leah Boustan | Yale Department of Economics 
Where are the Streets of Gold? Immigrant assimilation in the U.S. and Europe 
Tuesday, September 30  
Location: Baker 116 
Time: 12:10-1:30pm

Amy Dru Stanley | University of Chicago (History and Law) 
Depending on Property: Rights of the Dispossessed 
Tuesday, October 21 (Co-sponsored by the Public Law Workshop)
Location: Baker 116 
Time: 12:10-1:30pm

Hannah Farber | Columbia University Department of History 
Tuesday, November 18  
Mrs. Cochran Keeps her Money: The Delaware High Court of Chancery, 1801–1830 
Location: Baker 116 
Time: 12:10-1:30pm

Spring 2026

Kevin Arlyck | Georgetown University Law Center
Protecting Federal Officers in the Nineteenth Century
Tuesday, Jan. 20
Location: Baker 116 
Time: 12:10-1:30pm

Logan E. Sawyer III | University of Georgia School of Law
Conservatism’s “Last Gasp”:  Originalism and Liberalism in the Reagan Administration
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Location: Baker 116 
Time: 12:10-1:30pm

Marco Basile | Boston College School of Law
The Misunderstood History of the International Limits of Congressional Power
Tuesday, March 31
Location: Baker 116 
Time: 12:10-1:30pm

Contact

For questions, please contact this year’s Legal History Fellows:

Fisayo Akinlude

Zach Brown 

Geneva Smith 

Alex Williams 

Sarah Yerima