Prof. John Langbein Wins Order of the Coif Book Award

John H. Langbein, Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History, has won the Order of the Coif Biennial Book Award for his book The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial (Oxford U.P. 2003). The award recognizes the authors of legal publications that evidence creative talent of the highest order. Langbein was the selection of the Order of the Coif Book Award Committee for the period 2003-04.

The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial traces the history of the Anglo-American adversary system of justice, focusing on how lawyers assumed a preeminent role in criminal trials in the 18th Century. The book also provides a detailed account of the formation of the law of criminal evidence.

Langbein will receive the award at the Association of American Law Schools annual luncheon in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2006.

In addition to Langbein, three other YLS professors have received the prestigious Order of the Coif Book Award. They are Jerry Mashaw, Robert Ellickson, and Guido Calabresi. Other past recipients of the award include Ronald Dworkin, Laurence H. Tribe, John Hart Ely '63, and John Rawls.