YLS Professor John Langbein Elected Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy

John Langbein, the Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School, has been elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. Langbein, a member of the Yale law faculty since 1989, is a leading authority on legal history, comparative law, and probate and trust law.

The British Academy is the United Kingdom’s national body recognizing and supporting excellence in the humanities and social sciences. Each year, in addition to electing several dozen U.K.-based Fellows who have achieved distinction in the humanities and social sciences, the Academy elects a number of Corresponding Fellows from overseas universities. Election is a mark of distinction, which only a few American law faculty have achieved.

Professor Langbein was one of 15 Corresponding Fellows elected from all fields at the Academy’s annual meeting on July 19. Thirty-eight Fellows and two Honorary Fellows were also elected. You may view the full list here.

Sir Adam Roberts, president of the Academy, said: “Our Fellows play a vital role in sustaining the Academy’s activities – from identifying excellence to be supported by research awards, to contributing to policy reports and speaking at the Academy’s public events. Their presence in the Academy will help it to sustain its support for research across the humanities and social sciences, and to inspire public interest in these disciplines.”

Professor Langbein is the author or co-author of numerous publications, including a textbook on the history of the legal system and a course book on pension and employee benefit law now in its fifth edition. Long active in law reform work, he has served as a Uniform Law Commissioner since 1984. He was the reporter and principal drafter for the Uniform Prudent Investor Act (1994), which governs fiduciary investing in most American states. He was Associate Reporter for the American Law Institute’s “Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers” (3 vols., 1999-2011).

He is an honorary fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Academy of Comparative Law, and the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. His extensive honors include the American Society for Legal History’s Sutherland Prize for his “pioneering work” in legal history, and the Coif Biennial Book Award for his book, “The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial.”