2005 Alumnus Charles Barzun to Join University of Virginia Law Faculty

May 23, 2008 — Charles Barzun, a 2005 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, will join the law faculty this fall after completing a two-year teaching and research fellowship at Harvard Law School.

Barzun is currently a Climenko Fellow and lecturer at Harvard. Prior to his position there, he was a clerk for federal Judge Robert D. Sack of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City.

"Charles Barzun brings with him three qualities that correlate with success as a scholar and teacher: intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm for engaging with others about ideas, and a capacity for original and creative scholarship," said law professor Ted White. "We are all delighted he is joining the faculty."

While at Virginia, Barzun was awarded the Law School Alumni Association Best Note Award for "Common Sense and Legal Science," which also earned him the Roger and Madeleine Traynor Prize for outstanding written work. Barzun was the notes development editor of the Virginia Law Review.

"I loved my time there as a student, so I'm really looking forward to returning to Charlottesville," he said.

Previously, Barzun has written about legal history, the First Amendment, and, most recently, evidence law.

"Basically, I'm interested in the intellectual history of the law in order to see whether, and in what ways, legal thinkers from the past may contribute to current theoretical debates," he said. Currently, Barzun is researching legal realism, with a particular focus on the thought of legal philosopher Jerome Frank.

After graduating from Harvard in 1997 with an undergraduate degree in government, Barzun spent four years at CNET Networks, a San Francisco-based media company recently acquired by CBS, before attending law school. At CNET, he first worked as a financial analyst in the corporate development group, and then later as director of product development for the e-mail newsletter group.

"My time at CNET taught me a ton about business and the 'real world,' but I think I always knew that I'd return to school, and probably stay there if I could."

Barzun will teach torts in the fall semester and evidence in the spring.

— by Rob Seal

Media Contact