Law Professors Honored by USD for Academic Achievements

San Diego (February 5, 2013) - – Three University of San Diego (USD) School of Law professors have been honored by the University of San Diego for their outstanding achievements and contributions to their discipline. Awards will be formally bestowed at the Fall Convocation on September 13, 2013.

Professor Laurence Claus has been awarded with one of only five 2013-2014 University Professorships. The University Professorship is the highest academic honor university-wide and is based on outstanding contributions at the University of San Diego in teaching and research. Only one professorship is awarded to the School of Law each year. The professorship provides funds that may be used flexibly for course reduction, salary supplement, travel or project needs.

Professor Claus teaches constitutional law, comparative constitutional law and contracts. He writes about public law and legal theory. Before joining USD School of Law, Claus clerked for distinguished jurists in his native Australia and for the Honorable Frank H. Easterbrook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He served for three years at the U.S. Embassy in London for the Office of Foreign Litigation, U.S. Department of Justice.

Professor Lesley McAllister was named the 2013-2014 Herzog Endowed Scholar. The award recognizes meritorious teaching and scholarly productivity, and provides funds for professional development or for increased time for research or teaching for a one-year period to younger school of law faculty.

Professor McAllister teaches and writes in the areas of environmental, natural resources and energy law; comparative and international law; administrative law; and property law. Her current research focuses on innovative regulatory approaches in environmental and energy policy. She is also an adjunct associate professor at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at University of California, San Diego. Before joining the law school faculty in 2005, Professor McAllister clerked for the Honorable Fern M. Smith of the Northern District of California from 2004 to 2005. She worked as an attorney for Earthjustice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Professor Walter Heiser was named the 2013-2014 Class of 1975 Endowed Professor. The award was established by the Class of 1975 at its 25-year reunion gift to the law school to recognize meritorious teaching, leadership and academic accomplishments of a professor in the School of Law.

Professor Heiser teaches and writes in the areas of civil procedure, California civil procedure, international civil litigation and federal jurisdiction. Before joining the law faculty in 1978, he was associate director of the Legal Aid Society of St. Louis and a teaching fellow at Harvard University Law School. He has been a visiting professor of law at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

About the University of San Diego School of Law

Recognized for the excellence of its faculty, curriculum and clinical programs, the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law enrolls approximately 900 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest and taxation.

USD School of Law is one of the 81 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 23rd worldwide in all-time faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, nonprofit, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.