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Dorsey D. Ellis, Jr.

William R. Orthwein Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus; Dean Emeritus

Professor Ellis served as Dean of the School of Law from 1987 until 1998. During that period, he oversaw the planning, construction, and funding of Anheuser-Busch Hall, the successful completion — 21 months ahead of schedule — of the school’s first capital campaign, an increase in the size, stature, and diversity of the faculty, and the strengthening and increased diversity of student body.

He was on sabbatical in 1998-99, serving as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College of Oxford University in the Fall and Visiting Professor of Law at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand in the Spring. He was appointed the William R. Orthwein Distinguished Professor of Law at Washington University in July 1999.

Prior to joining Washington University, he was a faculty member at the University of Iowa College of Law and also served that institution in a variety of administrative roles, including Vice President of Finance and University Services. He practiced law with Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City for five years before entering law teaching.

He has taught in the areas of legal history, antitrust, regulated industries, law and economics, and torts, and has published in the areas of constitutional history, torts, antitrust, law and economics, and punitive damages. He has been a consultant to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Iowa Department of Justice, and was of counsel to the attorney for the House of Representatives in Powell v. McCormick, 395 U.S. 486 (1969). He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Missouri Historical Society and the Professional Panel of Legal Advocates for Abused Women. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Maryville College (TN), and a member of the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, and the Academic Resource Corps of the Association of American Law Schools.

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  • Courses
    • Antitrust Law
    • Torts
    • Products Liability
    • International and Comparative Competition Law
  • Publications
    • “Projecting the Long Arm of the Law: Extraterritorial Criminal Enforcement of U.S. Antitrust Laws in the Global Economy “, 1 Wash. Univ. Global Studies L. Rev. [forthcoming].
    • “Legal Education: A Perspective on the Last 130 Years of American Legal Training “, 6 Wash. Univ. J.L. & Pol. 157 (2001)
    • [Extraterritorial Criminal Enforcement of U.S. Antitrust Laws] 30 Kokusai Shoji Homu [J. Japanese Inst. Intl. Bus. L.] 141, 202 (2002)
    • “The Legacy of William Gardiner Hammond” [Wash. Univ. Occasional Publs., 2001]
    • “Punitive Damages, Due Process, and the Jury,” 40 Alabama L. Rev. 975-1008 (1989)
    • “An Economic Theory of International Torts: A Comment,” 3 Int’l Rev. L. & Econs. 45-57 (1983)
    • “Efficiency and Vicarious Liability for Punitive Damages: Economic Implications of City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc.,” 1 Sup. Ct. Econ. Rev. 135-61 (1982)
    • “Fairness and Efficiency in the Law of Punitive Damages,” 56 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1-78 (1982)
    • “Punitive Damages in Iowa: A Critical Assessment,” 66 Iowa L. Rev. 1004-69 (1981)
    • “Legislative Powers: FTC Rulemaking,” in Economic Regulation and Bureaucratic Behavior: The Federal Trade Commission Since 1970, at 161-83. (K. Clarkson and T. Muris, eds. Cambridge Univ. Press 1981)
    • “Damages and the Privacy Tort: Sketching a “Legal Profile,” 64 Iowa L. Rev. 1111-54 (1979) (With Melvin R. Novick, Ph.D.)
    • “Equal Opportunity in Educational and Employment Selection,” 32 Amer. Psych. 306-20 (1977)
    • “Powell v. McCormack and the Power to Expel: Some Unanswered Questions Regarding the Framers Intent,” 5 Georgia L. Rev. 203-47 (1971)
    • “Vox Populi v. Suprema Lex: A Comment on the Testimonial Privilege of the Fifth Amendment,” 55 Iowa L. Rev. 829-63 (1970)
    • “The Constitution and the Rights of the Accused,” in Law and Order Reconsidered, 509-33 (J. Campbell, J. Sahid & D. Stang eds., Rev’d. ed. 1970)