Professor Dr. Thomas Merrill

Biography

Thomas W. Merrill is the Charles Evans Hughes Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, specializing in administrative, constitutional, and property law. He possesses extensive experience in both public and private sectors, including clerking for Chief Judge David L. Bazelon in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, as well as for Justice Harry Blackmun in the U.S. Supreme Court. Merrill has served as the Deputy Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice and has practiced law at the firm of Sidley & Austin for over twenty years. His scholarly contributions include articles and amicus briefs discussing how courts interpret administrative law in varying contexts. He co-authored casebooks like "Property: Principles and Policies" and participated in writing seminal articles such as “Optimal Standardization in Law and Property: The Numerus Clausus Principle.” In 2021, he published a book titled "Lakefront: Public Trust, Private Rights" tracing the history of the Chicago Lakefront. Currently, he is a co-reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement (Fourth) of Property.

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