View on the Profession

“I believe lawyers and legal scholars have a public mission that goes beyond the bottom line. When we begin to judge the importance of a case or a topic by the dollar amount of the claim or economic power of the clients, we will have lost our way. Families — especially children — may be resource poor clients, but they are deserving of equal justice nonetheless.

“There will always be a disconnect between the ideal of equal justice and the social reality, but we need to question why courts serving families and children carry the lion’s share of the civil caseload and receive a fraction of the resources, and why poor children of color are so grossly over represented in dependency and juvenile justice systems.

“At least I am in the right place at the right time, where I can make a difference and know that each of my students also will have a similar opportunity for service. I would far rather teach at a great public university where students graduate to serve a broad spectrum of clients than at a great private university where students are all headed for Wall Street.”

Education/Background

B.S., Regents College of University State of New York; J.D., Columbia University (Berger Prize, Stone Scholar, Comments Editor, Columbia Law Review); Diploma Superiore, Universita per Stranieri (Perugia, Italy).

Clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York, Hon. Abraham D. Sofaer. Professor of Law and Co-Director, Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research, University of Pennsylvania. Executive Council, International Society of Family Law.

Widely published on topics concerning adoption, child welfare law, children’s rights, constitutional law, family law, the Supreme Court and the family, and child/parent and state. Member, Bar of the Supreme Court of the U.S., American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, Association of American Law Schools (Program Chair of Women in Legal Education and Family and Juvenile Law Chair), American Society for Comparative Law (reporter, Family Law), Journal of Law, Psychology and Public Policy (editor); Family Court Review (editor).

What You May Not Know

“My personal best marathon time was Bangor, Maine, in 1980; my daughter’s pen name is ‘Chris Moriarty’ (author of sci fi novel Spin State); I live with my son, Ken, and husband, Charles, in Tigert-Barrow House, a restored mansion in the NE Historic District; and my favorite sport is sea kayaking.”

“Before I became an academic, I spent 17 years in private practice as a federal court litigator. Having experienced the highs and lows — fortunately the latter were few — of the legal profession helps put the articles I write and classes I teach in what I think is a better perspective. I greatly enjoyed most of my private practice experience and treasure the opportunities I had to work with and against top-notch lawyers.

“The legal profession does not for the most part enjoy the public respect and positive reputation it deserves, at least in part because not all lawyers behave in a professional manner. (This is true of clients as well.) However, most do, and most lawyers are genuinely interested in serving the needs of their clients.

“My suggestions for new lawyers include conducting yourselves with true professionalism, not mistaking litigation for war, and remembering the theory underlying the law you learn in class. Those lawyers who ‘just want to know what the rule is’ do a disservice to clients and the profession, because there will come a time when either there is no rule or the rule is against you.

“Sometimes, being a lawyer means understanding why the law is what it is and knowing what to do when it ought to be changed. Lawyers who can’t or won’t apply legal theory in practice to change the system and benefit their clients lack essential tools of the profession.

“Finally, reading Louis Nizer (My Life in Court, The Jury Returns) is still time well spent.”

Education/Background

B.A. (University High Honors), Southern Illinois University; J.D. (High Honors), University of Oklahoma, Order of the Coif, The Order of the Barristers; M. Phil. (EC Law), University of Cambridge, First in Class; Ph.D. (Law), University of Cambridge.

Professor Jones teaches and researches in fields of constitutional law, election and campaign finance law, antitrust, media law, corporations, European community law, international trade law, public international law, international business transactions, intellectual property law, federal courts, civil procedure, torts and remedies. He is internationally known in comparative and international antitrust law, especially for his books on private enforcement and the interface between antitrust and international trade law. He became an academic in 1997 and has published or in press nearly 40 books and journal articles.

He received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award to carry out research at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz on European and German media concentration law, and has been a visiting fellow at Oxford University and given scholarly lectures in England, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland.

What You May Not Know

“I’m a big fan of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. I always thought “from the sublime to the ridiculous” was a meaningless cliché, but Pratchett can take you there.”