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Elected Member

Professor
Caleb
E.
Nelson

Location
Charlottesville, VA, USA
Affiliation
University of Virginia School of Law
Education
Harvard College
Yale Law School

Caleb E. Nelson is the Emerson G. Spies Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. Professor Nelson regularly teaches civil procedure, federal courts, and statutory interpretation, and he has also taught constitutional law. His articles have appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, and other leading journals. In addition, he is the author of a casebook on statutory interpretation, published by Foundation Press. He is a past winner of the Scholarly Papers Competition of the Association of American Law Schools, the University of Virginia's All-University Teaching Award, and the Federalist Society's Paul M. Bator Award.

Professor Nelson earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard, where he majored in mathematics, won the Wendell Prize, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior. Before attending Yale Law School, he was managing editor of The Public Interest, a domestic-policy quarterly. After earning his law degree, Professor Nelson clerked for Judge Stephen F. Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court. From 1995 to 1998, he practiced law with the Cincinnati firm of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, where he focused on appellate litigation. He joined the Virginia faculty as an associate professor in 1998 and became a full professor in 2003.

Member News

Traynor on Liberty, Law, and Democracy

In his essay "Liberty, Law, and Democracy: Are There Grounds for Realistic Optimism?" Michael Traynor, former President of The American Law Institute, reflects on the challenges facing American democracy amid political polarization and institutional strain. He examines threats to the balance between liberty and law, citing dysfunction across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, while drawing on historical context and recent scholarship to frame these concerns.

Despite his sober assessment, Traynor maintains a guarded optimism rooted in America’s resilience, civic traditions, and individual potential to effect change. He highlights positive actions within the legal community, nonprofit organizations, and among engaged citizens, while outlining five practical steps Americans can take to strengthen democracy: improving civic education, demanding accountability, fostering open debate, participating in elections and local governance, and resisting simplistic solutions.

Traynor concludes that democracy is “stubborn work,” incremental, imperfect, and ongoing, but expresses confidence that Americans have the resolve to preserve it.

Read the full article The New Nationalist

Michael Traynor is senior counsel at Cobalt LLP in Berkeley California. He served as ALI President from 2000 to 2008, and as Chair of the Council from 2008 to 2011. He is also a recipient of ALI's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Traynor is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   He received the John P. Frank Outstanding Lawyer Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is an honorary life trustee of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of Earthjustice and a past President (1973) of the Bar Association of San Francisco.