Lawrence Solum

Lawrence Byard Solum (born 1954) is an American legal theorist known for his work in the philosophy of law and constitutional theory. He is the William L. Matheson and Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law and the Douglas D. Drysdale Research Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he has taught since 2020.

Solum edits and publishes the "Legal Theory Blog", a website dedicated to highlighting new works of legal scholarship and featuring a recurring series called the "Legal Theory Lexicon", which explains key concepts and terminology in legal theory.

Education Solum received a B.A. in philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles, with highest departmental honors. He then received a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he became an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Solum has also served as a professor of law at the University of Illinois College of Law, the University of San Diego School of Law, and Loyola Law School.

Publications

Books

Bennett, Robert W.; Solum, Lawrence B. (2011). Constitutional Originalism: A Debate. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. .

Selected Articles

— (1987). "On the Indeterminacy Crisis: Critiquing Critical Dogma". University of Chicago Law Review. 54 (2): 462—503. JSTOR 1599797. — (2004). "Procedural Justice". Southern California Law Review. 78 (1): 181—322. — (2010). "The Interpretation-Construction Distinction". Constitutional Commentary. 27 (1): 95—118. — (2013). "Originalism and Constitutional Construction". Fordham Law Review. 82 (2): 453—538. — (2015). "The Fixation Thesis: The Role of Historical Fact in Original Meaning". Notre Dame Law Review. 91 (1): 1—78.