Nell Jessup Newton

Nell Jessup Newton is an American legal scholar who has held deanships at six law schools, a record in U.S. legal education.

Throughout her career, Newton has served as dean at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of Law), and Notre Dame Law School. She was interim dean at the University of Miami School of Law for the 2021-22 academic year, and at Wake Forest University School of Law for the 2022-23 academic year.

She returned to Notre Dame as a professor of law for the 2023-24 academic year and transitioned to emerita status at the end of the spring 2024 semester.

Her academic focus is on federal law relating to Native Americans.

Early life and education Newton was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Newton and her two brothers lived with her mother or grandparents in rural Michigan and later in St. Louis County, Missouri. She graduated from Brentwood High School in 1962, where she was named a National Merit Scholar.

After attending George Washington University,

Career After Newton graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1976, Newton began her academic career at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C., At Connecticut, she raised the school's profile as a resource for local Indian tribes and state government. During that time, she was also appointed by the Yurok Tribe to serve as an associate justice of the Yurok Tribal Court. After three years at UC Hastings, she stepped down to become the Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. After ten years, Newton returned to the Notre Dame Law faculty.

In 2021, the University of Miami School of Law called upon Newton to serve as interim dean after Miami’s former law dean Anthony Varona was ousted from the position. One year later, in 2022, Wake Forest University School of Law invited Newton to serve as interim dean after former dean Jane Aiken stepped down.

Newton stated that their focus during interim deanships is solving problems and assisting law schools during transitional periods. Newton also noted that because each law school varies, advising dean search committees to help identify candidate matches is part of the role. The original treatise was prepared under the direction of Felix S. Cohen in 1942, which is known as "the bible" of Indian law.

Recognition In 2014, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians recognized Newton for her work on The Handbook of Federal Indian Law. In 2019, the State of Indiana awarded Newton the Sagamore of the Wabash, the state's highest honor, which is "given as a personal tribute to those who have rendered a distinguished service to the state or the governor."

Newton was selected by the Association of American Law Schools in 2019 to contribute to the AALS Women in Legal Education Oral History Project. She participated in a video interview with Notre Dame Law Professor Emerita Margaret Brinig.

Selected publications Book and book contributions Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law (Nell Jessup Newton, ed.) 2005, 2012 (LexisNexis) Robert N. Clinton, Nell Jessup Newton, Monroe E. Price, American Indian Law: Cases and Materials, 3rd edn (Michie Press, 1991) Journal articles Nell Jessup Newton, Tribal Court Praxis: One Year in the Life of Twenty Tribal Courts, 22 Am. Ind. L. Rev. 285 (1998)