In July, 2021, Michael J. Kaufman became the Dean and Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law. Prior to joining Santa Clara University, Dean Kaufman served as Dean of Loyola University Chicago School of Law for five years and as associate dean for academic affairs for 11 years. He also served as Loyola University Chicago’s Acting Provost and Chief Academic Officer, leading the University’s academic vision and inclusive strategic planning process.
Dean Kaufman helped strengthen several critical areas, including the diversity of students, faculty, and administrative team; bar exam passage rates; employment outcomes; student academic credentials; academic reputation, and national rankings. He founded Loyola’s Rodin Center for Social Justice, Education Law and Policy Institute, Rule of Law Institute, and Institute for Investor Protection. In addition, he expanded access to educational opportunities for students and developed a law school curriculum around experiential learning, relationship-building skills, professional-identity formation, implicit-bias prevention, and perspectives on law and justice. Dean Kaufman also developed Loyola Chicago Law School’s innovative and popular hybrid Weekend JD program.
Dean Kaufman is a beloved teacher and distinguished scholar who has published more than 30 books and numerous law review articles in three key areas: education law, equity, policy, and pedagogy; securities regulation and litigation; and civil procedure and dispute resolution.
His research in education law, policy, equity, and pedagogy inspired him to found Loyola’s Education Law and Policy Institute, which conducts research, conferences, comprehensive academic programs, direct representation, and advocacy dedicated to enhancing educational access and equity. The Institute has developed particular expertise and experience in racial equity, special education, school discipline reform, early childhood education, and anti-bullying.
A dedicated and award-winning public servant, Kaufman was elected three times to serve on the Board of Education for a diverse K-12 school district in the Chicago area. As the Board’s president, he led multiple stakeholders in a community-wide strategic planning process; helped to consolidate and integrate racially segregated neighboring school districts; worked for the educational best interest of all students, and managed multi-million dollar budgets with transparency.
Kaufman has served as a public arbitrator for securities matters, as well as an expert consultant for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. He also has delivered bar examination review lectures to hundreds of thousands of law school graduates for bar exams throughout the country, including in California.
He clerked for the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and practiced civil rights law and securities litigation at a large private firm in Chicago.
J.D., University of Michigan Law School
B.A., Kenyon College
Books
Learning civil procedure. with Brooke D. Coleman, Jeffrey W. Stempel, Steven Baicker-McKee, David F. Herr. Fourth Edition. West Academic Publishing (2022) | Link to Library Catalog
Rule 10b-5 Private Securities-Fraud Litigation (with J. Wunderlich). West (2021) (Annual Supplements since 2014)
Badges and Incidents: A Transdiciplinary History of the Right to Education in America . Cambridge University Press (2019)
Blue Sky Law. with J. Long and J. Wunderlich.. Thomson Reuters (2020) (3 volume set. Annual Supplements since 2016)
Illinois Civil Trial Procedure. Second Edition . West (2020) (Annual Supplements since 2009)
Securities Litigation: Damages, Vol. 26. West (2020) (Annual Supplements since 1989)
Depositions: Law, Strategy and Technique (with Lisnek). West (2020) (Annual Supplements since 1995)
Securities Litigation: Law, Policy and Practice (With M. Steinberg, W. Couture, and D. Morrissey). Carolina Academic Press (2016) (with Annual Updates)
Education Law, Policy and Practice: Cases and Materials (with S. Kaufman). Fourth Edition. Aspen (2018)
The Pre-K Home Companion: Learning the Importance of Early Childhood Education and Choosing the Best Program for your Family (With S. Kaufman and E. Nelson). Rowman and Littlefield (2016)
Learning Together: The Law Policy, Pedagogy, Economics, and Neuroscience of Early Childhood Education (with S. Kaufman and E. Nelson). Rowman and Littlefield (2015)
Articles
Social Justice and the American Law School Today: Since We are Made for Love, 40 Seattle L. Rev. 1187 (2017) | Link to Full Text
Paving the Delaware Way: Legislative and Equitable Limits on Fee Shifting By Laws after ATP, 93 Wash. Univ. L. Rev. 335 (2015) (with J. Wunderlich) | Link to Full Text
The Bromberg Balance: Proper Portfolio-Monitoring Agreements in Securities Class Actions, 68 S.M.U. L. Rev. 771 (2015) (with J. Wunderlich) | Link to Full Text
Leave Time for Trouble: The Limitations Periods Under the Securities Laws, 40 J. Corp. Law 143 143 (2014) (with J. Wunderlich) | Link to Full Text
Messy Mental Markers: Inferring Scienter from Core Operations in Securities Fraud Litigation, 73 Ohio St. L.J. 507 (2012) (with J. Wunderlich) | Link to Full Text
From Texas Gulf Sulphur to Laudato Si’: Mining Equitable Principles from Insider Trading Law, 71 S.M.U. L. Rev. 811 (2018) | Link to Full Text
Fraud Created the Market, 63 Ala. L. Rev. 275 (2011-2012) | Link to Full Text
Summary Pre-Judgment: The Supreme Court's Profound, Pervasive, and Problematic Presumption about Human Behavior, 43 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 593 (2011-2012) | Link to Full Text
The Judicial Access Barriers to Remedies for Securities Fraud, 75 Law & Contemp. Probs. 55 (2012) | Link to Full Text
Toward a Just Measure of Repose: The Statute of Limitations for Securities Fraud, 52 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1547 (2010-2011) | Link to Full Text
Regressing: The Troubling Dispositive Role of Event Studies in Securities Fraud Litigation, with Wunderlich, J., 15 Stan. J.L. Bus. & Fin. 183 (2010) | Link to Full Text
The Unjustified Judicial Creation of Class Certification Merits Trials in Securities Fraud Actions, with Wunderlich, J. , 43 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 323 (2009) | Link to Full Text
(Still) Constitutional School De-Segregation Strategies: Teaching Racial Literacy to Secondary School Students and Preferencing Racially-Literate Applicants to Higher Education, 13 Mich. J. Race & L. 147 (2007) | Link to Full Text
Reading, Writing, and Race: The Constitutionality of Educational Strategies Designed to Teach Racial Literacy, 47 U. of Richmond L. R. 707 (2007) | Link to Full Text
PICS in Focus: A Majority of the Supreme Court Reaffirms the Constitutionality of Race-Conscious School Integration Strategies, 35 Hastings Const. L.Q 1 (2007) | Link to Full Text
Nationalizing Ethical Standards for Securities Lawyers, 46 Washburn L. J. 109 (2006) | Link to Full Text
Rhetorical Questions Concerning Justice and Equality in Educational Opportunities, 36 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 495 (2005) | Link to Full Text
The Value of Friendship in Law and Literature, 60 Fordham L. Rev. 645 (1991-1992) | Link to Full Text
No Foul, No Harm: The Real Measure of Damages under Rule 10b-5, 39 Cath. U. L. Rev. 29 (1989-1990) | Link to Full Text
Federal and State Handicapped Discrimination Laws: Toward an Accommodating Legal Framework, 18 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 1119 (1987) | Link to Full Text