Randy D. Gordon

Executive Professor

 Publications 

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“I believe that legal theory and law practice are part of the same humanistic enterprise, and Texas A&M has shown me an absolute commitment to both the belief and the enterprise.”

Get to Know Randy D. Gordon

What drew you to the law?

I love the complexity of the law, particularly how—at the margins—legal solutions require reference to multiple doctrinal areas, deep ethical principles and traditional notions of humanistic excellence. On good days, all those things are in play. On bad days, I just argue with opposing counsel.

What do you enjoy most about teaching?

For me, teaching is a compulsion, one tied up with the concept of “legacy” and the related moral obligation to aid in the intergenerational effort to pass along notions of justice and right conduct across cultures and over time. And I always learn something from my students!

What do you hope students gain from your courses?

At the end of the day, I hope students take away a storehouse of knowledge that they can quickly and usefully apply in practice. But I also hope they receive a larger critical insight – namely, that theory and practice merge in the everyday workings of the law.

What did you do prior to entering academia?

Although I’ve always kept a foot in academia, I’ve spent most of the last three decades in private practice.

What are you passionate about outside the law?

For most of my adult life, I’ve been a student and teacher of literature. One of my passions is to convince others that literature is not “outside the law.”

What are your research interests?

My recent scholarship spins together two strands. The first, which is informed by my practice, focuses on technical and policy issues within traditional doctrinal areas of the law. The second grows from my long-time interest in theory, crossing disciplinary boundaries within the law and—even more generally—the humanities.

Publications

Link to my publications.

Presentations

See my CV for a complete list of presentations.

Invited Speaker, “Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act”, Tarrant County Bar Association Business Litigation Section, Fort Worth, Texas (December 2021). 

Invited Speaker, “Law as Performance,” Celesq Attorneys Ed Center and West LegalEd Center (June 2021).

Invited Reviewer, “LAUNCH Undergraduate Research Scholars Thesis Program,” Undergraduate Research Expo, Texas A&M University (March 2021).

Presenter, “Albert Camus’ The Plague,” Online Event (workshop page), Dallas Institute of Humanities & Culture (October 20, 2020). Watch here. 

Invited Panelist, Undergraduate Research Expo, Texas A&M University (October 2, 2019).

Invited Speaker, “The Supreme Court as a Rule-Making Body,” The Hockaday School (May 8, 2017).

Presenter, “Legal Ethics and Liability Issues for University General Counsel,” The Texas A&M University System, Office of General Counsel (April 13, 2017).

Workshop Faculty Member, “Endings and Beginnings,” The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Leadership Program (April 6, 2016).

Invited Speaker, “Fictions and Models: Exemplary Narratives as Law,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities 19th Annual Conference Reading Race, Writing Race and Living Race, University of Connecticut Law School (April 1-2, 2013).

Invited Speaker, “Compassion and the Rhetoric of Rules,” World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (workshop page), Georgetown University (July 27-August 1, 2015).

Invited Speaker, “Truth in Context:  Evidence as a Social Construct,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities, University of Virginia (March 10-11, 2014).

Invited Speaker, “The Lawyer as Virtuous Actor:  Is that Still Possible?,” Lawyering and Psychology:  Coalescing the Field, UNLV/Boyd School of Law (February 21-22, 2014). Watch here.

Invited Speaker, “Navigating Multiple Fiduciary Duties:  Watch Out for the Rocks!,” Texas General Counsel Forum, San Antonio (November 15, 2013).

Moderator, “Understanding Tragedy, The Impact of the JFK Assassination on Dallas,” Politics Track, featuring Stephen Carter, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Mayor Mike Rawlings, and Hon. Margaret Spellings (November 2, 2013).

Invited Speaker, “Law-as-Performance,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities, University of London/Birkbeck College (March 22-23, 2013).

Invited Speaker, “Legal Fictions,” World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, Goethe University, Frankfurt (August 15-20, 2011).

Panelist, “The Poetry of Emily Dickinson,” McKinney Avenue Contemporary (May 25, 2011).

Invited Speaker, “What Is a Virtuous Lawyer?” presentation at the Meaning of Virtue in the Professions lecture series, Dallas Institute/SMU (February 1, 2011).

Panelist/Presenter, “Martin Luther King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ and the Law-Morality Problem,” at Just and Unjust Laws: A Civil Rights Discussion, Dallas Institute (December 6, 2010).

Invited Speaker, “Truth in Context:  Thinking about Law as and of Environment,” Fellows Symposium, Dallas Institute (November 7, 2009).

Invited Speaker, “Truth in Context:  Sketching a (New) Historicist Legal Pedagogy,” Beyond Text in Legal Education, University of Edinburgh (June 20-21, 2009).

Panelist, “Humanistic Critiques of Legal Education,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities, Suffolk University (April 3-4, 2009).

Panelist, “Are We Converging Yet?,” Competition Law:  A View from Both Sides of the Atlantic, WS Society, Edinburgh (October 13, 2008).

Invited Speaker, “We, the People – Beyond November 4th,” Dallas Institute (November 19, 2008).

Moderator, “The Future of Race, Class, and the Law,” one of four tracks at the Dallas Festival of Ideas, featuring David Brooks, Nicholas Kristof, Elizabeth Kolbert, Maya Wiley, and Michael Beschloss (November 8, 2008).

Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, “Essential Elements of an Effective Antitrust Compliance Program,” “How Stories Become Legal Rules: A Kansas Case,” “A Narrative Theory of Legal Pedagogy,” and “From Law School to Law Practice: Transitional Strategies,” Washburn University School of Law (April 3, 2008).

Invited Speaker, “How Lawyers (Come to) See the World: A Narrative Theory of Legal Pedagogy,” International Conference on the Future of Legal Education, Georgia State University College of Law (February 20-24, 2008).

Invited Speaker, “Law, Humanities, and the Future of the Legal Profession,” Hall Center for the Humanities, University of Kansas (January 9, 2008).

Invited Speaker, “Bellerophon Taming Pegasus: Does Law’s Tie Bind or Strangle?,” Fellows Symposium, Dallas Institute (December 1, 2007).

Seminar Leader, “Institutionalizing Narratives as Legal Rules: The Case of Evidence at Trial,” University of Edinburgh Legal Theory Reading Group (November 21, 2007).

Invited Speaker, “Measure for Measure: The Rule of Law and the Possibility of Justice,” Dallas Institute Summer Teachers Institute (July 12, 2007).

Seminar Leader, “Institutionalizing Narratives: A Transformational Theory of Law and Democracy,” Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh (May 2, 2007).

Invited Speaker, “A Clash of Pieties:  Antigone and the Roles of Law and Family,” Fellows Symposium, Dallas Institute (November 4, 2006).

Faculty Member, “Turning Great Expectations into Reality,” a presentation at the Chief Recruitment & Professional Development Officers’ Forum presented by American Lawyer (April 3, 2006).

Expertise

  • Antitrust
  • RICO
  • Class Actions
  • Legal and Literary Theory

Courses

  • Torts
  • Constitutional Law
  • Evidence
  • Antitrust
  • Legal Philosophy
  • Scotland Field Study

Academic Experience

  • Executive Professor (Joint Appointment)
    Department of History, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University (Summer 2017 - Present)
  • Executive Professor
    Texas A&M University School of Law (​Fall 2016 - Present)
  • Adjunct Professor of Law​ & Lecturer in English
    Southern Methodist University (2000-2016)
  • GTA and Lecturer in English
    The University of Kansas (1988-1992)
  • Fellow
    Dallas Institute of Humanities & Culture (Present)
  • Faculty Fellow
    Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh (2006-2007)

Education

  • ​Ph.​D., Emphasis Legal Theory, University of Edinburgh
  • ​LL.M., Emphases: Int’l & Comp. Law, Legal Philosophy, Columbia Law School
  • J.D., Washburn University School of Law
  • ​Ph.​D., Emphases: Critical Theory & Drama, The University of Kansas
  • M.A., English, The University of Kansas
  • B.A., English, The University of Kansas

Awards / Honors

  • Recognized/featured in antitrust law by Chambers & Partners, Best Lawyers in America, Global Competition Review 100, Who’s Who Legal, and Super Lawyers
  • Inaugural Member of the Texas Million Dollar Verdict Hall of Fame
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Texas Lawyer, Texas Legal Awards, 2022​

Other Professional Activities

  • Member, American Law Institute
  • Associate (international) Member, The Society of Writers, to Her Majesty’s Signet
  • Senior Host, “The Writer’s Studio,” a series of interviews with contemporary authors, broadcast locally by KERA and nationally by selected NPR affiliates
  • Past Chair, State Bar of Texas Antitrust and Business Litigation Section
  • Competition Torts Committee of the Antitrust Section of the ABA
  • Master, Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court (2022-2027)
  • Judge, Texas Lawyer, Texas Legal Awards (Lawyer of the Year and Rising Stars, 2022)