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Austen Parrish

Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law
Austen Parrish

Expertise:

Transnational Law and Litigation, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Federal Courts

Background:

Austen Parrish joined University of California, Irvine School of Law in August 2022 as its third dean and as a Chancellor’s Professor of Law. He recently concluded his term as the 2025-26 President of the Association of American Law Schools and assumed the role of Immediate Past President. Dean Parrish is a long-standing member of the board of directors of the AccessLex Institute and serves as co-editor of the Journal of Legal Education. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a fellow with the American Bar Foundation, and a fellow with the Association of American Law Schools.

Parrish’s research and teaching interests focus on international law, transnational litigation, and the role that national courts and domestic institutions play in solving global challenges. He has particular expertise in legal and policy issues related to the extraterritorial application of domestic law. He is the author of dozens of scholarly articles published in leading law reviews and is the co-author of three books. Over his career, he has taught a variety of courses, including Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, Transnational Law, International Environmental Law, and Public International Law.  

Before joining University of California, Irvine, Parrish was the sixteenth Dean and James H. Rudy Professor of Law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law (2014-2022). In 2018 and again in 2021, he was named a Wells Scholars Professor for his work with Indiana University’s prestigious Wells Scholars program. In 2019, he was bestowed with IU’s Bicentennial Medal and, in 2022, he was awarded the Provost’s Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the Office of the Provost, recognizing outstanding and transformative contributions to Indiana University Bloomington.  

Before joining Indiana University Bloomington, Parrish served as interim dean and CEO (2012-2013), vice dean (2008-2012), and the Irwin R. Buchalter Professor of Law (2007-2008) at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. From 2003 to 2010, he directed Southwestern’s international and comparative summer law program in Vancouver, Canada, hosted by the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law in collaboration with the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, a United Nations affiliate. In 2015, he received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Southwestern Law School during its 100th year graduation ceremony, and in 2014 was honored by Southwestern’s Alumni Board with its Outstanding Friend Award. 

Parrish is active in a variety of national organizations focused on legal education. Since 2015, he has served as a member of the board of directors of AccessLex Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the betterment of legal education with a focus on issues of access and affordability. From 2020-2023, and again from 2024 onwards, he has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools and a member of the AALS Deans Steering Committee. He is an officer of the Association, is currently serving as president (2025), was president-elect (2024) and will serve as past president in 2026. From 2015-2020, he served as a member, and then chair, of the AALS Membership Review Committee. He served as a member of the faculty/programming committee for the 2019 ABA New Deans Workshop, and that same year the Indiana Supreme Court appointed him to the Study Commission on the Future of the Indiana Bar Examination.  

Prior to entering academia, Dean Parrish was an attorney with O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles, where he litigated in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Dean Parrish received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and his law degree from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar. 

 

  • Kellye Testy & Austen Parrish, A Tumultuous Year: Challenges to Legal Education and the Legal Profession, Southwestern Law Review (forthcoming 2026)
  • Elgar Encyclopedia on Extraterritoriality and the Law (Austen Parrish, Cedric Ryngaert & Danielle Ireland Piper eds.) (forthcoming 2026) 
  • Op-ed, Austen Parrish & Kellye Testy, Don’t Break What Works: Why States Shouldn’t Abandon National Law School Accreditation, The National Law Review (January 8, 2026)
  • Op-ed, Kellye Testy & Austen Parrish, Protecting Pro Bono Legal Services Is Crucial for All Americans, Bloomberg Law (October 14, 2025)
  • Op-ed, Austen Parrish, The Value of Higher and Legal Education, AALS Lens (October 10, 2025)
  • Op-ed, Austen Parrish, The Role of Legal Education, Enduring Principles, and Supporting Each Other, AALS Lens (September 17, 2025)
  • Op-ed, Kellye Testy & Austen Parrish, America’s Judges Are Under Attack – Lawyers Have A Duty to Defend Them, The Hill (September 14, 2025)
  • Op-ed, Austen Parrish, Dean’s Corner: A Spotlight on Faculty Excellence, Orange County Lawyer (September 2025)
  • Co-editor, Vol. 73 Journal of Legal Education No. 2 (Spring 2025)
  • Introduction, “From the Editors,” Vol. 73 Journal of Legal Education No. 2 (2025)
  • Forgotten International Law: Legal and Political Struggles of Extraterritoriality (work in progress)
  • Extraterritoriality in International Law (co-edited with Cedric Ryngaert)
  • (Research Handbook, Edward Elgar Publishing, under contract, forthcoming)
  • Parrish, Austen L. Hard-Nosed Advice from a Cranky Law Professor: How to Succeed in Law School. Carolina Academic Press, 2nd Edition, 2021.
  • Parrish, Austen L., and Cristina C. Knolton. Hard-Nosed Advice from a Cranky Law Professor: How to Succeed in Law School. Carolina Academic Press, 1st Edition, 2010.
  • Parrish, Austen. L., & Yokoyama, D. T. Effective lawyering: A checklist approach to legal writing and oral argument. Carolina Academic Press, 2nd Editon, 2012
  • Parrish, Austen. L., & Yokoyama, D. T. Effective lawyering: A checklist approach to legal writing and oral argument. Carolina Acad. Press, 1st Edition, 2007

Dean Parrish's Scholarly Papers on SSRN

  • January 2026
    □ Presidential Address. President’s 2025 Report, AALS House of Representative, AALS Annual Meeting 
    □ Introduction, Presidential Plenary Panel: “Rule of Law, Executive Orders, and the Legal Profession,” AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana
    □ Panelist, Leadership: “Impact, Excellence, Resilience, and Professional Integrity: Educating Lawyers as Leaders,” AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana
    □ Moderator, Presidential Plenary Panel: “Legal Education, the Courts, and the Profession,” AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana
    □ Introduction, Presidential Plenary Panel: “AALS at 125: Reflecting on History and Impact,” AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana
    □ Introduction, “The Access Imperative: A Special Issue of the Journal of Legal Education,” AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana
    □ Panelist, “AALS Arc of Career – A Session for First Time Meeting Attendees,” AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana
  • November 2025
    Panelist, “The Future of Legal Education: ABA, DEI, and AI,” Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention, Washington, D.C.
  • October 2025
    Panel Moderator (Co-Editor, Journal of Legal Education), AALS Journal of Legal Education Symposium themed “Impact, Excellence, Resilience: Contemporary Views on Pioneering Legal Education Scholarship,” New York Law School
  • September 2025
    □ Speaker, “Transformation, Impact, and Opportunities: Leadership Lessons from Trailblazing California Law School Deans,” California Lawyers Association Annual Meeting 
    □ Moderator, “The Value of Legal Education,” The Access Imperative Convening
    □ Panelist, “Access to Legal Education,” The Access Imperative Convening 
    □ Panelist, “Transformation, Impact, and Opportunities: Leadership Lessons from Trailblazing California Law School Deans,” California Lawyers Association, 2025 Annual Meeting 
    □ Speaker, “Navigating the Year in a Time of Uncertainty,” Deans Dialogue (Webinar)
    □ Remarks, “AALS Workshop for Lateral Candidates,” AALS Webinar
  • July 2025
    □ Opening and Welcome Remarks, 4th Annual Workshop for Adjunct Faculty (Association of American Law Schools) 
    □ Opening Remarks and Welcome Remarks, Workshop for Appointments Committees (Association of American Law Schools) 
  • May 2025
    □ Panelist, “A Conversation on the Future of ABA Accreditation of Texas Law Schools,” Houston Bar Association
    □ Panelist, “What Does This All Mean? Understanding the Implications (and Limits) of Recent Anti-DEI Pronouncements,” AccessLex Institute, Spring Workshop 
  • April 2025
    Welcome speaker, AALS Luncheon, 2025 Conference on Clinical Legal Education, Association of American Law Schools
  • 2026, National Jurist, 25 Most Influential in Legal Education
  • 2025, President of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS)
  • 2022 Provost’s Medal, Indiana University Bloomington (highest honor bestowed by Provost)
  • 2021 Class of 1941 Wells Scholars Professor
  • 2019 American Law Institute, Elected Member
  • 2019 Indiana University Bicentennial Medal Recipient
  • 2018 Class of 1942 Wells Scholars Professor
  • 2017 Indianapolis Bar Assoc., Board of Directors Award (Bar Exam Improvements Task Force)
  • 2015 Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree Recipient, Southwestern Law School (100th Year Graduation)
  • 2014 Outstanding Friend Award – Southwestern Alumni Association
  • 2014 Commencement Grand Marshal, Southwestern Law School (student-selected)
  • 2012 Commencement Grand Marshal, Southwestern Law School (student-selected)
  • 2011 AALS Section on International Human Rights, selected paper
  • 2011 Commencement Grand Marshal, Southwestern Law School (student-selected)
  • 2008 Commencement Grand Marshal, Southwestern Law School (student-selected)
  • 2007 Recipient of the Irwin R. Buchalter Professorship
  • 2007 Excellence in Teaching Award (student-selected)
  • 2007 Harvard/Boalt/UCLA Junior Environmental. Scholars Workshop, selected paper
  • 2007 AALS Section on North American Cooperation, selected paper
  • 2005 Award for Contribution to the 2004-05 Moot Court Honors Program
  • 2004 Award for Contribution to the 2003-04 Moot Court Honors Program
  • 2002 Constitutional Rights Foundation Mock Trial Coach of the Year
  • 2002 County of Los Angeles Commendation