About Professor McClurg

Professor and Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence Andrew J. McClurg retired from Memphis Law in January 2021. During his career, he was a nationally recognized teacher and scholar who published books and articles in the areas of legal education, privacy law, firearms law and policy, comparative law, wrongful death, logic and rhetoric, elder financial exploitation, health law, and products liability.

Previously, he was a member of the founding faculty at the Florida International University College of Law and the Nadine H. Baum Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and has also taught as a visiting professor at Wake Forest University, the University of Colorado, and Golden Gate University.

McClurg has received numerous awards for his teaching and research. His publications have been cited in more than 1000 books, articles, and judicial opinions. Downloads of his articles on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) consistently place him in the top 10 percent of scholars worldwide across all disciplines.

His law school prep book, 1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (West 3d. ed. 2017) is recommended or required reading at law schools throughout the country, while his 1L of a Ride Video Course is a concise 13-part video tutorial for successfully navigating law school. His book The "Companion Text" to Law School: Understanding and Surviving Life with a Law Student (West 2012) prepares the loved ones of law students for the wild and crazy adventure awaiting them.

McClurg's most recent book (with Christine Coughlin and Nancy Levit), Law Jobs: The Complete Guide (West 2019) is the only comprehensive guide to every type of legal career, packed with authoritative research and featuring comments from more than 150 lawyers who do the jobs.

He was the creator and editor of an innovative series of comparative law books and coauthored the first entry in the series: Practical Global Tort Litigation: United States, Germany, and Argentina (Carolina Academic Press 2007) (Adem Koyuncu and Adem Sprovieri).

A well-known scholar in the areas of firearms policy and gun violence, McClurg is coauthor of Guns and the Law: Cases, Problems, and Explanation (Carolina Academic Press 2016) (with Brannon Denning) and Gun Control and Gun Rights (N.Y.U. Press 2002) (with David Kopel and Brannon Denning). Both books offer a balanced approach to analyzing the contentious issues surrounding guns in America.

In humor mode (a small sideline), McClurg was the monthly humor columnist for the American Bar Association Journal for several years. He is also the author of The Law School Trip (the Insider's Guide to Law School) (Trafford 2001) a parody of legal education, and co-editor of Amicus Humoriae: An Anthology of Legal Humor (Carolina Academic Press 2003) (with Robert Jarvis and Thomas Baker), a collection of humorous law review articles.

As a legal commentator, McClurg has been interviewed/quoted by National Public Radio, Time, U.S. News, the PBS Newshour, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and dozens of other media sources.

Prior to joining academia, McClurg served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Charles R. Scott (M.D. Fla.) and worked four years as a litigation associate. He graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Florida College of Law, where he was a member of law review.

As a hobby, McClurg sings and plays in Memphis rock cover bands.

Education

B.S., University of Florida (journalism, with honors); J.D., University of Florida (with honors, Order of the Coif).

Admitted

Florida

Experience

Professor and Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence in Law (2006-present) and Associate Dean for Faculty Development (2008-2011), Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, University of Memphis; Professor, Florida International University College of Law, 2002-2006; Nadine H. Baum Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law (Baum Prof. 1998-2002; Prof. 1992-1998; Assoc. Prof. 1989-92; Asst. Prof. 1986-89); Visiting Professor, Wake Forest University School of Law, Spring 2000; Visiting Professor, Golden Gate University School of Law, 1991-92 academic year and Spring 1997; Visiting Professor, University of Colorado School of Law, Summer 1994; Associate, Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault & Pillans, Jacksonville, Florida, 1982-1986; Judicial Law Clerk, Honorable Charles R. Scott, United States District Judge, Middle District of Florida, 1980-82.

Teaching Interests

Tort Law, Privacy Law, Guns and the Law.

Publications

Books

Law Jobs: The Complete Guide (West Academic Publishing 2019) (with Christine Coughlin and Nancy Levit).

1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (West Academic Publishing 3d ed. 2017).

Guns and the Law: Cases, Problems and Explanation (Carolina Academic Press 2016) (with Brannon P. Denning).

1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (West Academic Publishing 2d ed. 2013).

The "Companion Text" to Law School: Understanding and Surviving Life with a Law Student (West Academic Publishing 2012).

1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (West Academic Publishing 2009).

Practical Global Tort Litigation: United States, Germany, and Argentina (Carolina Academic Press 2007) (with Adem Koyuncu and Luis Eduardo Sprovieri).

Amicus Humoriae: An Anthology of Legal Humor (Carolina Academic Press 2003) (with Robert M. Jarvis and Thomas E. Baker).

Gun Control and Gun Rights (New York University Press 2002) (with David B. Kopel and Brannon P. Denning).

The Law School Trip (the Insider's Guide to Law School) (Trafford 2001).

Law Journal Articles

The Second Amendment Right to be Negligent, 68 Florida Law Review 1-47 (2016).

In Search of the Golden Mean in the Gun Debate, 58 Howard Law Journal 779-809 (2015) (invited symposium participant).

Preying on the Graying: A Statutory Presumption to Prosecute Elder Financial Exploitation, 65 Hastings Law Journal 1099-1144 (2014).

Firearms Policy and the Black Community: Rejecting the "Wouldn't You Want A Gun If Attacked?" Argument, 45 Connecticut Law Review 1773–1808 (2013) (invited submission).

Why Can't We Be Friends: Improving Doctor-Lawyer Relationships Out of Mutual Self-Interest, 24 Health Lawyer 38-47 (2012) (journal of the ABA Health Law Section, invited submission).

Fixing the Broken Windows of Online Privacy through Private Ordering: A Facebook Application, 1 Wake Forest Law Review Online 74-85 (2011) (invited submission).

Fight Club: Doctors vs. Lawyers – A Peace Plan Grounded in Self-Interest, 83 Temple Law Review 309-67 (2011).

Neurotic, Paranoid Wimps – Nothing has Changed, 78 University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review 1049-61 (2010) ("1L Stories" issue with introduction by Scott Turow, author of ONE L).

Kiss and Tell: Protecting Intimate Relationship Privacy Through Implied Contracts of Confidentiality, 74 University of Cincinnati Law Review 887-940 (2006).

Dead Sorrow: A Story About Loss and A New Theory of Wrongful Death Damages, 85 Boston University Law Review 1-51(2005).

Sound-Bite Gun Fights: Three Decades of Presidential Debating About Firearms, 73 University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review 1015-45 (2005) (invited symposium participant).

A Thousand Words are Worth a Picture: A Privacy Tort Response to Consumer Data Profiling, 98 Northwestern University Law Review 63-144 (2003).

Lock, Stock and Barrel: Civil Liability for Allowing Unauthorized Access to Firearms, 14 Journal on Firearms and Public Policy 137-60 (2002) (invited submission).

The Public Health Case for the Safe Storage of Firearms: Adolescent Suicides Add One More 'Smoking Gun', 51 Hastings Law Journal 953-1001 (2000).

Armed and Dangerous: Tort Liability for the Negligent Storage of Firearms, 32 Connecticut Law Review 1189-1245 (2000) (invited symposium participant).

Child Access Prevention Laws: A Common Sense Approach to Gun Control, 18 St. Louis University Public Law Review 47-78 (1999) (invited symposium participant).

"Lotts" More Guns and Other Fallacies Infecting the Gun Control Debate, 11 Journal on Firearms and Public Policy 139-76 (1999) (invited submission).

Good Cop, Bad Cop: Using Cognitive Dissonance Theory to Reduce Police Lying, 32 University of California-Davis Law Review 389-453 (1999).

Poetry in Commotion: Katko v. Briney and the Bards of First-Year Torts, 74 Oregon Law Review 823-48 (1995).

The Tortious Marketing of Handguns: Strict Liability is Dead, Long Live Negligence, 19 Seton Hall Legislative Journal 777-820 (1995) (invited symposium participant).

Bringing Privacy Law Out of the Closet: A Tort Theory of Liability for Intrusions in Public Places, 73 North Carolina Law Review 989-1088 (1995).

The Rhetoric of Gun Control, 42 American University Law Review 53-113(1992).

Strict Liability for Handgun Manufacturers: A Reply to Professor Oliver, 14 University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Journal 511-29 (1992).

Handguns as Products Unreasonably Dangerous Per Se, 13 University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Journal 599-619 (1991).

It's a Wonderful Life: The Case for Hedonic Damages in Wrongful Death Cases, 66 Notre Dame Law Review 57-116 (1990).

Your Money or Your Life: Interpreting the Federal Act Against Patient Dumping, 24 Wake Forest Law Review 173-237 (1989).

Logical Fallacies and the Supreme Court: A Critical Analysis of Justice Rehnquist's Decisions In Criminal Procedure Cases, 59 University of Colorado Law Review 741-844 (1988).

Video Course

Project Director, 1L of a Ride Video Course (West Academic Publishing 2016).  Innovative 13-part video course to orient and prepare students for law school.  In addition to McClurg, the videos feature award-winning Professors Chris Coughlin (Wake Forest), Meredith Duncan (Houston), and Nancy Levit (UMKC).

Monthly Columnist

American Bar Association Journal, 1997-2001. Author of Harmless Error: A Truly Minority View of the Law, satirical column that ran for fifty-one months on the Obiter Dicta page of the A.B.A. Journal.

Book Chapters

Neurotic, Paranoid Wimps―Nothing Has Changed, in Beyond 1L: Stories About Finding Meaning and Making a Difference in Law (Nancy Levit & Allen Rostron eds. 2019).

Minimizing Medical Malpractice Exposure (with Robert W. Bailey and Philip M. Gerson) in The Sages Manual of Quality, Outcomes & Patient Safety, Society of Gastrointestinal & Endoscopic Surgeons 553–67 (D. Tichansky et al. eds 2012).

The Ten Commandments of [The First-Year Course of Your Choice] and Paying Respects to Law School's First Year in Techniques for Teaching Law 6, 23 (Gerald F. Hess & Steve Friedland eds. 1999).

The Danger Posed by Handguns Outweighs Their Effectiveness, in Gun Control 176-81 (Bruno Leone, Bonnie Szumski, Carol Wekesser & Charles P. Cozic eds. 1992).

Other Publications

The Final Stretch, National Jurist 26 (Fall 2016).

Grit and Grind Your Way to Law School Success, ABAforLawStudents.com, July 14, 2016.

Fight Club: Doctors v. Lawyers, Chicago Medicine, June 2012, at 8 (cover story).

Book Review: Philip K. Howard, Life without Lawyers: Restoring Responsibility in America, 52 American Journal of Legal History 387 (2012).

Children of the World v. Santa Claus, in A Family Christmas 104-05 (Caroline Kennedy ed. 2007) (Christmas anthology collected by Caroline Kennedy including works by Charles Dickens, Robert Frost, Mark Twain, and many others).

Remembering Law School's Torments, UF Law Magazine, Summer 2007, at 42-44 (University of Florida College of Law alumni magazine).

Online Lessons on Unprotected Sex, Washington Post, Aug. 15, 2005, at A15 (op-ed).

In ID Theft, Customer Becomes the Commodity, Miami Herald, May 28, 2005, at 19A (op-ed).

Book Review: Joyce Lee Malcolm, Guns and Violence: The English Experience, 46 American Journal of Legal History 507 (2004).

Why I Teach, The Law Teacher, Spring 2004, at 16.

Risky Business: The Dangers of Using Humor, Orange County Lawyer, June 2003, at 32.

The Risks of Being Funny, GPSolo, Apr. 2003, at 60 (magazine of the ABA's General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section).

Book Review: John Grisham, The Testament, 10 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 3 (Sept.-Oct. 1999).

Supreme Court Extends Daubert to All Expert Testimony, ATLA (Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association) Docket, Summer 1999, at 11.

Fourth Amendment Standing? – Take A Seat, ATLA Docket, Spring 1999, at 20.

Book Review: Grif Stockley, Blind Judgment, 10 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1999).

Final Footnote To Foster Tragedy: Supreme Court Recognizes Posthumous Attorney-Client Privilege, ATLA Docket, Winter 1998, at 4.

Supreme Court Gives Green Light To Police Chases, ATLA Docket, Summer 1998, at 6.

Of Mice and Men: Supreme Court Sets Standard of Review for Daubert Rulings, ATLA Docket, Spring 1998, at 6.

Ten Really Important Things To Know About Arguing In the U.S. Supreme Court, ATLA Docket, Winter 1998, at 4.

Mass Tort Class Actions: May They Rest In Pieces, ATLA Docket, Fall 1997, at 8.

Dear Employer . . ., Journal of Legal Education, June 1997, at 267.

Bryan County Commissioners v. Brown: Supreme Court Shrinks Municipal Liability for Police Brutality, ATLA Docket, Summer 1997, at 20.

Rungful Suits, A.B.A. Journal, June 1997, at 98.

A Day in the Life of Justice Antonin Scalia, ATLA Docket, Spring 1997, at 7.

A Review of the 1995-96 U.S. Supreme Court Term: The Effects on Trial Lawyers, ATLA Docket, Winter 1997, at 14.

Poetry In Commotion: Katko v. Briney and the Bards of First-Year Torts, The Law Teacher, Fall 1996, at 1.

Wheels of Misfortune: The Supreme Court Approves Pretextual Automobile Stops, ATLA Docket, Fall 1996, at 22.

BMW, Inc. v. Gore: The Supreme Court Finishes a "$2 Million Paint Job," ATLA Docket, Summer 1996, at 4.

Blue Process: Or How I Lost my Car Because My Husband's a Jerk, ATLA Docket, Spring 1996, at 25.

The World's Greatest Law Review Article, A.B.A. Journal, Oct. 1995, at 84 (also published in the United Kingdom in the New Law Journal, Aug. 18, 1995, at 1274.