McClurg Bio

Professor Emeritus Andrew J. McClurg is a nationally recognized teacher and scholar who has 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.

He held the Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence in Law at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. 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. McClurg also taught as a visiting professor at Wake Forest University, the University of Colorado, and Golden Gate University.

McClurg received numerous awards for both teaching and research. His publications have been cited in more than 1000 books, scholarly 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.  List of publications.

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 4th ed. 2021) 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.

With Professors Chris Coughlin and Nancy Levit, McClurg is the author of Law Jobs: The Complete Guide  (West 2019), 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, Law Jobs offers in-depth exploration of each career option, including general background, pros and cons, day in the life descriptions, and information about job availability, compensation, prospects for advancement, diversity issues, and how students can best position themselves for opportunities in the field.

The "Companion Text" to Law SchoolThe “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 waiting for them and was named an Amazon Editors’ Favorite Book of the Year.

Practical Global Tort LitigationMcClurg created and served as editor for a series of innovative comparative law texts, coauthoring the first book in the series: Practical Global Tort Litigation: United States, Germany, and Argentina, (Carolina Academic Press) (with Adem Koyuncu and Adem Sprovieri).

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

In humor mode, for four years McClurg was the monthly humor columnist for the American Bar Association Journal, the magazine of the U.S. legal profession. His column, Harmless Error, touched the humor bone of lawyers far and wide. See sampling of reader praise The Law School Tripfor Harmless Error.

He’s the author of The Law School Trip (the insider’s guide to law school) (Trafford 2001) a parody of legal education reviewed as “Howlingly, gut-wrenchingly, turn purple and blow food out your nose funny!” and “Heaps and mounds of undulating and ululating laughter.” He’s also co-editor of Amicus Humoriae: An Anthology of Legal Humor (Carolina Academic Press 2003) (with Robert Jaris and Thomas Baker), a collection of humorous law review articles.

As a legal commentator, McClurg has been interviewed by National Public Radio, Time, U.S. News, the PBS NewshourNew York Times, Washington PostWall Street Journal, Politifact, and many 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.

McClurg also writes fiction under the pen name “Dorian Box.” His novels have received numerous indie book honors and awards, including:  Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize Semifinalist (twice); IndieReader Discovery Award for Fiction; Feathered Quill Medal for Mystery/Suspense; Best Psychological Thriller of of the Year (BestThrillers.com); National Indie Excellence Award Finalist; Finalist, Best Legal Thriller of the Year (BestThrillers.com); and Readers’ Favorite medals in three different categories (Suspense, Humor, and New Adult fiction).

As a hobby, McClurg spent most of the last decade living out his childhood rock star fantasies singing and playing in Memphis cover bands.

Publications

Nonfiction Books

1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor’s Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (West Academic Publishing 4th ed. 2021).

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).

Fiction (under pen name Dorian Box)

Target: The Girl (Emily Calby Book 3) (Friction Press 2021)

The Girl in Cell 49B (Emily Calby Book 2) (Friction Press 2021)

The Hiding Girl (Emily Calby Book 1) (Friction Press 2020)

Psycho-Tropics (Friction Press 2015)

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).

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).

Comparative Law Book Series Editor

Aya Gruber, Vicente de Palacios & Piet Hein van Kempen, Practical Global Criminal Procedure: United States, Argentina, and the Netherlands (Carolina Academic Press 2012).

Janet Leach Richards, Chen Wei & Lorella dal Pezzo, Practical Global Family Law: United States, China, and Italy (Carolina Academic Press 2009).

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

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


Funny Law School Stories
For all its terror and tedium, law school can be a hilarious place. Everyone has a funny law school story. What’s your story?

Strange Judicial Opinions
Large collection of oddball and off-the-wall judicial opinions and orders.

Product Warning Labels
A variety of warning labels, some good, some silly and some just really odd. If you come encounter a funny or interesting product warning label, please send it along.

Tortland
Tortman! Andrew J McClurg
Tortland collects interesting tort cases, warning labels, and photos of potential torts. Raise risk awareness. Play "Spot the Tort."

Weird Patents
Think it’s really hard to get a patent? Think again.

Legal Oddities
From the simply curious to the downright bizarre, a collection of amusing law-related artifacts.

Spot the Tort
Have fun and make the world a safer place. Send in pictures of dangerous conditions you stumble upon (figuratively only, we hope) out there in Tortland.

Legal Education
Collecting any and all amusing tidbits related to legal education.

Harmless Error
McClurg's twisted legal humor column ran for more than four years in the American Bar Association Journal.