For most of my career, I have been a journalist reporting and writing about legal affairs, as a staff writer of The New Yorker, a member of the editorial board of The New York Times, and author of six books. I came to Yale as a journalist on the faculty of Yale Law School to launch and lead Legal Affairs magazine, the first general-interest magazine about the law and lawyers. For the past 26 years, I have also taught at Yale, at the law school, in the English and Political Science Departments, and as Davenport’s writing tutor. Early in my journalism career, I wrote a profile about a tap dancer named Sandman Sims whose motto was, “See one, do one, pass it on.” That’s my aim as a teacher and a tutor and as a Davenport fellow. I get inspiration for that commitment from wide sources – family, friendship, biking, reading, Long Island Sound, past and current colleagues, and many Yale students.
I received my Bachelor of Arts at Harvard College in 1972 and my JD from Harvard Law School in 1976.
Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School
Lecturer in English, Yale University
Writing Tutor, Davenport College
AB, Harvard College, ‘72
Harvard Scholar, Cambridge University , ‘73
JD, Harvard Law School, ‘76