William G. Merkel
Associate Professor of Law
"Washburn Law is challenging and demanding. Students have high expectations of faculty, and faculty in turn expect students to be highly motivated and intensely engaged. The rich variety of practical, doctrinal, and theoretical courses offered at Washburn present students with a range of opportunities not matched by many larger institutions. Whether particular faculty members focus on scholarship, service to the community and profession, or hands on teaching and learning in the context of live client cases, each member of the faculty offers students an invaluable perspective on preparing for a successful and fulfilling career in a dynamic, evolving, and ever more diverse profession."
J.D., Columbia University, 1996
D.Phil., University of Oxford, 2007
- Publications
- Social Science Research Network Homepage
- Selected Works at The Berkeley Electronic Press
- Resumé (32 KB PDF)
Tonya Worley
(785) 670-1541
Office 203
Comparative Constitutional Law
Constitutional Law I
Constitutional Law II
International Law
Following graduation from Johns Hopkins with a B.A. in history, Professor Merkel worked as a cook in Baltimore and then as an analyst with the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. before returning to graduate studies. He completed his J.D. at Columbia Law School in 1996 and then worked in appellate litigation with Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington. He is the author, with the late Richard Uviller, of The Militia and the Right to Arms, Or, How the Second Amendment Fell Silent (Duke University Press, 2002). He taught American history at Oxford University from 2001-2003 and Comparative Introduction to American Law to foreign trained LL.M. students at Columbia from 2003-2005. Professor Merkel received a doctorate in history from Oxford University in 2007. He is in the process of revising his D. Phil. thesis "Race, Liberty, and Law: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery, 1770-1800" for publication as a book to be titled Jefferson and Slavery -- A Legal History.
Professor Merkel is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars.
