Arthur D. Hellman

Professor Hellman has achieved a national reputation as a scholar of the federal courts. He is one of the leading academic commentators on issues of federal judicial ethics, and his unique series of empirical studies on the operation of precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court and the courts of appeals has been used as a basis for policy decisions at both the federal and state levels.

Over the years, Professor Hellman has testified as an invited witness at numerous hearings of the Judiciary Committees in both the House and the Senate. His testimony has focused on a wide variety of legislative issues related to the federal courts, including the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court; the structure of the federal courts of appeals; federal judicial discipline; unpublished appellate opinions; and the constitutionality of legislative restrictions on the powers of the federal courts. He received public recognition from leading members of the House Judiciary Committee for his work in helping to draft the Judicial Improvements Act of 2002, the current version of the law that governs the handling of misconduct complaints against federal judges.

Professor Hellman’s publications include numerous articles and several books, including two casebooks, Federal Courts: Cases and Materials on Judicial Federalism and the Lawyering Process (2005) (with Lauren Robel); and First Amendment Law: Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion (2006) (with William D. Araiza and Thomas E. Baker).

Professor Hellman is the nation’s leading academic authority on the largest of the federal appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. From 1999 through 2001 he served on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Evaluation Committee – the only academic on the committee. A decade earlier, he supervised a distinguished group of legal scholars and political scientists in analyzing the innovations of the Ninth Circuit and its court of appeals.

Before joining the Pitt law faculty, Professor Hellman was deputy executive director of the Commission on Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System (Hruska Commission).

Currently Teaching

• Federal Courts and Federal Litigation Seminar (Fall 2008)
• Constitutional Law: Current Issues Seminar (Fall 2008)

Courses Previously Taught

• Federal Jurisdiction
• Constitutional Law: First Amendment

Selected Publications

Books:

• Arthur D. Hellman, William D. Araiza & Thomas E. Baker, First Amendment Law: Freedom of Expression & Freedom of Religion, (LexisNexis 2006 and 2007 Supplement).
• Arthur D. Hellman & Lauren K. Robel, Federal Courts: Cases and Materials on Judicial Federalism and the Lawyering Process (Matthew Bender 2005 and 2007 Supplement).
• Arthur D. Hellman & Lauren K. Robel, The Judicial Code Supplement (LexisNexis 2007).
• Arthur D. Hellman & Russell L. Weaver, The First Amendment: Cases, Materials and Problems (Lexis Publishing Company 2002).

Articles:

• Arthur D. Hellman, The Regulation of Judicial Ethics in the Federal System: A Peek Behind Closed Doors , (University of Pittsburgh Law Review, forthcoming). Available on SSRN.
• Arthur D. Hellman, Justice O'Connor and "The Threat to Judicial Independence": The Cowgirl Who Cried Wolf?, 39 Arizona State Law Journal 845 (2007).
• Arthur D. Hellman, Judges Judging Judges: The Federal Judicial Misconduct Statutes and the Breyer Committee Report, 21 Justice System Journal 426 (2007).
• Arthur D. Hellman, Toni M. Massaro & Stephen L. Wasby, Ninth Circuit Conference Introduction, 48 Arizona Law Review 221 (2006 Symposium).
• Arthur D. Hellman, Assessing Judgeship Needs in the Federal Courts of Appeals: Policy Choices and Process Concerns, 5 J. App. Prac. & Proc. 239 (2003).
• Arthur D. Hellman, Sex, Drugs, and Democracy: Who’s Afraid of Free Speech?, 41 Brandeis Law Journal 417-445 (2003).
• Arthur D. Hellman, Chief Judge Procter Hug, Jr. and the Split That Didn't Happen, 3 Nevada Law Journal 13-20 (2002).

Awards and Honors

• Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, 2005
• University of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award, 2002

Selected Professional Activities

• Conference Reporter, Steering Committee member, and speaker, 2005 National Conference on Appellate Justice, Washington, D.C., November 2005. Conference sponsors: Federal Judicial Center, National Center for State Courts, Institute for Judicial Administration, and American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
• Co-organizer (with Professor Stephen L. Wasby and Dean Toni Massaro) and speaker, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Conference, Tucson, Arizona, September 2005. Conference sponsor: University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Proceedings published at 48 ARIZ. L. REV. 221 367 (2006).
• Speaker at program sponsored by Program in Public Law at Duke University Law School, Durham, NC, Apr. 9, 2005. Topic: “Should Life Tenure for Supreme Court Justices Be Reconsidered?”
• Member, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Evaluation Committee, 1999 2001 (appointed by Chief Judge Hug to 10-person committee whose mission was “to examine the existing policies, practices and administrative structure of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in order to make recommendations to its judges to improve the delivery of justice in the region it serves.”).