Kenneth W. Starr
Professional Profile
Kenneth W. Starr is Of Counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in the Los Angeles office specializing in appellate work. He is also Dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu.
Mr. Starr received his B.A. from George Washington University, M.A. from Brown University, and graduated from Duke Law School. He was Note and Comment Editor of the Duke Law Journal and graduated Order of the Coif. He clerked for the Honorable David W. Dyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.
Mr. Starr's areas of focus are antitrust, federal courts and federal jurisdiction, and constitutional law. He is admitted to practice in California, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. While in private practice, Mr. Starr has been a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. In addition to private practice, he has served as Counselor to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith, Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, Solicitor General of the United States, and Independent Counsel on the Whitewater matter. As Solicitor General, Mr. Starr argued 25 cases before the Supreme Court.
Mr. Starr taught Constitutional Law for 12 years as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law, and was also a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University School of Law and Chapman Law School in Orange, California.
Mr. Starr is a member of several professional organizations and boards, including the American Law Institute, the Supreme Court Historical Society, and the American Inns of Court. He has received numerous honors and awards including the Jefferson Cup Award from the FBI, the Edmund Randolph Award for Outstanding Service in the Department of Justice, and the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service. An enthusiastic writer and scholar, Mr. Starr has authored many law review articles. His book, First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life, was published in 2002.Memberships & Affiliations
President, Institute of Judicial Administration (1991-1998)
President, Council for Court Excellence (1994-1998)
Member, American Bar Association:
- Board of Editors, American Bar Association Journal (1992-1998)
- Ad Hoc Committee on Death Penalty Costs & Impact (1994)
- Vice-Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee on Act of State Doctrine (1981-1982)
- Chairman, Committee on Preemption, Appellate Judges Conference (1985-1987)
- Executive Committee, Appellate Judges Conference (1988-1989)
- Governmental Representative, Litigation Section (1990-1992)
Member, American Law Institute
Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Board of Trustees, American Inns of Court Foundation (1993-2000)
Board of Trustees, Supreme Court Historical Society (1993-present)
Board of Directors, American Judicature Society (1994-present)
Member, Task Force of the National Center for Innovation in Corrections (1981-1985)
Member, 1987 Canadian-American Legal Exchange
Member, Judicial Fellows Commission (1985-1990)
Member, Judicial Conference Committee on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution (1985-1989)
Master of the Bench, American Inns of Court (1990-present)
Chairman, Federal Civil Justice Reform Working Group (1990-1992)
Legal Advisory Council, National Legal Center for the Public Interest (1993-present)
Legal Policy Advisory Board, Washington Legal Foundation (1993-present)
Board of Directors, Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit (1993-present)
Executive Council, Lawyers Committee of the Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, D.C. (1996-present)
Advisory Board, Institute of United States Studies, University of London (1994-2002)
Board of Trustees, Shenandoah University (1992-present)
Board of Trustees, The American University (1992-1996)
Board of Visitors, Duke University School of Law (1988-1993/Life Member)
President, The Barristers, Duke University School of Law, (1995-1996)
President, The Barristers Colleagues, Duke University School of Law (1996-1998)
Advisory Committee, Duke Law Journal
Board of Visitors, Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School (1989-1991)
Board of Visitors, University of Arizona College of Law (1990-1994)
Board of Visitors, Pepperdine University School of Law (1992-present)
Board of Governors, Wesley Theological Seminary (1990-1994)
Visiting Professor, Pepperdine University School of Law (Summer 1993, Summer 2002)
Visiting Professor, Stamford University College of Law, Canterbury, England, (Summer Program 1992)Other Distinctions
Pepperdine University School of Law, Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, 1996
Duke Law Alumni Association Charles S. Murphy Award, 1994
Capital University, Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, 1994
Shenandoah University, Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, 1993
U.S. Industrial Council Educational Foundation American Values Award, 1993
The John Marshall School of Law, Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, 1993
Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service, 1993
Hampden-Sydney College, Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, 1992
George Washington University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, 1990
First Place, ABA Judge Edward R. Finch Speech Award Competition, Law Day, 1985
Edmund J. Randolph Award for Outstanding Service in the Department of Justice, 1983
Phi Delta Phi Outstanding Graduate Award, 1973
Publications
The Supreme Court and Its Shrinking Docket: The Ghost of William Howard Taft, 90 Minn. L. Rev. 1363 (2006)
Reflections on Hines v. Davidowitz: The Future of Obstacle Preemption, 33 Pepp. L. Rev. 1 (2005)
The Federal Republic and the Challenge to Freedom, 90 Cornell L. Rev. 1639 (2005) (book review)
Morality, Community, and the Legal Profession, 5 Wyo. L. Rev. 403 (2005)
`Divided America' and the American Constitution Tradition, 3 Geo. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 1 (2005)
Christian Service in the Practice of Law, 32 Pepp. L. Rev. 451 (2005)
Legislative Restraint in the Confirmation Process, 38 U. Rich. L. Rev. 597 (2004)
Shoddy Construction: Kenneth Starr Responds, Legal Affairs, May-June 2002
2000 J.A. Vickers, Sr. and Robert F. Vickers, Sr. Memorial Lecture, 49 U. Kan. L. Rev. 631 (2001)
Keynote Address (Symposium: Legal Education at the Threshold of the New Millenium), 15 St. John's J. Legal Comment, 253 (2001)
Reflections on Federalism, 25 Okla. City U. L. Rev. 813 (2001)
The Independent Counsel Act (at p. 727), Symposium Summation (at P. 785) (Twenty Five Years After Watergate: The Impact on Legal Ethics and the Investigation of Public Corruption), 51 Hastings L. J. 727, 785 (2000)
Forword to Recent Decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 68 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 579 (2000)
Lessons Learned from the Recent Past (Reflections by Kenneth Starr After Having Left Office of Independent Counsel), 8 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 349 (1999)
Truth and Truth-Telling, 30 Tex. L. Rev. 901 (1999)
The Man from Minnesota: A Remembrance from Things Past, 74 Tex. L. Rev. 223 (December 1995)
Rule of Supreme Court Needs a Management Revolt, 3:1 Long TermView, Mass. Sch. L. Andover 47 (1995)
Law and Lawyers: The Road to Reform, 63 Fordham L. Review 959 (March 1995)
Punitive Damages: Judicial and Legislative Reforms in State Civil Justice Reform, National Legal Center 1994 (co-authored)
Liberty and Equality Under the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment, 1 B.Y.U. L. Rev. 1 (1993)
Byron R. White: The Last New Dealer, 103 Yale L.J. 37 (1993)
The Supreme Court and the Federal Judicial System, 42 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 1209 (1992)
"Overview," in A Plan to Improve America's System of Civil Justice from the President's Council on Competitiveness, 1 National Legal Center (1992)
William Howard Taft: The Chief Justice as Judicial Architect, 60 U. Cin. L. Rev. 963 (1992)
The Courts of Appeals and the Future of the Federal Judiciary, 1991 Wis. L. Rev. 1
Liberty and Privacy: Some Modest Reflections, 87 The Public Interest Law Review 1991 (Terry Eastland ed.)
The Supreme Court and the Future of American Constitutional Law, 25:3 Int'l Soc'y of Barristers Q. 351 (July 1990)
Perspectives on the Judiciary, 39 Am. U.L. Rev. 480 (Spring 1990)
The Supreme Court and the Future of the Federal Judiciary, 32 Ariz. L. Rev. 211 (1990)
The Supreme Court, the Constitution and the Rule of Law, 73:3 Judicature 159 (Oct-Nov 1989)
Rediscovering Economic Liberties, 41 Rutgers L. Rev. 766 (1989)
The Judiciary and Foreign Affairs: Reflections on Separation of Powers in the Bicentennial Era, 8-1 Southwestern Legal Foundation: Private Investors Abroad-Problems and Solutions in International Business in 1988 (1989)
The Establishment Clause, 41 Okla. L. Rev. 477 (1988)
Of Forests and Trees: Structuralism in the Interpretation of Statutes, 56 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 703 (1988)
The Relationship of Church and State: The Views of the Founding Fathers, 1987, Sup. Ct. Hist. Soc'y Y.B. 24
Judicial Review of Administrative Action in a Conservative Era, 39 Admin. L. Rev. 353 (1987) (panel)
A Tribute to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, 100 Harv. L. Rev. 971 (1987)
Observations About the Use of Legislative History, 1987 Duke L.J. 371
Chief Justice Burger's Contribution to American Jurisprudence, 1986 Sup. Ct. Hist. Soc'y Y.B. 18
The Impetus for Sentencing Reform in the Criminal Justice System, in Crime and Punishment in Modern America (P. McGuigan & J. Pascale ed. (1986))
The Shifting Panorama of Attorney's Fees Awards: The Expansion of Fee Recoveries in Federal Court, 28 S. Tex. L.J. 189 (1986)
Judicial Review in the Post-Chevron Era, 3 Yale J. on Reg. 283 (1986)
The Seamless Web of State and Federal Law, 26 S. Tex. L.J. 175 (1985)
Proposed Reform for Federal Habeas Corpus, 1 Duke Law Magazine 10 (Summer 1983)
Congress and the Conglomerate Merger Phenomenon: The Introduction of Antitrust Proposals to Address Non-Antitrust Concerns, 17 Harv. J. on Legis. 209 (1980) (co-authored)
Federal Judicial Invalidation as a Remedy for Irregularities in State Elections, 49 N.Y.U., L. Rev. 1092 (1974)
Note, Judicial Review-Actions Reviewable, 1972 Duke L.J. 115, 276
The Framework of Anglo-Soviet Commercial Relations: The British Way, 37 Law Contemp., Probs. 448 (1972)
Book/Book Chapters:
First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life, Warner Books, 2002
Juries and Justice, Washington, D.C., National Legal Center, 2000
Courts
United States Supreme Court, 1989
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 1994
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1990
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1990
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1994
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1990
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2005
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1995
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1989
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 1993
United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 2006
