Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development Donald Kochan was elected this month as a member of The American Law Institute (ALI), the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize and improve the law.

Its membership is comprised of eminent judges, lawyers and law professors elected by their peers on the basis of professional achievement and demonstrated interest in improving the law. The institute’s elected membership is limited to 3,000. The total membership of more than 4,600 includes ex officio members, honorary members and life members (those elected members who have attained more than 25 years).  Sixty-one new members were added in this election cycle, 15 of those were professors.

ALI publishes restatements of the law, model codes and principles of law that influence the legal community from courts and legislatures to legal scholarship and education. By participating in the organization, members have the opportunity to influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas.

“I heartily congratulate Dean Kochan on his election to the American Law Institute,” Dean Tom Campbell said. “This honor serves as a wonderful testament to his expertise in the law as well as the high caliber of faculty that the Fowler School of Law presents to its students.”

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Daniel Bogart added: “Dean Kochan’s election comes at a propitious time, as the Institute is considering a revision to the Restatement of Property.  Donald’s considerable scholarship in the area of property law is outstanding, and he has much to contribute.”

Dean Kochan currently serves as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Fowler School of Law. His scholarship focuses on areas of property, administrative law, natural resources, and law and economics, among others. Dean Kochan received the 2014 Valerie Scudder Award from Chapman University, a merit-based award selected by peers in recognition of outstanding achievement in scholarship, teaching and service, and one of the highest honors given to a faculty member at the University. Also in 2014 he was elected as a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He currently is a Contributing Editor of the “Keeping Current-Property” section of Probate & Property, the bi-monthly magazine of the Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section of the American Bar Association; serves as the Chair-Elect for the Section on Property Law for the Association of American Law Schools; serves as the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Environment & Natural Resources Regulation for the American Bar Association Section on Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice; and serves as an inaugural Co-Editor of the Property Section of JOTWELL.

Dean Kochan is the fourth member of the Fowler School of Law faculty to be elected to the prestigious organization.  The other Chapman faculty elected to ALI are Dean Tom Campbell, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Daniel Bogart and Professor Ronald Rotunda.

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