Chenglin “Gary” Liu

Biography

Chenglin “Gary” Liu has been teaching torts, products liability, wills, trusts, and estates, and law and economics at the St. Mary’s University School of Law since 2007. Through the years, he has developed a unique teaching style, focusing on problem solving and individual thinking. In 2019, Liu received the Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award, becoming professor of the year. Prior to St. Mary’s, Professor Liu taught various law courses in China, Austria and the U.K. 

Liu has served on various committees, including the Faculty Appointment Committee, Non-Tenure Review Committee, Law Journal Committee and Admissions Committee. From 2012 to 2019, Liu served as a co-director of the LL.M. programs.

He has written about torts, wills and trusts, food and drug safety, and Chinese law. His articles have been downloaded more than 10,000 times from across the world. Recently, Liu devoted his time to writing Learning Wills, Trusts, and Estates for West Academic’s Learning Series. Unlike traditional casebooks, the Learning Series emphasizes readability, clarity, rule learning and assessments. The book was out in print in summer 2025. In the meantime, Liu delved into affirmative action and racially motivated charities, resulting in law review articles on these topics.

Currently, Liu continues to pursue a varied research agenda that builds on his most recent work, further expanding on how discriminatory charities are scrutinized and whether donors will continue to contribute to nonprofit organizations, including educational institutions, without the benefit of tax deductions. On the tort law front, Liu’s research will focus on whether the current products liability and public nuisance doctrines will effectively prevent consumers from being physically and emotionally injured by AI products and whether a new doctrine should be developed to regulate AI technology.

Books

• Learning Wills, Trusts, and Estates, West Academic Publishing, 2025
• (With Vincent R. Johnson), Studies in American Tort Law, 7th ed., Carolina Academic Press, 2021
• (With Vincent R. Johnson), Teaching Torts: A Teacher’s Guide to Studies in American Tort Law, 7th ed., Carolina Academic Press, 2021
• Chinese Law in Context, Carolina Academic Press, 2020
• Chinese Law on SARS, Hein, 2004

Articles

• The Fearless Fund Decision and Racially Discriminatory Charities, 74 Cle. St. L. Rev., forthcoming 2025
• The Evolution of Race-Based Admissions in American Higher Education, 51 Ohio N.U. L. Rev. 77, 2024
• Beyond Compulsory Licensing: Pfizer Shares Its COVID-19 Medicines with the Patent Pool 25 New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, 1, 2022
• The World Health Organization: A Weak Defender Against Pandemics, 28 Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law, 174, 2021
• Confucius and the Chinese Legal Tradition, 28 Michigan State International Law Review 477, 2020
• Socialized Liability in Chinese Tort Law, 59 Harvard International Law Journal Online 16, 2018
• Risks Faced by Foreign Lawyers in China, 35 Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law 131, 2018
• The Development of Chinese Constitutionalism, 48 St. Mary’s Law Journal 199, 2017
• Escaping Liability via Forum Non Conveniens, 17 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change, 137, 2014
• Leaving the FDA Behind: Pharmaceutical Outsourcing and Drug Safety, 48 Texas International Law Journal, 1, 2012
• Is “USDA ORGANIC” a Seal of Deceit? The Pitfalls of USDA Certified Organics Produced in the United States, China and Beyond, 47 Stanford Journal of International Law 333, 2011
• The Obstacles of Outsourcing Imported Food Safety To China, 43 Cornell Journal of International Law 249, Lead Article, 2010
• Profits Above The Law: China’s Melamine Tainted Milk Scandal, 79 Mississippi Law Journal 371, 2009
• The Chinese Takings Law From A Comparative Perspective, 26 Washington University Journal of Law & Policy 301, 2008
• Informal Rules, Transaction Costs And The Failure Of Chinese Takings Law 29 Hastings International & Comparative Law Review 1, Lead Article, 2005. (Reprinted in Jose Maria Serna de la Garza,Derecho Comparado Asia-Mexico. Culturas y Sistemas Juridicos Comparados, IIJ-UNAM, 2007)
• Regulating SARS In China: Law As An Antidote? 4 Washington University Global Studies Law Review 81, 2005. (Reprinted in Stoltzfus Jost, Readings in Comparative Health Law and Bioethics, Carolina Academic Press, 2007

Media Highlights

• Quoted in The Labels Said “Organic.” But These Massive Imports of Corn and Soybeans Weren’t, Washington Post, May 12, 2017
• Not All Organic Food Labels are Created Equal, Forbes, Nov. 11, 2015
• Quoted in Organic-Farming Boom Stretches Certification System, The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 9, 2014
• A Breach of Defense against the Ebola Virus, Austin American-Statesman, Oct. 3, 2014