Michael S. Ariens

Biography

After graduating law school, Ariens worked as a law clerk at the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. He then worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Holland & Knight for three years. He was a civil litigator for firm clients in state and federal courts in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, in both trial and appellate courts.

In addition to teaching at St. Mary’s, he has served as a part-time visiting professor at Southern Methodist University, a visiting professor at Catholic University Columbus School of Law, and a visiting professor at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

He is the author of five books. His book Lone Star Law: A Legal History of Texas received two awards. He is also the author of fifty law review articles, essays, and other scholarly works, and a number of book reviews.

Books

• The Lawyer’s Conscience: A History of American Lawyer Ethics (University Press of Kansas, 2022)
• American Constitutional Law and History (2d ed., Carolina Academic Press, 2016)
• American Constitutional Law and History (Carolina Academic Press, 2012)
• Lone Star Law: A Legal History of Texas (Texas Tech University Press, 2011)
• Law School: Getting In, Getting Out, and Getting On (Carolina Academic Press, 2010)
• Religious Liberty in a Pluralistic Society (2d ed., 2002) (with Destro)
• Religious Liberty in a Pluralistic Society (1996) (with Destro)

Articles in a Periodical

• Anti-Discrimination Ethics Rules and the Legal Profession, 50 Hofstra L. Rev. 501 (2022)
• The Fall of an American Lawyer, 46 J. Legal Prof. 195 (2022)
• The Appearance of Appearances, 70 U. Kan. L. Rev. 633 (2022)
• Model Rule 8.4(g) and the Profession’s Core Values Problem, 11 St. Mary’s J. on Legal Malpractice & Ethics 180 (2021)
• Making the Modern American Legal Profession, 1969-Present, 50 St. Mary’s L.J. 671 (2019)
• Ethics in the Legal Industry, 51 Creighton L. Rev. 673 (2018) (TePoel lecture)
• The Rise and Fall of Social Trustee Professionalism, 2016 J. Legal Prof. 49
• Sorting: Legal Specialization and the Privatization of the American Legal Profession, 29 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 579 (2016)
• The Last Hurrah: The Kutak Commission and the End of Optimism, 49 Creighton L. Rev. 689 (2016)
• Review of Glass Half Full, Federal Lawyer, September 2015, at 81
• Brougham’s Ghost, 35 No. Ill. U. L. Rev. 263 (2015)
• The Agony of Modern Legal Ethics, 1970-1985, 5 St. Mary’s J. on Legal Malpractice & Ethics 134 (2014).
• Lost and Found: David Hoffman and the History of American Legal Ethics, 67 Ark. L. Rev. 571 (2014)
• Book Review: The Texas Supreme Court: A Narrative History, 1836-1986, Tex. Books in Rev 12 (Spring 2014)
• Book review: Against the Profit Motive, Federal Lawyer Online Book Reviews at 1 (August 2014)
• Review of The Invention of Murder, Fed. Lawyer at 104 (July 2014)
• Review of The Collini Case, Fed. Lawyer Online Book Reviews at 8 (April 2014)
• Review of Mismatch, Fed. Lawyer Online Book Reviews at 1 (March 2014)
• Review of A Death at Crooked Creek, Fed. Lawyer at 78 (March 2014)
• Teaching American Legal History Through Storytelling, in Teaching Legal History: Comparative Perspectives (Robert M. Jarvis ed. 2014);
• Teaching American Legal History Through Storytelling, 53 Am. J. Leg. Hist. 405 (2013)
• Review of The Lawyer Bubble, Fed. Lawyer, Oct./Nov. 2013, at 86
• Review of Inside the Castle, Fed. Lawyer, August 2013, at 83
• A Judge in Full, 75 Alb. L. Rev. 2151 (2012)
• ‘Playing Chicken’: An Instant History of the Battle over Exceptions to Client Confidences, 33 J. Legal Prof. 239 (2009)
• Simon Greenleaf, in Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law 234 (2009)
• Charles T. McCormick, in Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law 370 (2009)
• Edmund M. Morgan, Jr., in Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law 389 (2009)
• American Legal Ethics in an Age of Anxiety, 40 St. Mary’s L.J. 343 (2008)
• What Hath Faith Wrought?, 24 J. L. & Rel. 195 (2008-09)
• United States v. Cruikshank, in Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States (Gale Publishing 2008)
• The Storm Between the Quiet: Tumult in the Texas Supreme Court, 1911-21, 38 St. Mary’s L.J. 641 (2007)
• Religion in the 19th Century – Bible Wars, Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties (2006)
• The Ethics of Copyrighting Ethics Rules, 36 U. Toledo L. Rev. 235 (2005)
• Church and State in the United States, 1900-2001, in New Catholic Encyclopedia (2003)
• Religion in the Courtroom, in Encyclopedia of Religious Freedom (2003)
• Law School Branding and the Future of Legal Education, 34 St. Mary’s L.J. 301 (2003)
• Forms of Legal Practice, in The Oxford Companion to American Law (Oxford University Press 2002)
• Sole Practitioners, in The Oxford Companion to American Law (Oxford University Press 2002)
• Paralegal and Legal Secretary, in The Oxford Companion to American Law (Oxford University Press 2002)
• Book Review, 16 J. L. & Rel. 249 (2001) Defining ‘Church’ in American Law, in Church Autonomy: A Comparative Study (Gerhard Robbers ed. 2001)
• A True Crime, International Commentary on Evidence (May 1999)
• On ‘Doctrine’ and the Establishment Clause, in Vouchers for School Choice: Challenge or Opportunity? An American Jewish Reappraisal (Marshall J. Breger & David M. Gordis eds. 1998)
• A Short History of Hearsay Reform, With Particular Reference to Hoffman v. Palmer, Eddie Morgan and Jerry Frank, 28 Ind. L. Rev. 183 (1995)
• Know the Law: A History of Legal Specialization, 45 S.C. L. Rev. 1003 (1994)
• A Thrice-Told Tale, or Felix the Cat, 107 Harv. L. Rev. 620 (1994)
• Wouldn’t You Like To Be an Expert, Too?, 18 Legal Stud. F. 221 (1994)
• Constitutional Law and the Myth of the Great Judge, 25 St. Mary’s L.J. 303 (1993)
• Progress Is Our Only Product: Legal Reform and the Codification of Evidence, 17 Law and Social Inquiry: J. Am. B. Found. 213 (1992)
• The Law of Evidence and the Idea of Progress, 25 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 853 (1992)
• Modern Legal Times: Making a Professional Legal Culture, 15 J. Am. Culture 25 (1992)
• Evidence of Religion and the Religion of Evidence, 40 Buffalo L. Rev. 65 (1992)
• Dutiful Justice, 22 St. Mary’s L.J. 1019 (1991)
• On the Road of Good Intentions: Justice Brennan and the Religion Clauses, 27 Cal. W.L. Rev. 311 (1991)
• Just a Bigger Fish, 15 J. Legal Prof. 329 (1990)
• The Politics of Law (Teaching), 13 Law and Social Inquiry: J. Am. B. Found. 773 (1988)
• Suicidal Rights, 20 Rutgers L.J. 79 (1988)
• A Uniform Rule Governing the Admission and Practice of Attorneys Before United States District Courts, 35 De Paul L. Rev. 649 (1986)
• Making the Modern American Legal Profession, 1969-Present, 50 St. Mary’s L.J. 671 (2019)
• Book Review, 88 Pac. Hist. Rev. 745 (2019)
• Book Review, 20 Am. Nineteenth Cent. Hist. (2019)
• Book Review, 122 Sw. Hist. Q. 343 (2019)
• Ethics in the Legal Industry, 51 Creighton L. Rev. 673 (2018) (TePoel lecture)
• Book Review, 35 L. & Hist. Rev. 831 (2017)
• Book Review, 57 Am. J. Legal Hist. 590 (2017);

Book Chapters and Entries

• Church and State in Ohio, 1785-1833, in DISESTABLISHMENT AND RELIGIOUS DISSENT: CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS IN THE NEW AMERICAN STATES, 1776-1833, at 249-271 (Carl H. Esbeck & Jonathan Den Hartog eds., 2019)
• Religion and Roman Catholicism in American Legal History, in American Law from a Catholic Perspective: Through a Clearer Lens 1 (Ronald J. Rychlak ed., Rowman & Littlefield 2015)
• Teaching Legal History Through Storytelling, in Teaching Legal History: Comparative Perspectives 32 (Robert M. Jarvis ed., Wildy, Simmonds & Hill 2014)
• Simon Greenleaf, in Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law 234 (Roger K. Newman ed., 2009)
• Charles T. McCormick, in Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law 370 (Roger K. Newman ed., 2009)
• Edmund M. Morgan, Jr., in Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law 389 (Roger K. Newman ed., 2009)
• United States v. Cruikshank, in Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States (Gale Publishing 2008)
• Religion in the 19th Century—Bible Wars, in Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties (2006)
• Church and State in the United States, 1900-2001, in New Catholic Encyclopedia (2003)
• Religion in the Courtroom, in Encyclopedia of Religious Freedom (2003)
• Forms of Legal Practice, in The Oxford Companion to American Law (Oxford University Press 2002)
• Sole Practitioners, in The Oxford Companion to American Law (Oxford University Press 2002)
• Paralegal and Legal Secretary, in The Oxford Companion to American Law (Oxford University Press 2002)
• Defining ‘Church’ in American Law, in Church Autonomy: A Comparative Survey (Gerhard Robbers ed., 2001)
• On ‘Doctrine’ and the Establishment Clause, in Vouchers for School Choice: Challenge or Opportunity? An American Jewish Reappraisal (Marshall J. Breger & David M. Gordis eds., 1998)

Media Highlights

• The NCBE’s Wrong-Headed Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, (April 28, 2020).
• The Texas Supreme Court Should Allow a Limited Diploma Privilege, Texas Lawyer, April 22, 2020.
• In Memoriam—Joe E. Anderson, 48 St. Mary’s L.J. xiii (2016).
• Confirmation Fights Have Consequences, San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 19, 2017, at F1.
• Confirmation Process, San Antonio Express-News, April 2, 2016.
• Justice Scalia’s St. Mary’s Connection, San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 27, 2016.