A. Benjamin Spencer

Biography

Professor A. Benjamin Spencer joined Washington and Lee in 2008. One of the nation's rising stars in the field of civil procedure and federal jurisdiction, Professor Spencer has in a relatively short time built an impressive scholarly record by publishing in some of the most prestigious national law reviews and has developed a reputation among students as an excellent classroom teacher.

Professor Spencer is a member of the American Law Institute and a member of the West Publishing Company Law School Advisory Board.  He serves as the Chair of the Virginia State Bar Section on the Education of Lawyers and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, occasionally handling appellate cases in the Fourth Circuit on behalf of the Government on a pro bono basis.  In 2007, he was awarded the Virginia State Council of Higher Education “Rising Star” award, given to the most promising junior faculty member among all academic fields at all colleges and universities in Virginia - the first law professor to receive this award.

Professor Spencer has authored two books in the area of civil procedure, Acing Civil Procedure and Civil Procedure: A Contemporary Approach. Both are used widely by professors and students throughout the country.

Prior to joining the Washington and Lee faculty Professor Spencer was an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law.  He also formerly worked as an Associate in the law firm of Shearman & Sterling and as a Law Clerk to Judge Judith W. Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

Professor Spencer holds a B.A. from Morehouse College, a J.D. from the Harvard Law School and a Master of Science from the London School of Economics.

B.A. 1996, Morehouse College, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa; MSc 1997, London School of Economics (Marshall Scholar) with Distinction; J.D. 2001, Harvard; Articles Editor, Harvard Law Review; admitted to practice in Virginia and District of Columbia; law clerk, Judge Judith W. Rogers, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 2001-02; associate, Shearman & Sterling, Washington, DC, 2002-04; Assistant Professor of Law, University of Richmond, 2004-07; Associate Professor of Law, 2007–; Visiting Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University, 2007-08. Associate Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University, 2008- .