Skip to main content

About Francis Mootz

Francis J. Mootz III joined the McGeorge School of Law on June 1, 2012 as the school's ninth dean. After his five-year term as dean, he joined the faculty as Professor of Law. Previously, Professor Mootz served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Associate Dean for Faculty Development, and William S. Boyd Professor of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has also taught at Penn State Dickinson School of Law, William and Mary Law School and Western New England University School of Law. Professor Mootz is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Duke University Graduate School, and Duke University School of Law.

Professor Mootz teaches and writes in traditional doctrinal areas such as contract, sale, insurance and employment law. He is dedicated to using modern teaching tools, and is the co-author of a Sales casebook and an Employment Law casebook. Professor Mootz has edited three volumes of the 14-volume Appleman Library Edition insurance law treatise, and he has served as an expert consultant regarding a number of insurance coverage issues. Most recently, he has written and spoken about the emerging adult-use cannabis industry in California, discussing insurance coverage issues and questions of professional responsibility for attorneys advising cannabis clients. He has served as a Member of the Board of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws from 2006 until 2012, and was elected to membership in the American Law Institute in 2012.

Professor Mootz has undertaken an ambitious agenda of interdisciplinary scholarship exploring relationships between law and contemporary European philosophy. His primary focus is on the hermeneutical and rhetorical traditions. He is the author of Rhetorical Knowledge in Legal Practice and Critical Legal Theory (2006) and has edited and contributed to a number of books relating to jurisprudential topics. He has been invited to speak in Europe, Africa, and South America. In 2021, the University of the Pacific awarded him the Faculty Research Lecturer Award, which is given to a senior faculty member with a career of outstanding research and scholarly activity.

Positions

2012 - Present Professor of Law, University of the Pacific ‐ McGeorge School of Law
to
2018 - 2020 Visiting Professor, University of California, Davis ‐ King Hall School of Law
to
2012 - 2017 Dean, University of the Pacific ‐ McGeorge School of Law
to
2011 - 2012 Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development, University of Nevada, Las Vegas ‐ William S. Boyd School of Law
to
2008 - 2012 Professor of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas ‐ William S. Boyd School of Law
to
2008 - 2012 Visiting Professor, Summer Session on American Law, Insubria University
to
2010 - 2011 Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research, University of Nevada, Las Vegas ‐ William S. Boyd School of Law
to
2007 - 2008 Samuel Weiss Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Dickinson School of Law
to
2000 - 2008 Professor of Law, Dickinson School of Law
to
2004 - 2006 Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dickinson School of Law
to
2006 Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Dickinson College
to
2002 Visiting Professor of Law, William & Mary ‐ Marshall-Wythe School of Law
to
1995 - 2000 Professor of Law, Western New England University School of Law
to
2000 Visiting Professor of Law, Dickinson School of Law
to
1993 - 1995 Associate Professor of Law, Western New England University School of Law
to
1990 - 1993 Assistant Professor, Western New England University School of Law
to

Curriculum Vitae

Disciplines

Research Interests

$
to
Enter a valid date range.

Professional Service and Affiliations

2016 - Present Advisory Board Member & Reviewer, University of Alabama Press
2016 - Present Advisory Board Member, University of Bologna Law Review
2012 - Present Elected Member, American Law Institute
2008 - Present Member, Editorial Board and Peer Reviewer, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR THE SEMIOTICS OF LAW
2004 - Present Member, Editorial Advisory Board and Peer Reviewer, LAW, CULTURE AND THE HUMAN.: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL
2018 - 2019 Appointed Member, California Bar Malpractice Insurance Working Group
2008 - 2012 Nevada, Commissioner, Uniform Law Commission
2006 - 2008 Pennsylvania, Commissioner, Uniform Law Commission
to
Enter a valid date range.

Courses

  • Statutes and Regulations
  • Insurance Law
  • Employment Law
  • Remedies
  • Legal Argumentation Seminar

Education

to
1986 J.D., High Honors, Duke University ‐ School of Law
to
1986 A.M., Philosophy, Duke University
to
1983 B.A., High Honors, University of Notre Dame
to

Links

Contact Information

McGeorge School of Law
University of the Pacific
3200 Fifth Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817

Email:

Books and Book Chapters (29)