Richard D. Freer is the Dean and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law, where he has been a faculty member for over 41 years. He earned a B.A. with highest honors from the University of California, San Diego in 1975 and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 1978, graduating fifth in his class, elected to the Order of the Coif, and serving as a member of the UCLA Law Review. After law school, Freer clerked for Chief Judge Edward J. Schwartz of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California from 1978 to 1979 and for Chief Judge Clement F. Haynsworth, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1979 to 1980. He practiced as an associate in the litigation department at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles from 1980 to 1983 before joining Emory Law as an assistant professor in 1983, advancing to associate professor in 1986, full professor in 1989, Robert Howell Hall Professor of Law from 1992 to 2017, and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law since 2017. He assumed the role of Dean on July 1, 2024. Freer has held leadership positions including Emory Law Associate Dean of Faculty from 1999 to 2002 and University Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. He has served as a visiting professor at George Washington University Law School, Central European University in Budapest, Moscow State University, the University of Warsaw, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

A leading scholar in civil procedure, federal jurisdiction, and complex litigation within the Law faculty, Freer has authored or co-authored 17 books, including Civil Procedure (Wolters Kluwer Aspen Treatise Series, 4th ed. 2018), multiple volumes of Wright, Miller & Freer, Federal Practice and Procedure, Freer, Perdue, & Effron, Civil Procedure: Cases, Materials, and Questions (8th ed. 2020), and Sullivan, Freer & Clary, Complex Litigation (3rd ed. 2019). His dozens of journal articles have been cited by state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. He is the sole person to contribute as author to both standard treatises, Moore’s Federal Practice and Wright & Miller’s Federal Practice and Procedure. Freer has received Emory University’s highest teaching honor, the Emory Williams University Teaching Award, the Scholar/Teacher Award, and designation as Most Outstanding Professor by eleven graduating classes. He delivered the 2024 John F. Morgan Sr. Distinguished Faculty Lecture, is a life member of the American Law Institute, and serves as an academic fellow of the National Civil Justice Institute. For over 30 years, he has lectured on bar review courses to more than 500,000 candidates nationwide.

Professional Email: lawdean@emory.edu