Benjamin L. Liebman (born 1969) is the Robert L. Lieff Professor of Law and the director of the Hong Yen Chang Center for Chinese Legal Studies at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

. He is widely regarded as one of the world's pre-eminent scholars of contemporary Chinese law. He is the son of

Lance Liebman Lance Liebman (born 1941) is an American law professor. He is the former dean of Columbia Law School, and served as the director of the American Law Institute from May 1999 to May 2014. Education Liebman received his B.A. from Yale University in ...

, who is a professor at Columbia Law School and the former director of the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...

, and of Carol B. Liebman, also a professor at

. He is the brother of Jeffrey B. Liebman, who was the executive associate director of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

within the administration of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. On February 9, 2012, Liebman met with

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

to discuss

human rights in China Human rights in the People's Republic of China are poor, as per reviews by international bodies, such as human rights treaty bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), th ...

. Liebman is affiliated with the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.

Education

Liebman received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1991. He then earned a Bachelor of Arts in

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

from

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

in 1993 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1998.

Positions

*Robert L. Leiff Professor of Law and Director
Hong Yen Chang Center for Chinese Legal Studies
Columbia Law School, 2011- *Professor of Law and Director
Center for Chinese Legal Studies
Columbia Law School, 2007-2011 *Associate Professor of Law and Director
Center for Chinese Legal Studies
Columbia Law School *Sullivan & Cromwell, London, 2000-2002 *Law Clerk, Justice David H. Souter,

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

, 1999-2000 *Law Clerk, Judge Sandra Lynch, United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit, Boston, 1997-1998 *Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, New York and

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Summer 1997 *Institute of Law,

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese state research institute and think tank. It is a ministry-level institution under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The CASS is the highest academic institution and c ...

, Beijing, Summer 1996 *Attorney,

Coudert Brothers Coudert Brothers LLP was a New York–based law firm with that practiced from 1853 until its dissolution in 2006. History The firm was established in 1853 in New York by three sons of Charles Coudert Sr.: Frederic René Coudert Sr., Charles Co ...

, Beijing, 1994-1995

References

Columbia Law School faculty Yale University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Harvard Law School alumni 1969 births Living people Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States {{US-law-bio-stub Weatherhead East Asian Institute faculty Sullivan & Cromwell people

Education

Positions

See also

References