Robert H. Sitkoff (born 1974) is the Austin Wakeman Scott Professor of Law and the John L. Gray Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he specializes in

trusts and estates English trust law concerns the protection of assets, usually when they are held by one party for another's benefit. Trusts were a creation of the English law of property and obligations, and share a subsequent history with countries across the ...

.The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Sitkoff To Join HLS Faculty
/ref> He previously served as professor of law at

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

and

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law s ...

. Sitkoff's scholarly work focuses on

, a field of law with relatively few prominent scholars. He is co-author of ''Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', the leading trusts and estates casebook in the United States; has published in leading academic journals such as the Yale Law Journal,

Columbia Law Review The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes. It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who se ...

, and the

Journal of Law and Economics ''The Journal of Law and Economics'' is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. It publishes articles on the economic analysis of regulation and the behavior of regulated firms, the political economy of legislation and leg ...

; has appeared as a commentator on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

; and has had his work on the effects of the abolition of the

rule against perpetuities The rule against perpetuities is a legal rule in the American common law that prevents people from using legal instruments (usually a deed or a will) to exert control over the ownership of private property for a time long beyond the lives of ...

featured in the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

.HLS: News: Robert H. Sitkoff joins HLS faculty
/ref>

Education and Clerkship

Sitkoff received a B.A. from

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

in 1996, and a J.D. from

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dis ...

with high honors in 1999. He was a law clerk for Judge

Richard Posner Richard Allen Posner (; born January 11, 1939) is an American jurist and legal scholar who served as a federal appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1981 to 2017. A senior lecturer at the University of Chic ...

on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of ...

from 1999 to 2000.

Career

In 2000, Sitkoff became a professor at Northwestern University School of Law. In 2006, he moved to New York University, and the next year joined the Harvard faculty. At the time, Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan said that he was "doing the most exciting and important academic work in trust and estates that anyone has seen in years."

Law Reform Work

Sitkoff was elected to the American Law Institute (ALI) in 2007 and was elected to a five-year term on the ALI's Council in May 2012. He has worked on several ALI projects, including Principles of the Law of Charitable Nonprofit Organizations;Principles of the Law of Charitable Nonprofit Organizations - List of Project Participants
Restatement Third, Property (Wills and Other Donative Transfers), Restatement Third, Restitution and Unjust Enrichment, and Restatement Third, Trusts.

Personal

Sitkoff's father is a retired trusts and estates lawyer.Additions to the Roster
NYU Law Magazine, 2006.HLS: News: Sitkoff named an up and coming lawyer for 2007
/ref> He married his wife Tamara in 2003 with their rabbi and Judge

jointly officiating. They have three children, two girls and a boy.

Works

* * *

External links

Harvard Law faculty page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sitkoff, Robert 1974 births Living people Harvard Law School faculty University of Chicago Law School alumni University of Virginia alumni American lawyers New York University faculty Northwestern University faculty Scholars of property law