The University of Oregon School of Law will host constitutional law scholar Michael Gerhardt, as part of the Order of the Coif Distinguished Visitor Program on March 12.

The public lecture, “The Trump Impeachment: What Happened & What We Learned,” will begin at 7 p.m. in Room 175, William Knight Law Center.

Gerhardt is the Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law and director of the UNC Center on Law and Government at the University of North Carolina School of Law. He is a well-known expert on presidential impeachment, federal judicial appointments and constitutional conflicts between presidents and Congress.

He was one of four law professors who testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee as part of the impeachment inquiry of President Trump. In 1998, he was the only joint witness to testify before the House of Representatives during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment.

Gerhardt’s service to Congress in public engagement is significant and extensive. He has also participated in confirmation proceedings for seven of the nine justices currently on the Supreme Court, including as special counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Supreme Court nominations of Sonia Sotomayor in 2009, Elena Kagan in 2010, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. 

His scholarship includes authoring and co-authoring more than 100 law review articles and dozens of op-eds in major newspapers. Additionally, he has authored six books, each of which is considered to be the leading authority on its subject.  

The lecture will be live streamed online.

Sponsored by the Order of the Coif, the lecture is meant to contribute to the intellectual life of the UO School of Law by fostering an exchange of ideas with individuals whose experiences and ideas may be expected to stimulate discussion about important issues confronting the legal profession.