Robert Klonoff

Jordan D. Schnitzer Professor of Law

Professor Klonoff served as Dean of the Law School from 2007-2014. His areas of expertise include class action litigation, civil procedure, federal courts, appellate litigation, and criminal procedure. He serves as a co-author of the Wright & Miller treatise, Federal Practice and Procedure, and has sole responsibility for the three volumes devoted to class actions. In addition, he is the author of a West casebook on class actions; two West Nutshells (on class actions and federal multidistrict litigation); and numerous law review articles. He is also the co-author of a leading text on trial advocacy and a West Nutshell on federal appellate practice. He has taught and lectured throughout the United States and in numerous foreign countries. In addition, he is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and served as an Associate Reporter for the ALI’s class action project, “Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation.” He is also a Fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and served as a Reporter for the 2005 National Conference on Appellate Justice. In addition, he is an elected member of the International Association of Procedural Law, and he has served as an advisory board consulting editor of Class Action Litigation Report (BNA). Also, he serves as a board member of the Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation.

After graduating from Yale Law School, Professor Klonoff clerked for the Honorable John R. Brown, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then served as an Assistant United States Attorney in D.C. and as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. After his government service, he was a visiting professor at the University of San Diego Law School. He later served for many years as a partner at the international law firm of Jones Day. At Jones Day, Professor Klonoff handled complex litigation at both the trial and appellate levels and also held the administrative post of chair of the pro bono program for all of the firm’s 20+ offices. He received an award from the DC Bar for public service, was instrumental in establishing a free walk-in clinic in DC’s Shaw neighborhood, and served as a board member for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and for Bread for the City. Also, while practicing at Jones Day, Professor Klonoff served for many years as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center.

In 2003, Professor Klonoff was selected as the Douglas Stripp/Missouri Endowed Professor of Law at the University of Missouri/Kansas City School of Law. As the holder of this position, Professor Klonoff received two awards for most outstanding teacher and an award for service to the law school community. Professor Klonoff was also selected by the third year class to deliver the 2007 commencement speech.

In 2011, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., appointed Professor Klonoff to serve as the sole academic member of the United States Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. He was reappointed by Chief Justice Roberts in May 2014 for a second three-year term, which ended in 2017.

Professor Klonoff has extensive litigation experience. He has argued eight cases before the United States Supreme Court, including Gentile v. Nevada Bar and Kungys v. United States, and has argued dozens of cases in other federal and state appellate courts throughout the country. He has also tried dozens of cases (primarily jury trials). In addition, he has served as an expert witness in numerous class action and other aggregate cases, including the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill litigation, the National Football League Concussion litigation, the Volkswagen Clean Diesel litigation, the Wells Fargo Unauthorized Accounts litigation, the Equifax Data Breach litigation, and the Parkland Shooting civil litigation. He has personally represented clients on both the plaintiff and defense side in more than 100 class actions. For example, he served as co-lead appellate counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court class action case, TransUnion v. Ramirez and co-lead appellate counsel in the Sixth Circuit in In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation. His pro bono cases have included death penalty, civil rights, and veterans’ rights cases.

In 2013, Professor Klonoff received the Oregon Consular Corps’ individual award for international engagement. In 2018, Professor Klonoff received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of law from Who’s Who in America. In 2020, he received the Lewis & Clark Law School’s Leo Levenson Award for Excellence in Teaching (the law school’s most prestigious award).