Overview
This collection documents the professional career of David Westfall while a professor at the Harvard Law School. The collection consists almost entirely of his teaching and research materials, including syllabi and course material, exams, research notes, articles, and case reports.
Dates
- Creation: 1976 - 2005
Conditions Governing Access
Due to the nature of the collection, several folders are closed for research. Files containing student information, such as grades, are closed for 80 years; those with Harvard Law School or Harvard University administrative records are closed for 50 years. All restrictions are noted in the container list below. Access to these papers is governed by the rules and regulations of the Harvard Law School Library. This collection is open to the public, but is housed off-site at Harvard Depository and requires 2 business-day advance notice for retrieval. Consult the Historical & Special Collections staff for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Harvard Law School Library holds copyright on some, but not all, of the material in our collections. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be directed to the Historical & Special Collections staff. Researchers who obtain permission to publish from the Harvard Law School Library are also responsible for identifying and contacting the persons or organizations who hold copyright.
Extent
1 collection (15 linear feet in 15 boxes.)This collection documents the professional career of David Westfall while a professor at the Harvard Law School. The collection consists almost entirely of his teaching and research materials, including syllabi and course material, exams, and copies of articles and case reports. The material spans the years 1976 until shortly before his death in 2005, with the bulk of the material dated from the mid-1990s through 2005. Included are teaching materials from Harvard Law School courses Employment Law and Discrimination, Family Law, Labor Law, and Property Law and Property Tax. The collection also contains materials from courses taught in the Harvard Law School’s Program of Instruction for Lawyers, and from courses taught overseas during his final years. Research materials are related to these courses and subjects. Included in the Property Law research materials is a substantial body of research dealing with new forms of property. This collection includes approximately thirty 3.5” diskettes, CD-ROMs, and other electronic media. A few individual diskettes were left in the folders in this collection. Most of the diskettes are housed in a separate box and may need to be reformatted before they can be viewed. Contact Historical & Special Collections for more information.
Historical/Biographical Information
David Westfall taught at the Harvard Law School for fifty years. During that time he taught many courses, including Accounting, Estate Planning, Family Law, Intellectual Property, Labor Law, Property I and II, Real Estate Planning, and Trusts and Estates. During his time at Harvard he served on several committees, including the Law School Admissions Committee and University Benefits Appeals Committee, both of which he chaired. He was a member of the American Association of University Professors and the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel. During his later years, he taught American Family Law, Labor & Employment Law, and Estate Planning as a guest lecturer in Spain, Chile, Italy, Germany, Japan, and aboard cruise ships. He also taught in the Law School’s Program of Instruction for Lawyers. In 2001, he was one of the first Law School faculty members to volunteer as a 1L section leader.
- April 16, 1927Born in Columbia, Missouri
- 1947B.A. Economics, University of Missouri
- 1950LL.B. Harvard Law School. Member, Harvard Law Review. Received Fay Diploma for highest combined grade point average.
- 1950?Served in the Office of the Judge Advocate General, Washington, D.C.
- 1950-1955Practiced law at Bell, Boyd, Marshall & Lloyd, Chicago, Illinois
- 1955Joined the Harvard Law School faculty
- 1958Received tenure
- 1961-1966Assistant Reporter, American Law Institute
- 1964-1968Consultant to U.S. Department of the Treasury
- 1980-1983Named John L. Watson, Jr. Chair, Harvard Law School
- 1983-2005Named John L. Gray Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
- 1991-2005Member of the ALI's consultative group on the principles of the law of family dissolution
- 1996-2005Named Carl F. Schipper, Jr. Chair, Harvard Law School
- December 7, 2005Died, age 78
- April 16, 1927
- Born in Columbia, Missouri
- 1947
- B.A. Economics, University of Missouri
- 1950
- LL.B. Harvard Law School. Member, Harvard Law Review. Received Fay Diploma for highest combined grade point average.
- 1950?
- Served in the Office of the Judge Advocate General, Washington, D.C.
- 1950-1955
- Practiced law at Bell, Boyd, Marshall & Lloyd, Chicago, Illinois
- 1955
- Joined the Harvard Law School faculty
- 1958
- Received tenure
- 1961-1966
- Assistant Reporter, American Law Institute
- 1964-1968
- Consultant to U.S. Department of the Treasury
- 1980-1983
- Named John L. Watson, Jr. Chair, Harvard Law School
- 1983-2005
- Named John L. Gray Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
- 1991-2005
- Member of the ALI's consultative group on the principles of the law of family dissolution
- 1996-2005
- Named Carl F. Schipper, Jr. Chair, Harvard Law School
- December 7, 2005
- Died, age 78
Series List/Description
- Series I. Harvard Law School Teaching and Research, 1976-20051976-2005
This series comprises the bulk of the collection. It isarranged alphabetically by subject. It includes course material andresearch material, mainly printouts and copies of articles and casereports, for Westfall’s Employment Law and Discrimination, FamilyLaw, Labor Law, and Property Law/Property Tax courses. Included inthe Property Law boxes is a significant amount of research materialcreated by Westfall and student assistants pertaining to new forms ofproperty such as taxi medallions, airport landing slots, and manymore. Westfall was working on a scholarly project about new forms ofproperty during his later years. At the end of this series is a smallamount of general and miscellaneous material related to Westfall’steaching and research at Harvard, including student information,descriptions of research projects, general administrative items, andhis publication Every Woman’s Guide to Financial Planning (1984).Some papers in this series will be closed.
- Series II. OtherTeaching: Program of Instruction for Lawyers and InternationalTeaching, 1997-20051997-2005
This series contains a small amount of materialrelated to Westfall’s teaching in the Harvard Law School’s Program ofInstruction for Lawyers (1997-2002) and in several countries(2003-2005). Some papers in this series will be closed.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated to the Harvard Law School Library by the Westfall family, 2006
Processing Information
Processed by Karen Beck, April 2015.
Topical
- Discrimination in Employment—Study and Teaching
- Discrimination in Employment—Law and Legislation—United States
- Domestic Relations—Study and Teaching—United States
- Harvard Law School
- Harvard Law School—Faculty
- Labor Laws and Legislation—Study and Teaching
- Law—Study and Teaching
- Program of Instruction for Lawyers
- Property—Study and Teaching—United States
- Title
- Westfall, David. Papers, 1976-2005: Finding Aid
- Author
- Harvard Law School Library, Cambridge, MA 02138
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- law00275
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Law School Library, Historical & Special Collections Repository
Harvard Law School Library's Historical & Special Collections (HSC) collects, preserves, and makes available research materials for the study of the law and legal history. HSC holds over 8,000 linear feet of manuscripts, over 100,000 rare books, and more than 70,000 visual images.
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