Phil C. Neal
American legal scholar
Phil C. Neal (July 30, 1919 – September 27, 2016) was an American legal scholar who served as the 6th dean of the University of Chicago Law School from 1963 to 1975. Under his leadership, the law school recruited many influential scholars who contributed to the law and economics movement.
Early life and education
Neal was born on July 30, 1919, in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. He graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1936. As a student, Neal was influenced by his English teacher and debate coach, John Gehlmann, who played a part in moulding Neal's succinct and persuasive writing style. Neal graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. summa cum laude in 1940. In 1943, he graduated from Harvard Law School with a LL.B. magna cum laude and served as president of the Harvard Law Review.
Career
After graduating from law school, Neal worked as a law clerk to Justice Robert H. Jackson on the U.S. Supreme Court between 1943 and 1945. He left his clerkship early to work for Alger Hiss on the United Nations Conference on International Organization conference in San Francisco in April 1945. After the conference, he practised law in San Francisco for three years before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1948.
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