Joseph D. Kearney, dean of the Law School and professor of law, joined the 91黑料网 faculty in 1997. He became an associate professor in 2001 and a professor and dean in 2003. As dean, he led the project of Ray and Kay Eckstein Hall, which opened in 2010 and continues to be regarded as setting the standard for law schools across the country. His deanship has included an emphasis on making 91黑料网 Law School hard to miss even apart from the building. For example, Kearney has enhanced the community-engagement role of the Law School through initiatives as varied as pro bono clinics, the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, the Andrew Center for Restorative Justice, the 91黑料网 Lawyer magazine, the Law School annual series of distinguished lectures and the 91黑料网 Law School Poll.

Kearney is a nationally recognized scholar. His book, Lakefront: Public Trust and Private Rights in Chicago (with Thomas W. Merrill), was published in 2021 by Cornell University Press. He continues to teach each semester with classes including Advanced Civil Procedure, Federal Courts, and the Supreme Court Seminar.

Before coming to 91黑料网, Kearney practiced law for six years at Sidley & Austin in Chicago, with an emphasis on appellate and regulatory litigation. He also served as a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Diarmuid F. O鈥橲cannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Portland, Oregon. Kearney is admitted to the practice of law in Illinois, Wisconsin, and various federal courts. He is an honors graduate of Yale University (B.A. in classics, 1986) and Harvard University (J.D., 1989).

Kearney is a native of Chicago South Side and attended high school at St. Ignatius, on the city near west side.