Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, California

After graduating from Hillsdale, I obtained my law degree from Notre Dame Law School, where I served as a note editor on the Notre Dame Law Review. I clerked for the Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis, Missouri. I then practiced litigation at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago, where I dealt with white collar criminal defense, commercial contract disputes, derivative shareholder suits, and appellate litigation. I served as a visiting assistant professor and Shughart Scholar at the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, where I taught Civil Procedure and Federal Courts. I joined Pepperdine in 2011, where I have taught in the areas of civil procedure, complex civil litigation, election law, and administrative law. My research and writing focuses on election law, particularly federalism and the role of states in federal elections. I am admitted to practice in the state of Illinois.

My professors taught me the ability to think critically and to write clearly. Their mentorship and guidance has been invaluable.

Take challenging classes, and take a variety of classes. There are many subjects I wish I'd had the opportunity to study in my short time at Hillsdale, and for those courses I did take, the most rigorous ones have left the greatest impression upon me.

I was visiting liberal arts schools, and during my visit to Hillsdale I mentioned to my tour guide that I was looking at another liberal arts school in the area. She recommended I look at the course catalog for that school and for Hillsdale. And when I did, there was no comparison. The Hillsdale course catalog describes the great subjects of the West; the course catalogs I saw of other schools emphasized fleeting subjects or silly courses. It was a remarkable moment, and it was a significant factor in my decision.

For four years, Hillsdale provided me the foundation for my legal career, a foundation, in my view, unmatched by any other institution of higher learning. Faculty members are both sincerely committed to teaching and profoundly influential in helping shape the intellectual tradition of our nation. In history, English, constitutional law, and other courses, I remain indebted to their service.

Meeting my lovely wife Emily! And making so many like-minded friends with long-lasting relationships I hold dear to this day.

derek.muller@pepperdine.edu