About John K.
John K. Setear has built a career that moves between the corridors of government and the lecture halls of a law school. His résumé lists high-level clerkships, a stint as a policy analyst, and a long tenure on a major law faculty. He is a familiar figure in legal education circles in the District of Columbia and Charlottesville.
He completed his undergraduate studies at Williams College, where he earned a B.A. in economics in 1981 after beginning college in 1977. He then attended Yale Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1984. Those formative years set the stage for a sequence of professional posts that began immediately after law school.
His early legal experience includes federal appellate and Supreme Court clerkships. In 1984 he served as a law clerk to Judge Carl E. McGowan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The following year he clerked for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at the United States Supreme Court. Those positions placed him at the center of high-stakes legal deliberations and exposed him to a broad array of constitutional and administrative issues.
After his clerkships he spent time at the RAND Corporation. In 1990 he worked as a policy analyst in RAND's behavioral sciences department. He has been a member of the District of Columbia Bar since 1988 and maintains his membership there. Those years combined practical policy work with legal practice credentials and preceded his move into academia.
In 1998 he joined the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law as a professor of law. His academic career spans teaching, advising students, and participating in faculty governance. Over time he has contributed to a university environment that links legal education to public policy questions. Rather than a private practice lawyer, he has spent the bulk of his professional life in scholarship and instruction.
He remains on the University of Virginia School of Law faculty, where he teaches and pursues scholarship. His current work continues to engage law students and the broader academic community at the university.
