Byron Stier is a recognized expert in mass tort litigation. He has spoken at, or served as moderator for, more than thirty scholarly presentations or panels around the country and the world. In addition, in conjunction with the Southwestern Law Review, he has co-chaired three symposia regarding asbestos litigation; science, technology, and innovation in torts; and the Restatement (Third) of Torts. His scholarship, which includes more than a dozen articles and book chapters, has been cited by federal and state courts, the American Law Institute, American Bar Association, Federal Judicial Center, and legal treatises. Associate Dean Stier was named Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives at Southwestern in 2016 and Director of the J.D. Concentration in Civil Litigation and Advocacy in 2020. He previously served as Associate Dean for Research from 2015 to 2016 and Co-Director of the Summer Law Program in Vancouver from 2013 to 2014. He was named the 2009 Irving D. and Florence Rosenberg Professor of Law in recognition of his outstanding service, teaching, and scholarship.
Associate Dean Stier has been actively involved in service to professional groups. He has served as Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and member of the Executive Committee of the Section on Litigation of the Association of American Law Schools. In addition, he has served as Co-President, Vice President, Speaker Chair, and Board Member of the Harvard Law School Association of Los Angeles, and Member of the Council of the worldwide Harvard Law School Association. Moreover, he has served as Liaison of the ABA Section of International Law to the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and as Vice Chair of the International Ethics Committee of the ABA Section of International Law. He has also been named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation for outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of one’s community.
Associate Dean Stier began his legal career in 1996 at Jones Day in New York. During his five years with the firm, he primarily handled cases involving products liability litigation and served on a lead counsel team representing the tobacco industry in numerous proposed class-action lawsuits across the country. In 2001, he joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in the firm’s mass torts group, where he coordinated scientific evidence in a federal multidistrict litigation concerning cough-cold medications and appetite suppressants. He left private practice in 2003 to enter academia as a Freedman Fellow and Lecturer in Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia. In 2005, he joined the Southwestern faculty, where he has taught courses on Torts, Mass Tort Litigation, Legal Profession, Global Tort Litigation, Civil Procedure II, and Products Liability.
Associate Dean Stier has been quoted on issues related to mass tort litigation and legal education in major newspaper and news services, including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, Reuters, Forbes, National Law Journal, Los Angeles Daily News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Legal Intelligencer, and Inside Higher Ed, as well as All Things Considered on National Public Radio (NPR). In addition, he serves as editor of the Mass Tort Litigation Blog, which has received more than 935,000 page views globally since he founded it in 2006 and which includes as co-editors several leading mass tort litigation scholars from across the country.
