Ward Farnsworth
Farnsworth in 2012
Born	1967 (age 57–58) Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Wesleyan University University of Chicago Law School
Occupation	Dean
Employer	University of Texas School of Law
Website	http://www.wardfarnsworth.com/ http://www.chesstactics.org/

Ward Farnsworth (born 1967)^[1] is Professor of Law and holder of the W. Page Keeton Chair at theUniversity of Texas School of Law, where he was Dean from 2012 to 2022. He served as Reporter for theAmerican Law Institute’sRestatement of the Law Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm, and is the author of books on law, rhetoric, philosophy, and chess.

Farnsworth graduated fromWesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut in 1989 (B.A.) and with high honors from theUniversity of Chicago Law School in 1994 (J.D.).

Immediately after law school, Farnsworth served as a law clerk for JudgeRichard A. Posner on theSeventh Circuit and then clerked for JusticeAnthony M. Kennedy of theUnited States Supreme Court. He then worked as a Legal Adviser to theIran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague.

Prior to beginning his tenure as dean at Texas, Farnsworth taught for 15 years atBoston University School of Law,^[2] and served several years as associate dean for academic affairs. He was appointed Dean of the University of Texas School of Law in May 2012.^[3] He has received many teaching awards over the years, including the United Methodist Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 2009 from Boston University.^[2]

Farnsworth has written on a wide range of subjects. His legal writing includes articles on economic analysis of law, constitutional law, statutory interpretation, and legal applications of cognitive psychology. He is author ofRestitution: Civil Liability for Unjust Enrichment (Chicago 2014),^[4] andThe Legal Analyst: A Toolkit for Thinking About the Law (Chicago 2007),^[5] an acclaimed guide to interdisciplinary approaches to legal thought. He is Reporter for theAmerican Law Institute’s Restatement Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm. He also is the co-author (with Mark F. Grady) of a casebook on the law of torts, and co-author (with Andrew Kull) of a casebook on the law of restitution, both published by Aspen.

Farnsworth is the author of four books on the English language:Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric (Godine 2010),Farnsworth's Classical English Metaphor (Godine 2016),Farnsworth's Classical English Style (Godine 2020), andFarnsworth's Classical English Argument (Godine 2024), all of which have received critical acclaim.^{[citation needed]} He is also the author of two books on philosophy,The Practicing Stoic (Godine 2018) andThe Socratic Method (Godine 2021), and a treatise on chess, which is available online.

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 1)

• "Author site".
• "Ward Farnsworth: Articles available for download".
• "The Legal Analyst: A Toolkit for Thinking about the Law".
• "Ward Farnsworth: Chess Tactics".
• "Classical English Rhetoric andClassical English Metaphor – Reviewed by Richard A. Lanham".
• "Classical English Rhetoric – Reviewed by Michael Dirda".The Washington Post.
• Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric – Reviewed byGeoffrey K. Pullum
• "Classical English Rhetoric – Reviewed by Carlin Romano". January 11, 2011.
• McIntyre, John E."Classical English Metaphor – Reviewed by John McIntyre". Archived fromthe original on October 4, 2018. RetrievedDecember 3, 2017.
• "Classical English Style – Reviewed by Barton Swaim in the Wall St. Journal)".
• "The Practicing Stoic – Reviewed by Michael DirdaThe Washington Post".
• "The Socratic Method – Reviewed by Martha BaylesWall Street Journal".

• Living people
• 1967 births
• Legal educators
• Wesleyan University alumni
• University of Chicago Law School alumni
• Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Boston University faculty
• University of Texas School of Law faculty
• American legal writers
• Deans of law schools in the United States

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
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• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2025