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Richard Peltz-Steele

faculty

Richard Peltz-Steele

Chancellor Professor

Law School / Faculty

Contact

508-985-1102

508-985-1115

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UMass School of Law 227

Education

Duke UniversityJD
Washington & Lee UniversityBA

Teaching

  • Tort law
  • Comparative law
  • Freedom of information law

Teaching

Programs

Teaching

Courses

A study of the law, policy, and theory of civil wrongs not arising from contract, including topics such as intentional torts; negligence; strict, vicarious, and products liability; and defenses, such as consent, assumption of risk, and comparative fault.

A study of the law, policy, and theory of civil wrongs not arising from contract, including topics such as intentional torts; negligence; strict, vicarious, and products liability; and defenses, such as consent, assumption of risk, and comparative fault.

Exploration of legal methods and institutions comparing United States with other regions of the world. The course addresses major global legal traditions with emphasis on classical distinction between civil law and common law. Students are exposed to basic sources in key foreign jurisdictions, such as the EU, and foreign law questions that arise in domestic legal proceedings. Final paper.

Exploration of legal methods and institutions comparing United States with other regions of the world. The course addresses major global legal traditions with emphasis on classical distinction between civil law and common law. Students are exposed to basic sources in key foreign jurisdictions, such as the EU, and foreign law questions that arise in domestic legal proceedings. Final paper.

Exploration of legal methods and institutions comparing United States with other regions of the world. The course addresses major global legal traditions with emphasis on classical distinction between civil law and common law. Students are exposed to basic sources in key foreign jurisdictions, such as the EU, and foreign law questions that arise in domestic legal proceedings. Final paper.

Research

Research interests

  • Civil/human rights and freedom of expression
  • Mass communication and journalism
  • Social and economic development
  • Sport and society

Professional background

Peltz-Steele received his law degree from Duke University and a bachelor’s in journalism and Spanish from Washington & Lee University. Peltz-Steele has won awards in teaching, research, and public service. He practiced commercial law in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and taught law for more than thirteen years before coming to UMass Law in 2011.

Peltz-Steele is author, co-author, or co-editor of qualitative and quantitative research in law and mass communication in journals and books, of treatises in law and development and access to information, and of textbooks in tort law and freedom of information. He is especially active in international media law and policy, having presented papers on five continents and having published in foreign journals and multinational collaborations. His current research focuses on comparative transparency in the context of development and in the private sector. Peltz-Steele serves in various roles in public service organizations, including the legal education committee of the American Bar Association, International Law Section.

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