Dr. William Stallworth

Dr. Stallworth is a founding faculty member of the Fowler School of Law.  He was hired in January 1995 by the President, Provost and Trustees of Chapman University to help the university create a law school.  Accordingly, in July 1995, Dr. Stallworth began work at a temporary space in an office building in Anaheim, California.  In May 1998, that early incarnation of the Fowler School of Law held commencement ceremonies for its first class of graduates.  The annual award given to the student in each first-year section with the highest grade in Contracts is named in Professor Stallworth's honor.

Dr. Stallworth chaired or served on the committees whose work created the Chapman University Fowler School of Law, it policies, and procedures --including the Dean Search Committee; Academic Standards; Faculty Appointments (Chairman); Library Committee; and the Rank and Tenure Committee (Chairman).  Notably, Dr. Stallworth also served on the committees devoted to Chapman's successful applications for provisional and then final ABA accreditation.  He also served on the committees devoted to the law school's successful application for membership in the Association of American Law Schools. 

During his tenure, Dr. Stallworth taught Commercial Drafting, Contracts, Remedies, Sales, and Secured Transactions.  From 1996 through 2004, Dr. Stallworth was the law school's Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service.   In addition, Dr. Stallworth served as Faculty Advisor to the Honor Council, the Office of Academic Assistance, the Public Interest Law Foundation, and other student organizations.  Dr. Stallworth also served on Chapman University's Faculty Executive Committee, Faculty Senate, and WASC Accreditation Committee. 

Dr. Stallworth's seminal work on section 2-318 of the Uniform Commercial Code has been cited by both the  Massachusetts Supreme Court (see, Jacobs v. Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA (420 Mass. 323) (March 6, 1995 - May 11, 1995); and also the Texas Supreme Court (see, Minnesota Mining &  Manufacturing Company v. Nishika Ltd., Lentec Corporation, et  al. (No. 94-1124) (Opinion Delivered October 2, 1997).  The work has also been cited in law school textbooks (see, e.g., Speidel and Rusch's Commercial Transactions - Sales, Leases and Licenses); in European scholarship (see Henry D.  Gabriel's "How International is the Sales Law of the United States," Rome, Italy (March 1999); and in leading legal treatises (see, e.g., Hawkland's Uniform Commercial Code Series Section 2-318, Third Party Beneficiaries of Warranties Express or Implied"; Williston On Contracts, Section 52:41, "Vertical privity"; American Law Reports, "Third party Beneficiaries of Warranties Under UCC Sec. 2-318," 50 A.L.R. 5th 327; Madden & Owen On Products Liability, sec. 4:11, "Notice of  Breach"; and, Modern Law of Contracts, sec. 9:29, "Privity and Third-party Beneficiaries, sec. 2-318"). 
  
Before joining Chapman University Fowler School of Law, Dr. Stallworth worked at the University of Dayton School of Law (1990-1995); as an Assistant Professor (1990-94), and later as an Associate Professor (1994-1995).  At the University of Dayton School of Law, Dr. Stallworth taught Antitrust, Commercial Drafting, Contracts, and Sales.  Dr. Stallworth was named Professor of the Year, an honor determined by the student body, at the University of Dayton School of Law (1991, 1992, 1993) and also Chapman University School of Law (1998). 

Before joining the University of Dayton School of Law, Dr. Stallworth worked as an attorney at General Electric Company (1982 - 1990), providing comprehensive legal services to a series of GE businesses selling products ranging from consumer appliances to CAD/CAM software designed for architects and engineers.