Michael Gerhardt

Michael J. Gerhardt is the Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at the

Gerhardt joined the UNC law faculty in 2005.[9] Prior to UNC, Gerhardt worked at Wake Forest School of Law and William & Mary Law School, served as dean of the Law School at Case Western Reserve, and had been a visiting professor at Duke and Cornell Law Schools. Gerhardt is the author of several books regarding constitutional law and history, including The Power of Precedent.^[10] His most recent book is The Forgotten Presidents: Their Untold Constitutional Legacy, published in April 2013 by Oxford University Press.^[11]

Gerhardt has assisted members of Congress and the White House on a range of various constitutional issues, beginning with drafting the judicial selection policy for the transition of Bill Clinton into office. Gerhardt then worked with the National Commission on Judicial Discipline and Removal.^[12] He has testified several times before the House Judiciary Committee, including as the only joint witness in the 1998 hearing on the history of U.S. impeachment, during the consideration of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.^[13] Also, he was one of only two legal scholars to testify against the constitutionality of the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, which the Supreme Court struck down in Clinton v. City of New York.^[14]

In 2009, he testified as an expert before the select House committee considering whether to impeach Judge Thomas Porteous.^[15] He also has testified before the Senate regarding the constitutionality of filibustering.^[16]

Gerhardt has worked and testified in Senate confirmation proceedings for Supreme Court Justices, beginning in 1994 when he counseled the White House regarding Associate Justice

In the 2021 Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, Gerhardt served as special counsel to the presiding officer Patrick Leahy.^[22]

Gerhardt is interviewed frequently by many news outlets, including

Gerhardt is married to Deborah Gerhardt, who teaches contracts, copyright, and trademark law at the University of North Carolina School of Law. They have three children together – Benjamin, Daniel, and Noah Gerhardt.^[25]

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