Robert Samuel Summers (September 19, 1933 – March 1, 2019) was an American legal scholar who was the former William G. McRoberts Research Professor in the Administration of the Law at the Cornell Law School. He retired in 2011.

Early life and education

Summers was born in 1933 on his family's 80-acre farm a few miles outside

Halfway, Oregon Halfway is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. The city took its name from the location of its post office, on the Alexander Stalker ranch, halfway between Pine and Jim Town. The population was 288 at the 2010 census. During the do ...

. His early academic education was limited, due to the difficulty in attracting good teachers to the remote valley in eastern Oregon. After graduating from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, he studied at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

as a Fulbright Scholar. He earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard Law School.

Career

Summers taught for 50 years, 42 of them at Cornell Law School. He won international acclaim for his work in contracts, commercial law,

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

, and

legal theory Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

. During his time at Cornell Law School, Summers authored and co-authored multiple works on various legal topics with a focus on contracts and commercial law. His treatise on the

Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of Uniform Acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through U ...

, co-authored with Professor

James J. White James Justesen White (born 1934) is an American legal scholar working as the Robert A. Sullivan Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. He has published the most widely recognized treatise on commercial law, ''Uniform Commercial ...

, is the most widely cited on the subject. His other influential works include texts on

legal realism Legal realism is a naturalistic approach to law. It is the view that jurisprudence should emulate the methods of natural science, i.e., rely on empirical evidence. Hypotheses must be tested against observations of the world. Legal realists b ...

, form and substance in the law, and on

statutory interpretation Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is often necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and a straightforward meani ...

. Summers has served as official advisor the drafting commissions of the

Civil Code of Russia The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (russian: Гражданский кодекс Российской Федерации, frequently abbreviated 'ГК РФ') is the prime source of civil law for the Russian Federation. The Russian Civil Law ...

and Egyptian Civil Code. Summers was also named principal co-drafter of a new code of contract law for Rwanda. He lectured annually on jurisprudence and legal theory in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In the 1960s, Summers began advocating for more minority students in law schools, holding summer sessions around the country, with Robert M. O'Neil of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, to recruit and prepare minority undergraduates. Summers taught contracts and American legal theory with his class mascot, "the particularistic contract snail," and last completed a book on the varieties of legal form and their importance in law, which is titled ''Form and Function in a Legal System: A General Study'', published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

. He was well known among Cornell Law School students for his inquisitive, spirited use of the

Socratic method The Socratic method (also known as method of Elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate) is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw ou ...

in instruction.

Personal life

Summers died on March 1, 2019, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Cornell Law School Faculty Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Robert S. 1933 births 2019 deaths People from Halfway, Oregon University of Oregon alumni Harvard Law School alumni American legal scholars Cornell Law School faculty Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge Fulbright alumni