We are pleased to be able to introduce readers to 10 new faculty members joining Texas Law during the 2025-26 academic year. So that we can focus on each scholar’s work, we will be sharing their stories across three articles over the course of two weeks. This is Part II, profiling Professors Paul Gugliuzza, Assistant Professor Susan Yorke, and AI Innovation Fellow Kevin Frazier.
Our world-class faculty is getting even bigger and better this year.”
Dean Bobby Chesney
Texas Law is welcoming a record 10 new teachers and scholars to its faculty for the coming school year, capping off a busy and productive hiring campaign.
“Our world-class faculty is getting even bigger and better this year,” says Dean Bobby Chesney. “We’re adding to our depth, range, and excellence in timely and important areas of the law. This is fantastic for everybody—especially our students.”
The newest faculty members include six people joining the research faculty, with four senior scholars and two early-career rising stars; two new lecturers, one joining from the adjunct ranks and one who was previously a visiting instructor; and two academic fellows.
“This is an incredible variety of talents,” says Melissa Wasserman, Texas Law’s associate dean for research. “Each one is doing important work that will enrich our learning and research environment.”
Professors Rachel Rebouché and Paul Gugliuzza are both joining Texas Law from Temple University Beasley School of Law, where Rebouché served as dean from 2022 until this spring. Professor Avihay Dorfman arrives in Austin from the University of Tel Aviv’s Buchmann School of Law, while Professor Aaron Nielson moves to Texas Law from Brigham Young University, as well as a tenure as Texas’ solicitor general, a role he held from 2023 until this June.
This is an incredible variety of talents.
Melissa Wasserman,
associate dean for research
Susan Yorke and Alexander Zhang each come to the Forty Acres as assistant professors. Yorke was most recently a lecturer at Stanford Law School, while Zhang was at Yale Law School.
Texas Law’s newest lecturers are no strangers to the Law School. Christopher Kulander taught last year as a visiting lecturer, making the commute from Houston, where he was previously a professor at the South Texas College of Law. He is now a senior lecturer. And Lauren Tanner Bradley not only taught as an adjunct last year, but she is also an alumna, having earned her Juris Doctor as a member of the Class of 2008.
Texas Law is also welcoming two new fellows. Kevin Frazier is the inaugural AI Innovation Fellow and he is directing the school’s new AI Innovation and Law Program. He was previously an assistant professor at Miami’s St. Thomas University College of Law. Prachi Mehta is the first awardee of Texas Law’s relaunched Academic Fellows program, supporting emerging scholars aspiring to join the legal academy. She was previously a litigator in California.
For Part II of this year’s “Meet Our New Faculty” series, we’re profiling Professor Paul Gugliuzza, Assistant Professor Susan Yorke, and Fellow Kevin Frazier.
Paul Gugliuzza
Professor
Paul Gugliuzza is an acclaimed scholar and an award-winning teacher in the fields of civil procedure, federal courts, and intellectual property law. In addition to leading a new law and technology colloquium, he’ll be teaching intellectual property and patent law.
Late of Temple University’s Beasley College of Law, Gugliuzza has also made his mark at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law and then Boston University School of Law, where he received the Dean’s Award in recognition of his work in the classroom.
Gugliuzza loves making an impact and his scholarship has been cited in two dozen judicial opinions. He’s also testified multiple times before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. “The Texas Law faculty is among the most highly respected in the entire country, particularly in my field of intellectual property law,” says Gugliuzza. “I can’t wait.”
He adds, “I’ve already had the good fortune of meeting numerous students interested in intellectual property law through national events. Their energy and enthusiasm will undoubtedly make me a better teacher and scholar.”
Gugliuzza graduated from Tulane University School of Law, then clerked for Judge Ronald M. Gould on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma.
Susan Yorke
Assistant Professor
Susan Yorke is joining Texas Law this year after having served as a lecturer at Stanford University Law School and a co-teacher at Berkeley Law. She studies the interplay between procedure and appellate decision-making through research that looks at how courts interpret and use precedent, as well as the ways in which court procedure and methodology impact judicial opinions and institutional integrity.
She will be teaching Torts next spring. “The talented and kind students and the exceptional faculty drew me to Texas Law,” says Yorke. “The school fosters achievement at the highest levels while at the same time maintaining a collaborative and welcoming atmosphere.”
Yorke is a Columbia Law School graduate and earned her M.P.A. from Princeton University. She has her bachelor’s degree from Williams College. After law school, she served as court counsel to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau and clerked for Judges Susan P. Graber and Edward Leavy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Her newest article, “The Curious Case of the Missing Canons,” appeared in Stanford Law Review.
Kevin Frazier
AI Innovation Fellow
Kevin Frazier will lead Texas Law’s new AI Innovation and Law Program, which Dean Bobby Chesney has described as “an exciting new initiative intended to serve as a focal point for the growing array of AI-related activities at our School while also contributing in unique ways to the national dialogue around AI.”
Frazier’s research explores the intersection of emerging technology, consumer protection, and individual liberty. His work on AI law and policy has been published in numerous academic journals as well as in The Regulatory Review, Reason, and Lawfare, where he serves as a senior editor.
For the past two years, Frazier was a senior researcher at the Institute for Law & AI. In 2023–24, he taught at Thomas University’s Benjamin L. Crump College of Law. He previously served as a judicial clerk for the Montana Supreme Court.
Frazier looks forward to joining Texas Law and living in the capitol city. “If you’re in Austin, then you’re committed to progress and innovation,” he says. “It presents us all with a meaningful chance to make a real difference in shaping the future of the university, Texas, the United States, and beyond.”
Frazier earned his Juris Doctor from the UC Berkeley School of Law, an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Oregon.
Meet Our New Faculty — Fall 2025 Series
Part I — Meet Professors Aaron Nielson and Rachel Rebouché, and Assistant Professor Alexander Zhang
Part II — Meet Professor Paul Gugliuzza, Assistant Professor Susan Yorke, and Fellow Kevin Frazier