Jan Deutsch

Jan G. Deutsch (1935-) is a philosopher and legal scholar best known for his work on the philosophy of corporate law, jurisprudence, and the cultural underpinnings of capitalist democracy. Deutsch's most recent book, "Power and Precedent" (Vandeplas, 2007), is a summation of his work on United States jurisprudence over the past few decades.

Deutsch is currently Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Emeritus and Professorial Lecturer at Yale Law School. He received a B.A., Ph.D., and J.D. from Yale, after which he practiced law at a firm in Cleveland for a short time (with current Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia) before joining the Yale Law faculty in 1966. Deutsch's two most famous published works are "Selling the People’s Cadillac: The Edsel and Corporate Responsibility" (Yale University Press, 1976), a diagnosis of social ills as seen through the lens of a failed automobile, and a 1969 article, “Neutrality, Legitimacy, and the Supreme Court: Some Intersections Between Law and Political Science,” 20 Stan. L. Rev. 169, on fundamental rights vs. opinions.

Deutsch has long been a controversial figure because of his outspoken criticisms of fellow legal academics. According to Deutsch, much of current legal discourse is but a self-justification for the existence of legal academics as a breed. This is seen by many as underlying Deutsch's refusal to publish his current work for over ten years.

Former President Bill Clinton wrote, in his autobiography, of Deutsch: "He was the only man I'd ever met who ate all of an apple, including the core. He said all the good minerals were there. He was smarter than I was, so I tried it. Once in a while, I still do, with fond memories of Professor Deutsch."