John W. Wade Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law
Richard L. Cupp, Jr. serves as the John W. Wade Professor of Law at Pepperdine Law School. He loves teaching and working with students. He is widely recognized as a leading scholar and commentator in the fields of torts and products liability law. He has authored more than 20 significant scholarly articles and numerous shorter articles. Professor Cupp is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and he has served as chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Torts and Compensation Systems.
In addition to his work in torts and products liability, Professor Cupp writes and speaks extensively about the legal and moral status of animals. He has advised many organizations on these subjects, including the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science, Technology and Law, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Neuroscience, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Association for Biomedical Research, the Animal Health Institute, and the American Animal Hospital Association.
General Counsel, Center for Individual Rights
Darpana Sheth joined CIR as General Counsel in May 2025. She is a nationally recognized constitutional litigator with over two decades of experience serving in in leadership roles at other nonprofit organizations.
Before joining CIR, Darpana served for four years as Vice President of Litigation for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Prior to that, Darpana was a Senior Attorney with the Institute for Justice, where she also served as Director of the Institute’s National Initiative to End Forfeiture Abuse.
Before finding her calling as a public-interest attorney, Darpana served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York and worked in private practice as a litigation associate at the Manhattan law firm of Chadbourne & Parke, LLP. She also served as law clerk to the Honorable Jerome A. Holmes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
A native of Philadelphia, Darpana graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History. She earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Senior Legal Fellow, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
Topics
The Georgia Fake Electors Scheme: What Does Legal and Political History Tell Us About These Charges?
Five of the 19 defendants indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis are alleged...
Human Responsibility, Not Legal Personhood, For Nonhuman Animals
Richard L. Cupp
Introduction We should focus on human legal accountability for responsible treatment of nonhuman animals rather...
Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Forfeiture Laws
Darpana Sheth Nunziata
Note from the Editor: This article is about civil forfeiture laws. As always, the Federalist...
Boeing v. NLRB: What is at Stake for South Carolina?
Greenville, South CarolinaThe Future of Judicial Elections and Recusals After Caperton
Atlanta, Georgia