Kent Barnett, B.A., J.D.
Kent Barnett is the 21st dean of the Michael E. Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University and the J. Gilbert Reese Chair in Contract Law. He is focused on bringing people in—by enriching the College’s inclusive community and increasing financial support for students—and then bringing them up—by focusing on community-building, career development, and rigorous legal training.
As a scholar of separation of powers and administrative law, his scholarship has been published in, among other places, the New York University, Michigan, Duke, Vanderbilt, and Notre Dame Law Reviews. Barnett’s work has been cited by leading administrative law casebooks, federal district and appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has taught contracts and sales, consumer law, legal ethics, and administrative law.
Prior to joining Ohio State, Barnett served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the J. Alton Hosch Professor at the University of Georgia School of Law. He received the C. Ronald Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching, the school’s highest teaching honor, and was selected to serve as a faculty marshal by three graduating classes for commencement ceremonies. Barnett also clerked for Judge John Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and practiced law at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in its complex commercial litigation and appellate groups.
After years as an appointed public member, Barnett is a Senior Fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) and was the chair of AALS Administrative Law Section.
To connect with Dean Barnett, please reach out to his Executive Assistant, Tara Weld at 614-688-4151 or weld.3@osu.edu.
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Kent Barnett, Administrative Law (6th ed., 2025)
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Kent Barnett & Christopher J. Walker, Chevron and Stare Decisis, 31 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 475 (2024) (symposium essay)
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Kent Barnett, How Chevron Deference Fits into Article III, 89 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1143 (2021)
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Kent Barnett, Administrative Law ((5th ed., 2021)
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Kent Barnett & Lindsey Vinson, Chevron Abroad, 96 Notre Dame L. Rev. 621 (2020)
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Kent Barnett, Regulating Impartiality in Agency Adjudication, 69 Duke L.J. 1695 (2020) (symposium article)
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Kent Barnett, Towards Optimal Enforcement, 72 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 127 (2019)
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Kent Barnett, Some Kind of Hearing Officer, 94 Wash. L. Rev. 515 (2019)
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Kent Barnett, Due Process for Article III, 26 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 677 (2019) (symposium article)
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Kent Barnett, Christina L. Boyd & Christopher J. Walker, Administrative Law’s Political Dynamics, 71 Vand. L. Rev. 1463 (2018)
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Kent Barnett, Christina L. Boyd & Christopher J. Walker, The Politics of Selecting Chevron Deference, 15 Empirical L. Stud. 597 (2018) (peer-reviewed)
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Kent Barnett & Christopher J. Walker, Chevron Step Two’s Domain, 93 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1441 (2018) (symposium essay)
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Kent Barnett, Why Bias Challenges to Administrative Adjudication Should Succeed, 81 Mo. L. Rev. 1023 (2017) (symposium essay)
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Kent Barnett, How the Supreme Court Derailed Formal Rulemaking, 85 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo 1 (2017) (online and in print)
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Kent Barnett & Christopher J. Walker, Short-Circuiting the New Major Questions Doctrine, 70 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 147 (2017) (invited response)
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Kent Barnett & Christopher J. Walker, Chevron in the Circuit Courts, 116 Mich. L. Rev. 1 (2017) (symposium essay)
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Kent Barnett, Against Administrative Judges, 49 UC Davis L. Rev. 1643 (2016)
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Kent Barnett, Standing for (and up to) Separation of Powers, 91 Ind. L.J. 665 (2016)
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Kent Barnett, Codifying Chevmore, 90 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1 (2015)
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Kent Barnett, Avoiding Independent Agency Armageddon, 87 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1349 (2012)
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Kent Barnett, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Appointment with Trouble, 60 Am. U. L. Rev. 1459 (2011) (symposium essay)
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Angela Zambrano & Kent Barnett, Putting the Cart Before the Horse: Should a Court Certify a Class of Residential Consumers Seeking a Declaration that the Consumers—if They Later Choose—Are Entitled to Rescind for a TILA Violation?, 125 Banking L.J. 160 (2008)
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Kent Barnett, Lending a Helping Hand?—A Guide to Kentucky’s New Predatory Lending Law, 93 Ky. L.J. 473 (2005)