James D. & Pamela J. Penny Professor and Rita Anne Rollins Professor of Law
Representative Professional Activities and Achievements
Professor Bruhl teaches and writes on statutory interpretation, federal courts, and the legislative process. His scholarly publications have appeared in many of the nation's leading law journals. He was elected to the American Law Institute in 2014. He has offered expert commentary for television, radio, magazines, and national wire services.
Professor Bruhl received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School. While at Yale, he served as Book Reviews Editor for the Yale Law Journal and also worked on the Yale Law & Policy Review and the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities. Professor Bruhl holds a master's degree in political theory from the University of Cambridge.
After law school, Professor Bruhl clerked for Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then worked as a litigation associate in the Washington DC office of Jenner & Block LLP. His work focused on federal appellate litigation and included cases involving election law, the First Amendment, federal Indian law, and copyright infringement over online peer-to-peer file-sharing services. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and New York.
Before joining the William & Mary faculty in 2015, Professor Bruhl taught at the University of Houston Law Center and served as a visiting professor at the University of Texas School of Law. He was a recipient of the university-wide Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence in 2017 and has been honored for his teaching through the Walter L. Williams Jr. Teaching Award (conferred by the graduating class of 2020) and the McGlothlin Teaching Award (awarded in 2026 by a committee of faculty, students, and alumni).
Articles
Public Reason as a Public Good, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(4 Journal of Law in Society 217-274 (2003))Using Statutes To Set Legislative Rules: Entrenchment, Separation of Powers, and the Rules of Proceedings Clause, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(19 Journal of Law & Politics 345-416 (2003))The New Line Item Veto Proposal: This Time It’s Constitutional (Mostly), Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(116 Yale Law Journal Pocket Part 84 (2006))If the Judicial Confirmation Process Is Broken, Can a Statute Fix It?, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(85 Nebraska Law Review 960-1014 (2007))Return of the Line Item Veto? Legalities, Practicalities, and Some Puzzles, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(10 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law 447-498 (2008))The Unconscionability Game: Strategic Judging and the Development of Federal Arbitration Law, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(83 New York University Law Review 1420-1490 (2008))The Supreme Court’s Controversial GVRs – and an Alternative, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(107 Michigan Law Review 711-756 (2009))Burying the “Continuing Body” Theory of the Senate, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(95 Iowa Law Review 1401-1466 (2010))Deciding When To Decide: How Appellate Procedure Distributes the Costs of Legal Change, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(96 Cornell Law Review 203-264 (2011))The Senate: Out of Order?, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(43 Connecticut Law Review 1041-1058 (2011))When Is Finality . . . Final? Rehearing and Resurrection in the Supreme Court, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(12 Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 1-24 (Spring 2011))Elected Judges and Statutory Interpretation, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl and Ethan J. Leib
(79 University of Chicago Law Review 1215-1284 (2012))Hierarchy and Heterogeneity: How To Read a Statute in a Lower Court, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(97 Cornell Law Review 433-500 (2012))Hierarchically Variable Deference to Agency Interpretations, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(89 Notre Dame Law Review 727-784 (2013))Following Lower-Court Precedent, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(81 University of Chicago Law review 851-927 (2014))Measuring Circuit Splits: A Cautionary Note, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(3 Journal of Legal Metrics 361-383 (2014))Communicating the Canons: How Lower Courts React When the Supreme Court Changes the Rules of Statutory Interpretation, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(100 Minnesota Law Review 481-558 (2015))One Good Plaintiff Is Not Enough, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(67 Duke Law Journal 481-556 (2017))Separating Amicus Wheat from Chaff, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl and Adam Feldman
(106 Georgetown Law Journal Online 135-150 (2017))The Jurisdiction Canon, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(70 Vanderbilt Law Review 499-563 (2017))Statutory Interpretation and the Rest of the Iceberg: Divergences between the Lower Federal Courts and the Supreme Court, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(68 Duke Law Journal 1-73 (2018))Eager to Follow: Methodological Precedent in Statutory Interpretation, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(99 North Carolina Law Review 101-166 (2020))The Remand Power and the Supreme Court's Role, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(96 Notre Dame Law Review 171-247 (2020))Improving (and Avoiding) Interstate Interpretive Encounters, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(2022 Wisconsin Law Review 1139-1167)Interpreting State Statutes in Federal Court, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(98 Notre Dame Law Review 61-127 (2022))The Supreme Court Review Act: Fast-Tracking the Interbranch Dialogue and Destabilizing the Filibuster, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(25 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law Online (2023))Law and Equity on Appeal, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(124 Columbia Law Review 2307-2369 (2024))Supreme Court Litigators in the Age of Textualism, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(76 Florida Law Review 59-101 (2024))Judge Platt Potter: Politics and Principle in Interbranch Conflict, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(8 Law & History Review / The Docket (Dec. 2025))Understanding the Mechanisms of Interpretative Change, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(103 North Carolina Law Review 1083-1141 (2025))Statutory Backups for Endangered Constitutional Rights, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(111 Iowa Law Review 1397-1439 (2026))Encyclopedia Entries
Abbott Labs v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136 (1967), Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States 1-2 (Macmillan/Gale, 2008))Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States 491-492 (Macmillan/Gale, 2008))Abstention Doctrine, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(Encyclopedia of the United States Constitution 5-6 (Facts on File, 2009))Contempt of Congress, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(Encyclopedia of Political Science 298-299 (CQ Press/Sage, 2011))Precedent, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(Encyclopedia of Political Science 1339 (CQ Press/Sage, 2011))Notes
Justice Unconceived: How Posterity Has Rights, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(14 Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities 393-440 (2002))Responses or Comments
Against Mix-and-Match Lawmaking, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(16 Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy 349-362 (2007))Judicial Activism and the Problem of Induction, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
(16 Green Bag 2D 453-454 (2013))