Hugh & Nolie Haynes Professor of Law
Areas of Specialization
Criminal Law; Criminal Law--White Collar Crime; Criminal Procedure Law
Representative Professional Activities and Achievements
Adam Gershowitz received his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Delaware. He then earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif, won the Roger and Madeleine Traynor Prize for best paper by a graduating student, and served as the Articles Development Editor of the Virginia Law Review. After law school, Professor Gershowitz served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert B. King of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and worked as a litigation associate at Covington & Burling. Prior to joining William & Mary, Professor Gershowitz taught at the University of Houston Law Center and South Texas College of Law. Professor Gershowitz has won ten teaching awards, including the Professor of the Year prize at three different law schools. At William & Mary, he has been honored with the McGlothlin Teaching Award, the Walter L. Williams, Jr. Memorial Teaching Award, and the 1L Professor of the Year. Previously, he was awarded the All University Teaching Award at the University of Houston. Outside of the classroom, Professor Gershowitz has been quoted in hundreds of media stories, including in N.Y. Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, L.A Times, and NPR. Professor Gershowitz is the author of more than forty scholarly articles. The College of William & Mary recognized Professor Gershowitz's research with a Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence in 2015. The Supreme Court cited his amicus brief in its ruling in Riley v. California, which forbid warrantless cell phone searches. Professor Gershowitz served as the Vice Dean from 2021 to 2023 and as the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development from 2015 to 2019.
Articles
The Psychology of a Favor: Why Hidden Witness Payments Demand a New Brady Rule, Adam M. Gershowitz
(94 George Washington Law Review 259-321 (2026))Accidental Brady Violations, Adam M. Gershowitz
(12 Texas A&M Law Review 533-590 (2025))Mercy for the Masses: A Default Rule for Automatically Triggered Commutations, Adam Gershowitz
(102 Texas Law Review 1431-1447 (2024))The Prosecutor Vacancy Crisis, Adam M. Gershowitz
(50 BYU Law Review 355-430 (2024))Laundering Police Lies, Adam Gershowitz and Caroline E. Lewis
(2023 Wisconsin Law Review 1187-1246)The Tesla Meets the Fourth Amendment, Adam M. Gershowitz
(48 Brigham Young University Law Review 1135-1184 (2023))Old Age as the Hidden Sentencing Factor, Adam M. Gershowitz
(29 Elder Law Journal 249-314 (2022))The Myth of the All-Powerful Federal Prosecutor at Sentencing, Adam M. Gershowitz
(95 St. John's Law Review 581-639 (2022))The Opioid Doctors: Is Losing Your License a Sufficient Penalty for Dealing Drugs?, Adam M. Gershowitz
(72 Hastings Law Journal 871-918 (2021))The Race to the Top to Reduce Prosecutorial Misconduct, Adam M. Gershowitz
(89 Fordham Law Review 1179-1196 (2021))Punishing Pill Mill Doctors: Sentencing Disparities in the Opioid Epidemic, Adam M. Gershowitz
(54 U.C. Davis Law Review 1053-1126 (2020))Criminal-Justice Apps: A Modest Step Toward Democratizing the Criminal Process, Adam M. Gershowitz
(105 Virginia Law Review Online 37-56 (2019))Justice on the Line: Prosecutorial Screening Before Arrest, Adam M. Gershowitz
(2019 University of Illinois Law Review 833-873)The Challenge of Convincing Ethical Prosecutors That Their Profession Has a Brady Problem, Adam M. Gershowitz
(16 Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 307-324 (2019))Prosecutorial Dismissals as Teachable Moments (and Databases) for the Police, Adam M. Gershowitz
(86 George Washington Law Review 1525-1551 (2018))Consolidating Local Criminal Justice: Should Prosecutors Control the Jails?, Adam M. Gershowitz
(51 Wake Forest Law Review 677-703 (2016))Post-Trial Pleas Bargaining in Capital Cases: Using Conditional Commutations to Remove Weak Cases from Death Row, Adam M. Gershowitz
(73 Washington & Lee Law Review 1359-1394 (2016))The Post-Riley Search Warrant: Search Protocols and Particularity in Cell Phone Searches, Adam M. Gershowitz
(69 Vanderbilt Law Review 585-638 (2016))Google Glass While Driving, Adam M. Gershowitz
(47 Arizona State Law Journal 755-799 (2015))An NTSB for Capital Punishment, Adam M. Gershowitz
(47 Texas Tech Law Review 151-177 (2014))Rethinking the Timing of Capital Clemency, Adam M. Gershowitz
(113 Michigan Law Review 1-55 (2014))The Wire as a Gap-Filling Class on Criminal Law and Procedure, Adam M. Gershowitz
(64 Journal of Legal Education 117-119 (2014))Why Arizona v. Gant Is the Wrong Solution to the Warrantless Cell Phone Search Problem, Adam M. Gershowitz
(94 Boston University Law Review Annex 9-11 (2014))Is Texas Tough on Crime but Soft on Criminal Procedure?, Adam M. Gershowitz
(49 American Criminal Law Review 31-71 (2012))Texting While Driving Meets the Fourth Amendment: Deterring Both Texting and Warrantless Cell Phone Searches, Adam M. Gershowitz
(54 Arizona Law Review 577-620 (2012))12 Unnecessary Men: The Case for Eliminating Jury Trials in Drunk Driving Cases, Adam M. Gershowitz
(2011 University of Illinois Law Review 961-1010)Can a Password Stop Police from Searching Your Cell Phone Incident to Arrest?, Adam M. Gershowitz
(38 Search and Seizure Law Report 81-88 (November 2011))Password Protected? Can a Password Save Your Cell Phone From a Search Incident to Arrest?, Adam M. Gershowitz
(96 Iowa Law Review 1125-1175 (2011))The State (Never) Rests: How Excessive Prosecutor Caseloads Harm Criminal Defendants, Adam M. Gershowitz and Laura R. Killinger
(105 Northwestern University Law Review 261-301 (2011))Statewide Capital Punishment: The Case for Eliminating Counties’ Role in the Death Penalty, Adam M. Gershowitz
(63 Vanderbilt Law Review 307-359 (2010))Prosecutorial Shaming: Naming Attorneys to Reduce Prosecutorial Misconduct, Adam M. Gershowitz
(42 U.C. Davis Law Review 1059-1105 (2009))Searching Cell Phones Incident to Arrest: Can Courts and Legislatures Impose Limits on a Bright Line Rule?, Adam M. Gershowitz
(36 Search and Seizure Law Report 9-16 (February 2009))An Informational Approach to the Mass Imprisonment Problem, Adam M. Gershowitz
(40 Arizona State Law Journal 47-84 (2008))Get in the Game or Get Out of the Way: Fixing the Politics of Death, Adam M. Gershowitz
(94 Virginia Law Review: In Brief 51-56 (2008))The iPhone Meets the Fourth Amendment, Adam M. Gershowitz
(56 UCLA Law Review 27-58 (2008))Imposing a Cap on Capital Punishment, Adam M. Gershowitz
(72 Missouri Law Review 73-124 (2007))Pay Now, Execute Later: Why Counties Should Be Required to Post a Bond to Seek the Death Penalty, Adam M. Gershowitz
(41 University of Richmond Law Review 861-896 (2007))Raise the Proof: A Default Rule for Indigent Defense, Adam M. Gershowitz
(40 Connecticut Law Review 85-124 (2007))The Invisible Pillar of Gideon, Adam M. Gershowitz
(80 Indiana Law Journal 571-604 (2005))The Diffusion of Responsibilty in Capital Clemency, Adam M. Gershowitz
(17 Journal of Law & Politics 669-711 (2001))Delaware's Capital Jury Selection: Inadequate Voir Dire and the Problem of Automatic Death Penalty Jurors, Adam M. Gershowitz
(2 Delaware Law Review 235-269 (1999))Notes
The Supreme Court's Backwards Proportionaility Jurisprudence: Comparing Judicial Review of Excessive Criminal Punishments and Excessive Punitive Damages Award, Adam M. Gershowitz
(86 Virginia Law Review 1249-1302 (2000))