February 23, 2012 – The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law today announced that Christopher Peterson has been appointed the inaugural John J. Flynn Endowed Professor of Law at the College. The appointment is one of two new Professorships at the College of Law that carry the names of beloved professors and deans who represent the College’s most outstanding virtues, according to Dean Hiram Chodosh.
“Chris’s outstanding scholarship has already resulted had enormous impact not only on scholarship but also on law reform,” Chodosh said. “His work is exceptionally relevant to the real world of commercial law, and has resulted in reforms benefitting consumers across the nation. He has recognized the need for reform in consumer finance law, and has approached the problems in that area with skill, tenacity, energy and enthusiasm. His work uses interdisciplinary and traditional legal scholarship to promote humane and efficient consumer finance law.”
Prior to joining the College of Law faculty in 2008, Peterson taught for five years at the University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law. He also served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Wade Brorby for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and then as a consumer rights attorney for the United States Public Interest Research Group in Washington, D.C. A well-recognized national authority on consumer finance, Peterson has been invited to appear before numerous government agencies, including the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and at the White House.
Peterson’s extensive publication record includes an article discussing subprime home mortgage lending that was recently named the outstanding consumer finance law review article of the year by the American College of Consumer Financial Service Lawyers. In 2007, the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators named Peterson the nation’s outstanding consumer advocate in recognition of his role in promoting an act of Congress limiting the price of loans made to military service members.
Peterson said, “John Flynn was a caring and inspirational mentor to generations of Utah lawyers. At the heart of all his scholarship and teaching was a basic and profound human decency that was ennobling for everyone who knew him. I am deeply humbled to hold a chair honoring Professor Flynn’s brilliant legacy.”
John Flynn was a much-loved professor at the College of Law from 1963 until his retirement in 2005. Peterson will serve as the John J. Flynn Professor for a five-year term, with the possibility of renewal after a review in accordance with U of U policies.