Allan Vestal Profile

Dwight D. Opperman Distinguished
Professor of Law

515-271-3865
allan.vestal@drake.edu

Areas of Expertise

Contracts, Business Associations, Legal History

Education

JD – Yale University Law School
BA – Yale University, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Professional Experience

Drake Law School dean (2009-2014)
Drake Law School professor since 2014
Dean and professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law
Professor and associate dean at Washington & Lee University School of Law
Private practice specializing in business and commercial transactions, regulated industries, and civil trials and appeals

Selected Publications

• Faithfully Enforcing the Religious Liberty Guarantees of the Northwest Territory States, 34 Brigham Young J. Pub. L. 403 (2020). 

• “No person . . . shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments . . .”: The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and Strader v. Graham, 102 Marq. L. Rev. 1087 (2019). 

• Vindication: Varnum v. Brien at Ten Years, 67 Drake L.R. 463 (2019). 

• Removing State Constitution Badges of Inferiority, 22 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 1151 (2018). 

• Religious State Constitution Preambles, 123 Penn St. L. Rev. 151 (2018). 

• “In the name of Heaven, don’t force men to hear prayers”: Religious Liberty and the Constitutions of Iowa, 65 Drake L.R. 355 (2018). 

• Cents & Sensibilities, 20 U. Penn. J. Con. L. 245 (2017). 

Significant Accomplishments

• Dwight D. Opperman Distinguished Professor of Law (2020)
• Elected life member of the American Law Institute
• Kentucky Justice Association Consumer Safety Award (2008)
• Medallion “in recognition of outstanding contributions towards modernizing Kentucky Business Law” from the National Association of Secretaries of State (2007)
• Public Advocate’s Award from the Office of Public Advocate (2005)
• Distinguished Professor Award from Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity, Washington & Lee University Law School (1993-1994 and 1994-1995)

Additional Information

Allan Vestal Curriculum Vitae