Thomas W Mitchell

Thomas W. Mitchell is a full professor (Professor) at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He has done extensive research and legislative and outreach work on property issues within poor and/or minority communities, both domestically and internationally. He is a national expert on the issue of black landownership in the United States. He served on the Property Preservation Task Force, a task force of the A.B.A.'s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, which successfully petitioned...See more

Thomas W. Mitchell is a full professor (Professor) at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He has done extensive research and legislative and outreach work on property issues within poor and/or minority communities, both domestically and internationally. He is a national expert on the issue of black landownership in the United States. He served on the Property Preservation Task Force, a task force of the A.B.A.'s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, which successfully petitioned the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (commonly known as the Uniform Law Commission) to develop a uniform law to address the prevalence of forced sales of family property owned under the tenancy in common form of ownership (a form of ownership commonly referred to as heirs' property). Professor Mitchell then served as the Reporter, person tasked with primary drafting responsibility, for the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act which was promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission in 2010 and endorsed by the A.B.A. in 2011. He has received national attention for his outreach work and was one of two law professors in the United States selected in 2013 for the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award, which is awarded to professors in the fields of law, medicine, and psychology who have done substantial work in mentoring their students who then as graduates have made major contributions to helping disadvantaged communities. Prior to entering legal academia, he worked as an associate at the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. and served as a law clerk for Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the District Court of the D.C. Circuit. He is a graduate of Amherst College (B.A.); the Howard University School of Law (J.D.); and the University of Wisconsin Law School (LL.M. upon completion of the William H. Hastie Fellowship Program). See less