Featured Faculty: Matthew J. Barrett
Notre Dame Law School has changed dramatically since Professor Matthew Barrett, a member of the faculty since 1990, enrolled as a law student here more than 25 years ago. From a new building and dean to a significantly larger and more accomplished faculty, vastly improved library collection, and increasingly exceptional student body, “virtually everything” about NDLS has changed, says Barrett.
Barrett’s expertise is the intersection between law and accounting. A “double domer,” he holds his B.B.A. and his J.D. summa cum laude from Notre Dame, and he became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in 1987.
A revered teacher and notable scholar, Barrett won the Law School’s Distinguished Teacher Award in 2001, and has co-authored the last three editions of Accounting for Lawyers, a text which has been adopted for classroom use at nearly 100 different law schools across the country, including Harvard, NYU, University of California-Berkeley, Michigan, Cornell, and Georgetown.
Barrett is currently working on research which begins with the premise that existing law school rankings, such as those conducted by U.S. News & World Report, inadequately measure educational outcomes and mislead the public. His project seeks to identify alternative, reliable metrics that compare inputs and outputs. “A great law school adds considerable educational value,” says Barrett, who considers LSAT scores the baseline quantifiable input because they provide the only common denominator measuring the student talent that a law school attracts. “Outputs might include bar passage rates and the ability of students to land the most sought after jobs. If a school ranks 25th in mean LSAT scores, but 10th in its students’ ability to secure highly competitive jobs, that school has added value.”
Barrett knows that we cannot objectively measure some intangible outputs, such as the ability to strike a healthy balance between one’s career, family, faith, and service to community. “I’ve been blessed to learn from, and work with, students, faculty, and staff who model the integrated development of the mind, heart, and soul,” says Barrett. “I hope my colleagues and our students to grow in faith as well as knowledge during their time at the Law School. This faith development marks a unique output that a Notre Dame legal education offers.”
For more on Barrett’s background and scholarship, visit his faculty profle page.
