Rev. John J. Coughlin, O.F.M.

Professor of Law

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Office Number: 118 Law School
Telephone: 574.631.3090
Fax: 574.631.4197
Email: John.J.Coughlin.14@nd.edu
Staff Assistant: Gerri Lehmkuhl

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Reverend John J. Coughlin, O.F.M., Professor of Law, joined the Notre Dame Law School faculty in 2003. Fr. Coughlin was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the Order of Friars Minor (Francisans) in 1983, and served as an Associate Pastor of St. Stephen’s Church in Manhattan. He earned his B.A. degree from Niagara University in 1977, an M.A. from Columbia University in 1982, a master’s degree in theology (Th.M.) from Princeton Seminary in 1984, a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1987, and his license and doctorate of canon law, summa cum laude, from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, in 1990 and 1994, respectively. His doctoral dissertation focused on a comparative study of the administration of the tribunals of the Roma Curia and the United States federal court system.

A member of the New York bar, Fr. Coughlin clerked for the Honorable Francis X. Altimari on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He served as general counsel of St. Bonaventure University in Olean, New York, from 1990 to 1993. From 1993 to 1996, he served as legal and canonical counsel to the Holy Name Province of Franciscan Friars in New York. Upon appointment by John Cardinal O’Connor of New York, Fr. Coughlin served as professor of canon law and spiritual director of St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York from 1994 to 2001. He also served the Archdiocese of New York as a judge in the Appeals Tribunal, as vicar of canonical and legal aspects of health care, and as a member of the boards of several Catholic hospitals and educational institutions. During the summer of 1998, Father Coughlin was a member of the delegation of the Holy See to the United Nations treaty conference that established the International Criminal Court.

From 1996 to 2003, he taught at St. John’s University School of Law. In his first year as a full-time faculty member, St. John’s law students selected him as their “Professor of the Year.” The Catholic Brooklyn Lawyer’s guild honored him as “Lawyer of the Year” in 2000, and the City Council of New York recognized him for outstanding service as a legal practitioner. He teaches in the areas of professional responsibility, canon law, marriage, and legal ethics. His scholarly writing has a comparative focus on the understandings of the human person underpinning canon law and Anglo-American law. Father Coughlin has given dozens of priests’ retreats, spoken at numerous academic conferences and appeared on national television such as the Charlie Rose Show and the O’Reilly Factor. He has also served on the Boards of several major Catholic educational and health care providers.

LAW70509, Canon Law of Marriage

LAW60801, Ethics I

LAW70807, Professional Responsibility

LAW70833, Introduction to Canon Law

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Faculty Expertise Areas

• Canon law
• Church and state
• Law and religion
• Legal ethics and professional responsibility

Law Review Publications

Tradition and the Development in the Catholic Church’s Teaching on Marriage: A Response to Cardinal Trujillo, 4 AVE MARIA L. REV. 567-80 (2006).

Foreward, 20 NOTRE DAME J. L. ETHICS & PUB. POL’Y 1-10 (2006).

Sacrifice, The Common Good, and the Catholic Lawyer, 3 U. ST. THOMAS L. R. 6-20 (2005).

The Human Being, Catholic Social Teaching and the Law, 1 J. of CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT 313-333 (2004).

John Paul II and the Dignity of the Human Person, 27 HARV. J. L. & PUB. POLICY 65-79 (2003).

Canon Law and the Human Person, 19 J. OF LAW AND RELIGION 1-58 (2003).

“The Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis and the Spirit of Canon Law,“http://law.nd.edu/faculty/publications/coughlin/Coughlin%20-%20Clergy%20Sexual%20Abuse%20-%20Boston%20College.pdf 44 BOSTON COLLEGE L. REV. 977-997 (2003).

Catholic Lawyers and Divorce Cases, 61 THE JURIST 290-310 (2001) (published in 2003).

Communio and Administrative Justice, 78 APOLLINARIS 715-743 (2002).

Op-ed, Restoring the Faith, Responding to Clergy Sexual Abuse Through Justice, Redemption and Reconciliation, JURIST, November 11, 2002, at 1 (jurist.law.pitt.edu).

God Bless America, Introduction to September 11th Issue, 76 ST. JOHN’S L. REV. 1-4 (2002).

“Introductory Remarks to the Conference on the Common Good in Catholic Thought,“http://law.nd.edu/faculty/publications/coughlin/Coughlin%20-%20Practical%20Impact%20of%20the%20Common%20Good%20-%20St%20Johns.pdf 75 ST. JOHN’S L. REV. 293-95 (2001).

The Historical Development and Current Procedural Norms for Administrative Recourse to the Apostolic Signatura, 90 PERIODICA 455-496, 661-690 (2001).

Natural Law, Marriage, and the Thought of Karol Wojtyla, 28 FORDHAM URBAN L. J. 1771-1786 (2001).

The Historical Development of Administrative Law and the Future of Regulatory Governance, 38 IDAHO L. REV. 89-133 (2001).

Law and Theology: Reflections on What it Means to be Human from a Franciscan Perspective, 74 ST. JOHN’S L. REV. 609-628 (2001).

A Comparative Study of Administrative Law of the Catholic Church and the United States, 34 LOY. L.A. L. REV. 81-196 (2000).

Catholic Health Care and the Diocesan Bishop, 40 CATH. LAW. 85-95 (2000).

Intervention of the Holy See to the Plenary Session of the Treaty Conference for the International Criminal Court, L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO July 16, 1998, at 2; reprinted L’OSSERVATOR ROMANO, ENG. WEEKLY EDITION July 22, 1998, at 2.

The Franciscan Theology of the Sistine Chapel, 7 FRIAR LINES 1-9 (Spring 1996); also in French: La theologie franciscaine de la Chapelle Sixtine, 3 PIERRE D’ANGLE 127-137 (Fall 1997).

Maguire, Charles Bonaventure, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORY (1997), at 833.

Woywod, Stanislaus, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORY (1997), at 1523.

Canonical Equity, 30 STUDIA CANONICA 403-435 (1996).

Evangelical and Franciscan Poverty, PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1996 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF MAJOR SUPERIORS OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS 57- (St Louis, MO, October 11-13, 1996).

Religion, Education and the First Amendment, AMERICA May 15, 1993, at 12-15.

ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE AT THE APOSTOLIC SIGNATURA AND THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY (Rome: Gregorian University 1994, doctoral dissertation).

Common Sense in Formation of the Common Good – Justice White’s Dissents in the Parochial School Aid Cases: Patron of Lost Causes or Precursor of Good News, 66 ST. JOHN’S L. REV. 261-327 (1992).

Book Reviews

Book Note, The New Science and Ethics of Reproduction, 21 HARV. C.R.-C.L. L. REV. 742-745 (1986).