Rev. Patrick E. Reidy, C.S.C., and Nell Jessup Newton Receive AALS Section Awards

Notre Dame Law School Associate Professor Rev. Patrick E. Reidy, C.S.C., and Emerita Professor of Law and former dean Nell Jessup Newton have both received section awards from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

Reidy has been named the winner of the Harold Berman Award for Excellence in Scholarship by the AALS Section on Law and Religion. He received the recognition for his article “Churching NIMBYs: Creating Affordable Housing on Church Property,” published in the Yale Law Journal.

The article explores new initiatives by faith communities across the U.S. to build affordable housing on church-owned land, repurposing underutilized spaces such as rectories, schools, and parking lots. It highlights the challenges these communities face, particularly from exclusionary zoning laws and “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) opposition, while proposing a legal solution rooted in religious liberty. Reidy also discusses potential legislative reforms to support faith-based housing initiatives and identifies opportunities for affordable housing on church-owned land in specific cities.

Reidy teaches and writes in the areas of property law, land use, and religion. He also serves as Faculty Director for the Church Properties Initiative within the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate and is an ordained Roman Catholic priest with the Congregation of Holy Cross. He is currently clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Newton received the Mentoring in the Legal Academy Award by the AALS Section on Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples, which recognizes significant mentoring in the field of Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples within the legal academy.

Newton served as Notre Dame Law School’s 10th dean from 2009 to 2019. She previously served as dean at the University of Denver, the University of Connecticut, and the University of California, Hastings. Newton returned to the Notre Dame Law School faculty before her retirement on July 1, 2024, after serving as interim dean at the University of Miami School of Law for the 2021-22 academic year and at Wake Forest University School of Law for the 2022-23 academic year.

She has been a leader in legal education for more than 20 years, having served on numerous committees examining legal education issues for the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, and the Law School Admission Council. Newton is a prominent scholar of Indian law who has served as editor-in-chief of Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law, the leading treatise on the subject. The 2025 edition of Cohen was recently published by LexisNexis and is now co-edited by Newton and Kevin Washburn, a prominent scholar of Indian law and Dean of the University of Iowa College of Law.

“These are well-deserved honors for Fr. Pat Reidy and Nell Newton,” said G. Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. “They are both distinguished scholars whose insightful contributions have had a significant impact in their respective fields of property law, law and religion, and federal Indian law.”

The awards were presented at the AALS 2025 Annual Meeting on January 9 in San Francisco.