University of St. Thomas

Dean Mengler was instrumental in the School of Law receiving ABA accreditation in February 2006, the earliest possible time. He also managed the completion and opening of the 158,000 square-foot law building in downtown Minneapolis, and under his direction the building has become an important destination for the Twin Cities’ bench and bar.  Under Mengler's leadership, the outstanding faculty recently ranked 38th for scholarly impact.

Mengler became the second dean at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in June 2002. He joined St. Thomas after serving for nine years as dean of the University of Illinois College of Law. During Mengler’s tenure as dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, the law school was consistently ranked among the top 25 law schools in the nation.

Mengler’s scholarly interests are in the fields of civil procedure, federal courts jurisdiction, and complex litigation. He co-drafted the federal statute on supplemental jurisdiction, and his writings on this statute were recently cited in the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Exxon v. Allapattah Services.

A native of Chicago, Mengler received a B.A. in philosophy from Carleton College, and an M.A. in philosophy and a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. At the University of Texas School of Law, Mengler served as research and note editor of the Texas Law Review. In 1981, he clerked for Judge James Logan of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Following his clerkship, he worked as an associate for the Washington, D.C., firm of Arnold & Porter and later as an assistant attorney general for the state of Texas.

Representative Scholarship

What’s Faith Got to Do With It? (With Apologies to Tina Turner), 35 Toledo Law Review 145 (2003) (symposium contribution).

Celebrating the Multiple Missions of a Research I University-Based Law School, 32 Toledo Law Review 681 (2000) (symposium contribution).

The American Class Action During a Period of Reconsideration, 2 ZZP International 297 (1997).

The Sad Refrain of Tough on Crime: Some Thoughts on Saving the Federal Judiciary from the Federalization of State Crime, 43 Kansas Law Review 503 (1995) (symposium contribution).

Unsound Criticisms of the Federal Courts' Long Range Plan, 79 Judicature 57 (1995).

Compounding or Creating Confusion about Supplemental Jurisdiction? A Reply to Professor Freer, with Stephen B. Burbank and Thomas D. Rowe Jr., 40 Emory Law Journal 943 (1991), cited in Exxon v. Allapattah Services, 125 S.Ct. 2611 (2005).

A Coda on Supplemental Jurisdiction, with Stephen B. Burbank and Thomas D. Rowe, Jr., 40 Emory Law Journal 993 (1991).

Eliminating Abusive Discovery Through Disclosure: Is It Again Time for Reform?, 138 F.R.D. 155 (1991).

The Demise of Pendent and Ancillary Jurisdiction, 1990 Brigham Young University Law Review 247 (1990) (symposium contribution).

The Theory of Discretion in the Federal Rules of Evidence, 74 Iowa Law Review 412 (1989).

Consent Decree Paradigms: Models Without Meaning, 29 Boston College Law Review 291 (1988).

Courses Taught

Complex Litigation
Evidence

Mailing Address

MSL 400
1000 LaSalle Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403-2015