Robert Beard

Visiting Assistant Professor

Phone: 217-333-0930 Email: rbeard2@law.illinois.edu B.S., University of Utah J.D., University of Illinois

For the past year, Professor Robert Beard has served as a law clerk for Judge N. Randy Smith for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He earned his J.D. summa cum laude and Order of the Coif from the College of Law in 2008, serving as Executive Editor for the University of Illinois Law Review. He also earned a Rickert Award for Academic Excellence and Community Service, served as a judicial extern for Judge Wayne Andersen from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and worked as a summer associate at Shearman & Sterling in London and New York City. During law school, Professor Beard taught undergraduate Speech Communications courses at Illinois. Prior to attending law school, Professor Beard owned Beard Strategic Group in Salt Lake City, Utah from 2003 to 2006, providing communications, messaging, and fundraising strategies to political candidates and interest groups. He also spent four years as Director of Creative Services for Arena Communications LLC/The Franking Group LLC, developing and executing direct mail pieces and campaigns for dozens of congressional and gubernatorial candidates, the Republican National Committee's presidential campaign, and advising members of Congress on building constituent issue databases and contact activities. He has published "Jurisdictional Competition and the Series LLC: Harnessing the Market for Innovations in Limited Liability," 12 Holy Cross J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 9 (2008) and a Note, "Whacking the Political Money "Mole" Without Whacking Speech: Accounting for Congressional Self-Dealing in Campaign Finance Reform after Wisconsin Right to Life," 2008 U. Ill L. Rev. 731.