Maureen A. O'Rourke

Maureen A. O’Rourke

Dean Emerita

Professor of Law
Michaels Faculty Research Scholar

BS, summa cum laude, Marist College
JD, Yale University


Biography

As dean from 2006 to 2018 and interim dean from 2004 to 2006, Maureen A. O’Rourke oversaw the construction of the five-story, state-of-the-art Sumner M. Redstone Building and gut renovation of the adjacent law tower. This project was the culmination of decades of planning and provides students with first-rate community spaces, high quality classrooms, and amenities.

Dean O’Rourke also focused on improving the student experience to keep pace with changes in the legal marketplace. She increased career development support for students through the Career Development & Public Service Office; expanded opportunities for students to obtain practical skills in clinics, externships, semester-in-practice and the transactional law program; and increased financial aid support for students. She raised the school’s public interest profile through adoption of the pro bono program, enhanced loan repayment assistance for young alumni, and spring break service trips. Under her leadership, the faculty adopted innovative Lawyering Lab and Business Fundamentals requirements for all JD students, and launched new graduate programs including a blended Executive LLM in International Business LawLegal English Certificate Program, and online version of the LLM in Taxation.

Dean O’Rourke joined the faculty of the School of Law in 1993 after working at IBM Corporation, where she handled a variety of issues surrounding software licensing. Her primary academic interests lie at the intersection of intellectual property law and other fields, such as contract and antitrust law, particularly in the context of software and high technology.

She is a co-author of one of the leading copyright casebooks in the US, Copyright in a Global Information Economy (Aspen Law & Business). She has published articles in the law reviews of Columbia, Duke, Iowa and Minnesota, the technology journals of Berkeley, Harvard and Boston University, and other publications including the Journal of the Copyright Society. She was the associate reporter on the American Law Institute’s (ALI) Principles of Software Contracting project and is a member of the ALI. She is the most recent past-chair of the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education & Admissions to the Bar, and a member of the AccessLex Institute Board of Directors. She also serves as a trustee at her alma mater, Marist College.

Prior to becoming dean, she taught courses in commercial law and intellectual property law in addition to helping supervise the student-run Journal of Science and Technology Law. In May 2000, she became the School’s sixth recipient of the Metcalf Award, the University’s highest teaching honor. She has lectured extensively and has been a visiting professor at Columbia University Law School and LaTrobe University in Australia.

Publications

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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, The "Law" and "Spirit" of the Accreditation Process in Legal Education 66 Syracuse Law Review. (2016)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Julie E. Cohen, Lydia Pallas Loren & Ruth L. Okediji, Copyright in a Global Information Economy, 4th ed. (2015)
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  • Robert A. Hillman & Maureen A. O'Rourke, ALI Principles of the Law of Software Contracts: Some Proposals for a Global Software Licensing Policy, in Research Handbook on Intellectual Property Licensing (Jacques de Werra,2013)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, The ALI's Principles of Software Contracting: Some Comments & Clarifications 12 Journal of High Technology Law (2011)
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  • Julie E. Cohen, Maureen A. O'Rourke, Lydia Pallas Loren & Ruth L. Okediji, Copyright in a Global Information Economy, 3rd ed. (2010)
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  • Robert A. Hillman, Maureen A. O'Rourke & American Law Institute, Principles of the Law of Software Contracts (2010)
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  • Robert A. Hillman & Maureen A. O'Rourke, Principles of the Law of Software Contracts 53 Communications of the ACM (2010)
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  • Robert A. Hillman & Maureen A. O'Rourke, Principles of the Law of Software Contracts: Some Highlights 84 Tulane Law Review (2010)
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  • Robert A. Hillman, Maureen A. O'Rourke & American Law Institute, Principles of the Law of Software Contracts, Proposed Final Draft (2009)
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  • David Nersessian & Maureen A. O'Rourke, Challenges and Opportunities for New Lawyers 53 Boston Bar Journal (2009)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Rethinking Consideration in the Electronic Age 61 Hastings Law Journal (2009)
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  • Robert A. Hillman, Maureen A. O'Rourke & American Law Institute, Principles of the Law of Software Contracts, Tentative Draft No.1 (2008)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, An Essay on the Challenges of Drafting a Uniform Law of Software Contracting 10 Lewis & Clark Law Review (2006)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, The Story of Diamond v. Diehr Toward Patenting Software, in Intellectual Property Stories (Jane C. Ginsburg & Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss,2006)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Julie E. Cohen, Lydia Pallas Loren & Ruth L. Okediji, Copyright in a Global Information Economy, 2nd ed. (2006)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Being Yourself While Keeping Up with Everyone Else, in Law School Leadership Strategies: Top Deans on Benchmarking Success, Incorporating Feedback from Faculty and Students, and Building the Endowment (2006)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, An Incentives Approach to Patent Settlements: A Commentary on Hovenkamp, Janis & Lemley 87 Minnesota Law Review (2003)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, A Brief History of Author-Publisher Relations and the Outlook for the 21st Century 50 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA (2003)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Bargaining in the Shadow of Copyright Law after Tasini 53 Case Western Reserve Law Review (2003)
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  • Joseph F. Brodley & Maureen A. O'Rourke, Patent Settlement Agreements: Preliminary Views 16 Antitrust (2002)
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  • Julie E. Cohen, Maureen A. O'Rourke, Lydia Pallas Loren & Ruth L. Okediji, Copyright in a Global Information Economy (2002)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Julie E. Cohen, Lydia Pallas Loren & Ruth L. Okediji, Statutory Supplements to Copyright in a Global Information Economy (2002)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Common Law and Statutory Restrictions on Access: Contract, Trespass, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act 2 University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy (2002)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, What the Future Holds: Policy Choices in a Global Marketplace 7 Roger Williams University Law Review (2001)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Property Rights and Competition on the Internet: In Search of an Appropriate Analogy 16 Berkeley Technology Law Journal (2001)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Is Virtual Trespass an Apt Analogy? 44 Communications of the ACM (2001)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Bankruptcy Law v. Privacy Rights: Which Holds the Trump Card? 38 Houston Law Review (2001)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Shaping Competition on the Internet: Who Owns Product and Pricing Information 53 Vanderbilt Law Review (2000)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Evaluating Mistakes in Intellectual Property Law: Configuring the System to Account for Imperfection 4 Journal of Small & Emerging Business Law (2000)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Toward a Doctrine of Fair Use in Patent Law 100 Columbia Law Review (2000)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Progressing Towards a Uniform Commercial Code for Electronic Commerce or Racing Toward Nonuniformity? 14 Berkeley Technology Law Journal (1999)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Striking a Delicate Balance: Intellectual Property, Antitrust, Contract and Standardization in the Computer Industry 12 Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (1998)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Defining the Limits of Free-Riding in Cyberspace: Trademark Liability for Metatagging 33 Gonzaga Law Review (1998)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Fencing Cyberspace: Drawing Borders in a Virtual World 82 Minnesota Law Review (1998)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Legislative Inaction on the Information Superhighway: Bargaining in the Shadow of Copyright Law 3 Boston University Journal of Science and Technology Law (1997)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Protecting Software and Information on the Internet 3 Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law (1997)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Copyright Preemption After the ProCD Case: A Market-Based Approach 12 Berkeley Technology Law Journal (1997)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Rethinking Remedies at the Intersection of Intellectual Property and Contract: Toward a Unified Body of Law 82 Iowa Law Review (1997)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, A False Start?: The Impact of Federal Policy on the Genotechnology Industry 13 Yale Journal on Regulation (1996)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Drawing the Boundary Between Copyright and Contract: Copyright Preemption of Software License Terms 45 Duke Law Journal (1995)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Copyright Liability of Bulletin Board Operators for Infringement by Subscribers 1 Boston University Journal of Science and Technology Law (1995)
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  • Maureen A. O'Rourke, Proprietary Rights in Digital Data 41 Federal Bar News & Journal (1994)
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