Liam Edward Cronan

Biography

Liam Cronan is a part-time faculty member in the Academic Enrichment Program. He returned to the law school in 2027 following two years as a bar exam course instructor and tutor. Outside of teaching, he practices law as a litigation associate with Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston. Previously, he completed a part-time research fellowship and clerked for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the Vermont Supreme Court.

His research emphasizes the doctrinal and historical development of property, trust and estates, and constitutional law. Recurring themes in his work have included the tension between testamentary freedom and ownership across generations, the resolution of property disputes in which a third-party claim complicates an otherwise bilateral contest, and how legal history can enrich contemporary conversations about the limits of property rights and inheritance. His work has appeared across flagship and specialty journals including the Boston University Law Review, Mitchell Hamline Law Review, and Estate Planning & Community Property Law Journal, and has regularly been featured in bar journals including the National Law Review, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, New York Law Journal, and Boston Bar Journal.

Professor Cronan holds a B.A., summa cum laude, in History and Economics from Tufts University, an M.A. in History from Boston University, and a J.D., summa cum laude, from Boston University School of Law, where he graduated second in his class. During law school, he served as Articles Editor for the Boston University Law Review, as a research assistant to Professor Rory Van Loo, and was an active participant in moot court and mock trial programs. He received BU Law’s William L. and Lillian Berger Achievement Prize, as well as the Edward F. Hennessey, Paul J. Liacos, and G. Joseph Tauro Distinguished Scholar Awards, and earned First Place Advocate honors at the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition.