Four NYU Law faculty members ranked among top 100 most-cited legal scholars

NYU Law faculty members Daniel Hemel, Melissa Murray, Deborah Archer, and Maggie Blackhawk are among the top 100 legal scholars of 2025 in an annual ranking compiled by law librarians at George Mason University. Hemel and Blackhawk also appeared in the 2024 ranking.

The study is based on citations for work that was published during a three-year window. To compile the ranking, co-authors Rob Willey and Melanie Knapp counted how many times the articles that each scholar published between 2019 and 2021 have been cited in other articles in law journals. “The ranking reveals who is writing the most impactful legal scholarship right now,” the co-authors write. Willey is faculty services librarian and assistant director of communications and Knapp is associate dean of library and technology at George Mason’s Anton Scalia Law School. 

The four NYU Law faculty members on the list are experts in a diverse range of fields:

Daniel Hemel, John S. R. Shad Professor of Law, ranked 41st. His wide-ranging research explores topics in taxation, intellectual property, administrative and constitutional law, and nonprofit organizations. According to the George Mason study, his 2019–2021 work was cited in 232 articles. Hemel’s academic work has also been cited by the US Supreme Court, multiple federal courts of appeals, and the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Melissa Murray, Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law and a leading expert in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice, ranked 49th, with 206 citations. Her award-winning research focuses on the legal regulation of intimate life and encompasses such topics as the regulation of sex and sexuality, marriage and its alternatives, the marriage equality debate, the legal recognition of caregiving, and reproductive rights and justice.

Deborah Archer, Margaret B. Hoppin Professor of Law and associate dean for experiential education and clinical programs, was 51st in the ranking, based on 205 citations. A nationally recognized expert on civil liberties, civil rights, and racial justice, Archer also serves as president of the American Civil Liberties Union. 

Maggie Blackhawk, Moses H. Grossman Professor of Law, held 68th place, with 190 citations. A prize-winning scholar and teacher of federal Indian law, constitutional law, and legislation, Blackhawk focuses much of her scholarship on the relationship between law and power, with a particular emphasis on the ways that subordinated peoples leverage law to shift power to their communities—especially outside of rights- and courts-based frameworks. 

Also included in the George Mason study was a separate ranking of scholars that was weighted for co-authorship: sole authors of papers received greater weight for each paper citation, while for papers with multiple authors, credit was awarded in diminishing proportion to the number of co-authors. In that list, several NYU Law faculty members ranked higher, including Archer (29th), Murray (30th), and Blackhawk (35th).