Dean J. Rich Leonard 5th longest-serving law school dean in nation

RALEIGH - Campbell Law School Dean J. Rich Leonard is the fifth longest-serving law school dean in the nation.

That's according to the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Rosenblatt's Deans Database, which revealed that as of July 1, 2026, Leonard moved to fifth place with the June 30 retirement of University of Richmond School of Law Dean Wendy Collins Perdue, who served 15 years.

On July 15, Leonard will begin his 14th year of leading Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. When he took on the role in 2013, Leonard was last in seniority among law deans nationally. Now he is fifth out of 198, and remains the longest tenured among North Carolina law school deans.

It's an impressive number when one considers the average current tenure of serving law school deans is 3.93 years with the median current tenure of serving deans coming in at just three years, according to the data. The database also reveals seven deans have recently stepped down, while nine new deans prepare to lead their respective schools and 25 are serving as interim.

"These are difficult jobs, as evidenced by the fact that fully one-third of them turned over in 2023 alone," Leonard wrote on Facebook in 2024. "But I could not be prouder of the trajectory of the law school, and even more excited about its bright future."

University of California Davis Law Professor and Dean Emeritus Kevin Johnson noted in the post he wrote on the AALS Tax Prof Blog that Harvard Law School has produced the largest number - 28 - of current law school deans, with Yale Law School, Leonard's alma mater, coming in second.

AALS Rosenblatt's Deans Database lists the five current longest serving law school deans as follows:

Source: https://taxprofblog.aals.org/2026/06/30/the-current-longest-serving-law-deans/

ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL

Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation's top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation's best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 5,000 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2026, Campbell Law is celebrating 50 years of graduating legal leaders and 17 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina's Capital City.

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