In Memoriam: Doug Rendleman, Robert E. R. Huntley Professor of Law, Emeritus A member of the faculty since 1988, Professor Rendleman was a teaching legend and one of the nation’s leading scholars in the field of remedies.

By Law Communications
March 19, 2026

Doug Rendleman, a legendary teacher and scholar at Washington and Lee University School of Law, died on Sunday, March 8, in Lexington, Virginia. He was 86. A celebration of his life will be planned for a later date.

“The loss of Professor Rendleman is profound,” said Melanie D. Wilson, Dean and Roy L. Steinheimer, Jr., Professor of Law. “He served as a role model and mentor for promising faculty. He was an excellent scholar and devoted teacher who generously shared his wisdom, experience, and kindness with all. He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.”

Professor Rendleman grew up in rural Iowa, where his parents ran a small country store and his mother taught neighborhood children in a one-room schoolhouse. He and his wife, Carol, had four children while he pursued his undergraduate and law studies at the University of Iowa. Together, the Rendlemans managed a rooming house to provide their lodging, and to make ends meet, Professor Rendleman operated the motion picture projectors at several local theaters, working six or seven days a week while also serving as president of a local union. He estimated that he saw about 1,000 movies before he was finished.

Professor Rendleman’s work ethic during his early studies foreshadowed the productivity and impact that would define his more than 50-year academic career. He authored over 60 articles and books, including his well-known casebook on remedies, as well as numerous amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court. This work continued even after his retirement from full-time teaching in 2020. Professor Rendleman’s expertise was instrumental to the legal team representing the estate of Henrietta Lacks in a winning lawsuit against pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for unjustly profiting off products made using cells taken without her consent or compensation. And this past fall, he joined W&L’s other civil procedure scholars in authoring a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on universal injunctions in Trump v. CASA.

One of the coauthors of the brief was Professor Alan Trammell, who recalled meeting Professor Rendleman for the first time at a conference on universal injunctions in 2019 and being awestruck at presenting alongside “one of the leading authorities in the country—and even the world—in the law of remedies.”

“Doug’s good humor and down-to-earth demeanor quickly put me at ease,” said Professor Trammell, then a law professor at the University of Arkansas. “It will always be among the genuine honors of my scholarly career to have published alongside Doug in that symposium issue.”

Later that same year, a teaching position became available at W&L Law, and Professor Rendleman was a key factor in bringing Professor Trammell to the law school. Their academic partnership would continue with the collaboration on the Supreme Court brief.

“Doug’s warmth and generosity shone through, even on a tight deadline, and his direct criticism of some early draft language helped us avoid several pitfalls,” said Professor Trammell. “This was typical Doug—a kind friend and a generous mentor to the very end.”

After receiving his J.D., Professor Rendleman completed a clerkship at the Iowa Supreme Court and then earned an LL.M. from the University of Michigan, where he was a Cook Fellow. He taught law at the University of Alabama and William & Mary before joining W&L in 1988 as a full professor, serving as director of the Frances Lewis Law Center from 1988 to 1991. He was a leading scholar in the fields of remedies, civil procedure, and complex litigation and was widely respected for his rigorous scholarship, thoughtful teaching, and deep commitment to his students.

As a member of the American Law Institute (ALI), Professor Rendleman lent his considerable expertise, serving as an adviser on several important Institute projects, including the Third Restatement of the Law on Torts: Remedies and the Third Restatement of the Law of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment. The ALI memorial announcement noted that Professor Rendleman’s “teaching, scholarship, and casebooks shaped generations of students and lawyers, and his work on injunctions, restitution, and the enforcement of judgments remains widely influential.” He was also active in the Association of American Law Schools, serving as an executive committee member and chair of the sections on remedies and civil procedure. In 2021, he was recognized with a Lifetime Scholarly Achievement Award from the Remedies Section of the AALS.

Professor Rendleman’s service to the profession included deep involvement with the American Association of University Professors, where he served as a member and chair of the National Committee on Government Relations and as a longtime member and president of the Virginia Conference. He brought that expertise to the university as an inaugural member of the Faculty Affairs Committee, helping W&L develop faculty governance policies and draft protections for academic freedom. He was also a vocal advocate for salary equity across the university.

As a member of the law school community, Professor Rendleman was a constant presence in Sydney Lewis Hall. Students and colleagues will recall him strolling the hallways during breaks from research and student meetings with his hands clasped behind his back, greeting all whom he passed as he recruited companions for lunch in the Marketplace—usually younger faculty members he had taken under his wing. For many years, he rode his bike to work daily, leaving it propped (and unlocked) in the front courtyard. This scene is the subject of one of the iconic photos of the law school.

Caprice Roberts, a graduate of the Law Class of 1997 and now interim dean and J.Y. Sanders Professor of Law at LSU Law, was a student of Professor Rendleman’s and would later join him as coauthor, beginning with the eighth edition of his remedies casebook. She credits Professor Rendleman with changing the course of her future.

“Doug was a friend and mentor to countless future lawyers and academics. He brought intellectual rigor to every task, and he treated people as ends in and of themselves. All with his signature unmatchable, unforgettable wit,” said Dean Roberts. “Doug’s legacy will continue forward in the students and faculty he inspired to be the best versions of themselves as lawyers, professors, and people.”

In 2021, the W&L Law Review published a tribute to Professor Rendleman upon his retirement. In that volume, Dean Roberts shared a poem to honor her teacher, mentor, and friend.

An Ode to Professor Rendleman
A bicycle.
A yellow rainslicker.
Wry humor.
Actively participating
in all facets of life and law.
And always,
a long, close read.
Detailed comments.
Pressing questions.
Revisions. Revisions.
Publications. Last Classes.
Ovations (Virtually).
Humble and generous
to the end.