Lucian E Dervan

Lucian E. Dervan is a professor of law and Director of Criminal Justice Studies at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville, Tennessee. He created the ABA Plea Bargain Task Force during his time as chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section i 2018-2019 and went on to serve as cochair of the task force. He is also the founding director of the Plea Bargaining Institute, which serves as the global intellectual home for academics, policymakers, advocacy organizations, and practitioners working in the plea bargaining space to share knowledge and collaborate. His research and writing focus on plea bargaining, white collar crime, and international criminal law. In the plea bargaining field, his research and writing focus on the history of plea bargaining, the constitutionality of plea bargaining, the psychological forces present in the plea bargaining system, and the phenomenon of false pleas of guilty. In addition to his books and articles, he is the founder and author of The Plea Bargaining Blog. He is a member of the American Bar Foundation and previously served as a member of the ABA Board of Governors, chair of the ABA Commission on the American Jury, and chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section. Prior to joining the academy, Dervan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Phyllis A. Kravitch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He also practiced law with King & Spalding LLP and Ford & Harrison LLP.