Russell Weaver, Executive Director of Southeastern Association of American Law Schools (SEALS) and Professor of Law at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
SEALS Announcement | August 12, 2026
It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that the SEALS Board shares the news of the passing of Russell Weaver, Executive Director of SEALS and Professor of Law at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.
Russ was the lifeforce of SEALS from the organization’s rejuvenation in the 1970s to the robust organization it is today. He built SEALS into a true home for ideas. His vision was to create a place where scholarship could be shared, workshopped, tested, and set into motion, open to everyone in the room, regardless of rank or reputation.
That openness was Russ’s core philosophy. He was a respected and prolific scholar and teacher, with a deep passion for lifting others up. For Russ, SEALS was an extended family, and he believed the family would only thrive if every member was supported. Junior faculty members on their first panel and senior scholars decades into their careers found the same welcome at SEALS, no matter their name badge, title, or perceived place in the hierarchy.
He forged genuine relationships among everyone who walked through the door, built real inroads for newcomers into the legal academy, and cultivated lasting connections among scholars around the world. Though he preferred to be a winner on the tennis court, he was committed to a true meritocracy within law schools and legal organizations.
The UMKC Law Review devoted Book 3 of its 2018 volume (Vol. 86) to SEALS’s seventieth anniversary. An introduction to that volume, written by former SEALS President Nancy Levit, can be found online at
https://irlaw.umkc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1277&context=faculty_works
Russ’s legacy will continue in everything SEALS does in the days, weeks, and years ahead.
SEALS will not be the same without him, and we will miss him deeply. Our thoughts and love
are with his wife, Laurence, and his children, Kate and Ben.
The SEALS Board, 2026
