Vice Dean and Professor of Law at University of Alabama School of Law

Joel A. Nichols is Vice Dean and Professor of Law, University of Alabama Law School. His work focuses on the intersection of law and religion, especially in family law and First Amendment law, and leadership and professional identity formation. Recent books include Research Handbook of Family Law and Religion (Edward Elgar Press, forthcoming 2026) (with Karin Carmit Yefet); and Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment (Oxford University Press, 5^th ed. 2021; 6^th ed. under contract) (with John Witte, Jr. and Rick W. Garnett). His writings have appeared in prominent law reviews, theology and political science journals, bar and practitioner journals, and edited book collections with both university and popular presses.

Nichols previously taught and served in senior law school leadership at the University of St. Thomas (MN), taught at Pepperdine Law School, clerked for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and practiced complex civil litigation in Washington D.C. He has served in leadership roles for several sections of the American Association of Law Schools; participates on accreditation and program review teams for the American Bar Association and others; and regularly engages with colleagues at conferences on leadership, professional identity formation, wellbeing, and the legal profession.

Nichols holds a juris doctor from Emory University School of Law, a master of divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory, and a bachelor of arts in English from Abilene Christian University.