Professor John W. Cairns to Deliver Eason-Weinmann Lecture
The annual Eason-Weinmann Lecture on International and Comparative Law will be delivered this year by Professor John W. Cairns, professor of Civil Law at the University of Edinburgh.
Professor Cairns’s lecture, entitled “The Civil Code of the State of Louisiana: Context and Contents,” will be delivered on November 20, 2025, at 5 p.m. in the Wendell H. Gauthier Moot Court Room 110. A reception will follow in the Marian Mayer Berkett multipurpose room.
The Eason-Weinmann Lecture serves as the kickoff event to the Civil Code Bicentennial Conference, which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Civil Code. Crafted in 1825, the Code stands as a cornerstone of American legal history. Unlike most states, Louisiana drew its foundation from Roman, French, and Spanish legal traditions rather than English common law, creating a distinctive “civil law island” in the United States. This blend of influences continues to set Louisiana apart, challenging lawyers and scholars to approach legal questions with perspectives that differ from those found elsewhere in the country.
Professor Cairns is an internationally respected scholar of civil law and legal history. He has taught at the University of Edinburgh for much of his career, serving as Professor of Legal History before being appointed to the Chair of Civil Law in 2012. He has also served as a visiting professor at universities in the United States and Europe, and has held senior academic leadership roles at the University of Edinburgh's Law School.
His research explores the intersections of law and history across Scotland, continental Europe, and North America. He has published widely on the reception of Roman law, the development of civil law traditions, and the legal histories of Scotland, Quebec, and Louisiana. More recently, his scholarship has focused on the legal status of enslaved people in eighteenth-century Scotland.
The Eason-Weinmann Lecture is funded by the Eason-Weinmann Center for International and Comparative Law, established in 1981 through the generosity of Virginia Eason Weinmann and John Giffen Weinmann, a distinguished Tulane Law School graduate (L'52). Ambassador Weinmann is the former Chair of Tulane's Board of Administrators, and the law building is named in his honor. The Center is co-directed by Professor Palmer and Professor Jörg Fedtke.
