Professor Joseph Thai joined the law faculty of the University of Oklahoma in 2003. He teaches Supreme Court decision making, First Amendment, and Criminal Procedure at the law school, and co-teaches “Mind-Bending” on morality, law, and science on main campus.Thai writes about the Constitution and the Supreme Court, and co-authored the first law school textbook on the Court The Supreme Court Sourcebook.
Thai served as law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens and Justice Byron White of the Supreme Court, as well as to Judge David Ebel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to joining the law faculty, he practiced in the Office of the Attorney General in Massachusetts and GableGotwals in Oklahoma.
Thai often engages in pro bono litigation on constitutional matters, and comments in local and national media on constitutional law and the Supreme Court.
In 2005, and again in 2008, Thai was named the outstanding faculty member of the College of Law by its students. In 2005, Thai was also named the university-wide outstanding faculty member by students across campus. In 2007, he received the President’s Associates Presidential Professorship.