Professor William R. Casto of Texas Tech University will present “Advising Presidents: Private Advice and Public Advocacy” at noon on Thursday, Nov. 10, in the large moot courtroom at the Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law. The talk, which is part of the Dean’s Lecture Series, is free and open to the public.

In this talk, Casto will draw upon his forthcoming book on the advisory relationship between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Attorney General Robert H. Jackson on the eve of America’s entry into World War II. He will discuss significant differences between legal advisory opinions released to the public and the advice actually given to the president in private. 

Casto holds a Paul Whitfield Horn Professorship at Texas Tech University, which is the highest honor the university may bestow on a faculty member. He has written three well-received books. The U.S. Supreme Court has cited or relied upon his works a number of times, and the Court expressly adopted his understanding of the Alien Tort Statute.  

Casto received B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and a J.S.D. degree from Columbia University.