Richard Speidel received a B.A. from Denison University in 1954 and a LL.B. from University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1957 where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He was also a member of the moot court team. In 1957 he was admitted to the bar in Ohio and became a teaching fellow at Northwestern University where he earned a LL.M. in 1958. He then became a First Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General Corps, working as a JAG instructor in Charlottesville for three years prior to joining the Law School faculty. At UVA Law, he served as Assistant Dean and taught courses in the area of contracts, commercial transactions, insurance, legal methods, and property law. During his tenure at the law school, he served as a visiting professor at Berkeley during its Free Speech Movement and at the University of Washington, as well as Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Vienna in 1974-75. He published a casebook on government contracts which was used by the JAG schools, as well as the 1970 text Studies in Contract Law. Speidel became an expert in the Uniform Commercial Code. In 1970, he joined the State Department’s advisory council on international trade law and served in 1975 as a representative of the United States at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law in Geneva. He left the law school in 1977 to become Dean of the Law School of Boston University. As he departed UVA, Speidel described his time here as “the most exciting time of my life.” He later taught at the law schools of Northwestern and the University of San Diego. He died in 2008.
An Introduction to the Uniform Commercial Code (with Charles Bunn and Harry Snead) (Michie, 1964).
Teaching Materials on Commercial Transactions (with Robert S. Summers and James J. White) (West, 1969).
Studies in Contract Law (with Edward J. Murphy) (Foundation Press, 1970; 2d ed. 1977).
Teaching Materials on Commercial and Consumer Law (with Robert S. Summers and James J. White) (West, 2d ed. 1974).
Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies in Government Contracts, 38 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 621-650 (1963).
Implied Duties of Cooperation and the Defense of Sovereign Acts in Government Contracts, 51 Geo. L.J. 516-557 (1963).
Advance Payments in Contracts for Sale of Manufactured Goods: A Look at the Uniform Commercial Code, 52 Cal. L. Rev. 281-305 (1964).
State and Local Taxation of the Unite States and its Contractors, 29 Law & Contemp. Probs. 160-195 (1964).
The Virginia “Anti-Privity” Statute: Strict Products Liability under the Uniform Commercial Code, 51 Va. L. Rev. 804-852 (1965).
What Should the Law Schools Do about Federal Government Contracts?, 18 J. Legal Educ. 371-394 (1966).
Contract Law: Some Reflections upon Commercial Context and the Judicial Process, 1967 Wis. L. Rev. 822-832.
Contract Law: Some Reflections upon Commercial Context and the Judicial Process, 20 J. Legal Educ. 474-481 (1968).
Article 9 and the Construction Surety – Some Comparisons with Federal Construction Contracts, in Summer School for Lawyers on Uniform Commercial Code (Emphasizing Article 9), at 8-1 to 8-5 (Virginia State Bar and Virginia State Bar Association, 1968).
Article 9 and the Virginia Certificate of Title Act, in Summer School for Lawyers on Uniform Commercial Code (Emphasizing Article 9), at 7-1 to 7-8 (Virginia State Bar and Virginia State Bar Association, 1968).
A Matter of Mission, 54 Va. L. Rev. 606-616 (1968).
Motor Vehicles as the Subject of Sale or Security, 1968 J. Bus. L. 373-378.
Perfection by Filing under Article 9 of the UCC, in Summer School for Lawyers on Uniform Commercial Code (Emphasizing Article 9), at 2-1 to 2-11 (Virginia State Bar and Virginia State Bar Association, 1968).
Unconscionability, Assent and Consumer Protection, 31 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 359-375 (1970).
Enforcing Security Interests in Consumer Goods: Some Notes on the Vicious Cycle, 7 U. Rich. L. Rev. 187-212 (1972).
Judicial and Administrative Review of Government Contract Awards, 37 Law & Contemp. Probs. 63-94 (1972).
Seller’s Recovery of Overhead under UCC Section 2-708(2): Economic Cost Theory and Contract Remedial Policy (with Kendall O. Clay), 57 Cornell L. Rev. 681-718 (1972).
Products Liability, Economic Loss and the UCC, 40 Tenn. L. Rev. 309-327 (1973).
Emerging Issues under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty – Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act: Part 1 – Warranties: Remarks, 45 Antitrust L.J. 75-79 (1976).
Reformation, in Injunctions and Other Equitable Relief in Commercial Disputes 23-35 (Practising Law Institute, 1976).
Rescission and Related “Avoidance” Remedies, in Injunctions and Other Equitable Relief in Commercial Disputes 53-65 (Practising Law Institute, 1976).
Review of Friedman, Contract Law in America, 1967 Wis. L. Rev. 301-311.
An Essay on the Reported Death and Continued Vitality of Contract (reviewing Gilmore, The Death of Contract), 27 Stan. L. Rev. 1161-1183 (1975).
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