Douglas E. Abrams

• Children and the law
• Family law
• Juvenile justice
• Constitutional Law
• American Legal History
• Youth sports

Teaching, Scholarship, Public Service

Professor Abrams joined the University of Missouri faculty in 1990. In the past 23 years, he has written or co-authored five books and the U.S. Supreme Court has cited his law review articles in four decisions.

From 1976-78, he served as law clerk to Judge Hugh R. Jones of the New York Court of Appeals (New York's highest court). From 1978-81, he was in private practice with Kaye Scholer, a Park Avenue firm in New York City. From 1982-89, he was an associate professor at Fordham University Law School.

Professor Abrams' first book was The Law of Civil RICO (Aspen 1991). Thomson West recently published the fourth editions of his casebook, Children and the Law--Doctrine, Policy and Practice (co-author), and his Children and the Law In a Nutshell (co-author). In 2003, he wrote A Very Special Place in Life: The History of Juvenile Justice in Missouri. His most recent book is Contemporary Family Law, a West casebook whose third edition appeared in 2012 (co-author).

With his book royalties, Professor Abrams created the Happiness For Health program, a permanent endowment that provides toys, stuffed animals and games for sick and injured children at the MU Children’s Hospital. HFH also provides parties for children hospitalized on their birthdays and other special occasions.

He serves on the bipartisan 15-member Advisory Board of the Missouri Division of Youth Services (DYS), which is considered to be one of the nation's foremost statewide juvenile justice treatment agencies. He also serves as treasurer and a member of the board of directors of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association, which promotes justice for the state's children, youth and families.

Professor Abrams is a Fellow of The Missouri Bar Foundation, which seeks to improve the legal system through law-related research, education and charitable endeavors. He has testified before state House and Senate committees in support of the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan. He serves on a special Missouri Bar committee that advises the Board of Governors on issues relating to member lawyers' First Amendment speech rights concerning positions the Bar takes. He served on the Missouri Bar Commission on Children and the Law, and the General Assembly enacted several bills he drafted relating to children's welfare.He is the Associate Editor of the Juvenile and Family Court Journal, and he chairs the editorial board of the Journal of the Missouri Bar.

In 1994, Professor Abrams received the Meritorious Service to the Children of America Award, presented by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to recognize his public service. In 2000, he received a Spurgeon Smithson Award, presented by the Missouri Bar Foundation for outstanding service to the cause of justice. In 2005, he received a Chairperson's Award from the Missouri Bar's Young Lawyers Section. In 2011, he received the Missouri Bar's Distinguished Service Award.

At the law school, Professor Abrams has received the Administration of Justice, Distinguished Faculty Achievement, and Teacher-of-the-Year awards. He teaches Children and the Law, Constitutional Law, Family Law, and American Legal History.

Sports Ethics

Professor Abrams was a goaltender on the Wesleyan University hockey team for four years. In 1973, he set the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III record for most saves in a game (64). He was the first Wesleyan hockey player to be named to the weekly ECAC All-East Team, and he received Wesleyan's Scholar-Athlete Award.

Professor Abrams is the 2013 recipient of the Excellence in Safety Award presented by USA Hockey, the sport’s national governing body. He is the first lawyer to receive the award, which usually recognizes a nationally known physician or medical researcher for “outstanding contributions through many years of service to make hockey a safer game for all participants.” He coached youth ice hockey at all age levels for more than 40 years, and he now writes and speaks about coaching, player safety, and sports ethics. The New Hampshire Union Leader has called him "one of the people who help serve as the conscience for anyone involved in youth sports," and "a nationally known authority on youth sports."

In 1990, Professor Abrams played a leading role in creating the first organized youth hockey teams in mid-Missouri. During his eleven-year tenure as the new mid-Missouri youth hockey program's first president, the program grew from 25 players to 180, while enrolling every interested child, encouraging beginners, teaching sportsmanship, providing need-based scholarships, and fully involving each player in every practice and game. In 1999, he received the Missouri Park and Recreation Association's Citation Award for his pioneering service.

Professor Abrams' coaching stressed citizenship education. As the players improved their athletic skills each year, his teams also conducted community service projects. The Governor issued a proclamation stating that his teams had “brought honor to Missouri,” and a local newspaper called one of his teams “a philanthropic organization on skates.”

Professor Abrams serves on the Team of Experts of MomsTeam, a leading resource for youth sports parents about safety, nutrition, sportsmanship and coaching. He is a Champion of the Positive Coaching Alliance. He also serves on the Expert Panel of the Center For Sports Parenting, which is part of the Institute for International Sport at the University of Rhode Island.

Professor Abrams' youth sports articles appear in law reviews and on the editorial pages of national newspapers, and he is interviewed on radio and television. He writes regular columns about coaching and sports ethics on momsteam.com and askcoachwolff.com (Professor Abrams' sports publications are listed on pages 8 - 16 of his CV (PDF)).

Recent Publications

Book Chapters/Collected Works

Academic Journals

Professional Journals

Complete Listing of Publications