Robert Lawless is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law at the United States Military Academy, West Point. He teaches the department’s courses on constitutional and military law and the law of armed conflict. He is also the Research Director of the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare and a member of the editorial team for Articles of War.  Professor Lawless also serves on the Editorial Board of the West Point Press.

Before joining the Department of Law as a civilian professor, Professor Lawless spent more than eight years as an active-duty military officer in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. In that role, he served in numerous legal positions advising commanders on criminal law, international law, and administrative law issues. He also spent almost three years as an Army litigator, representing both the U.S. government and individual soldiers in courts-martial and other military justice forums. In 2015, he deployed to Afghanistan and served as an administrative and operational law attorney for United States Forces-Afghanistan. He was assigned for three years as a military attorney in the Third Infantry Division at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.

Professor Lawless earned a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and a B.A. from Rutgers University.