Regent University names law school dean

Note: This story by Josh Janney originally appeared in Virginia Business.

Regent University announced Nov. 13 that it has tapped longtime administrator and faculty member S. Ernie Walton as the dean of the Regent University School of Law.

Walton, who has been serving as interim dean of the Virginia Beach private Christian university’s law school since July, replaces Bradley J. Lingo, who stepped down in March of this year to become president of his alma mater, Grove City College.

“Dean Walton has consistently demonstrated exceptional scholarship, integrity and leadership,” said Chancellor Gordon Robertson, in a statement. “He embodies the thoughtful, principled leadership essential to equipping the next generation of legal professionals. Under his guidance, Regent Law will continue its remarkable growth in both quality and enrollment. His dedication to advancing Christ-centered legal education will strengthen our mission and impact for years to come.”

Walton was previously senior associate dean and associate professor of law at the university. He has taught sales, business structures and agency, international law, national security law and international business transactions. Additionally, he served as the director of the law school’s Center for Global Justice from 2013 to 2023.

In a statement, Walton said he was “profoundly honored and deeply humbled” to receive the position and expressed his enthusiasm for working with the university’s faculty and staff in his new role.

Before joining Regent, Walton served as a law clerk for Virginia Supreme Court Justice D. Arthur Kelsey. He later practiced law in Southern California with Tyler & Bursch, focusing on civil litigation and business matters, and concurrently worked as an associate attorney with Advocates for Faith & Freedom, a nonprofit legal organization that litigates cases involving religious liberty. In that role, he represented churches in Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) land-use disputes as well as pastors who had been arrested while evangelizing in public spaces.

He has also written critically about how schools and state agencies handle issues related to gender identity, arguing that some policies conflict with parental rights and constitutional limits on government authority.

An alumnus of Regent Law, Walton graduated first in his class in 2011, served as notes and comments Editor for the Regent University Law Review and clerked for the American Center for Law and Justice.

Regent Law has risen significantly in the U.S. News & World Report rankings in recent years, now ranked 94th, a 53-place climb in four years.

Founded in 1977 by the late televangelist Pat Robertson, Regent University today has more than 13,000 students studying on its 100-acre campus in Virginia Beach and online worldwide.

There are 769 students enrolled in Regent’s law school across all programs, with 341 in the law degree program. More than 3,800 law school alumni practice in all 50 states and over 20 countries, including 38 currently serving as judges.