Gessner Harrison

Gessner H. Harrison

Lecturer
Email
Phone
(434) 295-7130

Gessner Harrison teaches Practice and Procedure at the Law School.

Harrison is the senior staff attorney in the Office of the Reporter of Decisions for the Supreme Court of Virginia, a role he has held since 2003.  Harrison has regularly researched and analyzed diverse issues pertaining to Virginia law and appellate practice. He also has experience as a litigator and an appellate judicial clerk.

Harrison plays a major role in the Model Jury Instructions program in Virginia. Since 2006 he has been primarily responsible for the identification of all new developments in Virginia legislation and case law affecting the model jury instructions. His work appears in the “Virginia Model Jury Instructions” volumes, which cover all areas of civil causes of action and criminal trials.

He holds both J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Arizona State University, where he was a managing editor of the Arizona State Law Journal. In 2016 he earned a Master of Information Science degree from the University of Tennessee with advanced course work in copyright law, as well as legal research and information management.

Harrison has authored law review articles on various subjects including criminal appellate procedure, constitutional law, crime victim's rights and environmental law. He has also collaborated with Professor Kent Sinclair on numerous projects in diverse areas of Virginia law since 2005.” He has 13 published articles in the “Lexis Expert Commentaries” series, as well published as projects concerning federal evidence and procedure, including the “Trial Handbook” and the “Federal Civil Practice” treatises published by PLI.