Rex Perschbacher's scholarly focus has been on the role of lawyers and the traditional institutions for resolving legal disputes—as both adapt to the current reality of dispute resolution without trial and business-based legal practices.

"Such issues fall under the academic heading of Civil Procedure, a course, according to Perschbacher, different from any other in the first-year curriculum. Most of what you study in your first year--torts, contracts, property law and criminal law--is something to which you've been exposed whether you've understood the law or not," said Perschbacher. "Contracts involves keeping one's promises, torts avoiding accidents, criminal law staying out of trouble, property the buying and selling of real estate. Civil procedure, however, shows students for the first time what is exclusively a lawyer's world. Students are introduced to the role lawyers play in litigating cases and making the law their first dramatic steps in the process of becoming professional lawyers."
Distinguished Teaching Award, 1992;

author of Cases and Materials on Civil Procedure (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions), with D. Crump, W. Dorsaneo and O. Chase;

Problems in Legal Ethics (3rd, 4th, and 5th) editions, with M. Schwartz and R. Wydick; (6th and 7th editions) with M. Schwartz, R. Wydick and D. Bassett;

California Legal Ethics (1st, 2nd, and 3rdeditions), with R. Wydick; (4th and 5th editions) with R. Wydick and D. Bassett;

The United States Legal System—An Introduction, with M. Johns;

California Civil Procedure, with W. Heiser and M. Johns;

appointed Dean of the Law School, July 1998.
A.B. Philosophy, Stanford University, 1968

J.D. University of California, Berkeley, 1972

Civil Procedure, Civil Litigation, Professional Ethics, Legal Education UNITED STATES LEGAL SYSTEM: AN INTRODUCTION (Carolina Press, 2002) (co-author).

CASES AND MATERIALS ON CIVIL PROCEDURE (Matthew Bender, 1987, 1992, 1998; Lexis, 2001) (co-author).

PROBLEMS IN LEGAL ETHICS (West Publishing Co., 1992, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005) (co-author).

CALIFORNIA LEGAL ETHICS (West Publishing Co., 1992, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005) (co-author).

CALIFORNIA CIVIL PROCEDURE AND PRACTICE (Matthew Bender 1996) (co-author).

CALIFORNIA TRIAL TECHNIQUES (Parker & Son 1991) (co-author).

OUTLINE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE (Casenotes Publishing, 1991, 1996, 2001) (co-author).

ANNUAL SUPPLEMENTS TO CASES AND MATERIALS ON CIVIL PROCEDURE (Matthew Bender 1988-2003) (primary author 1988-2002). Lawyers and Ethical Issues/Considerations in Cross-Border Class Action Litigation, 2004 Mich. St. L. Rev. 735.

The End of Law, 84 B. U. L. REV. 1 (2004) (co-author).

Labor and Employment in the Academy: A Critical Look at the Ivory Tower, 6 EMPLOYEE RTS & EMP. L. J. 129, 161-65 (2002).

Welcome: 16th Annual Environmental Law Conference, 25 ENVIRONS 53 (2002).

The Responsibilities of a Public Law School, 3 U. TOL. L. REV. 693 (2000).

Forward, Fifty Years of International Shoe: The Past and Future of Personal Jurisdiction, 28 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 513 (1995).

Reading Beyond the Labels: Effective Regulation of Lawyers' Targeted Direct Mail Advertising, 58 U. COLO. L. REV. 225 (1987) (co-author); reprinted in Volume XI ADVERTISING L. ANTHOLOGY (1987).

Minimum Contacts Reapplied: Mr. Justice Brennan Has It His Way in Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, ARIZ. ST. L.J. 585 (1986).

Regulating Lawyers' Negotiations, 27 ARIZ. L. REV. 75 (1985); reprinted in 35 DEFENSE L.J. 65 (1986).

Rethinking Collateral Estoppel: Limiting the Preclusive Effect of Administrative Determinations in Judicial Proceedings, 35 FLA. L. REV. 422 (1983).
Foreword, Developments in Federal Civil Procedure, 17 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 1 (1983).

Judging Judges: The Investigation of Rose Bird at the California Supreme Court, 16 U.C. DAVIS. L. REV. 817 (1983) (book review).