*Professor Emeritus Rohner passed away in June of 2020.

Ralph Rohner served as professor of law and former dean at the Columbus School of Law of The Catholic University of America (CUA), Washington, D.C., where he holds the James Whiteford Chair of Common Law. He has taught commercial and consumer law courses at CUA since 1964, and was dean from January 1987 through August 1995. During his tenure as dean, he oversaw the design and construction of the new law school building.

In 1975-76 he served as staff counsel to the Consumer Affairs Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. He has been a consultant to the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and various consumer banking trade associations and institutions, including more than twenty-five years as Special Counsel to the Consumer Bankers Association, Rosslyn, Virginia. From 1979 through 1981 he served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council, and in 1981 he chaired that Council.

A co-author of a law school casebook on consumer law, and editor/co-author of a treatise on Truth-in-Lending law, he has written and lectured extensively on the federal and state consumer credit laws. He is a member of the American Law Institute, of the American Bar Association Business Law Section and its Committees on the Uniform Commercial Code and on Consumer Financial Services, and is a founding member and past president of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.

Professor Rohner earned both his B.A. (1960) and J.D. (1963) degrees from The Catholic University of America.

 

Research and Writing

BOOKS

Truth in Lending. Chicago: American Bar Association, Section of Business Law, 2000 (with Fred H. Miller).

Consumer Law: Cases and Materials. Second edition. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing, 1990 (with others).

The Law of Truth in Lending, 1989 Supplement. Boston: Warren, Gorham & Lamont., 1989 (with Fred H. Miller and J. Mancuso).

The Law of Truth in Lending, 1988 Supplement. Boston: Warren, Gorham & Lamont, 1988 (with Fred H. Miller).

The Law of Truth in Lending, 1987 Supplement. Boston: Warren, Gorham & Lamont, 1987 (with Fred H. Miller).

The Law of Truth in Lending, 1986 Supplement. Boston: Warren, Gorham & Lamont, 1986 (with Fred H. Miller).

The Law of Truth in Lending, 1985 Supplement. Boston: Warren, Gorham & Lamont, 1985 (with Fred H. Miller).

Most Common Violations III: The Most Common Violations Found in Consumer Compliance Examinations: What They Are, How to Correct Them. Arlington, Va.: Consumer Bankers Association, 1984 (with Drew V. Tidwell).

The Law of Truth in Lending, Boston: Warren, Gorham & Lamont, 1984.

Consumer Law: Cases and Materials, 1982 Supplement. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing, 1982 (with John A. Spanogle).

The Compliance Handbook for Consumer Bankruptcy. Washington, D.C.: Capitol Reports, 1980.

Teaching Notes for Consumer Law: Cases and Materials. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Company, 1980 (with John A. Spanogle).

Consumer Law: Cases and Materials. American Casebook Series. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing, 1979 (with John A. Spanogle).

The UCC as It Affects Bank Transactions. New York: Practising Law Institute, 1978.

Elimination of Holder in Due Course. Washington, D.C.: Consumer Bankers Association, 1977.

BOOK CHAPTERS

"Sources of Law and Enforcement." In ABA National Institute on Consumer Financial Services Law in the 1990s, Program Handbook. Chicago: American Bar Association, 1990.

BOOK REVIEWS

"Review of The Litigious Society by Jethro K. Lieberman." Journal of Consumer Affairs 16 (Winter 1982): 400.

"Review of Handbook of the Law Under the Uniform Commercial Code by James J. White and Robert S. Summers." Catholic University Law Review 22 (Summer 1973): 859.

"Review of The Trouble With Lawyers by Murray T. Bloom." Duquesne Law Review 8 (Winter 1970): 204.

"Review of Civil Procedure: Cases and Materials by John J. Cound, Jack H. Friedenthal, and Arthur R. Miller." Journal of Legal Education 21, no. 3 (1969): 363.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

"TILA 'Finance' and 'Other' Charges in Open-End Credit: The Cost-of-Credit Principle Applied to Charges for Optional Products or Services," 17 Loyola Consumer Law Review 137-207 (2005)(with T. Durkin).

"Leasing Consumer Goods: The Spotlight Shifts to the Uniform Consumer Leases Act," 35 University of Connecticut Law Review 647-762 (2003).

"The Uniform Consumer Leases Act Arrives in Connecticut," Connecticut Lawyer vol.13 no. 5 (2003) 12-15.

"The 50th Anniversary of the Catholic University Law Review," 50 Catholic University Law Review 267 (2001).

"Re-examining Truth in Lending: Do Borrowers Actually Use Consumer Disclosures?" Consumer Finance Quarterly Report 52 (1998): 3.

"Whither Truth in Lending?" Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report 50 (1996): 114.

"Exporting Bank Credit Card Rates and Charges." Review of Banking and Financial Services 10 (January 1994): 1.

"Multiple Sources of Consumer Law and Enforcement (or: 'Still in Search of a Uniform Policy')," Georgia State University Law Review 9 (June, 1993): 881.

"1988 Annual Survey on Uniform Commercial Code." Business Lawyer 44 (August 1989): 1499 (with Fred H. Miller).

"1987 Annual Survey on Uniform Commercial Code." Business Lawyer 43 (August 1988): 1255 (with Fred H. Miller).

"Introduction to Annual Survey on Uniform Commercial Code." The Business Lawyer 43 (August 1988): 1255.

"Students Don't See 'Bank' as a Four Letter Word." American Banker (October 1985): 32.

"1984 Annual Survey of Consumer Financial Services Law." Business Lawyer 40 (May 1985): 1031.

"Introduction to the 1983 Annual Survey of Consumer Financial Services Law." Business Lawyer 39 (May 1984): 1151 (with Carl Felsenfeld).

"Introduction to the 1982 Annual Survey of Consumer Financial Services Law." Business Lawyer 38 (May 1983): 1267 (with Roland E. Brandel).

"Due on Sale Clauses: Profits, Public Policy, and Preemption." Journal of Retail Banking (March 1982): 1.

"Federal Preemption of State Usury Laws." Business Lawyer 37 (April 1982): 747 (with others).

"In Search of a National Policy: State and Federal Sources of Consumer Financial Services Law." Business Lawyer 37 (July 1982): 1415 (with Fred H. Miller).

"Recent Developments: 1981 Annual Survey of Consumer Financial Services Law Developments." Business Lawyer 37 (April 1982): 1129.

"The 'Most Favored Lender' Doctrine for Federally Insured Financial Institutions: What Are Its Boundaries?" Catholic University Law Review 31 (Fall 1981): 1 (with Coreen S. Arnold).

"Recent Developments: 1980 Annual Survey of Consumer Financial Services Law Developments." Business Lawyer 36 (April 1981): 1237.

"Truth in Lending 'Simplified': Simplified?" New York University Law Review 56 (November-December 1981): 999.

"Problems of Federalism in the Regulation of Consumer Financial Services Offered by Commercial Banks: Part II." Catholic University Law Review 29 (Winter 1980): 313.

"1979 Annual Survey of Consumer Financial Services Law Developments (Recent Developments)." Business Lawyer 35 (April 1980): 1311.

"The F.T.C. Amends the 'Holder' Rule." Business Lawyer 35 (April 1980): 1318.

"For Lack of a National Policy on Consumer Credit: Preliminary Thoughts on the Need for Unified Federal Agency Rulemaking." Personal Finance Law Quarterly 34 (Winter 1980): 121.

"For Lack of a National Policy on Consumer Credit: Preliminary Thoughts on the Need for Unified Federal Agency Rulemaking." Business Lawyer 35 (November 1979): 135.

"Special Problems in Complying With the Equal Credit Opportunity Act." Washington Financial Reports (Oct. 1979): 28.

"Problems of Federalism in the Regulation of Consumer Financial Services Offered by Commercial Banks, Part I." Catholic University Law Review 29 (September 1979): 1.

"Marquette: Bad Law and Worse Policy." Journal of Retail Banking (June 1979): 76.

"Annual Survey of Law Development: 'Equal Credit Opportunity Act.'" Business Lawyer 34 (April 1979): 1401.

"Consumer Credit: A Symposium: 'From Public to Private and Back Again!'" Oklahoma City University Law Review 3 (March 1979): 457.

"New Directions in the Enforcement of Consumer Credit Laws: From Public to Private and Back Again." Oklahoma City University Law Review 3 (March 1979): 581.

"Equal Credit Opportunity Act." Business Lawyer 34 (April 1979): 1423.

"A Functional Analysis of Truth in Lending." U.C.L.A. Law Review 26 (April 1979): 711 (with J. Landers).

"The F.T.C. Does Lord Mansfield In." American Bar Association Journal 62 (March 1976): 372.

"Holder in Due Course in Consumer Transactions: Requiem, Revival, or Reformation?" Cornell Law Review 60 (April 1975): 503.

"Autos, Title Certificates and UCC 9-103: The Draftsmen Try Again." Business Lawyer 27 (July 1972): 1177.

"Posting of Checks: Final Payment and the Four Legals." Business Lawyer 23 (July 1968): 1075.

"Jurimetrics, No!" American Bar Association Journal 54 (September 1968): 896.

"The Right to Bear Arms: A Phenomenon of Constitutional History." Catholic University Law Review 16 (September 1966): 53.

"Can Congress Denationalize? The Supreme Court's View in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez."

Catholic University Law Review 12 (May 1963): 114 (with J. Provost).

"Casenote: Bell v. United States." Catholic University Law Review 11 (January 1962): 51.

TESTIMONIAL

"The Patience and Prescience of a Chess Master" (testimonial for Dean Steven Frankino), 43 Villanova L. Rev. 301-304 (1998).