Christopher Columbus Langdell (May 22, 1826 – July 6, 1906) was an American jurist and legal academic who was Dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1895.

As a professor and administrator, he pioneered the casebook method of instruction, which has since been widely adopted in American law schools and adapted for other professional disciplines, such as business, public policy, and education.

[1] Dean Langdell's legacy lies in the educational and administrative reforms he made to Harvard Law School, a task he was entrusted with by President Charles Eliot.

The case method has since been adopted and improved upon by schools in other disciplines, such as business, public policy, and education.

Dean Langdell instituted the process of blind grading, now common at U.S. law schools, so that students already known by professors or from esteemed families would have no advantage over others.