Carl Schneider

Carl E. Schneider was an American lawyer and bioethicist whose work sat at the crossroads of law, medicine, and moral decision-making. He taught at the University of Michigan, where he served as Chauncey Stillman Professor of Law and also held an appointment in internal medicine.

He studied at Harvard College and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan, where he was editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review. After clerking for Judge Carl McGowan and Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, he joined the Michigan law faculty in 1981 and later expanded his work into medical and bioethics questions.

Schneider wrote widely on subjects including patient autonomy, research regulation, family law, and legal ethics. Among his books are The Practice of Autonomy: Patients, Doctors, and Medical Decisions, Law at the End of Life, and, with Omri Ben-Shahar, More Than You Wanted to Know: The Failure of Mandated Disclosure. He died on May 6, 2023.