Professor Mearns was born in New York, NY on March 30, 1930. He received a B.S. in 1951 from Yale and a LL.B. in 1958 from Virginia where he was Articles Editor of the Law Review. He became an Instructor in Law at the law school in 1958, an Assistant Professor of Law in 1959, an Associate Professor of Law in 1960, and a Professor in 1964. He also served as Assistant Dean from 1963-1964 and Associate Dean 1964-1967. He taught Legal History and Persons. He later became dean at the University of Cincinnati in 1970, then a law professor at Case Western University School of Law, and a vice dean at Case Western University School of Medicine. He also served as dean of the faculty of the World Law Institute from 1997-2004. Mearns died in 2013.