David Gruning studied French at Wesleyan University, Grenoble and Middlebury College. He practiced French when studying civil law at Tulane University. French was his working language when teaching in Lyon, Paris and Montreal; and as a consultant in Madagascar and Morocco. Translation became part of his scholarly efforts. He started small with a translation of an op-ed article for the New York Times in 1975, followed a few year later by several legal translations at the behest of professor Alain Levasseur. He is a William L. Crowe distinguished law professor at Loyola University, New Orleans.