About the Program
Lawyers working with public institutions must understand the complex relationship between law and public policy to be effective at shaping it. Virginia’s strength in public policy and regulation law draws from faculty members who have brought their experiences working for the government or other institutions back to the classroom. These connections benefit students in a variety of ways. When professors work for Congress or federal agencies such as the State Department, volunteer for government commissions, consult for state and local governments, or work with advocacy organizations that seek to influence public policy, the experiences enrich their teaching, give students an opportunity to network with practicing attorneys in a variety of fields, and inspire fresh insights in research and scholarship.
Connections With D.C.
The Law School's proximity to Washington, D.C., provides rich opportunities for a close-up view of how regulations, policies and the government interact. The location also allows top government lawyers and Washington-based practitioners to teach part-time at Virginia, which exposes students to the kinds of concrete issues they may one day face as government officials, practicing lawyers or policy advocates.
Alumni Network
Virginia's alumni also connect the school and students to Washington and other public policy networks. The Law School’s graduates work for the White House (Cynthia Hogan ’84, chief counsel to the vice president); the Justice Department (four sitting U.S. attorneys in the Western District of Virginia, Delaware, South Dakota and the Northern District of Alabama); Congress (John Mullan ’83, chief majority counsel, House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade); the military (Brig. Gen. Richard Gross ’93, legal counsel to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff); and numerous federal agencies (NASA General Counsel Michael C. Wholley ’77)
Gradualism should have won out in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, exerting gravitational influence on the majority and dissenters alike. In general...
There is a live debate going on over whether antitrust should take a broader view of the economics of market concentration. When antitrust reformers...
In an era defined by partisan rifts and government gridlock, many celebrate the rare issues that prompt bipartisan consensus. But extreme consensus...
Ian Ayres
We propose the creation of a Prosecutor Jury—a mechanism designed to balance the need to hold politicians accountable for their crimes, and the need...
More
The issue of state separation of powers generally is not one that the federal courts have had much occasion to address. Recent issues have arisen...
Public nuisance has lived many lives. A centuries-old doctrine defined as an unreasonable interference with a right common to the public, it is...
Faculty Director(s)
Richard J. Bonnie
Harrison Foundation Professor of Medicine and Law Emeritus
Research
Gradualism should have won out in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, exerting gravitational influence on the majority and dissenters alike. In general...
There is a live debate going on over whether antitrust should take a broader view of the economics of market concentration. When antitrust reformers...
In an era defined by partisan rifts and government gridlock, many celebrate the rare issues that prompt bipartisan consensus. But extreme consensus...
Ian Ayres
We propose the creation of a Prosecutor Jury—a mechanism designed to balance the need to hold politicians accountable for their crimes, and the need...
More
The issue of state separation of powers generally is not one that the federal courts have had much occasion to address. Recent issues have arisen...
Public nuisance has lived many lives. A centuries-old doctrine defined as an unreasonable interference with a right common to the public, it is...
An important administrative law doctrine developed by the lower federal courts, called remand without vacatur, rests on a mistaken premise. Courts...
In the last few decades, administrative regulation at both the federal and state levels has much more frequently than in the past deployed a...
In Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a California state regulation granting labor organizations a limited...
More
Violations of intimate privacy can be never ending. As long as nonconsensual pornography and deepfake sex videos remain online, privacy violations...
As this Essay shows, the fertility discourse of the last half century deals with the profound effects that come from the transformation of the economy...
More
In the period immediately preceding the Constitution’s adoption, New Yorkers engaged in a spirited debate over whether a proposed delegation from the...
More
Governments regulate private conduct. They also exercise rights of ownership and contract that are like those of private people. From the founding to...
More
A number of technological and political forces have transformed the once staid and insider dominated notice-and-comment process into a forum for large...
More
Jennifer Mascott
Decisionmaking in the modern executive branch frequently rests on a convenient formalism. Ultimate power is typically vested in high-level...
Scholars and policy makers have long debated whether corporations should serve social purposes at the expense of shareholder wealth. The SEC has...
More
Citation counts are a common quantitative metric used by researchers and analysts to assess scholarly output. When U.S. News & World Report announced...
The Supreme Court’s most recent foray into clarifying when courts ought to “defer” to agency interpretations of their own regulations—Kisor v. Wilkie—...
Land use regulation and zoning have long been core functions of local governments. Critics of local land use practices, however, assert that local...
The Supreme Court has recently signaled its interest in developing a new nondelegation test, one that would have courts more aggressively police...
Ryan Calo
The legitimacy of the administrative state is premised on our faith in agency expertise. Despite their extra-constitutional structure, administrative...
This Essay explores how private landowners bargain with federal environmental regulatory authorities under two important federal environmental...
Christopher S. Elmendorf
Eric Biber
Paavo Monkkonen
...Starting in the 1970s, the West Coast states coalesced around roughly similar responses to the problem of excessive local restrictions on housing...
Section 706 of title 5 instructs courts reviewing agency action to "hold unlawful and set aside" actions that fail the tests it sets out. Trump v...
Cass R. Sunstein
In 1984, the Supreme Court declared that courts should uphold agency interpretations of ambiguous statutory provisions, so long as those...
More
Health data regulation can be thought of at two levels. First, the micro- level of regulation has to do with Electronic Health Records (EHRs). Second...
Sometimes the judicial Constitution is not the one that matters. The administrative state is capable of creating divergent legal frameworks that...
Christopher S. Elmendorf
Eric Biber
Paavo Monkkonen
... Since 1980, California has had an ambitious planning framework on the books to make local governments accommodate their fair share of regionally...
More
The concept of checks and balances is a core tenet of our democracy; we fear letting any single institution become overly powerful or insufficiently...
Resident Faculty
Resident Faculty
Administrative law, civil procedure, computer crime, federal courts, national security law
Psychiatry and criminal law, mental health law, bioethics, public health
Criminal procedure and criminal defense law
Environmental and land use law
Contracts and professional responsibility
Criminal law, feminist jurisprudence and women's issues
Corporations, securities and real estate law; consumer financial markets
Tax policy, retirement policy, executive compensation and federal Indian law
Intellectual property, patents, administrative law
Law and economics, quantitative methods/statistics in the law
Legislation, election law, law and economics, and direct democracy
Sovereign debt
Criminal law, criminal procedure, policing and civil rights
Tax law and policy, behavioral economics
Bankruptcy and consumer finance law
Environmental and regulatory law, energy policy, climate change policy
Contracts, property and real estate; critical race theory
Law and economics, environmental liability
Corporate law and securities, industrial and intellectual property, economic regulation and history
Health policy, LGBTQ rights
Securities, corporate and derivatives law, taboo markets
Comparative and empirical study of public law, courts and legal texts
Environmental law and climate change, administrative law
Property, corporations and land conservation, nonprofit organizations
State, international taxation and policy
Civil rights, constitutional law, legal history, law and inequality
Constitutional law and civil procedure; federal courts
Food and drug law, health law, animal law
Education law, Civil rights, Affirmative action, Desegregation and integration, Race, Sexual discrimination and harrassment
Separation of church and state, property, local government and land use
International law, including international environmental law and counterfactual diplomatic history
Special education, child advocacy and juvenile justice
Health law and bioethics
International law, business and economics
Employment law and discrimination, contracts, contract theory, law and economics
Legal history, constitutional law, torts
Federal court system and civil procedure
Tax policy, tax shelters, federal taxation
Other Faculty
Ellen Catherine Bognar
Lecturer
Kevin Cope
Associate Professor of Law
Associate Professor of Law and Public Policy, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
Affiliated Faculty, Department of Politics
Director, Immigration Law Program
Robert J. Decker
Lecturer
Athena Velie Eastwood
Lecturer
Lawrence R. Fullerton
Lecturer
Sophia Gregg
Lecturer
David H. Hallock, Jr.
Lecturer
Timothy J. Heaphy
Lecturer
Caroline Klosko
Lecturer
H. Lane Kneedler
Lecturer
Mark Langlet
Lecturer
Robin Leiter-White
Lecturer
R. Lee Livingston
Lecturer
Timothy Longo Sr.
Lecturer
Associate Vice President for Safety and Security and Chief of Police, University of Virginia
Lisa Lorish
Lecturer
Mary Faith Marshall
Kornfeld Professor, School of Medicine, University of Virginia
Director, Program in Biomedical Ethics
Rachel C. McFarland
Lecturer
Christopher A. Ripple
Lecturer
Matthew Sanderson
Lecturer
Lois Shepherd
Peter A. Wallenborn, Jr. and Dolly F. Wallenborn Professor of Biomedical Ethics, University of Virginia
Professor of Public Health Sciences
Professor of Law
Maynard L. Sipe
Lecturer
Gregory A. Smith
Lecturer
Derrick L. Walker
Lecturer
Larry B. Wenger
Professor Emeritus
Robert Zack
Lecturer
Heather Zelle
Assistant Professor of Research, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia
Courses and Seminars
The following is a list of courses offered during 2021-24. Numbers in parentheses indicate which academic year(s) the courses were offered, i.e., 2021-22 is coded (22), 2022-23 is coded (23) and 2023-24 is coded (24). (SC) stands for short course and (YR) stands for yearlong.
Administrative Law (22,23,24)
Advanced Administrative Law (SC) (22,23)
Advanced Campaign Finance Seminar (22)
Advanced Contracts (22)
Advanced Crimes and Defenses (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Advanced LawTech (22)
Advanced Topics in Law and Public Service (22,23,24)
Advanced Topics in Professional Responsibility (JAG) (SC) (23,24)
Advanced Topics in the Law of Armed Conflict (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Advancing the Commitment to Public Service Through Law Firm Pro Bono (SC) (22,23,24)
AI and the Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of AI Technologies (SC) (24)
Airline Industry and Aviation Law (22)
American Food Governance (22)
Animal Law (22,23,24)
Antitrust (22,23,24)
Antitrust Review of Mergers in a Global Environment (22,23,24)
Banking and Financial Institutions (22,23,24)
Baseball (SC) (22,23,24)
Behavioral Law and Economics (SC) (23)
Bioethics and Law Internship Seminar: Health Policy and Administration (22,23,24)
Bioethics and the Law Seminar (22,24)
Blood Feud (SC) (23,24)
Border Policy and Politics (22,23,24)
Business and Governmental Tort Liability (23)
Cannabis Legalization (SC) (24)
Children and the Law (22,23,24)
Civil Rights Litigation (22,23,24)
Climate and Debt (24)
Climate Change Law (23)
Climate Law and Climate Ethics (24)
Congress, Oversight and the Separation of Powers (SC) (24)
Constitutional Law and Economics (23,24)
Contemporary Challenges in Military Justice (SC) (24)
Corporate Social Responsibility Seminar (22)
COVID and Contracts: Courts, Regulation and Drafting (SC) (22)
Crimmigration Law: Law and Policy at the Intersection of Immigration Law and Criminal Justice (24)
Critical Analysis of the Military Justice System (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Cryptocurrency Law and Policy (SC) (22,23,24)
Cyber and Information Operations I (JAG) (SC) (22)
Datafication, Automation and Inequality (SC) (23)
Designing Democracy: Participation (23)
Digital Evidence from Theory to Practice (JAG) (SC) (22)
Digital Evidence from Theory to Practice (JAG) (SC) (23,24)
Economic Statecraft and Public International Law (SC) (22,23)
Education Inside U.S. Prisons Seminar (22,23,24)
Education Law Survey (22,23)
Employment Law: Health and Safety (24)
Employment Law: Wage and Hour Regulation (22,23)
Energy and Environmental Products Trading and Commodities Regulation (SC) (22,23)
Energy and the Environment (22)
Energy Regulation and Policy (23,24)
Environmental Law (22,23,24)
European Union Law (SC) (24)
Exercises in Rulemaking: Society, Technology and the Law (SC) (22)
Federal Income Tax (22,23,24)
Federal Regulation of Investment Companies (SC) (22,24)
Feminism and the Free Market (22,24)
Food and Drug Law (22,24)
Food Systems Law and Policy (23)
Free Speech and the Digital Age (22)
Gender-Based Violence: U.S. Law and Policy (22)
Genetics and the Law (SC) (22)
Genetics and the Law: Exercises in Rulemaking (SC) (23)
Government Contract Law (22,23,24)
Government Ethics (SC) (24)
Government Ethics: Conflicts of Interest, Lobbying and Campaign Finance (22,23)
Government Secrecy (24)
Health Care Marketplace: Competition, Regulation and Reform (SC) (23)
Higher Education and the Law (SC) (22)
History and Evolution of Victims’ Rights (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Housing Law and Poverty Seminar (22,23,24)
Identity, Law and Politics Seminar (22)
Immigration Law and Policy (22)
Immigration Law and Policy Lecture (23,24)
Innovating for Defense (22,23,24)
International Human Rights (JAG) (SC) (22,23)
International Trade Law and Policy (22,23,24)
Internet Law (22,23)
Internet Regulation Seminar (22)
Introduction to Legal Aspects of Cyberspace Operations (JAG) (SC) (23,24)
Land Use Law (22,23)
Law and Artificial Intelligence (23)
Law and Economics (22,23,24)
Law and Economics Colloquium (22,23)
Law and Economics Workshop (24)
Law and Inequality Writing Seminar (24)
Law and Leadership in the Public Interest (24)
Law and Public Service (22,23,24)
Law and Riots (23,24)
Law and Technology Colloquium (22,23,24)
Law of Corruption (23)
Law of Sea, Air and Space Operations (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Law of the Police I: Rules, Rights and Regulation (22,23)
Law Reform and Impact Litigation Seminar (23,24)
Law, Inequality and Education Reform (22)
Law, Literature and Social Policy Seminar (23)
Legislation (22,23,24)
Legislation and Regulation (22,23)
Legislative Drafting and Public Policy (22,23,24)
Litigation and Public Policy (SC) (23)
Litigation Skills and Professional Liability Law (22,23,24)
Management of BigLaw Firms: Balancing Culture and Profits (SC) (22,23,24)
Medicalization and the Law (22,23)
Monetary Constitution Seminar (22,23,24)
National Security Law Proseminar I and II (JAG) (SC) (24)
Native American Law (24)
Natural Resources Law and Policy (22,23)
New Frontiers in Neuroethics and Law (SC) (22)
Organizational DEI Programs (SC) (24)
Parental Choice in K-12 Education (SC) (23)
Philosophical Legal Ethics (SC) (23)
Poverty in Law, Literature and Culture (23)
Poverty Law and the Lawyer’s Role (24)
Poverty Law, Advocacy and Policy (22,23)
Practical Perspectives on Policing: Fair and Effective Policymaking by Law Enforcement (SC) (24)
Presidential Powers (22)
Privacy (22,23,24)
Privacy Law and Theory Seminar (22,23,24)
Property, the Police Power and Emergencies (23,24)
Public Interest Law and Advocacy Skills (22,23)
Public Interest Leadership (SC) (22)
Public Utility Regulation Seminar (23)
Quantitative Methods (22)
Race, Education and Opportunity (22,23)
Regulation of Political Advocacy Seminar (24)
Regulation of the Political Process (22,23)
Regulatory Law and Policy (22,23)
Religious Freedom and Reproductive Rights (24)
Reproductive Ethics and Law (SC) (22,23,24)
Reproductive Rights and Justice (24)
Rights of the Accused (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Rules (22,24)
Securities Regulation (22,23,24)
Securities Regulation (Law & Business) (22,23,24)
Social Identity, Critical Theory and the Law (SC) (22,23)
Special Topics in Client Services (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Stakeholderism and Business Law (SC) (24)
State and Local Government Law (24)
State Attorneys General (24)
Taboo Trades (22,23,24)
TaxFlix (SC) (23)
Ten-Year Checkup of the Affordable Care Act (24)
The Business of Banking and Prudential Regulation (SC) (22,23,24)
The Executive Branch: Comparative and Political Aspects (SC) (24)
The January 6th Investigation and How Courts Can Shape Congress’ Power to Investigate (SC) (24)
The Right to Protest (SC) (24)
Theory and Practice of Biodiversity Conservation (22,23)
Title IX: The Law and Policy of Sex Discrimination in Education (SC) (22)
Topics in Banking and Financial Regulation (24)
Urban Law and Policy (23,24)
Veteran Benefits and Retirement Planning (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
War Crimes and Atrocity Law (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Water Law and Policy (22)
Advanced Administrative Law (SC) (22,23)
Advanced Campaign Finance Seminar (22)
Advanced Contracts (22)
Advanced Crimes and Defenses (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Advanced LawTech (22)
Advanced Topics in Law and Public Service (22,23,24)
Advanced Topics in Professional Responsibility (JAG) (SC) (23,24)
Advanced Topics in the Law of Armed Conflict (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Advancing the Commitment to Public Service Through Law Firm Pro Bono (SC) (22,23,24)
AI and the Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of AI Technologies (SC) (24)
Airline Industry and Aviation Law (22)
American Food Governance (22)
Animal Law (22,23,24)
Antitrust (22,23,24)
Antitrust Review of Mergers in a Global Environment (22,23,24)
Banking and Financial Institutions (22,23,24)
Baseball (SC) (22,23,24)
Behavioral Law and Economics (SC) (23)
Bioethics and Law Internship Seminar: Health Policy and Administration (22,23,24)
Bioethics and the Law Seminar (22,24)
Blood Feud (SC) (23,24)
Border Policy and Politics (22,23,24)
Business and Governmental Tort Liability (23)
Cannabis Legalization (SC) (24)
Children and the Law (22,23,24)
Civil Rights Litigation (22,23,24)
Climate and Debt (24)
Climate Change Law (23)
Climate Law and Climate Ethics (24)
Congress, Oversight and the Separation of Powers (SC) (24)
Constitutional Law and Economics (23,24)
Contemporary Challenges in Military Justice (SC) (24)
Corporate Social Responsibility Seminar (22)
COVID and Contracts: Courts, Regulation and Drafting (SC) (22)
Crimmigration Law: Law and Policy at the Intersection of Immigration Law and Criminal Justice (24)
Critical Analysis of the Military Justice System (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Cryptocurrency Law and Policy (SC) (22,23,24)
Cyber and Information Operations I (JAG) (SC) (22)
Datafication, Automation and Inequality (SC) (23)
Designing Democracy: Participation (23)
Digital Evidence from Theory to Practice (JAG) (SC) (22)
Digital Evidence from Theory to Practice (JAG) (SC) (23,24)
Economic Statecraft and Public International Law (SC) (22,23)
Education Inside U.S. Prisons Seminar (22,23,24)
Education Law Survey (22,23)
Employment Law: Health and Safety (24)
Employment Law: Wage and Hour Regulation (22,23)
Energy and Environmental Products Trading and Commodities Regulation (SC) (22,23)
Energy and the Environment (22)
Energy Regulation and Policy (23,24)
Environmental Law (22,23,24)
European Union Law (SC) (24)
Exercises in Rulemaking: Society, Technology and the Law (SC) (22)
Federal Income Tax (22,23,24)
Federal Regulation of Investment Companies (SC) (22,24)
Feminism and the Free Market (22,24)
Food and Drug Law (22,24)
Food Systems Law and Policy (23)
Free Speech and the Digital Age (22)
Gender-Based Violence: U.S. Law and Policy (22)
Genetics and the Law (SC) (22)
Genetics and the Law: Exercises in Rulemaking (SC) (23)
Government Contract Law (22,23,24)
Government Ethics (SC) (24)
Government Ethics: Conflicts of Interest, Lobbying and Campaign Finance (22,23)
Government Secrecy (24)
Health Care Marketplace: Competition, Regulation and Reform (SC) (23)
Higher Education and the Law (SC) (22)
History and Evolution of Victims’ Rights (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Housing Law and Poverty Seminar (22,23,24)
Identity, Law and Politics Seminar (22)
Immigration Law and Policy (22)
Immigration Law and Policy Lecture (23,24)
Innovating for Defense (22,23,24)
International Human Rights (JAG) (SC) (22,23)
International Trade Law and Policy (22,23,24)
Internet Law (22,23)
Internet Regulation Seminar (22)
Introduction to Legal Aspects of Cyberspace Operations (JAG) (SC) (23,24)
Land Use Law (22,23)
Law and Artificial Intelligence (23)
Law and Economics (22,23,24)
Law and Economics Colloquium (22,23)
Law and Economics Workshop (24)
Law and Inequality Writing Seminar (24)
Law and Leadership in the Public Interest (24)
Law and Public Service (22,23,24)
Law and Riots (23,24)
Law and Technology Colloquium (22,23,24)
Law of Corruption (23)
Law of Sea, Air and Space Operations (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Law of the Police I: Rules, Rights and Regulation (22,23)
Law Reform and Impact Litigation Seminar (23,24)
Law, Inequality and Education Reform (22)
Law, Literature and Social Policy Seminar (23)
Legislation (22,23,24)
Legislation and Regulation (22,23)
Legislative Drafting and Public Policy (22,23,24)
Litigation and Public Policy (SC) (23)
Litigation Skills and Professional Liability Law (22,23,24)
Management of BigLaw Firms: Balancing Culture and Profits (SC) (22,23,24)
Medicalization and the Law (22,23)
Monetary Constitution Seminar (22,23,24)
National Security Law Proseminar I and II (JAG) (SC) (24)
Native American Law (24)
Natural Resources Law and Policy (22,23)
New Frontiers in Neuroethics and Law (SC) (22)
Organizational DEI Programs (SC) (24)
Parental Choice in K-12 Education (SC) (23)
Philosophical Legal Ethics (SC) (23)
Poverty in Law, Literature and Culture (23)
Poverty Law and the Lawyer’s Role (24)
Poverty Law, Advocacy and Policy (22,23)
Practical Perspectives on Policing: Fair and Effective Policymaking by Law Enforcement (SC) (24)
Presidential Powers (22)
Privacy (22,23,24)
Privacy Law and Theory Seminar (22,23,24)
Property, the Police Power and Emergencies (23,24)
Public Interest Law and Advocacy Skills (22,23)
Public Interest Leadership (SC) (22)
Public Utility Regulation Seminar (23)
Quantitative Methods (22)
Race, Education and Opportunity (22,23)
Regulation of Political Advocacy Seminar (24)
Regulation of the Political Process (22,23)
Regulatory Law and Policy (22,23)
Religious Freedom and Reproductive Rights (24)
Reproductive Ethics and Law (SC) (22,23,24)
Reproductive Rights and Justice (24)
Rights of the Accused (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Rules (22,24)
Securities Regulation (22,23,24)
Securities Regulation (Law & Business) (22,23,24)
Social Identity, Critical Theory and the Law (SC) (22,23)
Special Topics in Client Services (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Stakeholderism and Business Law (SC) (24)
State and Local Government Law (24)
State Attorneys General (24)
Taboo Trades (22,23,24)
TaxFlix (SC) (23)
Ten-Year Checkup of the Affordable Care Act (24)
The Business of Banking and Prudential Regulation (SC) (22,23,24)
The Executive Branch: Comparative and Political Aspects (SC) (24)
The January 6th Investigation and How Courts Can Shape Congress’ Power to Investigate (SC) (24)
The Right to Protest (SC) (24)
Theory and Practice of Biodiversity Conservation (22,23)
Title IX: The Law and Policy of Sex Discrimination in Education (SC) (22)
Topics in Banking and Financial Regulation (24)
Urban Law and Policy (23,24)
Veteran Benefits and Retirement Planning (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
War Crimes and Atrocity Law (JAG) (SC) (22,23,24)
Water Law and Policy (22)
Clinics
Advanced Community Solutions Clinic (22,23,24)
Community Solutions Clinic (22,23,24)
Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic (22,23,24)
Housing Litigation Clinic (YR) (23,24)
Immigration Law Clinic (YR) (22,23,24)
Litigation and Housing Law Clinic (YR) (22,23)
Nonprofit Clinic (YR) (22,23,24)
State and Local Government Policy Clinic (YR) (22,23,24)
Clinic students at the University of Virginia School of Law worked with state lawmakers to draft bills on mental health and education, which were recently signed into law.
Campaign Legal Center founder and President Trevor Potter ’82 delivered the keynote address at the 2020 Ele(Q)t Project for LGBTQ+ Leadership symposium. He reflected on his experiences as a gay man in the Republican Party, as chairman of the Federal Election Commission and as general counsel to John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns. He also spoke about rising inequality in campaign finance.
Clinics
Environmental Law and Conservation Clinic
Immigration Law Clinic
Litigation and Housing Law Clinic
Externships
The Law School's externships program allows students to earn a semester of credit while working full-time for nonprofit or government employers anywhere in the world, and students also can work part-time for credit closer to home. Third-year law student Annalise Lisson had a full-time externship working in the major crimes division of the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Georgia. "I was able to take on long-term projects and fully participate in a two-week trial," Lisson said. "About half of my work related to sex and labor trafficking investigations, and I spent the other half of my time on a marriage fraud case." More
Antonella Nicholas, a third-year student at the University of Virginia School of Law, recently presented a paper she co-authored with Professor Andrew Block analyzing rural inequities in her home state.
Two former White House officials on different sides of the political aisle, Melody Barnes and John Bridgeland ’87, talk about ways to strengthen democracy and work across differences.
Public Policy Connections
Virginia’s professors have extensive experience in public policy through government posts, as consultants and as volunteers. Professors have started their careers in, or taken leave to work at, the Justice Department, the State Department, the Solicitor General’s Office, the Department of Homeland Security and more. Others have advised state officials on proper policing policies, or served on committees or commissions on intellectual property, mental health, legislative reform and national security issues. Still others have worked for NGOs and advocacy organizations focused on shaping public policy. Examples of current and past work include:
BARBARA E. ARMACOST ’89, attorney adviser, Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel
ADITYA BAMZAI, member, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board; attorney-adviser, Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel
RICHARD J. BONNIE ’69, associate director, National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse; secretary of the first National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse; chair, Virginia Commission on Mental Health Law Reform; chair, Institute of Medicine committees; special assistant to the Attorney General of the U.S.; consultant to the Office of National Drug Control Policy; chair of Virginia State Human Rights Committee
ASHLEY DEEKS, White House associate counsel and deputy legal adviser to the National Security Council; assistant legal adviser for political-military affairs, State Department Office of the Legal Adviser; legal adviser, U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
MICHAEL DORAN, attorney advisor and acting deputy benefits tax counsel in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department
JOHN DUFFY, member, Administrative Conference of the United States; attorney-adviser, Justice Department
KRISTEN EICHENSEHR, special assistant, State Department Office of the Legal Adviser
AMANDA FROST, staff attorney, Public Citizen; worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee
RACHEL HARMON, trial attorney, Justice Department, Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section
JOHN C. HARRISON, counselor on international law, State Department; deputy assistant attorney general, Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel
A. E. DICK HOWARD ’61, executive director of the commission that wrote Virginia's current constitution, counsel to the General Assembly of Virginia, counselor to the governor of Virginia and a consultant to state and federal bodies, including the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
CALE JAFFE, director, Virginia office, Southern Environmental Law Center
MICHAEL LIVERMORE, member, Administrative Conference of the United States; executive director, Institute for Policy Integrity
PAUL G. MAHONEY, member, Securities and Exchange Commission Investor Advisory Committee
JOHN MONAHAN, member, Committee on Law and Justice of the National Research Council; member, Institute of Medicine
THOMAS NACHBAR, judge advocate, U.S. Army Reserve; senior adviser, Department of Defense, Office of Rule of Law and Detainee Policy; member, Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council
RICHARD M. RE, attorney, Justice Department, Criminal Appellate Section
A. SPRIGHTLEY RYAN, inspector general, Smithsonian Institution; trial attorney, Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department
MOLLY BISHOP SHADEL, attorney-adviser, Justice Department Office of Intelligence Policy and Review
PAUL B. STEPHAN ’77, counselor on international law, State Department; consultant to Treasury Department and World Bank; consultant to the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
University of Virginia School of Law professor Ashley Deeks discusses the legal and ethical concerns with San Francisco voting to allow its police department to use robots to kill suspected criminals.
UVA Law professors John Duffy and Dan Ortiz discuss whether the Supreme Court will or should overturn one of its most famous decisions, Chevron, which gave administrative agencies deference in interpreting statutes.