Professor of Law and Director, Legislation/Civil Rights Clinic
Marcy L. Karin is the Jack and Lovell Olender Professor of Law and Director of the Legislation/Civil Rights Clinic at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Through the clinic, she teaches law students how to be effective, ethical, and reflective legislative lawyers. This is accomplished by seminar instruction and supervising student work on systemic reform projects for non-profit organizations that advance economic security and access to other civil rights. In addition to directing the clinic, Professor Karin teaches Employment Law, Employment Discrimination, Gender and Sexual Orientation Under the Law, Reproductive Justice, Disability Law, Service Learning, and a seminar on Clinical Pedagogy. She also engages in research and advocacy that sits at the intersection of gender, workplace, and disability justice. For example, as the 2023 Fulbright-Scotland Distinguished Scholar at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Professor Karin conducted comparative research on initiatives to eliminate systemic oppression at work and school related to the menstrual cycle in Scotland and the United Kingdom.
Prior to joining UDC’s faculty, Professor Karin spent seven years teaching courses on legislation and employment law as a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Work-Life Law and Policy Clinic at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. The Work-Life Clinic worked on administrative litigation, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and community education efforts on employment law and policy issues for low-income individuals and nonprofit organizations working on their behalf. This work included cases and projects related to unemployment insurance, reasonable accommodations, time off, flexible scheduling, wage theft, discrimination, reentry, and civil justice for military families. Karin also developed an experiential seminar that trained students how to understand text, law, policy, and politics by drafting white papers and comments on workplace flexibility matters. She also enjoyed working with students as the faculty advisor for the Veterans Law Society, Consumer Advocacy Protection Program, and the Family Justice Bus program.
Previously, Karin served as Legislative Counsel for Workplace Flexibility 2010 and as an Adjunct Professor of Law, Teaching Fellow, and Supervising Attorney at Georgetown University Law Center’s Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic. Before Georgetown, she worked as an associate at Arent Fox PLLC on a range of employment, litigation, and government relations matters. She also was a proud member of the firm’s pro bono committee.
In 2019, Karin accepted the Clinical Legal Education Association Award for Excellence in a Public Interest Case or Project on behalf of the clinic’s work to advance menstrual equity policy for BRAWS. In 2018, the UDC Student Bar Association recognized Karin with the Outstanding Clinical Professor Award. In 2012, she received the Visionary Award from Corporate Voices for Working Families. In 2011, she received the Sustained Community Service Award from the Woodside Foundation for working to bridge the access to justice gap for Arizona’s military families. In 2006, she received the Albert E. Arent Pro Bono Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Public Interest for her work with groups who attempt to eradicate domestic violence and her support of D.C. Public High Schools through the Street Law Clinic. In 2003, Professor Karin won the Burton Award for Legal Achievement in Writing for her Stanford Law Review article on executive privilege. Her most recent articles focus on integrating clinical legal education, menstrual dignity for bar examinees, and school and workplace protections for menstruators, the military community, victims of domestic violence, breastfeeding workers, and workers with disabilities. Professor Karin is regularly invited to counsel government stakeholders and speaks broadly about the role of thoughtful public policy in these areas.
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About Marcy L. Karin
Marcy L. Karin is the Jack and Lovell Olender Professor of Law and Director of the Legislation/Civil Rights Clinic at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Through the clinic, she teaches law students how to be effective, ethical, and reflective legislative lawyers. This is accomplished by seminar instruction and supervising student work on systemic reform projects for non-profit organizations that advance economic security and access to other civil rights. In addition to directing the clinic, Professor Karin teaches Employment Law, Employment Discrimination, Gender and Sexual Orientation Under the Law, Reproductive Justice, Disability Law, Service Learning, and a seminar on Clinical Pedagogy. She also engages in research and advocacy that sits at the intersection of gender, workplace, and disability justice. For example, as the 2023 Fulbright-Scotland Distinguished Scholar at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Professor Karin conducted comparative research on initiatives to eliminate systemic oppression at work and school related to the menstrual cycle in Scotland and the United Kingdom.
Prior to joining UDC’s faculty, Professor Karin spent seven years teaching courses on legislation and employment law as a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Work-Life Law and Policy Clinic at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. The Work-Life Clinic worked on administrative litigation, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and community education efforts on employment law and policy issues for low-income individuals and nonprofit organizations working on their behalf. This work included cases and projects related to unemployment insurance, reasonable accommodations, time off, flexible scheduling, wage theft, discrimination, reentry, and civil justice for military families. Karin also developed an experiential seminar that trained students how to understand text, law, policy, and politics by drafting white papers and comments on workplace flexibility matters. She also enjoyed working with students as the faculty advisor for the Veterans Law Society, Consumer Advocacy Protection Program, and the Family Justice Bus program.
Previously, Karin served as Legislative Counsel for Workplace Flexibility 2010 and as an Adjunct Professor of Law, Teaching Fellow, and Supervising Attorney at Georgetown University Law Center’s Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic. Before Georgetown, she worked as an associate at Arent Fox PLLC on a range of employment, litigation, and government relations matters. She also was a proud member of the firm’s pro bono committee.
In 2019, Karin accepted the Clinical Legal Education Association Award for Excellence in a Public Interest Case or Project on behalf of the clinic’s work to advance menstrual equity policy for BRAWS. In 2018, the UDC Student Bar Association recognized Karin with the Outstanding Clinical Professor Award. In 2012, she received the Visionary Award from Corporate Voices for Working Families. In 2011, she received the Sustained Community Service Award from the Woodside Foundation for working to bridge the access to justice gap for Arizona’s military families. In 2006, she received the Albert E. Arent Pro Bono Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Public Interest for her work with groups who attempt to eradicate domestic violence and her support of D.C. Public High Schools through the Street Law Clinic. In 2003, Professor Karin won the Burton Award for Legal Achievement in Writing for her Stanford Law Review article on executive privilege. Her most recent articles focus on integrating clinical legal education, menstrual dignity for bar examinees, and school and workplace protections for menstruators, the military community, victims of domestic violence, breastfeeding workers, and workers with disabilities. Professor Karin is regularly invited to counsel government stakeholders and speaks broadly about the role of thoughtful public policy in these areas.
| Present | Professor of Law, University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law | |
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Disciplines
Courses
- Service Learning
- Legislation/Civil Rights Clinic
- Disability Law
- Administrative Law
- Gender & Sexual Orientation Under the Law
- Employment Discrimination
- Employment Law
| J.D., Stanford University ‐ Stanford Law School | ||
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| B.A., American University | ||
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| LLM, Georgetown University Law Center | ||
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Contact Information
(202) 274-7321