Katherine S. Broderick served as interim and then Dean of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law from August 1998 until June 2018, having previously served as Clinical Director, Associate Dean and faculty member since 1979. In 2011, she was named the Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Chair of Social Justice.

 

Professor Broderick began her academic career as a clinical faculty member. She directed the Criminal Defense Clinic at the Antioch School of Law for ten years representing more than 2,000 individuals charged with crimes in the Superior and District Courts of the District of Columbia. She also co-directed the Legislation Clinic for four years, supervising students working primarily on health and safety, environmental justice and criminal justice legislation with the D.C. Council. She has taught Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, State and Local Government Law, First Amendment Demonstration Law, and a seminar, "Perspectives on Social Justice." She taught in Harvard Law School's Trial Advocacy Workshop, in the Fall Semester, for many years.

 

Under her leadership during twenty years as dean, major accomplishments included securing the highest level of American Bar Association Accreditation, establishing part-time and LL.M. programs, serving the legal needs of thousands of low-income District residents through the School's nine legal clinics, moving into a beautifully renovated 100,000 square foot law school building, completing a handsome $1.6 million library expansion project and raising over $15 million for endowed chairs, endowed and annual scholarships, summer public interest fellowships, and clinical programs. In 2015, she forged the first Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Havana and a U.S. law school. Students and faculty members participate in an intensive International Law seminar in Cuba annually when travel to Cuba is permitted.

 

Professor Broderick chairs the D.C. Task Force on Jails and Justice. This blue ribbon task force is charged with redefining and reinventing the District of Columbia criminal justice system and ensuring that the jail is one part of a just and equitable system. She serves on the Boards of D.C. Appleseed and D.C. Vote. She was appointed in 2008 by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to serve on the District of Columbia's Access to Justice Commission. She completed four terms serving until 2020. Professor Broderick was named to the Norton Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission in 2009 and continues to serve. She also hosts Sound Advice, a UDC cable television show available in 200,000 D.C. households, providing information about legal issues affecting the District's most vulnerable residents, including predatory lending, domestic violence, AIDS and the District's abuse and neglect system. She has hosted more than 300 shows over the last 22 years. A committed civil libertarian, Professor Broderick is a past president and served on the Board of the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital for many years. She continues to serve on the Nominations Committee. Professor Broderick was a founder of and ardent participant in the D.C. Consortium of Legal Services Providers, an organization committed to increasing the quantity, improving the quality, and coordinating the delivery of legal services to low-income D.C. residents.

 

Professor Broderick received the 2020 “Thurgood Marshall Award,” “in recognition of her exemplary legal career dedicated to service in the public interest, in the pursuit of equal justice and opportunity for all Americans,” from the D.C. Bar; the 2018 ”Potter Stewart Award” from the Council for Court Excellence; the 2017 “Heman Sweatt Award” from the National Bar Association; and the 2016 “Education and Leadership Award,” from the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. She has also received the 2015 “Effective Force in Service of the People Award” from the D.C. Chapter of the National Lawyers’ Guild “in recognition of outstanding leadership” and the 2009 “Deborah L. Rhode Award” from the Association of American Law Schools ‘in recognition of her work to increase pro bono and public service opportunities in law schools.” She was honored with the “Servant of Justice Award” by the Legal Aid Society in 2005. Professor Broderick received the “National Equal Justice Works Outstanding Law School Dean Award” in 2002, and the “William Pincus Award” for "Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Legal Education" given by the Association of American Law Schools in 1999. She was named a Fellow of the American Bar Association in 2000.

 

Professor Broderick and her late husband John Clegg’s daughter, Isabella, is a 2010 graduate of Wilson Senior High, a D.C. public school and a 2016 graduate of the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.