Lawson will replace UW Professor , who has served as interim dean since the beginning of the calendar year.

Lawson comes to the UW from her position as dean and professor at St. Thomas University College of Law in Miami. Prior to becoming dean, she was the associate dean for academic affairs and associate dean for faculty development. She is the chair of the Law Professors Division of the National Bar Association and a board member of the Law School Admission Council. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Governors for the Society of American Law Teachers.

鈥淒ean Lawson brings a wealth of experience and expertise in enrollment and student success, financial management, fundraising, and diversity and inclusion in the field of law, as well as impressive scholarship in criminal law,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淲e expect that, under Dean Lawson鈥檚 leadership, the UW School of Law will be strengthened in each of these areas.鈥�

As one of the nation’s oldest and leading public law schools, the UW School of Law melds a traditional focus on the rule of law with a modern approach to solving problems and advancing social justice. Students are actively encouraged to explore their passions and equip themselves with the intellectual tools and hands-on legal experience they need to be practice-ready attorneys able to work in any field they choose.

鈥淚鈥檓 inspired by UW Law鈥檚 commitment to academic excellence while rooted in its core values of access to justice and public service,鈥� Lawson said. 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to join the law school community to partner with the exceptional faculty, staff, students and alumni to realize our shared vision to be the best public law school measured by global impact.鈥�

As administrative, financial and academic officer at St. Thomas University College of Law, Lawson鈥檚 areas of responsibility include development, budget, leadership of academic programs, bar passage initiatives, personnel management, alumni relations and external affairs. Under her leadership, the College increased enrollment by 38% 鈥� to 769 students 鈥� while raising entering credentials.

Lawson also has managed a successful American Bar Association (ABA) and American Association of Law Schools (AALS) site visit and accreditation process. She has chaired multiple sections of AALS, including Evidence, Law and Humanities, and Women in Legal Education, as well as being appointed to the AALS Deans Steering Committee. As associate dean, Lawson led the faculty, unanimously, to reform the College鈥檚 entire curriculum for the three-year J.D. program.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Lawson guided law faculty efforts to move teaching and learning online, which continued into summer 2020 and attracted record enrollment that generated more than $1 million in additional tuition revenue compared to the previous summer.

Lawson brings demonstrated financial and fundraising experience to the UW. She secured a $10 million gift commitment, the largest in the University of St. Thomas鈥� history, and turned a budget deficit into a substantial surplus. Additionally, she founded the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice, which she launched with a $1 million leadership grant from Truist Financial. The pro bono service program provides 20,000 service hours each year.

Throughout her administrative career, Lawson has been engaged in teaching, scholarship and service. Recognized twice as Professor of the Year, she has taught courses in criminal law, criminal procedure and evidence, in addition to a seminar on race and the law. She also continues to publish regularly and provides implicit bias training to prosecutors, in addition to working as the reporter for the ABA鈥檚 National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws.

Prior to her academic career, Lawson served as deputy district attorney at the Clark County District Attorney鈥檚 Office in Las Vegas. As a criminal prosecutor, she worked in the Special Victims Unit for Domestic Violence, arguing multiple cases before the Nevada Supreme Court.

Lawson earned her Master of Laws with Distinction from Georgetown Law, her Juris Doctor from University of San Francisco School of Law, and her bachelor鈥檚 degree from Claremont McKenna College in California.

If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice. She would replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced in January he would retire this year.

, interim dean of the 天美影视传媒 School of Law, and , assistant professor of American ethnic studies at the UW, note the importance of Jackson’s nomination and the breadth of her legal experience, and they point out what to watch for in the hearings.

“Judge Jackson is a historically significant choice as a justice. She would be the first Black woman to serve on the Court, and only the third Black justice and the sixth female justice out of well over a hundred justices,” said Porter, who clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the early 2000s. “Judge Jackson’s appointment would have enormous symbolic meaning, not only for the Court and the entire legal profession, but for our entire nation, which has a long history of using law as a tool of discrimination.”

Jackson brings a 鈥渟tellar record and an extraordinary range of experiences,” including her years as a federal public defender, said Levy. That鈥檚 invaluable experience 鈥渋n relation to how everyday people 鈥� non-elites 鈥� must navigate the legal system,鈥� Levy said.

But while much attention has been focused on Jackson鈥檚 potential to be the first Black woman on the court, Levy sees many angles to both the concept of 鈥渢he first,鈥� as well as how senators in the confirmation hearings, and society at large, will respond.

鈥淛ackson鈥檚 confirmation hearing will hold a mirror up to this nation. I suspect we will see this country鈥檚 longstanding contradictions take center stage, especially as they pertain to the myths of merit and colorblindness. The hearing will also show the extent to which our nation鈥檚 representatives actually believe in the U.S. Constitution when it comes to the right to legal representation for all,鈥� Levy said.

Additional comments from Levy and Porter:

On what Jackson would bring to the court:

LL: “She shares a pedigree in terms of matriculating through Ivy League institutions, which satisfies the elitism of U.S. politics whereby having a degree from Harvard or Yale provides access to the levers of power, especially the Supreme Court. Coupled with her years of service on the United States Sentencing Commission, her work in public defense has given her keen insight into the devastating gaps in the legal system and the myriad ways justice is denied and unevenly applied, especially when it comes to indigent defendants who are routinely discarded and dismissed.

I also think it matters that she is a dark-skinned woman named Ketanji who wears her hair in sisterlocs. Her image is quite powerful in a culture that defines professional presentation according to Eurocentric standards and colorism. But symbolic representation has its limits.”

EP: “Judge Jackson would bring substantial experience in private practice and remarkable experience as a government attorney to her role as a justice. She currently serves as a federal appellate judge in the D.C. Circuit. Earlier, she worked as a federal district court judge, as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, as a law clerk for Justice Stephen Breyer 鈥� whose seat she would take on the Court 鈥� and as a federal public defender. If confirmed, she would be the first federal public defender to serve on the Court.”

On how Jackson could make a mark on a conservative-majority Supreme Court:

LL: “Based on her record and lived experiences, I expect Jackson will argue in ways that will expand our interpretations of justice for all. Her multifaceted experiences with all sides of the legal system give her direct insight into how race, money, and access make a world of difference in the uneven distribution of justice.

Undoubtedly, Jackson will make an indelible contribution to the protection of women鈥檚 reproductive rights given her commitment to precedent. Other critical issues on the horizon include affirmative action, sentencing reform, voting rights and health care. I also anticipate some moderation.”

EP: “As a justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson will absolutely make a mark, even with a conservative majority. There are only nine justices, so every individual 鈥� every voice 鈥� influences the Court’s decisions. The justices’ decisions also have varying influence over time. Despite the Court’s deep respect for its own precedent, concurring or dissenting positions today may become majority opinions in the future.”

On the likely challenges to Jackson’s nomination:

EP: “I do not see any valid challenges to Judge Jackson’s nomination to the Court. She is undoubtedly qualified, and she was confirmed by the Senate just last year for her current job as a D.C. Circuit judge. Some critics have voiced concern about her work as a public defender, particularly her work defending Guant谩namo Bay detainees. I disagree with those criticisms. Public defenders are vital to a fair and impartial judicial system.”

On what to watch for in the confirmation hearings:

LL: “For one, she has already been asked what role race plays in the kind of judge she is as if white men are not raced. The irony is white men have used their power to exclude highly qualified women and minoritized populations from the halls of power for more than two centuries, and we call it merit. Since Jackson鈥檚 nomination, we have heard critics conflate Blackness with handouts and lower standards or some perverse notion of identity politics. It will be interesting to watch how Republicans will maneuver to undermine her illustrious legal career by questioning her qualifications despite the unequivocal facts on file.

Just as the election of the first Black president unveiled the ugly underbelly of American racism, I expect nothing less for the nation鈥檚 first Black female justice. The claims that her rise is the result of some 鈥渞adical left鈥� strategy to undermine American institutions is an outrageous distortion. She will be widely celebrated, but she will face racist and sexist vilification as well.”

EP: “In recent years, Supreme Court and judicial nominees have been unwilling to answer questions that might pertain, even indirectly, to cases that would come before the Court, and in that sense the hearings may not be very revealing.

I look forward to hearing Judge Jackson discuss her approach to the Constitution. In her nomination hearings, Justice Amy Coney Barrett explained that she understands the Constitution ‘to have the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it.’

In contrast to that ‘originalist’ approach, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Stephen Breyer are both proponents of a ‘living Constitution’ that evolves over time to meet the needs and ideals of a changing nation and world, while remaining respectful of the past. As Justice Ginsburg explained, ‘People who were left out at the beginning 鈥� slaves, women, men without property, Native Americans 鈥� were not part of 鈥榃e the people.鈥� Now, all the once-left-out people are part of our political constituency. We are certainly a more perfect union as a result of that.'”

Porter is available for media interviews at egporter@uw.edu. For additional UW experts on the Supreme Court, contact Kim Eckart at UW News, keckart@uw.edu.聽