I am a law professor at the George Washington University. I write in the field of law and society. My research focuses on access to justice: how can people get fair and helpful outcomes for their legal problems, and how can we build on sociological insights to make legal systems that actually work for the people who need help? I study how ordinary people think about and understand law (sometimes called "legal consciousness"), and how these patterns affect their responses to legal problems. My other areas of research include parole, criminal procedure, and legal education.
My work is published or forthcoming in the American Sociological Review, Duke Law Journal, Law & Society Review, Harvard Law Review, California Law Review, Social Forces, Wisconsin Law Review, Law & Social Inquiry, and many other law reviews and peer-reviewed social science journals. I have been a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Sage Foundation, Secretary of the Law and Society Association, and an Access to Justice Faculty Fellow at the American Bar Foundation.
At GW, I teach Evidence and Criminal Law. Before GW, I was a tenured sociology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where I taught courses on law and society, criminal procedure, social psychology, and teaching pedagogy.
My work is published or forthcoming in the American Sociological Review, Duke Law Journal, Law & Society Review, Harvard Law Review, California Law Review, Social Forces, Wisconsin Law Review, Law & Social Inquiry, and many other law reviews and peer-reviewed social science journals. I have been a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Sage Foundation, Secretary of the Law and Society Association, and an Access to Justice Faculty Fellow at the American Bar Foundation.
At GW, I teach Evidence and Criminal Law. Before GW, I was a tenured sociology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where I taught courses on law and society, criminal procedure, social psychology, and teaching pedagogy.