Kerry Abrams

Karen L. "Kerry" Abrams (b. 1971) is an American law professor and academic administrator. She currently serves as the James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean of the Duke University School of Law.[1]

Kerry Abrams
15th Dean of Duke Law School
Assumed office
July 1, 2018
Preceded byDavid F. Levi
Personal details
Born
Karen L. Abrams

1971
NationalityAmerican
Spouse(s)Brandon L. Garrett
Alma materSwarthmore College (B.A.)
Stanford Law School (J.D.)
OccupationDean
Law professor

Early life and education

Abrams grew up in Edmonds, Washington, with a schoolteacher mother and engineer father. She attended Swarthmore College, graduating with a BA in English with Highest Honors in 1993.[2][3] Prior to attending Stanford Law School, she worked as an assistant at St. Martin's Press, a church organist, a secretary, and a department store clerk.[2] During law school, she served as president of the Moot Court Board and the co-chair of Women of Stanford Law.[1] She also worked as a research assistant for Professor Janet Halley.[2][4] Abrams received a JD from Stanford in 1998, in a graduating class that included other future law school deans Gillian Lester (Columbia) and Kimberly Yuracko (formerly dean at Northwestern).[5][6]

Following law school, Abrams served as a law clerk for Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. She practiced as a commercial litigator for several years at the New York City law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP.[7] Her law practice experience included pro bono work in a lawsuit against the Leben Home for Adults in Queens, New York, for providing unnecessary surgeries to mentally ill residents of the home.[2][8] The case received national attention and eventually settled for $7 million.[9]

Abrams served as acting assistant professor of lawyering at New York University School of Law from 2002 to 2005. She then joined the faculty of the University of Virginia Law School in 2005, working as a professor and later as the University's Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.[10][11][2] Abrams became the fifteenth Dean of Duke Law School in July 2018.[12]

Abrams's scholarship focuses on the areas of immigration law and citizenship, family law, and gender and law.[13] U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor cited a 2013 article by Abrams in her dissenting opinion in Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett.[14][15]

Selected works

Personal life

Abrams is married to Brandon L. Garrett, L. Neil Williams, Jr. Professor of Law at Duke Law.[3] They have two children.[2]

References
  1. "Kerry Abrams | Duke University School of Law". law.duke.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  2. "Kerry Abrams" (PDF). Duke Law Magazine: 51–60. 2018.
  3. "Kerry Abrams and Brandon Garrett (Published 2005)". The New York Times. 2005-05-15. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  4. Halley, Janet (2006). Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break from Feminism. Princeton University Press. pp. xiii. ISBN 9780691127378.
  5. April 26, Karen Sloan |; PM, 2018 at 02:47. "Stanford Class of 1998 Has Magic Formula for Producing Top Female Law Deans". The Recorder. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  6. School, Stanford Law. "Women Leaders in Academia". Stanford Law School. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  7. Association of American Law Schools (2011–2012). AALS Directory of Law Teachers. p. 305.
  8. Levy, Clifford J. (2002-04-30). "Voiceless, Defenseless And a Source of Cash (Published 2002)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  9. Levy, Clifford J. (2004-08-05). "Queens Home For Mentally Ill Settles Lawsuit For $7 Million (Published 2004)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  10. "New Faculty Join Law School". University of Virginia School of Law. 2005-08-21. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  11. "Vice Provost, Professor Kerry Abrams To Lead Duke Law School". University of Virginia School of Law. 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  12. Duke Law School. "Law School Deans | Duke University School of Law". web.law.duke.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  13. "Kerry Abrams: Investigating the Intersection of Immigration and Family Law" (PDF). Virginia Journal. 17: 10–34. 2014.
  14. "Mut. Pharma. Co. v. Bartlett, 570 U.S. 472 (2013)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  15. "PrawfsBlawg: Kerry Abrams: Cited in the Supreme Court". prawfsblawg.blogs.com. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
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