Faculty & Research
The faculty of Duke Law School is made up of innovative and influential scholars who are also passionate, creative, and caring teachers.
Duke Law professors are leaders in a broad range of fields and highly regarded for their research, writing, and public service. A community of scholars, they are collegial, collaborative, and interdisciplinary, and many hold joint appointments or collaborate with colleagues in other Duke schools and departments.
They also care deeply about helping students learn, both in the classroom and beyond, devote substantial time to students' academic and professional development, and continue to celebrate successes and provide counsel through difficult times once students become practicing lawyers.
The deep and ongoing engagement of our faculty with the subjects that they study and teach and the students they mentor creates an intellectual excitement that is palpable in our classrooms and hallways and is the foundation for an atmosphere of collaboration and respect that defines our school culture.
Greene co-authors op-ed asking Congress to eliminate asset caps for public assistance programs
In a commentary for Politico, Professor Sara Sternberg Greene and co-author Pamela Foohey urge Congress to pass the already-introduced ASSET Act so Americans can tap into public assistance programs without draining their cash savings. Greene, an expert in consumer bankruptcy and debt and poverty law, says that many low-income Americans are ill-prepared to weather the extended economic effects of the COVID-19 shutdown because so many lack a financial cushion. She argues that the low asset limits on benefit programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), intended to limit access to only the truly poor, have had the perverse effect of discouraging people from saving. She and Foohey call on legislators to pass a bill that would end asset limitations for key public assistance programs so struggling Americans can qualify for vital relief during the pandemic.
Ellison joins Immigrant Rights Clinic as supervising attorney
Veteran public interest immigration attorney Shane Ellison joined the Immigrant Rights Clinic in July as a senior lecturing fellow and supervising attorney.
Ellison previously directed Creighton Law School’s Immigrant and Refugee Clinic, operated through a collaborative partnership with the Immigrant Legal Center in Omaha, where for nine years he served as legal director and lead attorney. During that time the ILC grew from a four-employee organization to one of the largest nonprofit immigration law firms in the Midwest.
Ellison’s advocacy work contributed to the passage of legislative initiatives that significantly advanced immigrants’ rights in Nebraska. As manager of the impact litigation efforts of National Justice For Our Neighbors, he litigated complex immigration cases and represented immigrant rights organizations through amicus briefs before the Executive Office of Immigration Review and the Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. He currently sits on the National Amicus Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and assists in leading the association’s Asylum Litigation Working Group.