Janis L. McDonald

Professor of Law Emerita (315) 443-1397 jlmcdona@syr.edu

anis L. McDonald is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Cold Case Justice Initiative (“CCJI”) at Syracuse University College of Law. Professor McDonald received an LL.M. from Yale Law School, a J.D. with distinction from Hofstra University School of Law, and a B.A. from George Washington University Institute of Sino-Soviet Studies. She is the editor and co-author of Employment Discrimination: Problems, Cases and Critical Perspectives. She has published numerous law review articles on race, civil rights and legal history. She is a 2014 recipient of the National Civil Rights Social Justice Award, the 2015 Emmet Till Legacy Foundation, “Women of Courage” Award, the 2015 CNY ACLU Kharas Award, and the 2009 Northeast People of Color Haywood Burns & Shanara Gilbert Award. She was a Ford Foundation Fellow in Public and International Law while at Yale. Several federal courts have cited her civil rights articles. Professor McDonald served as the second president of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations, a national organization representing more than 80,000 women attorneys. She was a co-founder of the 1981 Virginia Women Attorneys Association.

Before joining the law faculty, Professor McDonald was a member of the law firm of Hirschkop & Grad, P.C. in Alexandria, Virginia where she litigated cases in the federal and local courts throughout the U.S. Several of her cases established new sexual harassment and medical malpractice laws. She taught at Ohio Northern University College of Law and Yale Law School. She was a Ford Foundation Fellow in Public and International Law while at Yale. Several federal courts have cited her civil rights articles. Professor McDonald served as the second president of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations, a national organization representing more than 80,000 women attorneys. She was a co-founder of the 1981 Virginia Women Attorneys Association.