Speakers

Samuel R. Bagenstos, JD

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Sam Bagenstos is Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard in 1993, receiving the Fay Diploma (awarded to the student who graduates with the highest combined average for three years of study). He was Articles Office Co-Chair for the Harvard Law Review.

He clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt on the Ninth Circuit for one year and then joined the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Following three years in that position, he served as Law Clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court (1997-98). He was appointed Research Fellow and Lecturer in Law for one year at Harvard and became Assistant Professor of Law at Harvard in 2000. He joined the Washington University Law faculty, as Professor of Law, in 2004.

Mr. Bagenstos’ research focuses on civil rights and antidiscrimination law, with some emphasis on disability law and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Among the many articles he has authored are: “The Perversity of Limited Civil Rights Remedies: The Case of ‘Abusive’ ADA Litigation,” 54 UCLA L. Rev. 1 (2006); "The Structural Turn and the Limits of Antidiscrimination Law," 94 Cal. L. Rev. 1 (2006); "The Future of Disability Law," 114 Yale L.J. 1 (2004); and "Antidiscrimination, Accommodation, and the Politics of (Disability) Civil Rights," 89 Va. L. Rev. 825 (2003).

He is also an active appellate and Supreme Court litigator in civil rights and federalism cases. He argued and won U.S. v. Georgia, 126 S. Ct. 877 (2006), which upheld, as applied to his client's case, the constitutionality of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Mr. Bagenstos is called upon frequently to advise civil rights lawyers and organizations on appellate strategy, particularly in opposing certiorari petitions in the Supreme Court. He has spoken at numerous professional conferences, including the American Constitution Society annual conference, and the annual meeting of the National Disability Rights Network.

He received the Advocacy Award from the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems in 2001, and was honored by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in 1996 with a Special Commendation and in 1995 with a Special Achievement Award.

At Washington University, Mr. Bagenstos has taught Constitutional Law I, Civil Rights, Labor Law, and the Disability Rights Law and Public Law Theory seminars. Next year, he will teach Employment Discrimination.