Susan’s scholarship focuses on the interplay between procedure and appellate decision making. In particular, she is interested in how the performative and linguistic aspects of judicial decisions impact institutional integrity and the role that procedural choices can play in exacerbating or mitigating those effects. Susan’s scholarship has been published in the Washington Law Review and the Vermont Law Review.

Before joining Stanford Law, Susan co-taught the Ninth Circuit Practicum at Berkeley Law and practiced as an appellate litigator, first for the Oregon Department of Justice and later for the Complex Appellate Litigation Group in San Francisco. As a practitioner, she briefed and argued numerous cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Oregon Supreme Court, and Oregon and California intermediate appellate courts. Prior to entering practice, Susan served as Court Counsel to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau and clerked for Judges Susan P. Graber and Edward Leavy of the Ninth Circuit.

Education

JD – Columbia Law School
MPA (International and Public Affairs) – Princeton University
BA (English and Mathematics) – Williams College