Meredith J. Harbach
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Profile
Meredith Johnson Harbach is Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law, where she teaches courses in Family Law, Children & the Law, Civil Procedure, and Reproductive Justice. Broadly, her scholarship has analyzed and critiqued theories of the state’s relationship to families and children across multiple contexts. She has also written on children’s rights, feminist legal theory, and reproductive justice. Her work has appeared in the Washington & Lee Law Review, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Utah Law Review, Yale Law & Policy Review, North Carolina Law Review, in books published by the Cambridge University Press and the Oxford University Press, as well as other legal academic publications. In 2023, she received the Provost’s Distinguished Educator Award at the University of Richmond. She has been quoted in the New York Times, and written opinion pieces for the Richmond Times Dispatch and the Daily Press. Professor Harbach has been a Visiting Scholar with the Vulnerability and the Human Condition Initiative at Emory Law School. She formerly served as Chair of the American Association of Law School’s Section on Children & the Law, and is also a former member of the Virginia Council on Women, where she was Chair of the Women’s Healthcare Initiative.
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Presentations
Commentator, "Dobbs' Sex Equality Troubles," Richmond Law Colloquy Series, University of Richmond School of Law (September 2023)
"Inclusive Pedagogies in Family Law," Family Law Pedagogy Workshop, SEALS Annual Meeting, Southeaster Association of Law Schools (July 2023)
"Dobbs and Due Process," Constitutional Family Law Post-Dobbs, SEALS Annual Meeting, South Easter Association of Law Schools (July 2023)
"Dobbs and Due Process," Richmond Law's Summer Faculty Workshop Series, University of Richmond School of Law (July 2023)
"One Year After Dobbs: the Decision that Affected Choice," Law over Lunch CLE Program, Carrico Center, University of Richmond School of Law (May 2023)
Co-Panelist, "The Difference Dobbs Did and Didn't Make: Two Early Perspectives," Federalist Society, American Constitution Society (February 2023)
"Intimate Partner Violence and Reproductive Justice," Symposium: Domestic Violence, University of Richmond Public Interest Law Review (February 2023)
"Parens Patriae After the Pandemic," Symposium: Families, Crisis, and Economic Security: Rethinking the Role of Government, North Carolina Law Review (October 2022)
Co-Panelist, "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health," Private Conversations Series, Richmond Bar Association (August 2022)
"The New Parens Patriae," Faculty Workshop Series, University of Richmond School of Law (March 2022)
"The New Parens Patriae," The Ethics of Choice 2022, University of Richmond (February 2022)
Commentator, "The Dysgenic State: Environmental Injustice and Disability-Selective Abortion Bans," Richmond Law Colloquy Series, University of Richmond School of Law (October 2021)
"What Now? The Covid-19 Effect in 2021 and Beyond: Custody and Support," What Now? Family Law Practice in a Changing World, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (September 2021)
Presenter, "Growth Mindset: Inclusive Pedagogical Strategies," AALS Annual Meeting, AALS (January 2021)
Presenter, "Making the Most of Day 1: First Day Graffiti," AALS Annual Meeting, AALS (January 2021)
Presenter, "The New Parens Patriae," Department of Child Law, University of Leiden (October 2020)
Presenter, "Parens Patriae and Vulnerability Theory," Annual Meeting, Law & Society Association (June 2019)
Presenter, "Childcare and the New Parens Patriae," Annual Conference, Family Law Scholars & Teachers (May 2019)
Presenter, "The New Parens Patriae," Richmond Law's "What I'm Working On" Series, University of Richmond School of Law (March 2019)
Presenter, "Parens Patriae and Paternalism," A Workshop on the Clash of Values: Paternalism versus Liberalism, Vulnerability and the Human Condition Initiative (January 2019)
Presentations Prior to 2019
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Memberships
Chair, AALS Section on Children and the Law (2018 - 2018)
Chair-Elect, AALS Section on Children and the Law (2017 - 2017)
Member, Virginia Council on Women (2014 - 2017)
Secretary, AALS Section on Children and the Law (2016 - 2016)
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Bar Admissions
Texas
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Professional Experience
Professor of Law (2016 - present)
University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, VAAssociate Professor of Law (2013 - 2016)
University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, VAAssistant Professor of Law (2009 - 2013)
University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, VAAssistant Director, Lawyering Program (2007 - 2009)
New York University School of Law, New York, NYActing Assistant Professor (2005 - 2009)
New York University School of Law, New York, NYLitigation Associate (2002 - 2005)
Smyser Kaplan & Veselka LLP, Houston, TXLaw Clerk to the Hon. Nancy F. Atlas (1997 - 1999)
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston, TX
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Presentations
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Publications
Journal Articles
Parens Patriae After the Pandemic, 101 North Carolina Law Review 1427 (2023).
Introduction, Family Court Review Special Issue, Dynamic Pedagogy in the Family & Juvenile Law Classroom: Experiential and In-Class Exercises, 60 Family Court Review 611 (with Naomi Cahn) (2022) (Special Issue Guest Editor).
With Gratitude from Our Daughters: Reflecting on Justice Ginsburg and United States v. Virginia, 55 University of Richmond Law Review 1 (2020).
Childcare, Vulnerability, and Resilience, 37 Yale Law and Policy Review 459 (2019).
Nudging Parents, 19 The Journal of Gender, Race & Justice 73 (2016).
Sexualization, Sex Discrimination, and Public School Dress Codes, 50 University of Richmond Law Review 1039 (2016).
Childcare Market Failure, 2015 Utah Law Review 659 (2015).
How (Not) to Talk about Abortion, 47 University of Richmond Law Review 425 (2012).
Outsourcing Childcare, 24 Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 254 (2012).
Tribute to Professor Carroll: "He Was So Kind & Generous", In Memoriam: Professor John F. Carroll, IV 46 University of Richmond Law Review 963 (2012).
Is the Family a Federal Question, 66 Washington and Lee Law Review 131 (2009).
At the Intersection of Bankruptcy and Divorce: Property Division Debts Under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, 97 Columbia Law Review 91 (1997).
Book ChaptersChildren's Rights Law in Early Childhood, in Children's Right and Children's Development: Toward an Integrated Approach (NYU Press)
Young v. United Parcel Service, in Feminist Judgments: Reproductive Justice Rewritten (Cambridge University Press) (Kimberly Mutcherson, ed.) (2020).
Feminist Legal Theory, in The Oxford Handbook of Children's Rights Law (Oxford Univ. Press) (2019).
Book ReviewsForward-Looking Family Law, 51 Tulsa Law Review 419 (2016).
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In the News
Faith and Abortion, VPM News Focal Point (Virginia Public Media)
Thu., Nov. 2, 2023Three Attempts to Restrict Abortion Shot Down in VIrginia General Assembly (WRIC, Richmond, VA)
Thu., Jan. 26, 2023Free Britney (And Other Legal Lessons From the Headlines) (Richmond Law Magazine)
Sat., Jan. 1, 2022Day Cares Continue to Hire, But Number of Caregivers is Well Below Pre-Pandemic Levels (Marketplace)
Fri., Dec. 2, 2022Abortion Restrictions May Have the Votes to Pass in Virginia as Pivotal Supreme Court Decision Looms (WRIC, Richmond, VA)
Thu., Dec. 2, 2021The Synopsis: The U.S. Lawsuit against the Texas Heartbeat Act (The Synopsis, University of Richmond School of Law)
Fri., Sep. 17, 2021When Co-Parents Clash in a Pandemic (The New York Times)
Wed., Nov. 11, 2020Is your body appropriate to wear to school? (New York Times)
Tue., Apr. 17, 2018Students are refusing to wear bras in a "bracott" to protest their school's dress code (Bustle)
Tue., Apr. 17, 2018DOMA ruling will bring Fort Lee couple military spousal benefits (CBS6)
Wed., Jun. 26, 2013Supreme Court rulings don't affect Virginia same-sex marriage ban (Daily Press)
Wed., Jun. 26, 2013Supreme Court may hear case that could affect Virginia same-sex marriage ban (Daily Press)
Thu., Nov. 29, 2012Proposed regulations are bad law, bad for women (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Tue., Jun. 12, 2012 - Links