At Stanford Law School, O’Connell teaches Administrative Law, Advanced Administrative Law, and Constitutional Law. The class of 2020 chose her to receive the Hurlbut Award, which is given to one professor “who strives to make teaching an art.” She co-chaired the steering committee for Stanford University’s Faculty Women’s Forum, which works to enable all women faculty to thrive, from August 2022 to January 2024 and jointly conducted two surveys on COVID’s impacts on faculty for FWF. Prior to joining Stanford University in 2018, O’Connell was the George Johnson Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. While there, she received the Distinguished Teaching Award (the campus’s most prestigious honor for teaching) in 2016 and Berkeley Law’s Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction in 2012. From April 2013 to July 2015, she served as associate dean for faculty development and research under three different deans. In 2013-2014, O’Connell was co-president of the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (co-organizing the 2014 Conference on Empirical Legal Studies).
Before joining the Berkeley Law faculty in 2004, O’Connell clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court during the October 2003 term. From 2001 to 2003, she was a trial attorney for the Federal Programs Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division, receiving commendations for her work. She clerked for Judge Stephen F. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 2000 to 2001. A Truman Scholar, O’Connell worked for a number of federal agencies in earlier years, including the Department of Defense (Offices of the General Counsel and Inspector General), Federal Trade Commission (Bureau of Competition), Department of Justice (Office of Legal Counsel), and U.S. Army (RDE). She is a member of the New York bar and served as a volunteer for the Biden-Harris Campaign’s policy team.
A Seat at the Sitting - February 2026
Jay R. Carson, Sam Gedge, Jeffrey S. Hobday, Mary Elizabeth Miller, Zack Smith, Jordan Von Bokern
The February Docket in 90 Minutes or Less
Each month, a panel of constitutional experts convenes to discuss the Court’s upcoming docket sitting...
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Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections involved whether a candidate for federal office has...
Courthouse Steps Decision: Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections
Jason Torchinsky, Hans A. Von Spakovsky
Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections involved whether a candidate for federal office has...
A Seat at the Sitting - January 2026
Tiffany H. Bates, Bradley A. Benbrook, Stephanie Lee Freudenberg, Jacob H. Huebert, Ryan Daniel Walters
The January Docket in 90 Minutes or Less
Each month, a panel of constitutional experts convenes to discuss the Court’s upcoming docket sitting...
A Seat at the Sitting - January 2026
Tiffany H. Bates, Bradley A. Benbrook, Stephanie Lee Freudenberg, Jacob H. Huebert, Ryan Daniel Walters
The January Docket in 90 Minutes or Less
Each month, a panel of constitutional experts convenes to discuss the Court’s upcoming docket sitting...
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Federalist Society Review, Volume 26
The nondelegation doctrine forbids Congress from delegating lawmaking authority to other government institutions. The Supreme...
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Humphrey's Executor v. United States, decided in 1935, upheld the Federal Trade Commission Act, declaring...
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Judicial Oversight of District Courts After CASA
Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group
CLE credit for this event is available at On-Demand CLE. In recent years, leaders of both...
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Anne Joseph O'Connell, Robert J. Rando, Zvi Rosen, Devin Watkins
The recent dismissal of the Librarian of Congress and the Register of Copyrights by President...