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.
Legislative or Executive? The Curious Case of the Library of Congress
Trump v. The Courts
Fresno Lawyers Chapter
Fresno, CACourthouse Steps Decision: Trump v. CASA, Inc.
Elbert Lin, Edward Mark Wenger
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order effectively ending birthright citizenship for...
Courthouse Steps Decision: Trump v. CASA, Inc.
Elbert Lin, Edward Mark Wenger
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order effectively ending birthright citizenship for...
Courthouse Steps Decision: Trump v. CASA, Inc.
DOGE Unleashed: Trump Executive Orders and Their Impact on Telecommunications Regulation
Austin Bonner, Scott D. Delacourt, Brooke Donilon, Slate Herman, Roger Nober
Join the Federalist Society for a discussion on the impact of President Trump's Executive Orders...
DOGE Unleashed: Trump Executive Orders and Their Impact on Telecommunications Regulation
Topics
What Will the New Lockean Revolution of Limiting the Power of the Regulatory State Mean for Businesses?
A new Lockean revolution is going on in the Supreme Court. In recent years, the...
Topics
The Impact of President Trump’s Executive Order on Accreditation in Higher Education
In his April 23 executive order Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education, President Trump stated that “accreditors...
President Trump’s First 100 Days
Tampa Bay Lawyers Chapter
Tampa, FL