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Vanessa H. Merton
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Vanessa H. Merton is a professor of law and faculty supervisor of the Immigration Justice Clinic. She developed and taught for six years the Prosecution of Domestic Violence Clinic in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. She also co-founded the Access to Health Care and Health in the Workplace Clinics. Professor Merton has lectured and published extensively on issues of biomedical and legal ethics and on health issues of importance to women, including domestic violence, the exclusion of women subjects from medical research, and the phenomenon of female genital mutilation. Professor Merton was the founding chair of the Institutional Review Board of the Community Research Initiative of New York, one of the first centers for community-based biomedical research on AIDS, and the first Associate for Law at the Hastings Center Institute for Society, Ethics, and the Life Sciences. She is a member of the Mt. Sinai Occupational Health Clinic Advisory Board.
Professor Merton has received six different national and state public interest practice awards for creating a disaster legal assistance program for victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks and for her unwavering dedication to public service. These awards are:
- Public Interest Lifetime Achievement Award from the Public Interest Law Students Organization (PILSO);
- Vanessa Merton Pro Bono Award for Excellence in Service to the Public Interest from Pace Law School, an award which PILSO decided to name in honor of Professor Merton;
- Father Robert Drinan Award for pro bono and public service in law schools from the Association of American Law Schools Section on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities;
- National Association of Law Placement Mark of Distinction Award for Pro Bono and Public Service in Law Schools;
- New York State Bar Association President's Pro Bono Award for the 9th Judicial District; and
- Public Citizen of the Year from the National Association of Social Workers, Westchester Branch.
In addition to these awards, the Westchester County Board of Legislators proclaimed March 7, 2002, "Vanessa Merton Day" in recognition of her development of this successful public service program.
Professor Merton served as the Charles A. Frueauff Research Professor of Law during the 1996–1997 academic year.
Courses Taught by Professor Merton:
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Professor
Vanessa H. Merton
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Professor of Law
BA, Radcliffe College
JD, New York University School of Law
Contact:
vmerton@law.pace.edu
(914) 422-4333
Office: P404-I
Assistant:
Iris Mercado
Office: P404K
(914) 422-4609
Office Hours:
Contact professor via e-mail or call assistant to schedule an appointment
Links:
• CV
• SSRN
"I was drawn to Pace because so many Pace faculty bring extensive practice experience, refreshingly undogmatic views about legal education and a strong student-centered focus to their work. Here I can use all that I have learned from my thirty years of teaching through client representation clinics, simulated lawyering, externships, and classroom courses. Becoming a lawyer, especially a lawyer representing the disadvantaged and disabled, has empowered and enriched me far beyond what I could have dreamed when I entered law school so long ago. Helping new lawyers become the best advocates they can be for those whom they choose to serve is a rewarding renewal for me of the best parts of my life."
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Publications by Professor Merton:
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“What Do You Do When You Meet a Walking Violation of the Sixth Amendment If You're Trying to Put That Lawyer's Client in Jail?” 69 Fordham Law Review 997 (2000). |
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"A Chance for Justice. (For the Poor, Responding to the Opponents to Funding the Legal Services Corp.)," with Richard L. Ottinger, New York Law Journal, July 24, 1995, at 2. |
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"Review Essay: Women and Health Research: Ethical and Legal Issues of Including Women in Clinical Studies," 22 Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 272 (1994). |
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Guest Column, "What Should We Do About Bad Lawyers?" Newsday, Sept. 25, 1994, at A51. |
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"The Exclusion of Pregnant, Pregnable, and Once-Pregnable People (a.k.a. Women) from Biomedical Research," 19 American Journal of Law & Medicine 369 (1993). Reprinted in 3 Texas Journal of Women and the Law 307 (1994). |
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"Community-Based AIDS Research," 14 Evaluation Review: A Journal of Applied Social Research 502 (1990). |
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"The Work of a CUNY Law Student: Simulation and the Experiential Learning Process," 37 UCLA Law Review 1157, 1195 (1990). Published as Appendix to "Infinity in a Grain of Sand: The World of Law and Lawyering as Portrayed in the Clinical Teaching Implicit in the Law School" by Howard Lesnick, 37 UCLA Law Review 1157 (1990). |
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Editor and Contributor, "Final Report: Sex Bias in the Teaching of Criminal Law" by Nancy S. Erickson, 42 Rutgers Law Review 309 (1990). |
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"The City University of New York Law School: An Insider's Report," 12 Nova Law Review 45 (1987). |
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"Confidentiality and the 'Dangerous' Patient: Implications of Tarasoff for Psychiatrists and Lawyers," 31 Emory Law Journal 263 (1982). |
| Book Reviews |
Review of A Measure of Malpractice: Medical Injury, Malpractice Litigation, and Patient Compensation by Paul C. Weiler, et al. 120 Annals of Internal Medicine 444 (1994). |
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Review of Families and the Gravely Ill by Richard Sherlock and C. Mary Dingus, 100 Annals of Internal Medicine 579 (1989). |
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"Ethical Obstacles to the Participation of Women in Biomedical Research." In Feminism & Bioethics: Beyond Reproduction, edited by Susan M. Wolf. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. |
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"The Impact of Current Relevant Federal Regulations on the Inclusion of Female Subjects in Clinical Studies." In Women and Health Research: Ethical and Legal Issues of Including Women in Clinical Studies. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1994. |
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"Basic Bibliography for Research in Professional Ethics". In Regulation of Lawyers: Problems of Law and Ethics, 3rd ed., edited by S. Gillers & N. Dorsen. New York: Little, Brown & Co, 1992. |
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"Workers' Compensation Discrimination" (with R. Farber, S. Geier, and P. O'Neil). In Employee Rights Litigation: Pleading and Practice, edited by J. Goodman. New York: Matthew Bender, 1991. |
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