Marcy Karin

An article by Associate Clinical Professor Marcy Karin, Director of the College of Law’s Work-Life Policy Unit, in which she calls for workplace flexibility to be incorporated into law school curricula, was posted at huffingtonpost.com on Thursday, Nov. 4.

“Lawyers are often involved in every stage of ensuring that work-life issues are addressed for all involved parties,” Karin writes, citing several examples. “If a working dad wants to know if he can swap a shift with another employee to attend a conference with his daughter’s teacher without getting fired, who can explain his rights and the potential consequences of his decisions? A lawyer. If an employee wants to know whether to challenge a disciplinary action that was taken after she was late to work after dropping off her father at his elder care facility when he had an episode of dementia that caused her to miss her regular bus, who should she consult? A lawyer.”

Karin insists law schools need to be a key partner in helping the United States realize the opportunities and challenges workplace flexibility poses for its workforce.

“We need to train law students to identify, understand and analyze the reality of today’s workplaces and the myriad of local, state, national, and international laws that govern employment, benefits, labor, and tax issues,” she writes, urging law faculty to integrate workplace flexibility into their courses.
Karin supervises and instructs student attorneys working on behalf of clients in the Civil Justice Clinic. Her research interests include workplace law, policy, and practice, civil justice and litigation, and women’s legal history. Karin is an active member of the national work-life law and policy community. She is regularly invited to speak about the role of thoughtful public policy in this area, and is listed in the Sloan Network’s Who’s Who in Work and Family.