Prof. Kate Shaw joins more than two dozen University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School colleagues as ALI members.

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Professor of Law Kate Shaw is among the newest elected members of the American Law Institute (ALI).

Founded in 1923, ALI is an independent organization that produces scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. Its elected members include eminent lawyers, judges, and academics from across the world, selected based on professional achievement and demonstrated interest in improving the law.

“I’m honored and humbled to join so many Penn Carey Law colleagues, and I look forward to participating in the ALI’s important work improving the administration of justice, a key aspect of the rule of law,” said Shaw.

Shaw is a constitutional law scholar who has also taught courses in administrative law and legislation as well as a seminar on the Supreme Court. Her academic work focuses on executive power, the law of democracy, the Supreme Court, and reproductive rights and justice. She joined Penn Carey Law as a full-time faculty member in January 2024 from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was also Co-Director of the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy.

kate shaw
Professor of Law

Shaw’s scholarly work has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Cornell Law Review, Michigan Law Review, and Texas Law Review, among other places, and her popular writing is published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, The Washington Post, and Slate.

She previously worked in the Obama White House Counsel’s Office and served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and the Honorable Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

“Professor Shaw’s ALI election is a well-earned recognition of her impactful scholarship and legal expertise,” said Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law Sophia Z. Lee, who was elected to ALI in January. “I look forward to seeing the transformative work that emerges from her contributions and collaborations with other ALI members.”

ALI seeks members who demonstrate excellence and innovation in its commitment to improving and modernizing U.S. law. For over 100 years, ALI members have produced work that clarifies the law through Restatements, Principles, and Model Codes.