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Legal Program
About
The AAUP's legal office supports the activities of the Association in a variety of ways. The office responds to inquiries on higher education law from professors, academic administrators, attorneys, and others; monitors legal developments in higher education around the country; leads workshops and presentations on higher education law; and drafts informational outlines on specific areas of the law.
In addition, the office performs in-house legal work for the AAUP and supplies legal support for a number of key AAUP committees. The staff attorneys collaborate with the general counsel, who is a law professor appointed to a two-year term and who remains in his or her faculty position while serving the Association.
Our Work
Amicus Briefs
The legal office also works with experts from around the country in submitting friend-of-the-court briefs in key appellate cases, seeking to shape the law in ways supportive of Association principles. The AAUP's amicus briefs before the Supreme Court and appellate courts safeguard sound academic practices and due process. The AAUP also tracks the legal implications of legislation and its implementation in executive branch agencies.
Publications
Below are some recently published articles. Issue-specific publications can be found under the AAUP Issues pages as well as in issues of Academe, the magazine of the AAUP.
- Legal Watch: Professors Challenge Censorship at the University of Florida. By Edward Swidriski. In Academe, winter 2022.
- Legal Watch: AAUP Joins Legal Fight against Government Harassment of Asian American Scientists. By Edward Swidriski. In Academe, spring 2022.
- Legal Watch: The Supreme Court's Hard Right Turn. By Edward Swidriski. In Academe, fall 2022.
Webinars & Presentations
- Legal Roundups and Informational Outlines
- Faculty Handbooks
- Modern Language Association (MLA) Webinar: What You Need to Know about Educational Gag Orders
- Hunter College, City University of New York: Higher Education Legal Update, The National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions. 2022.
Legal Defense Fund
