Denice D. Denton Distinguised Lecture Series

November 2, 2009
Joan C. Williams, Professor of Law
University of California, Hastings

Joan C. Williams, 1066 Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California-Hastings, is an expert on work/family issues, and the author of Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2000), which won the 2000 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award. She is the Founding Director of WorkLife Law (WLL), and Co-Director of the Project on Attorney Retention. Williams has played a leading role in documenting workplace bias against mothers. Her "Beyond the Maternal Wall: Relief for Family Caregivers Who Are Discriminated Against on the Job," 26 Harvard Women's Law Review 77 (2003, co-authored with Nancy Segal), was prominently cited in Back v. Hastings on Hudson Union Free School District, 2004 U.S. App. Lexis 6684 (2d Cir. April 7, 2004). She has also played a central role in organizing social scientists to document bias against mothers in the workplace, notably in a special issue of the Journal of Social Issues (2004), which she co-edited with Monica Biernat and Faye Crosby. Her current work focuses on how work/family conflict affects families across the social spectrum. For more information, visit WorkLife Law and Project for Attorney Retention.