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Peggie R. Smith

Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, Charles F. Nagel Professor of Employment and Labor Law

Professor Peggie R. Smith is a leading scholar in the regulation of care work that occurs both inside and outside the home, including child care, home care, and elder care. She has published widely on issues such as home-based care work, work and family balance, parental-status employment discrimination, and elder care. Professor Smith regularly presents her scholarship at conferences and colloquia throughout the United States and overseas. In addition to her research and teaching, she is the Faculty Ombuds (Danforth Campus) for the University. Among her professional affiliations, she is a member of the American Law Institute and the Labor Law Group, a national organization of leading scholars in labor and employment law. She is also on the editorial board of the Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal. Prior to joining the faculty, she clerked for the Hon. Michael Boudin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; earned an M.A. in African American Studies at Yale University; and held several teaching fellowships and positions at other law schools. Professor Smith also has taught overseas at the University of Trento, Faculty of Jurisprudence, in Trento, Italy.

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  • Education
    • B.A., Yale University, 1987
    • M.A., Yale University, 1990
    • J.D., Harvard Law School, 1993
  • Courses
    • Contracts
    • Employment Discrimination
    • Employment Relationships
    • Comparative Employment Law
    • Gender, Work and the Law (seminar)
  • Publications

    SSRN Author’s Page

    • “Who Will Care for the Elderly?: The Future of Home Care,” 61 Buffalo Law Review 323 (2013)
    • The Future of Family Caregiving: The Value of Work-Family Strategies that Benefit Both Care Consumers and Paid Care Workers in WOMEN WHO OPT OUT: THE DEBATE OVER WORKING MOTHERS AND WORK-FAMILY BALANCE (New York University Press 2012)
    • “The Pitfalls of Home: Protecting the Health and Safety of Paid Domestic Workers,” 23 Canadian Journal of Women & Law 309 (2011)
    • “Work like any Other, Work Like No Other: Establishing Decent Work for Domestic Service Workers,” 15 Employee Rights & Employment Policy Journal 159 (2011)
    • “Aging and Caring in the Home: Regulating Paid Domesticity in the Twenty-First Century,” 92 Iowa Law Review 1837 (2007); excerpted in Bioethics and the Law (eds. J. Dolgin & L. Shepherd) Aspen Publishing (2d ed., 2009)
  • Activity and Affiliations
    • ABA Section on Employment & Labor Law (Secretary Elect for 2019-20)
    • American Law Institute (elected 2017)
    • Labor Law Group (elected 2007; Secretary, Executive Committee, 2010-16)
    • Editorial Board, Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal (2010-present)
    • Executive Committee, Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, Association of American Law Schools (Chair 2013-14; Executive Committee 2012-15)
  • Honors and Awards
    • American Law Institute (elected 2017)
    • Outstanding Scholar Award, Lutie Lytle Workshop (2013)
    • Labor Law Group (elected 2007; Secretary, Executive Committee, 2010-16)
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