Faculty

Alisa Klein, J.D.
Associate Professor of Law

Alisa Klein joined Wilmington University Farnan School of Law in 2024 as an associate professor of law, bringing decades of appellate practice and teaching experience to the classroom. Before joining the Farnan School of Law, she served as a senior career appellate attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. She began that work in 1995 after clerkships with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Judge Louis H. Pollak.

At the Department of Justice, Professor Klein defended federal laws, programs, and policies in the federal courts of appeals. Her matters included defending the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the Violence Against Women Act, Food and Drug Administration actions addressing youth vaping, and federal pandemic-control measures. As a member of her office’s leadership team, she managed her own litigation while supervising and mentoring attorneys, coordinating teams in complex matters, advising federal agencies, and presenting on emerging constitutional and administrative law issues. During her career, she argued more than 100 appellate cases and briefed or supervised hundreds of appellate and Supreme Court matters.

Professor Klein’s scholarship and teaching reflect her longstanding interest in constitutional law. Since joining the Farnan School of Law, she has published a constitutional law casebook, two law review articles, and several shorter pieces. She is also co-authoring a First Amendment casebook with faculty colleague Kimberly Richardson. She has taught Constitutional Law I and II, Torts, and Wills, Trusts & Estates at the Farnan School of Law. Previously, she taught a constitutional law seminar for 20 years as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School and for two years as a visiting professor of political science at Haverford College.

A committed mentor, Professor Klein especially values helping students develop as thinkers and advocates. Beyond legal education, her interests include behavioral economics and yoga, as well as a five-year chapter as an amateur flying trapeze artist.

Alisa Klein's Philosophy

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