The Law School Magazine The New York University School of Law

Introducing Rachel Barkow

Assistant Professor of Law

Photo of Rachel BarkowOriginally published in the 2002 issue of the Law School magazine.

Rachel Barkow, who has been an associate at the Washington, D.C., firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans since 1998, will join NYU Law’s faculty this Fall. At her law firm, she focused on telecommunications and administrative law issues in proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission, state regulatory agencies, and federal and state courts. She took a leave from the firm during 2001 to serve as the John M. Olin Fellow in Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Her main academic interests are administrative and criminal law, and she is especially interested in how the lessons of administrative law can be applied to the administration of criminal justice.

Barkow’s most recent publication is “More Supreme than Court: The Fall of the Political Question Doctrine and the Rise of Judicial Supremacy,” which appeared in the Columbia Law Review (2002). She is currently working on an article that examines the relationship of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to the Jury Guarantee. Professor Barkow is also beginning a book that traces the development of separation of powers doctrine at the Supreme Court and the relationship of that doctrine to theories of individual rights and court competency.

When asked why she chose to come to NYU Law, Barkow remarked, “What attracted me to NYU Law, in addition to the fantastic faculty and student body, is the school’s dynamism and energy. There are so many speakers and workshops and events, with so many different and engaging perspectives being aired. And it’s wonderful to see such a high level of interest from both the students and the faculty. The enthusiasm is contagious, and I’m thrilled that I will be a part of it.”

After graduating from Northwestern University (B.A. 1993), Barkow attended Harvard Law School (J.D. 1996), where she won the Sears Prize, which is awarded annually to two students with the top overall grade averages in the first-year class. Barkow served as a law clerk to Judge Laurence H. Silberman on the District of Columbia Circuit, and Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court.

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