Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers and the Women’s Bar Association have recognized Professor Deborah Anker, LL.M. ’84, one of the world’s leading scholars and practitioners of immigration law, as a 2009 Woman of Justice.
The Women of Justice Award honors individuals who have made meaningful and inspiring contributions to the fields of social justice and advocacy, and includes both lawyers and non-lawyers. Anker will be among 40 women recognized during an awards luncheon at the InterContinental Hotel in Boston on Dec. 4.
Anker was recognized for her contributions to the field of immigration law, where she has worked to advance the legal rights of immigrants through advocacy, research, and scholarship. Recently, she co-drafted guidelines on gender-specific human rights violations as a basis for asylum that have been accepted by the U.S. government and international tribunals. She is also the author of ”The Law of Asylum in the United States,” a leading treatise that has been cited frequently by international and domestic courts and tribunals, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Anker is the director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic and is a clinical professor at HLS, where she has taught immigration law and supervised clinic students for more than 20 years. She received the 2008 Elmer Fried Award for Excellence in Teaching from the American Immigration Lawyers Association and also received an award from the Central American Refugee Center in New York recognizing her pioneering work in humanitarian protection for immigrants fleeing persecution in 2008.