Skip Sub Menu
Suzan M. Pritchett
Director of Clinics and Experiential Education
Professor of Law
Expertise: Experiential Education, Clinics and Field Placements, Immigration Law, International Law, International Human Rights, Feminist Legal Theory, Gender and the Law
Education
JD, University of Iowa College of Law, with distinction, Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems
MA, University of Sussex (United Kingdom), first class honors
BA, Grinnell College
Experience
- Drake Law School Professor and Director of Clinics and Experiential Learning since 2018
- Associate Professor & Director, Family and Immigration Justice Clinic & International Human Rights Clinic, University of Wyoming College of Law
- Law Clerk/Staff Attorney, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Judicial Law Clerk/Attorney Advisor, U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program
Selected Publications
- Rewritten Judicial Opinion: Matter of A-B-, 27 I&N Dec. 316 (A.G. 2018), Rachel Rebouche, ed., Feminist Judgments: Re-written Family Law Opinions (Feminist Judgment Series), (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
- Shielding the Deportable Outsider: Exploring the Rape Shield Law as Model Evidentiary Rule for Protecting U Visa Applicants as Witnesses in Criminal Proceedings, 40 Harvard Journal of Law Gender 401 (2017).
- One in Fifty: Refugee Federalism and Wyoming, 17 Wyoming Law Review 273 (2017).
Significant Accomplishments
- Appointed to the Iowa Access to Justice Commission by Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen, 2025
- Principal Global Citizenship Award, 2024
- Leland Forrest Outstanding Professor of the Year, 2020
- Wyoming Bar Champion of Justice Award, 2017
- University of Wyoming Extraordinary Merit Award, 2016-17
- Member of the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education and Clinical Legal Education Association
- Invited presenter and public speaker on numerous immigration law and international human rights issues
- Bar Admissions: New York (2008), Iowa (2009), Wyoming (2015), U.S. Supreme Court (2018)
Biography
Suzan M. Pritchett serves as Professor of Law and Director of Clinics and Experiential Education at Drake University Law School, where she also co-directs the Refugee Clinic and the school’s field placement program. Since joining Drake in 2018, Professor Pritchett has been instrumental in expanding and deepening Drake’s experiential learning opportunities for students, earning accolades such as the Leland Forrest Outstanding Professor of the Year (2020) and the Principal Global Citizenship Award (2024).
Before joining Drake Law, Professor Pritchett was an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Wyoming College of Law, where she directed both the Family and Immigrant Justice Clinic and the International Human Rights Clinic. Her innovative work with clinic students before the federal immigration system as well as in courts and tribunals around the world earned her the Wyoming Bar Champion of Justice Award (2017) and recognition as a UW College of Law Extraordinary Merit Award recipient.
Professor Pritchett brings a wealth of practical experience to her academic roles as a former judicial clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. Department of Justice and as a private immigration law practitioner. Her international human rights experience includes working with Human Rights Watch in New York and Womankind Worldwide, based in London.
A graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law, the University of Sussex, and Grinnell College, Professor Pritchett's academic journey and scholarly record underscores her deep commitment to exploring the intersection of human rights, immigration law, and feminist legal theory. Her global perspective, enriched by advocacy experiences in Africa, India, and beyond, informs her work and inspires her students.
