Professor Jill E. Family

Jill E. Family is a professor of law at Widener University Commonwealth Law School. Her scholarship leads the discussion of the intersections of immigration law and administrative lawl. She brings her expertise into the classroom in courses on administrative law, immigration law, and civil procedure.

Professor Family studies the relationships between the three branches of government in setting, implementing, and interpreting immigration law. Her expertise played a prominent role in a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts. She has published in British and Spanish law journals, in addition to many leading U.S. law reviews.

Professor Family lends her expertise to policy discussions about the future of administrative law and immigration law.  She is Chair Elect of the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, she presents to public policy leaders and legal practitioners, and she contributes to the Notice and Comment Blog of the Yale Journal on Regulation.

As the Faculty Director of the Law and Government Institute at Widener, Professor Family works with students, government officials, legislators, judges, attorneys, and the public to explore legislation, the intersection of law and policy, and the work of administrative agencies.

During the spring of 2020, Professor Family was a visiting professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law. In 2012, she was a visiting scholar at Queen Mary School of Law in London. She received the 2011 Douglas E. Ray Excellence in Faculty Scholarship Award, and the National Administrative Law Judiciary Foundation selected Professor Family as its 2010 Fellow.  She is also the recipient of the Light of Liberty Award from the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center.  Two of her articles have been selected for reprinting in an anthology of immigration law scholarship.