B.A., Princeton University
Ph.D., Boston College
J.D., New York University School of Law

Carla Spivack is Justice Josiah Brewer Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School, where she joined the faculty in 2023.  Before that, she was the Oxford Research Professor of Law at Oklahoma City University School of Law, where she also served as Associate Dean for Faculty Development, Director of the Certificate Program in Estate Planning, and Director of the Center for Critical Trusts and Estates Studies.

Professor Spivack's scholarship focuses on the ways the law of intergenerational wealth transmission functions over time to shape society and distribute and consolidate political power. She co-founded, in 2012, the Biennial Conference on Critical Trusts and Estates Law, which has been held at the University of Wisconsin School of Law and Richmond Law School, among other venues. Her work challenges the basic tenets of succession law, most recently in her article "Donative Freedom, Disrupted," co-authored with Professor Deborah Gordon, which appeared in the Brooklyn Law Review in 2026.

Spivack teaches Estates and Trusts, Estate Planning, Bankruptcy, Legal History, and Property. She is the author of many articles, books, and a Wills, Trusts and Estates casebook, Experiencing Trusts and Estates, co-authored with Deborah Gordon, Karen Sneddon, and Allison Tait. She is also the author of "The Smart Woman's Guide to Property Law," published in 2014.

Professor Spivack is an Elected Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel.

Professor Spivack's other interests are working with dog rescue and alleviating food scarcity.