Professor Breger Plays Important Role in Courts Near and Far

These days, Professor Melissa Breger’s influence can be felt everywhere from the classroom to the Sixth Circuit.

Prof. Breger was recently cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in its decision on United States v. Ray. The court referenced Prof. Breger’s examination of implicit bias — as published in her paper, The (in)Visibility of Motherhood in Family Court Proceedings — while acknowledging its “proven impact … on individuals’ behavior and decision-making.” The Sixth Circuit, based in Cincinnati, has jurisdiction over the district courts of Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Closer to home, it was announced in October that Prof. Breger will serve a three-year term on the Albany County Bar Association’s Court of Appeals Screening Committee. Her appointment was made just in time for next month’s applicant interviews and the changing of the guard for New York’s chief judge.

Prof. Breger has been busy on campus, too. She helped organize the interdisciplinary training conference “Domestic Violence Update: Where We Were, Where We Are Now, and the Work Ahead,” which was held Oct. 23 at Albany Law School. As a member of the panel, Prof. Breger presented on the legal system’s potential to change the culture of domestic violence.

Prof. Breger has been teaching at Albany Law School since 2002. Her courses include Children and the Law, Criminal Procedure: Investigation, Domestic Violence Seminar, Evidence, Family Law and Gender and the Law. Prior to launching her teaching career at the University of Michigan Law School, Prof. Breger dedicated her career to children, women and families, with her formative years practicing in New York City in a number of capacities.

She is a co-author of New York Law of Domestic Violence, a two-volume treatise published by Thomson Reuters. Prof. Breger is the author of numerous law review articles regarding issues of family law, gender and justice in law reviews and journals such as NYU Review of Law & Social Change, Law and Psychology, and Indiana International and Comparative Law Review.

Prof. Breger earned her B.S. at University of Illinois and her J.D. at University of Michigan Law School.