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Elected Member

Professor
Margaret
Chon

Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Affiliation
Seattle University School of Law
Education
Cornell University
University of Michigan Law School

Margaret Chon is the Donald and Lynda Horowitz Professor for the Pursuit of Justice at Seattle University School of Law. Since joining the Seattle University faculty in 1996, Margaret Chon has been a dedicated scholar and teacher of intellectual property and critical theory. She is currently the Donald & Lynda Horowitz Professor for the Pursuit of Justice, and formerly Associate Dean for Research. Her current scholarship explores the global governance dimensions of intellectual property, especially their distributional consequences. During the 2011-12 year, she was the Senior Global Emile Noël Research Fellow in the Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice at New York University School of Law.

Following graduation from law school in 1986, Professor Chon worked for a year as a staff attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She then clerked for the Honorable A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., and practiced intellectual property law with Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis in Philadelphia. Immediately prior to her first academic appointment, she served in an administrative clerkship with Chief Judge Dolores K. Sloviter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where she assisted in the revision of the local Third Circuit rules. Throughout her professional career, she has been and continues to be active in various community and professional organizations.

Member News

Traynor on Liberty, Law, and Democracy

In his essay "Liberty, Law, and Democracy: Are There Grounds for Realistic Optimism?" Michael Traynor, former President of The American Law Institute, reflects on the challenges facing American democracy amid political polarization and institutional strain. He examines threats to the balance between liberty and law, citing dysfunction across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, while drawing on historical context and recent scholarship to frame these concerns.

Despite his sober assessment, Traynor maintains a guarded optimism rooted in America’s resilience, civic traditions, and individual potential to effect change. He highlights positive actions within the legal community, nonprofit organizations, and among engaged citizens, while outlining five practical steps Americans can take to strengthen democracy: improving civic education, demanding accountability, fostering open debate, participating in elections and local governance, and resisting simplistic solutions.

Traynor concludes that democracy is “stubborn work,” incremental, imperfect, and ongoing, but expresses confidence that Americans have the resolve to preserve it.

Read the full article The New Nationalist

Michael Traynor is senior counsel at Cobalt LLP in Berkeley California. He served as ALI President from 2000 to 2008, and as Chair of the Council from 2008 to 2011. He is also a recipient of ALI's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Traynor is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   He received the John P. Frank Outstanding Lawyer Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is an honorary life trustee of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of Earthjustice and a past President (1973) of the Bar Association of San Francisco.