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Elected Member

Professor
Vivian
Eulalia
Hamilton

Location
Williamsburg, VA, USA
Affiliation
William & Mary Law School
Education
Yale College
Harvard Law School

Vivian Hamilton is a Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School, where she teaches courses in Civil Procedure, Education Law, Family Law, and Race & Law.  She is also an affiliate faculty member of the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program at the College of William & Mary.  At the Law School, she serves as faculty advisor to the Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice, the Black Law Students Association, and the Equality Alliance.  She is a founder and co-chair of the William & Mary Faculty of Color Network.

Professor Hamilton’s research focuses on legal measures affecting adolescents and emerging adults, and her work has been published in the Boston University Law Review, Brigham Young University Law Review, and University of Georgia Law Review, among others.  She has testified as an expert before numerous state legislatures, and her work has been widely cited in law journals and media outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Times.

Professor Hamilton earned her B.A. in History from Yale College and is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School.  She clerked for the Hon. Gladys Kessler of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, then worked as a litigator in the D.C. office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, then at the D.C. Legal Aid Society.

She joined the clinical faculty of American University’s Washington College of Law, where she was Director of the Women & the Law Clinic.  She joined the faculty of West Virginia University School of Law as Associate Professor in 2006, then joined William & Mary Law School in 2008.

Professor Hamilton has served as Chair of the Section on Family and Juvenile Law of the Association of American Law Schools and on its Executive Committee.  She also serves as a member of the Board of the ACLU-Virginia and chairs its Governance & Nominations Committee.

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.