Karla McKanders

Experience

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  University of Michigan

  May 1998 - Jul 1998

  Summer Research Intern

  Conducted comparative research with Summer Research Opportunities Program with Sociology Department on racial disparities for South African and African American males.

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  US Congress

  May 1999 - Jul 1999

  Summer Intern - John Conyers, Jr.

  Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Intern.

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  Miller Canfield

  Jan 2003 - Jan 2005

  Legal Associate Labor and Employment Practice Group

  Represented employers in Fair Labor Standards Act, sexual and racial harassment, and age, race, weight, religious and disability discrimination cases; Provided consultation to employers for complying with state and federal anti-discrimination laws such as Family Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title VII.

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  U.S. Court of Appeals

  Sept 2005 - Jul 2006

  Senior Law Clerk for Hon. Damon Keith for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

  Assisted with civil and criminal appellate docket. Prepared bench memoranda and assisted Judge in making decisions on motions, which involved extensive research on a myriad of complex legal issues. Drafted opinions for Court of Appeals cases for the Judge.

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  Villanova University

  Jul 2006 - Jul 2008

  Reuschlein Clinical Teaching Fellow

  Course: Clinic for Asylum, Refugee & Emigrant Services and Poverty Law. Recipient of teaching fellowship in a live, in-house Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services, which handled asylum cases before immigration judges, asylum officers and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Co-taught bi-weekly seminar on substantive and procedural asylum law and written and oral advocacy skills. Responsible for curriculum development, classroom instruction, supervising students, grading and client in-take for the Clinic. Supervised advanced clinical students in preparing appellate briefs before the Board of Immigration Appeals in asylum cases. Provide mentoring and guidance to students during clinic supervision and after clinic. Supervising students in ongoing international human rights project entitled the Iraqi Student project. Show less

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  University of Tennessee

  Jul 2008 - Jun 2017

  Associate Professor of Law | Director & Founder Immigration Clinic

  Courses: Advocacy Clinic; Immigration Clinic & Refugee Law. Preparing law students for general practice students handled unemployment, housing, juvenile and criminal cases. Started the state's first immigration practice at Clinical Program at UT.

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  The Fulbright Program

  Sept 2011 - Jun 2012

  Senior Lecturer

  Taught at Universite de Mohammad V. Taught Humanitarian Law Seminar and conducted research. Instrumental in starting program to provide pro bono attorneys to refuges who cannot afford counsel.

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  Howard University School of Law

  Aug 2016 - Apr 2017

  Visiting Associate Professor in Civil Rights Clinic

  The Civil Rights Clinic litigates on behalf of indigent clients in civil rights and social justice cases. Cases include a range of civil rights matters such as employment and housing discrimination, police brutality, denial of full voting rights, unconstitutional prison conditions, and procedural barriers that preclude indigent litigants from effective access to the courts. Under my supervision, the students worked on a myriad of civil rights issues from employment discrimination, the impact of predatory lending under the Fair Housing Act, Title IX and transgender bathrooms in public schools, the President’s Executive Order/travel ban of Muslim individuals, deciphering when statistics are relevant enough to rebut the deprivation of due process to mandatorily detaining immigrants, extra-judicial killings of African Americans and election protection related activities to the November 2016 Presidential Election. Show less

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  Vanderbilt University Law School

  Jul 2017 - Jun 2023

  Associate Director of Clinical Program | Clinical Professor | Founder Immigration Practice Clinic

  Professor: Teaching Courses: Immigration Practice Clinic, Immigration Law and Policy; and Critical Race Theory. Direct the Immigration Practice Clinic where law students under my supervision litigate humanitarian cases behalf of migrants facing deportation before United States Immigration Courts and the Department of Homeland Security. Empowering students to become skilled legal advocates with a continual desire to serve their communities throughout their careers. Associate Director of the Clinical Program lead clinic faculty meetings; direct public relations for Legal Clinic and provide mentoring to junior level faculty members.Advisory Committee, James Lawson Institute for the Research and Study of Nonviolent Movements at Vanderbilt University Show less

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  American Bar Association Commission on Immigration

  Aug 2021 - Aug 2023

  Chair

  Leading Commission members; Advisory Committee; and Liaisons to directs the Association’s efforts to ensure fair treatment and full due process rights for immigrants, asylum-seekers, and refugees within the United States. Work involves directing programming, proposing Association policy resolutions; and providing strategic leadership for the Commission's focus areas.

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  NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

  Jun 2023 - now

  Director, Thurgood Marshall Institute