About Anne M.
Anne M. Coughlin earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1984 after completing graduate work at Columbia University and undergraduate studies at Tufts University. Her academic record reflects a steady progression through the humanities and law. She received an M.A. from Columbia in 1979 and a B.A. from Tufts in 1978. Those early years set the stage for a career spent largely in legal education and scholarship.
She moved into academia and over time took on roles that combined teaching, research and institutional service. She holds the Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Professorship of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, a position that has anchored her professional life. At the law school she has taught generations of students and participated in the governance and curriculum development of the institution. Her career path is one of steady academic engagement rather than private practice or litigation work.
Coughlin’s work is rooted in legal scholarship and classroom instruction. She has produced articles and essays aimed at both academic peers and students. Her interests embrace doctrinal problems, doctrinal history and theoretical questions about law’s structure and aims. She has shown an interest in how law functions in institutions and in the public sphere. Colleagues and former students often point to her ability to pair rigorous analysis with clear exposition in the classroom.
Her teaching record at the University of Virginia includes core courses that help shape students’ understanding of law as an intellectual discipline as well as seminars that invite deeper critical inquiry. She has supervised student research and mentored candidates preparing for academic careers. Outside the classroom, she has taken part in faculty committees and contributed to the life of the school through public events and symposia. That combination of responsibilities illustrates the multifaceted role of a senior law professor.
Coughlin’s position as Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Professor reflects her place within the law school community. She continues to teach, write and engage in the law school’s academic programs. She currently teaches and publishes at the University of Virginia School of Law, concentrating on legal scholarship and educating law students.
