About Jennifer Mason
Jennifer Mason Mcaward attended New York University School of Law. She studied there before moving into a sequence of clerkships and litigation work that shaped her professional path. The law school years anchored her entry into appellate and trial practice.
Her first clerkship came in 1998 at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where she served Judge Alex Kozinski. That year introduced her to appellate procedure and the demands of federal opinion writing. She then spent a year in private practice as a litigation associate at Shea & Gardner in 1999, gaining hands-on experience in courtroom preparation and client representation.
In 2000 Mcaward served as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court clerkship was a pivotal stop. It exposed her to complex constitutional questions and the inner workings of the nation’s highest court.
By 2002 she had joined Holland & Knight LLP as a Public Interest Fellow and litigation associate. That role combined litigation work with public interest matters, and it broadened her experience in both private firm practice and causes outside the commercial sphere. The combination of clerkships, private practice and public interest work gave her a wide view of litigation at multiple levels of the federal system.
Her career shifted toward academia in the years that followed. She joined Notre Dame Law School and rose through the faculty ranks, earning tenure and appointment as Associate Professor of Law in 2013. Her academic work draws on years of courtroom and appellate experience. Students and colleagues see the influence of her clerkships and practice when she explains appellate strategy and the mechanics of federal litigation.
Mcaward is admitted to practice in New York. That credential complements her academic role and her earlier litigation practice. Colleagues describe her approach to teaching as rigorous and exacting. Her classes emphasize careful analysis of precedent and methodical briefing.
Over the course of her career she has moved between the courtroom and the classroom, carrying practical experience into legal education. She continues to teach and write, and she participates in the academic life of the law school. She currently teaches at Notre Dame Law School, where her work centers on teaching and scholarship.
