Faculty Feature: Professor Stacy-Ann Elvy
Professor Stacy-Ann Elvy researches the commercial law of privacy and its relationship to emerging technology and human rights law. She explores those areas in her forthcoming book, The Cambridge Handbook on Emerging Issues at the Intersection of Commercial Law and Technology, co-edited with Nancy S. Kim, and her 2021 book A Commercial Law of Privacy and Security for the Internet of Things, also with Cambridge University Press. Professor Elvy has published extensively in top law reviews, including Columbia Law Review, Iowa Law Review, Boston University Law Review, Boston College Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, and Berkeley Journal of Law & Technology. In 2022, she published a think piece as an expert for the UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab.
Professor Elvy has served as an advisor to the American Law Institute’s Principles for a Data Economy project, as an observer to the Uniform Law Commission and American Law Institute’s Joint Committee on the Uniform Commercial Code and Emerging Technologies, and as Vice Chair of the Article 2 Uniform Commercial Code Committee of the American Bar Association. She is currently an executive committee member of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Commercial and Consumer Law. She is also a contributing peer review editor for the technology law section of the online legal journal Jotwell. Professor Elvy has presented at the Centre for European Policy Studies Ideas Lab Conference in Belgium and at an exclusive Internet of Things roundtable held by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.
Before becoming a professor, Professor Elvy practiced law at Akerman Senterfitt and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. As a professor at New York Law School, she received the Rising Legal Star Award from the New York Law Journal and the Otto L. Walter Distinguished Writing Award. In 2019, she received the UC Davis CAMPSSAH Faculty Scholar Award.
What drew you first to the law and then to academia?
My interest in law was sparked as a young child by a TV show. I grew up watching Perry Mason reruns with my family in Jamaica and became fascinated by the legal system as a result. As a child, I would always tell my parents that I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. My parents were of course delighted by this. As Jamaicans there were a limited number of professions my parents would approve of for their children and being a lawyer was on the approved list. My family and I eventually immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica.
My path to academia began when a friend of mine who was a professor at a local law school invited me to be a guest speaker in her class. I taught several courses as an adjunct while practicing law at a local law firm and then transitioned into academia full time.
What would your students be surprised to learn about you?
I’m a first-generation lawyer and professor.
What do you most enjoy about teaching? What do you hope students gain from your courses?
One of the things that I enjoy most about teaching is the opportunity to mentor students. I didn’t have many mentors as a first-generation lawyer and so I truly value the opportunity to mentor students. When students take my courses, I hope that they gain not only an in-depth understanding of the complex legal concepts that we discuss in class but also a mentor.
Do you have any hobbies or notable interests outside of your law career?
As many of my civil procedure and commercial law students already know, I like watching fantasy television shows and movies, such as Game of Thrones.
Of what are you proudest?
I’m most proud of my parents. As Jamaican immigrants, my parents worked hard to build a life in the U.S. My parents were determined to make their children’s dreams a reality. I am eternally grateful for that.
Do you have one piece of advice for King Hall law students?
I would advise students to seek out mentors early on in their law school careers.
View last month's Faculty Feature here.