N. Kemba Taylor

With a decade of law practice experience in various areas of complex business litigation, Professor Kemba Taylor knows the value of effective legal writing. She began early to hone her research and writing skills. As an undergraduate at Stanford, Professor Taylor received the Stanford Undergraduate Award and Grant for Exemplary Research, an Irvine Foundation Fellowship, and a summer research fellowship at the Hoover Institution. During law school, she was the recipient of a Graduate Opportunity Fellowship, served as abstracts editor of the African American Law & Policy Report, and was a member of the Berkeley Women's Law Journal. She was also a legal instructor for the law school's Street Law Program and a teaching assistant in the African & African American Studies Department.

Following law school, Professor Taylor joined the firm of McKenna & Cuneo, where she participated in case management and litigation strategy planning of a multi-billion dollar government contract action. As an associate with the firm of Levene, Neale, Bender & Rankin, she made over 100 federal court appearances and handled cases involving bankruptcy and general business issues. In fall 2000, she became an associate at Browne Woods & George, where she was the primary attorney in charge of cases involving intellectual property, unfair business practices, contract disputes, and general business litigation, among other areas.

Professor Taylor was appointed to the Southwestern faculty in 2007. Having spent a good deal of time supervising new attorneys and from her earlier experiences as a teacher, she was drawn back to academia. Beyond teaching law students the art of legal writing, she hopes to impart the importance of utilizing all the opportunities available to them in law school. "Students need to get involved. Talk to professors. Get in touch with alumni. Participate in clinics and externships," she says. "Southwestern is an excellent place to take advantage of these resources."