Anna C. Conley, an assistant professor in the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana, received the 2023 Mark Tushnet Prize from the Association of American Law Schools. The award recognizes the year’s best article on comparative law.
Comparative law is the study of legal systems across the world. Dr. Conley’s article is an analysis of aspects of judicial power in civil and common law systems. “Legal systems may have different histories and cultural values underlying their laws,” she said. “We look underneath the rule in comparative analysis to look at more than the law itself. We need to consider this when determining whether laws can be harmonized across systems.”
Dr. Conley added that “how we do it in the U.S. legal system is just one way of many. There is a rich mosaic of legal systems in the world we can study and learn from.”
Before joining the faculty at the University of Montana, Dr. Conley was the civil chief deputy in the Missoula County Attorney’s Office. While serving in this post, she was an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Montana.
Dr. Conley is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, where she majored in sociology and psychology. She earned a juris doctorate at eh George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C., and a master’s degree in law and a doctor of civil laws degree at McGill University in Montreal.