Professor of Law
Director, Bronfein Family Law Clinic
Co-Director, Center on Applied Feminism
majohnson@ubalt.edu
410.837.5779
John and Frances Angelos Law Center, Room 422
Administrative Assistant:
Terry Berk
410.837.5762
John and Frances Angelos Law Center, Room 200
Education
B.A., Dartmouth College, 1987
J.D., cum laude, order of the coif, University of Wisconsin Law School, 1993
Areas of Expertise
Reproductive Rights and Justice
Gender Law
Family Law
Feminist Legal Theory
Clinical Legal Education
Center on Applied Feminism
Professor Johnson’s current research examines the reproductive justice, including menstruation law and policy. She asks questions about how women and other pregnancy capable individuals are subject to structural and intersectional forms of oppression. She explored comparative menstruation law and policy as a 2023 Fulbright Scholar at UTS in Sydney, Australia. Her current research examines the regulation of reproduction and menstruation by state and private actors. In addition, Johnson’s research addresses the use of narrative theory, critical reflection, and normative theory in lawyering for clients. Johnson’s articles have been published in the U.C. Davis Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, the B.Y.U. Law Review, and Cardozo Law Review, among others. She is co-author of the book Lawyers, Clients & Narrative: A Framework for Law Students and Practitioners (2d ed. 2023). Her research has been relied upon and cited by courts, media, and other scholars.
Johnson has been a Visiting Professor at NYU Law, Georgetown University Law School, and American University Washington College of Law. Prior to joining the UBalt faculty in 2006, Johnson directed the Domestic Violence Clinic at the Washington College of Law, American University; was an employment discrimination litigator, with a special focus on sexual harassment law, at the D.C. firms of Terris, Pravlik & Wagner, Kalijarvi, Chuzi & Newman and the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights; was a Georgetown Women's Law and Public Policy Fellow; and clerked for the Hon. Hector M. Laffitte in the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico.
Johnson directs the Bronfein Family Law Clinic, where students represent clients in litigation and advocacy relating to family law and reproductive rights and justice. She also teaches Family Law, Property Law, and Special Topics in Applied Feminism and is co-director of the Center on Applied Feminism, which applies the insights of feminist legal theory to legal practice and policy.
Johnson is a frequent speaker, commentator and advocate regarding menstrual justice legislation, regulations, and policies. She has served as an expert, advisor, or board member for numerous feminist organizations, including the Global Menstrual Justice Report, Our Bodies Ourselves Today, the Feminist Judgments book series, and the Women’s Law Center of Maryland. She also has held several leadership roles in the clinical legal education community including Editor for the Clinical Law Review, Co-President of the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA), and Chair of the Planning Committee, American Association of Law Schools Section on Clinical Legal Education Conference.
Johnson has received several awards and recognitions, including the 2024 Women’s Law Center of Maryland’s Rosalyn B. Bell Award; 2020 UBalt Law Outstanding Scholarship award; the 2019 UBalt Law Outstanding Service by a Full-Time Faculty Member award; the 2017 UBalt Law Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Faculty Member award; Top 25 Women Professors in Maryland in 2013; the 2012 USM Board of Regents' Faculty Award for Public Service; and Professor of the Year award by the UBalt Women's Bar Association in 2011 and 2008. Johnson is a member of the bars of the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Selected Publications
Books
- Lawyers, Clients & Narrative: A Framework For Law Students And Practitioners (Carolina Academic Press 2d ed. 2023 (co-authored with Carolyn Grose).
- Teaching Lawyers, Clients & Narrative: A Framework For Law Students And Practitioners (Carolina Academic Press 2d ed. 2023) (co-authored with Carolyn Grose).
- Commentary: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Svcs., Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court (Cambridge Univ. 2016).
Law Review Articles and Book Chapters
- Title IX and “Menstruation or Related Conditions”, 30 J. Gender & L. 25 (2023) (with Marcy L. Karin, Naomi Cahn, Elizabeth B. Cooper, Bridget J. Crawford, & Emily Gold Waldman).
- Menstrual Dignity and the Bar Exam, 55 UC Davis L. Rev. 1 (2021) (with Elizabeth B. Cooper & Marcy L. Karin) (lead article).
- Asking the Menstruation Question to Achieve Menstrual Justice, 41 J. Gender & L. 158 (2021).
- Title IX and Menstruation, 43 J.L. & Gender 225 (2020) (with Bridget J. Crawford & Emily Gold Waldman).
- Menstrual Justice, 53 UC Davis L. Rev. 1 (2019) (lead article).
- The Ground on Which We All Stand: A Conversation About Menstrual Equity Law and Activism, 26 J. Gender & L. 341 (2019) (with Bridget J. Crawford, Marcy L. Karin, Laura Strausfeld, & Emily Gold Waldman).
- Braiding the Strands of Narrative and Critical Reflection with Critical Theory and Lawyering Practice, 26 Clinical L. Rev. 203 (2019) (with Carolyn Grose).
- An Examination of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP): Perspectives on Implementation, Help-seeking, and Victim Empowerment , Violence Against Women (2019) (coauthor with Tara N. Richards, Ph.D., Lane Kirkland Gillespie, Ph.D., and Katherine Kafonek, M.S.).
- Feminist Judgments & #MeToo, 94 Notre Dame L. Rev. Online 51 (2018) (symposium).
- Changing Course in the Anti-Domestic Violence Legal Movement: From Safety to Security, 60 L. Rev. 145 (2015).
- Security, Converge! –Panel on Intersections of Gender, Economic, Racial and Indigenous (In) Justice, Security, 5 Miami R.S.J.L. Rev. 357 (2014) (symposium).
- A Home with Dignity: Domestic Violence and Property Rights, 2014 B.Y.U.L. Rev. 1 (2014) (reprinted in full in Tracy Thomas, Women and the Law (Thompson Reuters) (2015)).
- Symposium Dialogue: Keynote Speaker Senator Barbara Mikulski, 42 Balt. L. Rev. 211 (2013) (Moderated by Professor Margaret E. Johnson).
- Foreword: Applying Feminism Globally, 41 Balt. L. Rev. 217 (2012).
- Teaching Social Justice Lawyering: Systematically Including Community Legal Education in Law School Clinics, 18 Clinical L. Rev. 401(2012) (co-author).
- Balancing Liberty, Dignity and Safety: The Impact of Domestic Violence Lethality Screening,
- 32 Cardozo Rev. 519 (2010) (excerpted in Tracy Thomas, Women and the Law (Thompson Reuters) (2011)).
- Having It Our Way: Women in Maryland's Workforce Circa 2027' Foreword.9 Md. L.J. Race, Religion, Gender & Class 1 (2010).
- Redefining Harm, Reimagining Remedies and Reclaiming Domestic Violence Law, 42 UC Davis L. Rev. 1107 (2009).
- “Avoiding Harm Otherwise”: Reframing Women Employees’ Responses to the Harms of Sexual Harassment, 80 L. Rev. 743 (2007).
- An Experiment in Integrating Critical Theory and Clinical Education, 13 U.J. Gender Soc. Pol’y & L. 161 (2005).
- A Unified Approach to Causation in Disparate Treatment Cases: Using Sexual Harassment by Supervisors as the Causal Nexus for the Discriminatory Motivating Factor in Mixed Motive Cases, 1993 L. Rev. 231 (1993) (student comment), cited in Roy L. Brooks, et. al., Civil Rights Litigation: Cases and Perspectives (3d ed. 2005).
Other Pieces
- Co-author, Menstrual Justice: A Human Rights Vision for Australia (2023). https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/2023-05/Menstrual-Justice-A-Human-Rights-Vision-for-Australia-2023.pdf.
- Co-author, Comment in response to RIN 1870-AA16 (Docket ED-2021-OCR-0166) Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance submitted to the Department of Education (with Marcy L. Karin, Elizabeth B. Cooper, Bridget J. Crawford and Emily Gold Waldman). https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:974436c4-155c-302b-83c8-5601231a3015
- Maryland Abortion Law Post-Dobbs in Criminalization of Pregnancy and Reproductive Health, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, https://nacdl.org/Landing/CriminalizationofPregnancy (with Kathleen Hoke).
- Bar Exam Policies on Menstruation Still Fall Short, Law360, https://www.law360.com/trials/articles/1512764, July 19, 2022 (with Elizabeth B. Cooper & Marcy L. Karin).
- Protecting and Broadening Maryland’s Access to Abortion Care, Guest Commentary, The Baltimore Sun, https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-0713-abortion-care-maryland-20220712-an4oaxybnffwlkwixhiyyzxovu-story.html, July 12, 2022 (with Eva Cox & Kathleen Hoke).
- Now More Than Ever, It’s Time for Universal Menstrual Education for Gender Equality, Magazine, https://msmagazine.com/2022/06/10/universal-menstrual-education-period-products-information/, June 10, 2022 (with Marcy Karin).
- Punishing Bar Exam Policies on Menstrual Products Must Go, Law360, https://www.law360.com/employment-authority/articles/1358884/punishing-bar-exam-policies-on-menstrual-products-must-go (Feb. 25, 2021 5:36PM) (with Elizabeth Cooper & Marcy Karin).
- Menstrual Products and the Bar: Advocacy Seeks to Create Equal Bar Exam Testing Conditions for Menstruators, Best Practices for Legal Education, https://bestpracticeslegaled.com/2020/08/05/menstrual-products-and-the-bar-advocacy-seeks-to-create-equal-bar-exam-testing-conditions-for-menstruators/ (August 5, 2020) (with Elizabeth B. Cooper and Marcy L. Karin).
- Stop the Stigma Against Menstruation; Starting with the Bar Exam, National Jurist, July 28, 2020 (with Marcy Karin and Elizabeth Cooper).
- Lessons Learned from the Suffrage Movement, 2 No. 1 Md. B.J. 115 (2020).
- Bill Would Provide Representation for Abuse Victims, Family Law Update, Daily Record, March 21, 2019 (with Shanta Trivedi).
- There’s Another Reason D.C. Needs Public Restrooms, Local Opinions, Washington Post, Jan. 8, 2019 (discussing the unrecognized need of menstruators).
- Only 1 in 4 Women Who Have Been Sexually Harassed Tell Their Employers. Here's Why They're Afraid. The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/only-1-in-4-women-who-have-been-sexually-harassed-tell-their-employers-heres-why-theyre-afraid-97436 (June 5, 2018) (and distributed by the Associated Press and published in other papers).
Articles on Social Science Research Network
Recent Presentations
Gender Justice Issues
- Co-Presenter, Why Scholarship Matters, AALS New Law Teachers Conference, Washington, DC, June 8, 2024.
- Presenter, Regulating Menstruation Post-Dobbs, 3rd Annual Menstruation Research Network Conference, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK, May 29, 2024.
- Lecturer, Menstrual Justice: The State and Private Regulation of Menstruation, Teaching Menstrual Health: Dispelling Myths and Misconceptions, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD & Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, March 14, 2024 (invited).
- Presenter, Regulating Menstruation Post-Dobbs, Navigating the Impact of Dobbs in Women's Rights, The Bar Association of Baltimore City, Baltimore MD, March 7, 2024 (invited).
- Lecturer, Regulating Menstruation Post-Dobbs, Special Topics in Applied Feminism, The University of Baltimore School of Law, March 4, 2024.
- Presenter, Regulating Menstruation Post-Dobbs, Faculty Research and Development Presentation, Baltimore, MD, January 25, 2024.
- Presenter, Regulating Menstruation Post-Dobbs, Mid-Atlantic Clinical Writing Workshop, Zoom, January 19, 2024.
- Moderator, Abortion in America, NYU Law Women Program, NYU Law, New York, NY, Nov. 14, 2023 (invited).
- Keynote, The Period is Political: Menstrual Justice, Abortion & Reproductive Justice, Society for Menstrual Cycle Research Conference, Bethesda, MD, July 20, 2023 (invited).
- Co-Presenter, Menstruation at School: Comparative Law & Advocacy, Menstruation Research Network Conference, The University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, May 26, 2023.
- Presenter, Menstrual Justice: A Human Rights Vision for Australia, Menstrual Justice in Scotland Beyond The Period Products Act, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 25, 2023 (invited).
- Commentator, Feminist Legal Research Group, The University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, April 26, 2023 (invited).
- Presenter, Confronting Menstruation, Feminist Legal Research Group, The University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, April 26, 2023 (invited).
- Menstrual Justice, Teaching Menstrual Health: Dispelling Myths and Misconceptions, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD & Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, March 28, 2023 (invited).
- Poster Presenter, Comparative Menstrual Justice in Australia and the United States, Australian-American Fulbright Commission Gala, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, Australia, February 23, 2023 (invited).
- Keynote, Menstrual Justice in the United States, Menstruation, Law, and Justice Symposium, The University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, February 16, 2023 (invited).
- Presenter, Menstrual Surveillance and Privacy, University Seminar on Menstruation and Society, Columbia University, November 16, 2022 (invited).
- Presenter, Surveilling Menstruators, Theodora Talk, The University of Baltimore School of Law, Baltimore MD, October 26, 2022.
- Presenter, Dobbs and the Future of Family Privacy, Dobbs Decision and Its Consequences: Faculty Perspectives, The University of Baltimore School of Law, Baltimore, MD, September 28, 2022 (invited).
- Presenter, Surveilling Menstruators in the U.S. and Other Countries, Period Posse, Columbia University, September 21, 2022 (invited).
- Presenter, Originalism and the Dobbs Decision, Constitution Day, The University of Baltimore School of Law, September 19, 2022 (invited).
Clinical and Other Pedagogy, including Narrative Theory
- Co-Presenter, Critical Clinical Supervision, AALS New Clinical Law Teachers Conference, St. Louis, MO, May 2, 2024.
- Co-Facilitator, Clinical Law Review Writing Workshop, NYU School of Law, New York, NY, Oct. 14, 2023.
- Presenter, Narrative Theory, Colloquium in Celebration of Professors Robert Dinerstein and Ann Shalleck, Washington College of Law, American University, Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, 2023 (invited).
- Presenter, Teaching Lawyering Skills and Values: Pedagogy and Methodology of U.S. Clinical Legal and Experiential Education, Law Learning and Teaching Seminar, The University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, March 23, 2023 (invited).
- Co-Facilitator, Clinical Law Review Writing Workshop, NYU School of Law, New York, NY, Oct. 8, 2022.
- Co-Presenter, Clinical Legal Education, New Faculty Orientation, The University of Baltimore School of Law, July 5, 2022.
- Co-Facilitator, Clinical Law Review Writing Workshop, NYU School of Law, New York, NY, October 2, 2021.
- Co-Presenter, Clinical Legal Education, New Faculty Orientation, The University of Baltimore School of Law, July 20, 2021.
- Presenter, Lawyers, Clients & Narrative: Interviewing, Maryland Legal Aid Family Law Task Force Meeting, July 15, 2021 (invited).
- Presenter, Clinical Legal Education and its Design, Clinic Director’s Orientation, The University of Baltimore School of Law, June 24, 2021.
- Facilitator, Clinical Law Review Writing Workshop, NYU School of Law, New York, NY, October 3, 2020.
- Co-Presenter, Supervision, Practitioner-in-Residence Orientation, Washington College of Law, American University, Washington, DC, August 10, 2020 (invited).
- Facilitator, Clinical Law Review Writing Workshop, NYU School of Law, New York, NY, September 21, 2019.
- Presenter, Braiding the Strands of Narrative and Critical Reflection with Critical Theory and Lawyering Practice, FRD Talks, University of Baltimore School of Law, Baltimore, MD, September 5, 2019.
- Presenter, Lawyers, Clients & Narrative, Georgetown Law Center, January 25, 2019 (invited).
Media Appearances
- Dylan Segelbaum, He Was Married to 2 Women at the Same Time. Now He’s on Probation for Bigamy in Baltimore, The Baltimore Banner, March 11, 2024.
- Law 360, Bar-Takers See Accommodation Gap for Periods, Lactation, Law360, Feb. 26, 2024.
- Linda Feldmann and Sophie Hills, One Year After Dobbs, US Abortion Landscape Transformed, The Christian Scientist Monitor, June 23, 2023. https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2023/0623/One-year-after-Dobbs-US-abortion-landscape-transformed
- Women’s Health Series: Menstrual Health: Symptoms, Conditions and Period Policies, AirTalk with Larry Mantle, KPCC, https://www.kpcc.org/podcast/airtalk/should-civilians-make-traffic-stops-in-la-instead-of-police, May 9, 2023.
- Experts Call for End to Menstrual Discrimination, UTS, https://www.uts.edu.au/news/social-justice-sustainability/experts-call-end-menstrual-discrimination, May 10, 2023.
- The Benefits of My Fulbright Scholarship Are Many. Fulbright Australia, https://www.fulbright.org.au/news-and-events/2023/06/5-reasons-you-should-apply-for-a-fulbright/, June 2023.
- Jean Marbella, Post-Roe, Continuing Furor over Abortion Rights Decision Looms Over November Election in Maryland and Beyond, Baltimore Sun, Sept. 9, 2022.
- John-John Williams IV, Law schools saw a ‘Trump Bump’ of female applicants during ex-president’s term. Will the overturning of Roe draw even more?, The Baltimore Banner, https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/higher-education/law-schools-saw-a-trump-bump-of-female-applicants-during-ex-presidents-term-will-the-overturning-of-roe-draw-even-more-FYFIKYGDBZHI5N7PERXFSPVSHI/, June 19, 2022.
- Midday with Tom Hall, Special Coverage: The Supreme Court Strikes Down Abortion Rights, WYPR, https://www.wypr.org/show/midday/2022-06-24/special-coverage-the-high-court-strikes-down-abortion-rights, June 24, 2022.
- Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, CBS Baltimore, June 24, 2022.
- How the Supreme Court Overturning Roe v. Wade Will Affect Maryland, FOX 25 Baltimore, June 24, 2022.
- Meredith Cohn, et al., With Roe v. Wade Overturned, Those Seeking Abortion Will Turn to Maryland, The Baltimore Sun, https://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-maryland-after-roe-v-wade-20220624-ahe4vzvoqzhitdt42imimwj5cq-story.html, June 24, 2022.
- Madeleine O’Neill, Maryland Likely to Become Statutory State in Wake of Abortion Ruling, The Daily Record, June 24, 2022, https://thedailyrecord.com/2022/06/24/maryland-likely-to-become-sanctuary-state-in-wake-of-abortion-ruling/.
- Tim Swift, How the Supreme Court Overturning Roe v. Wade Will Affect Maryland, Fox Baltimore, https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/how-the-supreme-court-overturning-roe-v-wade-will-affect-maryland, June 24, 2022.