Phone: (206) 543-2586
Email: lawdean@uw.edu
LL.M. 2003, Georgetown University Law Center J.D. 1995, University of San Francisco School of Law B.A. 1992, Claremont McKenna College
See the full list under the Publications tab below.
Tamara F. Lawson is the Toni Rembe Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle. She is a nationally recognized legal scholar and educator with expertise in criminal law and justice, advocacy and the intersection of law and society.
As dean at UW Law, she has focused on fortifying the faculty-student relationship and transforming the student experience. Her leadership has led to increased resources for bar prep support, opened new doors to admittance and strengthened interdisciplinary opportunities. In stewardship of one of the largest estate gifts in UW history — to the Barer Institute for Leadership in Law & Global Development — she is amplifying the global impact of the school.
Dean Lawson received the AALS Clyde Ferguson Award (2023) for excellence in public service, teaching and scholarship, and the Lutie A. Lytle Outstanding Scholar Award (2021) for trail-blazing, leadership, commitment, and dedication to legal-education, scholarship, and professional development. She was twice awarded Professor of the Year by law students for her criminal law and criminal procedure courses.
She currently serves on several leadership boards related to higher education and the legal profession: Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Women in Legal Education (WILE) Executive Committee; Society of American Law Teachers’ Board of Governors; and National Bar Association’s (NBA) Board of Governors and Chair of the NBA’s Law Professors’ Division. Dean Lawson has previously served as the Chair of three sections of the AALS: Women-in-Legal Education, Evidence Law, and Law and Humanities. She has also served on the Law School Admissions Council Board of Trustees.
She is regularly invited to speak on issues of criminal justice and race, as well as belonging, wellness, rankings and ABA standards — with a passion for educating student and practitioner audiences domestically and internationally. She has numerous publications that are frequently cited, including casebook materials on criminal procedure and evidence and policy materials.
After 125 years, there's still room for growth in the UW School of Law. (By Dean Lawson for University of Washington Magazine. Illustration by Anthony Russo.)
A UW Law classroom became a live courtroom on Nov. 20 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments on three cases.
Dean Tamara F. Lawson and the UW School of Law hosted “Presidential Power,” part of the Provost's "Democracy in Focus" lecture series leading up the 2024 Presidential Election.
