Barbara Atwood

Mary Anne Richey Professor Emerita of Law; Co-Director, Family and Juvenile Law Certificate Program

Professor Atwood is the Mary Anne Richey Professor of Law Emerita and Co-Director of the Family and Juvenile Law Certificate Program at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. After graduating from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1976, she clerked for the late Mary Anne Richey, United States District Judge for the District of Arizona, and then worked as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. She taught at the University of Houston Law Center from 1981 to 1986 and returned to Arizona to join the University of Arizona law faculty in 1986. Professor Atwood's scholarship explores topics at the intersection of civil procedure and family law, with a particular focus on issues of voice and representation for marginalized groups. She has spoken at national and international conferences on child representation, child's voice, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and private ordering in family law. Her books include Children, Tribes, and States:  Adoption and Custody Conflicts Over American Indian Children (2010) and A Courtroom of Her Own:  The Life and Work of Judge Mary Anne Richey (1998). Professor Atwood was appointed to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2006 by then-Governor Janet Napolitano and continues to serve as a Uniform Law Commissioner. She is currently the chair of the Joint Editorial Board for Uniform Family Laws and was an Adviser on the ALI’s Restatement of Children and the Law project. Professor Atwood was appointed Judge Pro-Tem of the Tohono O'odham Nation in 2013. 

Curriculum Vitae

SSRN Published Papers

Representative Publications

Education

  • J.D. University of Arizona
    1976
    Graduation with Highest Distinction, Order of the Coif
  • B.A. Mary Baldwin College
    1969
    Graduation with Honors

Admitted to Practice

  • Arizona

Work Experience

  • Mary Anne Richey Professor of Law Emerita
    James E. Rogers College of Law
    2011 - present
  • Mary Anne Richey Professor of Law
    James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona
    1998 - 2010
  • Associate Dean
    University of Arizona College of Law
    1989 - 1991
  • Acting Associate Dean
    University of Arizona College of Law
    1988 - 1989
  • Professor of Law
    University of Arizona College of Law
    1986 - 1998
  • Assistant Professor of Law
    University of Houston Law Center
    1981 - 1986
  • Visiting Associate Professor
    University of Arizona College of Law
    1980 - 1981
  • Trial Attorney, Civil Rights Division
    U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
    1978 - 1979
  • Law Clerk
    Hon. Mary Anne Richey, U.S. District Court, Tucson, Arizona
    1976 - 1978

Organizations

  • Fellow, American Bar Foundation
    2003 - present
  • International Society of Family Law
    2001 - present
  • Association of American Law Schools, Family and Juvenile Law Section
    Executive Committee
    1989 - 1990
    Chair
    1988
    Vice-Chair
    1987
  • Arizona State Bar
    1976 - present

Public & Institutional Service

  • President, Arizona Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
    2012
  • Member, Board of Directors, Arizona Family and Conciliation Courts
    2009 - 2012
  • Arizona Supreme Court Admission on Motion Task Force
    2009
  • Member, Academic Advisory Committee to ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements
    2007 - 2009
  • Commissioner, National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
    2006 - present
  • Reporter, Uniform Representation of Children in Abuse, Neglect, and Custody Proceedings Act, National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
    2004 - 2007
  • Member, Arizona Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission
    2001 - 2007; Vice-Chair, 2005; Chair, 2006
  • Member, United States Magistrate Judge Selection Committee for the District of Arizona
    1997

Awards

  • University of Arizona Alumni Association Extraordinary Faculty Award
    2011
  • John Strong Teaching Award and SBA Teacher Of the Year
    2011
  • Leslie F. and Patricia Bell Faculty Service Award
    2010
  • Arizona Women Lawyers Association Alice Truman Award
    2009
  • Graduate College Graduate and Professional Education Teaching and Mentoring Award
    2004
  • Sarah Sorin Award, Arizona Women Lawyers Association
    2004
  • Leslie F. and Patricia Bell Faculty Award
    2001
  • YWCA Women on the Move Award
    1998
  • Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of Arizona College of Law
    1998
  • Soroptimists Women Helping Women Award
    1998
  • Study Grant, Arizona Humanities Council
    1993, 1992
  • Sarah Weddington Award, Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona
    1989
Faculty
Emeritus
Civil Rights Law
Family Law (including Children's Rights)
Indigenous Peoples & Federal Indian Law