Biography
Sonja R. West is the Brumby Distinguished Professor of First Amendment Law at the University of Georgia School of Law, a post shared with the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Professor West’s scholarship focuses on issues involving the First Amendment, legal protections for the press, and the United States Supreme Court. Her work has appeared in numerous top legal journals such as Harvard Law Review, California Law Review, UCLA Law Review, and Northwestern Law Review. In recognition of her scholarly impact, Professor West was awarded the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Harry W. Stonecipher Award for Distinguished Research on Media Law and Policy and the National Communication Association’s Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression. She has twice served as chair of the American Association of Law School’s Section on Communication, Media & Information Law and serves on the advisory board for the First Amendment Salons.
A graduate of the University of Chicago School of Law, Professor West served as a law clerk for Judge Dorothy W. Nelson of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. She is a former reporter and spent several years practicing media and appellate law with the Los Angeles law firms Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Professor West is also a frequent contributor to Slate and a commentator for numerous news organizations such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, and National Public Radio.