Sandra F. Sperino

Sandra F. Sperino is the Elwood L. Thomas Missouri Endowed Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. She previously held the Judge Joseph P. Kinneary Professorship at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Her expertise spans Civil Procedure, Employment Discrimination, Employment Law, and Torts.

Education:

• J.D., University of Illinois College of Law
• M.S., Journalism, University of Illinois

Her research focuses on how courts resolve employment law disputes, with notable works including Unequal: How America’s Courts Undermine Discrimination Law (Oxford 2017) and treatises on employment discrimination law. Her scholarship has been cited by federal courts and featured in The New York Times and NPR.

Awards:

• Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2013, 2017, 2022)
• Harold C. Schott Scholarship Award (2015)
• Faculty Excellence Award (2018)
• 2021 Civil Justice Scholarship Award

She served as lead counsel on Supreme Court amicus briefs in 2013 and 2019, addressing causal standards in discrimination law. Prior to academia, she clerked for a U.S. District Court and practiced law at Lewis, Rice, co-authoring a successful U.S. Supreme Court brief in United States v. Sell.