William SharonView profile
Lecturer
William Sharon serves as a Lecturer in Law and Adjunct Faculty at Columbia University School of Law while concurrently practicing as an appellate and Supreme Court litigator at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. His dual roles focus on landmark civil rights cases and First Amendment religion clause litigation across federal and state courts nationwide. Education Columbia Law School: J.D., James Kent Scholar and Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar; Notes Editor, Columbia Journal of Race and Law Ohio State University: Undergraduate degree Research Interests Sharon's scholarship centers on constitutional law's intersection with religious freedom, specifically analyzing Free Exercise Clause jurisprudence through comparative frameworks of religious and secular claimants. His work critically examines how courts balance religious liberty against competing constitutional principles, with particular attention to evolving Supreme Court standards in religion clause cases. This research directly informs contemporary debates on secular governance and religious accommodation. Publications His 2023 George Mason Law Review article establishes a methodological framework for evaluating religious liberty claims through comparator analysis, reflecting broader trends in constitutional interpretation where courts increasingly scrutinize the treatment of religious versus secular claimants. This work positions him at the forefront of First Amendment scholarship, particularly regarding judicial approaches to religious exemptions in modern regulatory states. Awards and Honors No scientific awards were mentioned in the provided text. Teaching and Professional Practice Sharon teaches Columbia Law School's Legal Practice Workshop courses (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025), training students in practical litigation skills while maintaining an active Supreme Court practice. At Arnold & Porter, he argues certiorari petitions and merits briefs in high-impact civil rights cases, specializing in religion clause challenges that often set precedential standards for religious liberty nationwide.









