Daniela Kraiem

Daniela Kraiem serves as Assistant Dean for Career and Professional Development and Practitioner-in-Residence at American University Washington College of Law. She leads the Office of Career and Professional Development team connecting students and alumni with employment opportunities across legal sectors. Previously (2006-2021), she directed WCL's Women and the Law Program, integrating gender into legal education and developing specialized curricula for JD/LLM students.

Her academic credentials include:

• J.D., University of California, Davis (1999)
• B.A. in History, University of California, Santa Barbara (1996)

Professor Kraiem's research centers on law and policy intersections in care, education, and employment with rigorous emphasis on gender and racial justice. Her scholarship spans Gender and the Law, Labor and Employment Law, and Public Interest Law, critically examining systemic inequalities through frameworks like Feminist Legal Theory. As Coordinator of the Law and Society Association's Feminist Legal Theory Collaborative Research Network, she advances interdisciplinary dialogue on gender, law, and social transformation.

Her publications reveal an enduring trajectory from 1990s welfare reform critiques to contemporary analyses of student debt and disability disparities, consistently addressing how legal structures impact marginalized communities—particularly women, people of color, and LGBTQ persons—while advocating policy solutions centered on equity and human dignity.

Through the Women and the Law Program, she secured grant funding for global initiatives addressing women's and LGBTQ legal needs, demonstrating commitment to community-engaged scholarship. Her current leadership in career development shapes WCL's pipeline into diverse legal practice areas.

Dean Kraiem oversees the Office of Career and Professional Development team, delivering comprehensive services including career counseling, employer networking, and professional development programming for students and alumni across public interest, government, and private practice sectors.