معرفی
Jennifer Merrigan serves as an adjunct professor at Saint Louis University School of Law and Washington University School of Law, teaching death penalty clinical practicums while practicing capital defense law at Phillips Black since 2004. Her professional background includes leadership as former staff attorney and Acting Director of the non-profit Death Penalty Litigation Clinic in Kansas City, Missouri.
Her research centers on criminal law, capital punishment, death penalty litigation, mitigation strategies, habeas corpus proceedings, and legal advocacy. She has presented nationally on capital mitigation and contributed to foundational legal guidelines, with her scholarly work emphasizing ethical defense practices and team-based mitigation approaches in capital cases.
Ms. Merrigan's publication record includes the influential 2008 Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty Cases, addressing critical intersections of legal procedure, ethical obligations, and evidentiary standards in capital defense.
She received the 2010 Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer’s “Atticus Finch Award” for exceptional advocacy in capital cases.
In advisory roles, she has served as mitigation specialist and counsel across state and federal habeas corpus, pre-authorization, and trial cases, mentoring law students through clinical teaching while advancing professional standards in capital defense practice.
Her prior leadership at the Death Penalty Litigation Clinic involved directing a specialized non-profit team dedicated to complex capital representation, fostering collaborative approaches to systemic challenges in death penalty litigation.
