Meagan Hurley

Meagan Hurley is an Assistant Professor of Law at Mercer University School of Law, joining the faculty in August 2023. She teaches Criminal Law, Post-conviction Practice & Remedies, and Client Counseling while leading The Habeas Project, a nationally recognized post-conviction defense clinic. Previously, she served as Accountability Counsel at the Georgia Innocence Project and co-founded the Cumberland Innocence Clinic at Samford University. Licensed in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina, she remains active in multiple bar associations.

Her educational background includes:

• B.A. in Communication Arts from Reinhardt University
• J.D. from Mercer University School of Law

Professor Hurley's research centers on criminal justice reform, specializing in wrongful conviction mechanisms, post-conviction remedies, and systemic accountability for official misconduct. Her work bridges theoretical legal scholarship with practical advocacy for indigent defendants, emphasizing access to justice in Southern jurisdictions.

Her awards include:

• Mercer Law’s Clover Award for Indigent Defense Advocacy and Social Justice Lawyering (2019)
• Reinhardt University Distinguished Alumna of the Year (2024)

As director of The Habeas Project, she mentors third-year law students providing pro bono representation to incarcerated individuals without constitutional right to counsel. Her clinical work has contributed to exonerating four wrongfully convicted individuals who collectively served 115 years in prison. She maintains active involvement in innocence advocacy networks and state bar committees across three jurisdictions.

Professor Hurley leads Mercer Law's Habeas Project clinic and previously established the Cumberland Innocence Clinic at Samford University, demonstrating sustained commitment to clinical legal education and wrongful conviction reform through institutional program development.