Jill C. Engle

Professor of Clinical Law

Jill C. Engle is a clinical professor of law at Penn State Law in University Park. Previously, she was director of Penn State Law’s Family Law Clinic, which represents clients in domestic violence and other family law cases, and was the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2019 to 2022. The Clinic also does policy work for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, among other organizations. Professor Engle’s scholarship examines gender-based violence, economic inequality, international human rights, racial justice, and best practices in legal education. Before teaching law, Dean Engle did public interest work, including with Head Start and the National League of Cities, worked in private law in State College and Washington, D.C., and taught media law at Penn State. While in law school she was part of the legal team with Morgan Lewis in Washington, D.C. that handled a pro bono appeal for a Texas death row inmate in federal court.

Professor Engle served as a law clerk for the Honorable Neal Kravitz on the D.C. Superior Court. Besides Morgan Lewis, she has also worked at commercial law firms in Bethesda, Maryland and State College, Pennsylvania. Professor Engle remained active in pro bono work while in private practice, and was a recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s 2010 Pro Bono Advocate Award. During law school at American University, Engle was granted a Marshall-Brennan fellowship to teach Constitutional Law in an impoverished Washington, D.C. high school. Professor Engle serves on numerous national, state and local boards and committees regarding legal education, social justice, and the practice of law. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.