Pat Chew is a Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. A University Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award recipient, she teaches a range of courses. Her classes are characterized by the practical application of legal principles, interactive and problem-based exercises, and interdisciplinary analysis. Her primary subjects include employment law, dispute resolution processes, torts, corporate law, culture and conflict, and interdisciplinary seminars on a range of topics.
In addition to teaching at Pitt, she has taught at the University of Texas, University of Augsburg, and the University of California (Hastings). She has taught twice on the Semester-at-Sea Program, serving as Director of the Law Program in 2003. She has made numerous presentations, both in the United States and abroad. Most recently, she has presented on judicial decision-making in racial harassment cases, subtly sexist language in the legal profession and law schools, empirical research of civil rights laws, and key employment laws for multi-national corporate managers.
As illustrated above, Professor Chew's research crosses a number of subject areas and methodologies including empirical research. She was named one of the first Law School Distinguished Faculty Scholars (2001-2004) and again for 2010-2013. As with her teaching, her research is both diverse and innovative. Her articles have appeared in varied publications, including (1) general law reviews such as the Wisconsin Law Review, William and Mary Law Review, North Carolina Law Review, Wake Forest Law Review, and Oregon Law Review; (2) international-oriented journals such as the Yale Journal of International Law, Virginia Journal of International Law, and Texas International Law Journal; and (3) other specialized publications such as Stanford's Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Berkeley Journal of Labor and Employment Law, and Ohio State Journal of Dispute Resolution. Her books include International Conflict Resolution: Consensual ADR Processes (2005, coauthored casebook), The Conflict and Culture Reader (2001, editor), Directors' and Officers' Liability (1993, treatise with annual supplements), Corporations and Other Business Organizations (5th ed. 2001, co-authored casebook in multiple editions); and Directory of Asian American Law School Faculty and Professionals (1993, 2d ed. 1996).
Prior to teaching, she practiced corporate law and international business law with Baker & McKenzie in Chicago and in San Francisco. She is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI), currently serving on the Consultative Committee for the proposed Restatement of Employment Laws. Over the years, she served on many committees and spoke at various programs for the American Association of Law Schools (AALS), the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), and the American Bar Association (ABA). Among other leadership roles, she was the Chair of the AALS Section on Women in Legal Education (the largest AALS section) in 2006-2007 and a co-founder of the Asian American law faculty association. She will be on the Executive Committee of the AALS 2011-2013.
Professor Chew received a J.D. degree from the University of Texas in 1982 and an undergraduate degree in psychology and in communications from Stanford University in 1972. She did graduate work in the School of Business and the School of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas. The youngest of six children, she grew up in El Paso, Texas in a Chinese-American family. Her spouse is a business school professor and management consultant. Her two children are young adults in San Francisco and in Washington D.C.
Education
Currently Teaching
- Overcoming Subtle Sexism / Subtle Racism Seminar
- Subtle Sexism / Subtle Racism in the Workplace Seminar
Specialization
- Dispute Resolution
- Employment Law
- Race and the Law
Selected Publications
Scholarly Articles:
- Pat K. Chew, Arbitral and Judicial Proceedings: Indistinguishable Justice or Justice Denied?, 46 Wake Forest Law Review 185 (2011). Available on SSRN.
- Pat K. Chew, Seeing Subtle Racism, 6 Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 183 (2010).
- Pat K. Chew & Luke Kelley-Chew, The Missing Minority Judges, 14 Iowa Journal of Gender, Race & Justice 179 (2010).
- Pat Chew & Robert Kelley, Myth of the Color-Blind Judge: An Empirical Analysis of Racial Harassment Cases, 86 Washington University Law Review 1117 (2009).
- Pat Chew & Lauren K. Kelly Chew, Subtly Sexist Language, 16 Colum. J. Gender & L. 643 (2007).
- Pat Chew, Janet W. Schofield & Lu-in Wang, Culture and Race in Provider-Client Relationships, 23 Journal of Health and Social Policy (2007).
- Pat Chew, Freeing Racial Harassment from the Sexual Harassment Model, 85 Oregon L. Rev. 615 (2006).
- Pat Chew & Robert E. Kelley, Unwrapping Racial Harassment Law, 27 Berkeley J. Employment & Labor Law 49 (2006).
- Pat Chew, The Rule of Law: China’s Skepticism and the Rule of People, 20 Ohio State Journal of Dispute Resolution 43 (2005).
- Pat Chew, The Pervasiveness of Culture in Conflict, 54 J. Legal Educ. 60 (2004).
Books:
Press about Professor Chew and Her Work:
- Molly McDonough, “10 Most Popular Posts: Race & Gender of Judges; Why Lawyers Should Work Less; & Lawyers in Trouble,” ABA Journal Law News Now (online), Dec. 28, 2010.
- Mike Green, “Report: Race Matters in Judicial Decision-Making,” Huffington Post, Feb. 13, 2010.
- Edward A. Adams, “Race & Gender of Judges Make Enormous Differences in Rulings, Studies Find,” ABA Journal Law News Now, Feb 6, 2010.
- Ryan Rydzewski, Facilitating Peer Teaching, 13 Teaching Times ( Univ. of Pittsburgh), Mar. 2008.
- Peter Hart, Businessman or Businessperson: What You Say Makes a Difference, University Times (Univ. of Pittsburgh) 5-6, Apr. 3, 2008.
- Pat Chew, 11 Teaching Times (Univ. of Pittsburgh), Nov. 2005.
SSRN Author Page
News
Awards and Honors
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Distinguished Faculty Scholar (2010 - 2013).
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Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award (2005)
Executive Committee of Association of American Law Schools (2011-2013).
Selected Professional Activities
RECENT PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
“Dear President Obama,” Seattle Law School Influential Voices Series (Mar. 2011).
“Twenty Years After the 1991 Civil Rights Act: What Does the Future Hold?” Wake Forest Law School (Nov. 2010).
“What Identity? Whose Politics,” Harvard Asian Pacific Students Association (Feb. 2010).
“Race, Gender, and Class at A Crossroads,” Univ. of Iowa Symposium (Feb. 2010).
“Judging Diversity: Is the Wise Latina a Myth?” ABA Judicial Division Midyear Meeting Presentation (sponsored by over 20 ABA Divisions) (Feb. 2010).
“Myth of the Color-Blind Judge,” West Virginia University School of Law Endowed Lecture (April 2010).



