Karen Musalo
Professor of Law
U.C. Hastings
musalok@uclawsf.edu
San Francisco, CA, USA

Area of expertise: Refugee and Asylum Law and Policy

Karen Musalo is Professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, California. She is lead co-author of Refugee Law and Policy: An International and Comparative approach (5th edition). She has written extensively on refugee law issues, and contributed to the evolving jurisprudence of asylum law not only through her scholarship, but through her litigation of landmark cases. She was lead attorney in Matter of Kasinga (fear of female genital mutilation as a basis for asylum) and amicus in Matter of A-R-C-G-, the first precedent decision affirming the viability of domestic violence asylum claims. Prof. Musalo is currently co-counsel in Matter of A-B-, in which the principle of protection in domestic violence claims is being challenged by Attorney General Sessions.

Prof. Musalo is recognized for her innovative work on refugee issues, being the first attorney to partner with psychologists in the representation of traumatized asylum seekers, and editing the earliest handbook for practitioners on cross-cultural issues and the impact of culture on credibility in the asylum context. She is a frequent media commentator, quoted in outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, and El Pais.