Suzette M. Malveaux

{{Infobox person

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| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1966|12|04}}

| birth_place = Lansing, Michigan, U.S.

| education =

| alma_mater = Harvard University;
NYU Law School

| employer =

| occupation = Law professor and civil rights lawyer

| relatives = Suzanne Malveaux (sister)

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Suzette M. Malveaux (born December 4, 1966) is an American law professor and civil rights lawyer. Malveaux joined Washington & Lee Law in 2024 as the Roger D. Groot Professor of Law. Previously she was Provost Professor of Civil Rights Law and director of the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Law at the University of Colorado Law School. She has also taught at the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America (where she was associate dean of Academic Affairs and interim director of the Institute for Law and Public Policy) and the University of Alabama School of Law. She teaches civil procedure, complex litigation, employment discrimination and civil rights. She is a nationally recognized expert on civil rights law and class action litigation, who has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court (Green Tree Fin. Corp. v. Randolph) and argued before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.{{cite web |url=http://www.law.edu/Fac-Staff/MalveauxS/ |title=Suzette M. Malveaux – Professor of Law |author= |date= |website= |publisher=The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law |access-date=10 Aug 2015 |quote=}} She is a member of the American Law Institute.

Background

Suzette Malveaux was born in Lansing, Michigan, into a family of Creole descent,{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/29/btsc.malveaux/?iref=mpstoryview | work=CNN |first=Suzanne |last=Malveaux|title=Malveaux: New Orleans family longs to feel at home again - CNN.com | date=August 29, 2007|access-date=2015-08-10}} and identifies as African-American. Her father, the late Floyd J. Malveaux, was the dean of the College of Medicine at Howard University, executive director of the Merck Childhood Asthma Network and a founder of Howard University's National Human Genome Center."Appointments, Tenure Decisions, and Promotions of African Americans in Higher Education", The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 8 (Summer, 1995), pp. 106–108. Her mother, the late Myrna Ruiz Malveaux, was an early childhood educator.{{cite web|url=http://www.malveauxmission.org/the-malveaux-family/|title=The Malveaux Family|work=malveauxmission.org}} Suzette's twin sister is CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.{{cite web |last=Martel |first=Frances |date=30 June 2010| url=http://www.mediaite.com/tv/the-situation-room-sees-double-with-suzanne-malveaux-and-her-twin-sister/|title=The Situation Room Sees Double With Suzanne Malveaux And Her Twin Sister |website=CNN |access-date=10 August 2015|quote=Today, filling in for host Wolf Blitzer, Suzanne Malveaux discussed the developments in Elena Kagan's Congressional hearings with Catholic University Columbia Law School professor Suzette Malveaux— her twin sister.}}

Early life, education, and training

Malveaux is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University (Class of 1988). At NYU Law School, she graduated in 1994 as a Root-Tilden Scholar, Law Review associate editor, Center for International Law fellow, NAACP Legal Defense Fund Earl Warren Scholar, and American Association of University Women fellow. Upon graduation, she clerked for the Honorable Robert L. Carter of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Career

Malveaux started practicing law at the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (1995–1998), and then at Cohen Milstein (1998–2003). As a practicing attorney, Malveaux specialized in class action litigation, representing plaintiffs in such high-profile cases as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes (the largest employment discrimination class action in U.S. history {{asof|2011|lc=y}}) and Alexander, et al., v. Oklahoma, et al.{{cite web |url=http://www.aauw.org/2011/08/24/meet-suzette-malveaux/ |title=Meet Suzette Malveaux: Civil Rights Lawyer |last1=Rogers |first1=Melissa |date=24 Aug 2011 |website= |publisher=American Association of University Women (AAUW) |access-date=10 August 2015 |quote=... Malveaux believes we have a lot to learn from Wal-Mart v. Dukes, not only in terms of how discrimination works but also about what it takes to achieve justice.}}{{cite news |last=Liptak |first=Adam |date=2 April 2011 |title=When a Lawsuit Is Too Big |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/weekinreview/03liptak.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, New York |access-date=10 August 2015|quote=Suzette M. Malveaux, a law professor at Catholic University in Washington, agreed that class actions have an important role to play in many cases, particularly those involving fraud and discrimination. }} (filed on behalf of the victims of Tulsa race riot of 1921).

In 2003, Malveaux began her teaching career at the University of Alabama School of Law. She joined the faculty of the Columbus School of Law, at the Catholic University of America in 2006. In 2018, Malveaux joined the University of Colorado Law School, as the Provost Professor of Civil Rights Law and director of the Byron R. White Center for Study of American Constitutional Law.{{cite news |last1=Peter |first1=John |title=civil litigation lawyer |url=https://chandsnider.com/ |access-date=18 June 2023}} She began teaching at Washington & Lee Law School in 2024.

Malveaux is a frequent commentator on legal issues involving the U.S. Supreme Court, the civil legal system, and civil rights. Media outlets in which she has appeared include CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English, and the PBS Newshour. She has also been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The National Law Journal.