Anita Nancy Bernstein is an American tort law scholar with expertise in feminist jurisprudence and legal ethics. She is the Anita and Stuart Subotnick Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School.
Bernstein was the first holder of an ethics chair at Emory University School of Law.[1] She blogs occasionally on legal ethics and professional responsibility.
Bernstein is the author of The Common Law Inside the Female Body,[2] published by Cambridge University Press. In this book, Bernstein argues that traditional common law principles justify the right and liberty to refuse sexual penetration and pregnancy when those experiences are unwanted.
Recognition
Willam L. Prosser Award, Section on Torts and Compensation Systems, American Association of Law Schools (2020) Fulbright Program Law Research Scholar (1992–93)
Jean Monnet fellow at the European University Institute (1992–93)
Associate Member of the Common Room and an Honorary Member of the Table of Christ Church College at the University of Oxford (2015).
Notable publications
Keep It Simple: An Explanation of the Rule of No Recovery for Pure Economic Loss, Arizona Law Review 773 (2006)[3] What’s Wrong with Stereotyping?, Arizona Law Review 655 (2013)[4] Common Law Fundamentals of the Right to Abortion, 63 Buffalo Law Review (2015)[5] Pitfalls Ahead: A Manifesto for the Training of Lawyers, 94 Cornell Law Review 479 (2009),[6] Treating Sexual Harassment with Respect, 111 Harvard Law Review 445 (1997)[7] The Trouble with Regulating Microfinance, 35 U. Hawai’i Law Review 1 (2013)[8] Whatever Happened to Law and Economics?, 64 Maryland Law Review 303 (2005)[9] For and Against Marriage: A Revision, 102 Michigan Law Review 129 (2003)[10] Toward More Parsimony and Transparency for "the Essentials of Marriage," 2011 Michigan State Law Review 83 (2011)[11] Real Remedies for Virtual Injuries, 90 North Carolina Law Review 1457 (2012) [12] Abuse and Harassment Diminish Free Speech, 35 Pace Law Review 1 (2014)[13]
Poetry
Poetry is among Bernstein's interests. Atlanta Review, Oxford Poetry, Minnesota Review, The New Renaissance, Orbis, and Bird's Thumb have published her poems. In 2016 she taught a poetry workshop at Brooklyn Lifelong Learning.
^Bernstein, Anita, Keep it Simple: An Explanation of the Rule of No Recovery for Pure Economic Loss. Arizona Law Review, Vol. 48, p. 773, 2006; Emory Public Law Research Paper No. 06-34; Emory Law and Economics Research Paper No. 06-21; New York Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 06/07-17. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=953431
^Bernstein, Anita, What's Wrong with Stereotyping? (October 3, 2013). Arizona Law Review, Vol. 55, p. 655, 2013; Brooklyn Law School, Legal Studies Paper No. 359. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2335728
^Anita Bernstein, Pitfalls Ahead: A Manifesto for the Training of Lawyers, 94 Cornell L. Rev. 479 (2009) Available at: h p://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr/vol94/iss2/11
^Bernstein, Anita, "Treating Sexual Harassment with Respect,' Harvard Law Review 111:445-527 (1997)
^Bernstein, Anita, Whatever Happened to Law and Economics?. Maryland Law Review, Vol. 64, p. 101, 2005; Emory Public Law Research Paper No. 05-01; NYLS Legal Studies Research Paper No. 05/06-26. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=665142
^Anita Bernstein. For and Against Marriage: A Revision, 102 Mich. L. Rev. 129 (2003)