Race & Law

Professor Lepard is a leading expert in the fields of international law, human rights law, comparative law, and tax law.  He joined the faculty in 1995. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1983. At Princeton, he was named a Scholar of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and concentrated on the study of international law and organization, receiving a prize from the Woodrow Wilson School for his thesis on the development of the idea of the League of Nations in France during the First World War.

Danielle C. Jefferis is the 2025-26 Schmid Professor for Excellence in Research and an Associate Professor of Law. Her scholarship examines constitutional and civil rights law, federal courts, and the law and policy of prison and detention. She has presented her research at institutions around the world, including Harvard Law School, UCLA School of Law, Hamburg Institute for Social Research, University of Strathclyde, Durham Law School, Queens University (Belfast), Duke University School of Law, Utrecht University, and others.

Professor Cooper joins the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Law after practicing law in the areas of family law, criminal defense, and juvenile justice for 14 years.  Cooper has extensive trial experience and has successfully argued cases before the Nebraska Supreme Court and Nebraska Court of Appeals.  Prior to joining the faculty, Cooper served as an adjunct professor for the College of Law, teaching Pretrial Litigation.  She holds a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and a B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.