Kim Pearson

Kim Hai Pearson Assistant Professor kpearson@lawschool.gonzaga.edu (509) 313-5957 B.A., University of Utah M.A., University of Utah, British and American Literature J.D., J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University

Biographical Information

Prior to joining the faculty at Gonzaga University School of Law, Professor Kim Pearson was the 2008-2010 Law Teaching Fellow at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. At UCLA, she taught courses in Sexuality and the Law, Legal Scholarship, Family Law and Inequality. From 2005 to 2008, Professor Pearson was an associate in a law firm in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she handled matters ranging from family law and guardianships to small business contracts and wills and trusts. Professor Pearson holds a J.D. from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University and served as a senior editor on the BYU Law Review. 

Professor Pearson’s scholarship and research interests include intersections among areas of law, popular culture, and identity groups. Her published work and current scholarship explore bias and inequality that appear when systems of thought and legal action are in conflict or interact negatively. While there is already a great deal of scholarship about identity-based bias and discrimination, Professor Pearson’s research builds and extends these insights by unpacking multi-layered messages in advocacy materials and popular culture and the translations of these materials into courtrooms and legal decisions. Her interest in inequality and intersectionality is an organic outgrowth of experience in practice along with studies in critical race studies, queer theory, popular culture, and legal studies.

Teaching Areas

• Family Law
• Professional Responsibility
• Sexuality and the Law
• Wills and Trusts

Publications

• “Mimetic Reproduction in Child Custody Decisions,” 22 Yale J.L. & Feminism 53, 2010.
• “Patriotic Homosocial Discourse,” 12 Wm. & Mary J. of Women & L. 627, May 2006

Other Writings

• "Gifts of Story and Song: An Encyclopedia on 20th Century African American Writers," Wilfred D. Samuels, Ph.D., General Editor, Entries Contributor 2004, Publication date forthcoming
• "Textual Constructions: Creative Writers & Book Artist Workshop," Salt Lake City, Utah, Project Coordinator, Teacher, Exhibit Coordinator, Summer 2007

Selected Presentations

• Presenter, Is a bridge really a bridge if it doesn't touch either side?, SALT conference, December 2010
• Presenter, Ethical Issues in Representing LGBT Families, Mission Possible CLE at Gonzaga Law School, November 2010
• Presenter, Absent and Unnatural Fathers: The False Competition Between Black Dads and Gay Dads, Works-in-Progress Session, Law and Society Association, May 2010
• Moderator, Reforming Families, Reforming Law, Law and Society Association, May 2010
• Presenter, Absent and Unnatural Fathers: The False Competition Between Black Dads and Gay Dads, faculty colloquium, J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, April 2010
• Presenter, Absent and Unnatural Fathers: The False Competition Between Black Dads and Gay Dads, Williams Fellows Roundtable, UCLA Law Review Symposium Sexuality and Gender Law Assessing the Field, Envisioning the Future and Williams Institute Annual Update, March 2010
• Presenter, Absent and Unnatural Fathers: The False Competition Between Black Dads and Gay Dads, Works in Progress Series, Hofstra University School of Law, January 2010
• Presenter, Mimetic Reproduction in Child Custody Decisions, faculty colloquium, UCLA School of Law, September 2009
• Presenter, Same Sex Marriage: Constitutional Issues, My Daily Constitution Performance Art Installation, September 2009
• Presenter, Mimetic Reproduction in Child Custody Decisions, Law and Society Association Conference, May 2009
• Presenter, Mimetic Reproduction in Child Custody Decisions, Works in Progress Session, Emerging Family Law Scholars Conference, May 2009
• Presenter, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Constitutional Issues, CLE presentation, Global Arc of Justice: Williams Institute Annual Update, March 2009
• Panelist, The Aftermath of Prop 8: Is Gay Really the New Black?, UCLA School of Law, November 2008
• Panelist, Proposition 8 Debate, UCLA School of Law, October 2008

Top of Page