Biography

Babe Howell comes to Hofstra Law School from the NYU School of Law Lawyering Program, where she taught for five years, supervising other professors and curriculum development as Associate Director for the last two years. Before joining the Lawyering faculty at NYU, she was a practicing trial lawyer in the area of criminal defense in New York City. During this time she worked at both The Legal Aid Society Criminal Defense Division in Manhattan and at The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. Prior to her career as a public defender she clerked for the Honorable Gene Carter of the Federal District Court in Maine. Before attending law school she also worked for several years in the area of civil legal services focusing on housing rights, homelessness prevention, and benefits advocacy.

Professor Howell's students in the Criminal Justice System will represent indigent defendants charged with misdemeanors in the Nassau and Queens County courts. The students will represent clients from arraignments through hearings and trials in Criminal Court. In addition they will, where appropriate, assist clients by representing them when arrests for criminal offenses trigger civil collateral consequences.

Professor Howell is currently working on a paper examining the costs related to aggressive policing of minor offenses and has previously co-authored a piece on the assignment of defense counsel to indigent clients in Federal Court. Her research interests are in the area of criminal justice and race.