Law Preview retains a roster of law professors that any school would envy. Not only are they accomplished scholars, but they represent 24 Teacher of the Year Award Winners, five former clerks to justices on the Supreme Court and two federal prosecutors. But don’t be intimidated by their credentials — above all they are fun, engaging and warm people who simply love to teach. To show you their human side, we asked our professors to share their thoughts on a range of subjects — from the #metoo movement to Hamilton to their favorite Stranger Things character. Their responses might make you look at law professors a bit differently.
So, let’s get to know: Zahr Said, Associate Professor of Law, at University of Washington Law School.
Get to Know Zahr Said
Professor Zahr K. Said is an Associate Professor of Law, and Lead Faculty Director of CASRIP (Center for Advanced Study and Research of Innovation Policy). She holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard University, a J.D. from Columbia (where she was a Kent Scholar and served as Articles Editor for the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts) and a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa). She taught at the University of Virginia School of Law for three years as a Visiting Professor of Law, and will teach at Stanford Law School during the 2018 academic year. Said’s research applies humanistic methods, theories, and texts to problems in legal doctrine and policy. Her work has appeared in the Iowa Law Review, the Cardozo Law Review, the North Carolina Law Review, the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, the Stanford Technology Law Review, and the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts, among others. Current works in progress examine jury instructions in copyright litigation, and she has undertaken a longer term empirical study of the craft brewing scene in Seattle to study its IP norms. She is the recipient of the UW Law Faculty Scholarship Award (2015), the Philip A. Trautman 1L Professor of the Year Award (2016), and the UW University Global Innovation Fund Grant. She teaches Torts, Copyright, Advanced Copyright, and IP Survey, and has taught Advertising as well as the Proseminar for Ph.D. students, which is an introduction to American jurisprudence.
What is your FAVORITE thing about being a law professor?
Teaching and mentoring 1Ls. Also, playing 2 Live Crew in copyright, which I also teach.
Do you have a favorite study aid(s) for the subject-matter you teach at Law Preview? If so, what’s so great about it?
I like Emanuel on Torts, which I used as a student, and Ken Abraham’s hornbook, which is the smartest concise treatise out there, and wonderfully clear.
Do you have a favorite fiction/non-fiction book that touches on the subject-matter you teach for Law Preview?
The Sweet Hereafter, a novel based on a true-life story that centers on the collision of a large truck and a school bus and the many lives lost as a result. The protagonist is a personal injury lawyer and reading his account is a riveting way to think about what lawyers do.
Did you have a New Year’s Resolution in 2018 and, if so, what is it?
Finally nail standing-head-to-knee pose in hot yoga!
List one show you “binge-watched” in 2017 and what was it about the show that captivated your attention?
Newton’s Law. Australian version of The Good Wife (find it on Acorn). I love the accents! (There is even some Australian tort law, too.)
Name one song you listened to “on repeat” in 2017 and provide some insights about why couldn’t you get enough of it?
Django Django First Light. It is so energetic! It picks me up no matter my mood.
Do you have any opinions about Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” (either the soundtrack or the play itself)?
Loved the play, saw it twice. Occasionally have this soundtrack on repeat!
Favorite SNL Presidential Impersonation?
Alec Baldwin as President Trump.
Which Stranger Things character do you most identify with now or, better yet, in 1983?
Eleven.
