One of the nation's leading legal scholars, Susan Estrich is the Robert Kingsley professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Southern California. She was named one of the most influential public intellectuals of the century.

Known for her quick wit and humor on Fox News, she regularly appears as the "house liberal" and was a major fixture during the last presidential campaign. As a legal and political analyst on Fox for the last five years, she has taken on Hannity and O'Reilly with charm, brains, and humor. “In any picture of Fox's senior commentators,” says Estrich, “I am the blonde with the smile.”

The first woman to run a national presidential campaign, the first female president of The Harvard Law Review and the youngest woman to be tenured at Harvard Law School, Estrich has paved the way for countless women to attain positions of leadership.
 
When Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine asked Estrich if she felt women “still need to soft-sell their ambition with self-deprecation and a nurturing style,” Estrich replied, “Raise your hands. Raise your voice. Be ambitious. Don’t take no for an answer. The world would be a better place if more women were running it, and so long as that is true, then ambition in women should be celebrated as a gift to all of us.” In her bestseller, Sex and Power, she documents the continuing power of discrimination in limiting opportunities for both men and women.

As a speaker, Estrich brings passion, humor and honesty to her audiences, challenging them on subjects ranging from presidential politics to capital punishment. She is a favorite on college campuses, and she motivates women to reach into their pockets to understand the power of their philanthropy.

A former Supreme Court law clerk, Estrich is a passionate believer in the rule of law. She is a feminist and a Jew who brings her values to her politics.
 

"The presentation was outstanding ....One of our best lectures ever!

Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona

Estrich is perhaps best known in academic circles for her path-breaking work on the law of rape, notably her book Real Rape. Published 20 years ago, it is still required reading in colleges and law schools across America. Estrich was among the first to speak about her own experience, combining the voice of the victim and the expert. She is at work on a new book about the limits of law reform as a means of preventing rape.

A senior advisor to four presidential campaigns, Estrich is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, Newsweek, Glamour and Slate. Her other six books include Getting Away With Murder: How Politics is Destroying the Criminal Justice System, Dealing WIth Dangerous Offenders, and How to Get Into Law School, a “How To Guide” for college students as well as an examination of why lawyering and public service matter.

Her latest book is The Case for Hillary Clinton, an impassioned argument for Senator Clinton as the Democrats' leading candidate for president in 2008.

At a time when computer literacy is considered an essential survival skill, Estrich argues for civic literacy in education, in the professions and in the media, as an equally essential skill.