GSU-COL ::: Faculty ::: Dean Janice C. Griffith

Janice Griffith Janice C. Griffith is a Professor of Law at the Georgia State University College of Law. As Dean of the College from July 1996 to July 2004, she served as its chief executive officer and provided academic and administrative leadership in the areas of long-range planning, the evolution of the College's curriculum and programs, development and fund-raising, and relations with College graduates and the Atlanta legal and business community.

Professor Griffith came to Georgia State after seventeen years at Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden, Connecticut, where she taught State and Local Government Law, Constitutional Law, Land Use Law, and Administrative Law. She has published articles on federalism, municipal finance, land use, home rule, and on other areas of Local Government Law. She has made numerous presentations on issues in these areas. As a member of the Planning Committee for the Association of American Law Schools' Annual Meeting Workshop on Local Government on January 3, 2008, she moderated panels on "Katrina Experience: Why Federalism Broke Down" and "Land Use Federalism." At the third annual meeting of Syracuse University's Center on Property, Citizenship and Social Entrepreneurism, held on November 11, 2006, she spoke on "Planning, Redevelopment and New Regionalism in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina." She was also invited to lecture on the New Regionalism at a University of Virginia School of Law symposium on "Democracy In Action? The Law and Politics of Local Governance," held on January 29, 2005. In March, 2003, she lectured at the University of Cincinnati on "The Urban Environment: Economic, Political and Social Forces at Play." She was a member of the Quality Growth Legal & Technical Committee, formed in August, 2004, to examine structural and legal barriers to the implementation of recommendations made by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce's Quality Growth Task Force.

Professor Griffith frequently comments on higher education issues. Her article on "Transitions Between Faculty and Administrative Careers" was published in 2006 as part of the New Directions for Higher Education series, no. 34 (Jossey-Bass). In 2002, the Journal of Legal Education published her article with John L. Lahey on higher education trends calling for more accountability, greater efficiency, increased use of technology, and structural reorganization to meet these needs. Professor Griffith has been a visiting scholar at the Yale Law School and was an American Council on Education fellow at Ohio State University during the 1991-92 academic year.

In 1996-97 Professor Griffith was Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of State and Local Government Law. Currently she serves as the Section's representative to the ABA's Technology Committee and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on State and Local Government Law. She previously served as Chair of the AALS Section on State and Local Government Law from 1992-94 and 2006-07. She chaired the 1998 AALS Workshop for New Law Teachers and served on the ABA's Workshop for New Law School Deans from 1999-2002.

Before entering academia, Professor Griffith served as New York City's Chief of the Fiscal and Securities Division in the Office of the Corporation Counsel from 1976-79. In this position, she negotiated with state, U.S. Department of the Treasury, financial institution, and pension fund representatives to create and implement a four-year financial plan to restore municipal solvency to New York City. She later prepared legislation and financing agreements to effectuate this plan. Earlier in her career, she served as General Counsel and Assistant Administrator for New York City's Housing and Development Administration. Professor Griffith was an associate with the Wall Street law firm of Hawkins, Delafield and Wood before holding these governmental posts.

Professor Griffith received her A.B. from Colby College and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. She serves on Colby College's Board of Overseers.