Dr. Kerrel Murray

Associate Professor

Biography

Kerrel Murray is an Associate Professor at Columbia Law School specializing in constitutional law, with a particular interest in Reconstruction, election law, and race law. His scholarship interrogates the role of legal rules and institutions in mediating conflict and disagreement within a democratic framework. In 2023, he was named the Yale Law Journal’s Emerging Scholar of the Year. Before joining Columbia in 2021, Murray completed a two-year fellowship as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of North Carolina School of Law. He has also served as a fellow with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where he co-authored amicus briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court and various state supreme courts. Earlier in his career, he was associated with Covington & Burling’s Washington, D.C. office focusing on complex civil litigation, and he clerked for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Murray has published several notable works, including articles in prestigious law reviews addressing critical issues in election law and civil rights.

Research Interests

Experience

Associate Professor
— Present

Columbia Law School • New York, NY

teaches and writes about constitutional law, election law, and race law.

Post-Doctoral Research Associate
— Present

University of North Carolina School of Law • Chapel Hill, NC

completed a two-year fellowship.

Fellow
— Present

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund • Washington, D.C.

co-authored amicus briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Associate
— Present

Covington & Burling • Washington, D.C.

focused on complex civil litigation.

Clerk
— Present

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia • Washington, D.C.

clerked for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Clerk
— Present

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit • Denver, CO

clerked for Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich.

Awards

#
Yale Law Journal Emerging Scholar of the Year
#
Postdoctoral Award for Research Excellence
#
Burton Distinguished Legal Writing Award
#
Constance Baker Motley National Writing Competition