Dr. Laverne Jacobs is a full Professor of Law at the University of Windsor in Canada. Her research and scholarship focus on law and disability rights, human rights law, equality law, and administrative law and justice. She is a graduate of McGill University where she completed her BA(Hons), LL.B. and BCL. She earned her PhD at Osgoode Hall Law School.
In her 20 years of experience, Professor Jacobs has published and lectured widely in Canada and internationally. Through her research, she explores the lived experiences of people with disabilities in relation to the law and she uses her scholarship to further disability equality and inclusion. Dr. Jacobs is the lead author of several books and articles including the first law and disability textbook in Canada (Law and Disability in Canada (2021)) and the Annotated Accessible Canada Act (2021). Dr. Jacobs is the Founding Director of The Law, Disability and Social Change Project, a research and public advocacy centre at Windsor Law. She is also Co-Director of the Disability Rights Working Group of the Berkeley Law Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law. She was an instructor in Berkeley Law’s COVID-19 and Global Inequalities course which examined the impact of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities and other marginalized communities around the world.
Dr. Jacobs has held public appointments as a tribunal member for the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and as a member of Ontario’s Accessibility Standards Advisory Council. She has been consulted by disability rights NGOs and has served on the Board of Directors of several organizations. She has testified as an expert before the Senate of Canada on disability issues. Dr. Jacobs has received many recognitions for her scholarship and leadership on disability equality, including the Touchstone Award from the Canadian Bar Association in 2021.
Dr. Laverne Jacobs is Canada’s nominee for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2023-2026.
