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Robin Thorner

Assistant Dean for Career Strategy

 

Robin Thorner

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., New York University School of Law, 1999
  • B.A., magna cum laude, Yale University, 1995

License to Practice

  • Texas

Awards

  • President’s Award for Excellence, St. Mary’s University, 2022

Specialties and Courses

  • Professional Identity Formation
  • Mental Health and the Law
  • Client Interviewing
  • Special Education Law

Biography

Thorner brings to the Office of Career Strategy 15 years of public interest experience, much of that in leadership positions. Prior to joining St. Mary’s Law, Thorner was a supervising attorney at Disability Rights Texas (formerly Advocacy Inc.), for which she represented individuals with mental health needs and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Previously, she was first a staff attorney and, later, a managing attorney at University Legal Services, the protection and advocacy program for individuals with disabilities in Washington, D.C. While there, she supervised and coordinated the office’s mental health advocacy, which included individual and systemic litigation.

After graduating from New York University School of Law, Thorner clerked for the Hon. Deborah Hankinson on the Texas Supreme Court and was an Equal Justice Works Fellow at South Brooklyn Legal Services, where she represented children with special needs with an emphasis on special education, disability discrimination and SSI advocacy.

In addition to overseeing the Office of Career Strategy, Thorner serves as the law school’s Director of Professional Identity Formation.