Emily A. Benfer

Emily A. Benfer is a visiting professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University. She first collaborated with the Eviction Lab in March 2020 to create the COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard. As a research collaborator with the Lab, she conducts legal mapping and policy surveillance of U.S. eviction and housing policy, including eviction moratoria at the federal, state, and local level. Her clinic practice and research focus on the intersection of social determinants of health, racial inequity, and poverty with an emphasis on housing and eviction policies. Emily has widely published, testified before Congress and appeared in numerous media outlets on these topics. Emily is the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Eviction, Housing Stability, and Equity and a member of the Legal Services Corporation U.S. Eviction Law Study Advisory Board. Professor Benfer served as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and a Peace Corps volunteer. She was named a Legal Freedom Fighter by Rocket Matter and one of Chicago’s Top 40 Lawyers Under 40 by the National Law Journal. She has received numerous commendations for her commitment to health equity, housing stability, and social justice, including an American Bar Association Presidential Commendation and the American Public Health Association David P. Rall Award for Advocacy.