Karen Woody Professor of Law

Phone: 540-458-8515

Email: kwoody@wlu.edu

Office: 454 Lewis Hall 

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Areas of Expertise

Securities Law, Financial Regulation, White Collar Crime

Education

LLM, Georgetown University Law Center

JD, American University Washington College of Law

BA, University of Virginia

About

Professor Karen Woody is a leading expert in the areas of securities law, financial regulation, and white collar crime. She has been quoted in Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, among others, and has been a guest on NPR multiple times. Her scholarly work has been published in journals including the Emory Law Journal, Stanford Law Review Online, Fordham Law Review, Cardozo Law Review, Washington and Lee Law Review, Maryland Law Review, and the Journal of Corporation Law, among others. She was awarded the Lewis Prize for Scholarship in 2024.

Professor Woody is a current member of FINRA's National Adjudicatory Council, and the chairperson of the FINRA's Statutory Disqualification Committee. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for the SEC Historical Society, and is a board member of the Corporate Governance Institute. She is also a member of the Academy of International Financial Crime Litigators. Professor Woody is a regular panelist on the Everything Compliance podcast, and hosts her own podcast, The Woody Report.

Prior to joining W&L Law, Professor Woody was on the faculty of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Prior to entering academia, she practiced law in Washington, D.C. at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, Bracewell LLP, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. While practicing law, she also served as an adjunct professor and taught a variety of law courses at Georgetown University Law Center, George Washington Law School, and American University Washington College of Law.

Professor Woody received her LL.M. with distinction in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center. She received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, where she served on the American University Law Review. She also has a graduate degree in theology from Regent College (Vancouver, B.C.), and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.