Tracy in Haiti, March 2010

Prof. Tracy L. McGaugh, co-founder and director of You.Me.We., began her work in disaster response in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  She monitored human rights conditions in the Reliant Arena Sports Complex, including the Astrodome, in Houston, Texas, one of the early mass shelters for internally displaced persons from New Orleans and the surrounding areas.  During the three weeks that New Orleans residents were kept at the rodeo and sports facility, she advocated for open media access, consulted with law enforcement on security and gender-based violence issues, and wrote about human rights violations.  Since the 2005 storm, she has continued to be involved in the legal aspects of Gulf Coast post-disaster response, particularly with issues affecting the 9th Ward, one of the hardest hit areas of New Orleans.  Since the founding of You.Me.We., Prof. McGaugh has worked primarily on issues impacting the United States Gulf Coast and on drafting best practices to protect human rights in mass settlement camps post disaster.  Her primary expertise is in the areas of human rights related to those accused and convicted of crimes as well as gender-based violence. 

Cheryl Van Dyke, Malik Rahim (founder of Common Ground), and Tracy McGaugh; New Orleans, LA, June 2010

As a law professor, Prof. McGaugh is a national leader in the fields of legal writing and legal education.  She is most identified with her research and presentations on cross-generational competence in legal education and the legal profession, as well as her co-authored textbook on legal citation, a book that is used in approximately half of American law schools.  Prof. McGaugh currently serves on the faculty of Touro Law Center in Long Island, New York, where she has taught legal writing and analysis since 2007.  She is serving her second four-year term on the Board of Directors for the Legal Writing Institute.  She began her teaching career in 1997 at Texas Tech University School of Law, where she taught from 1997-2001.  In 2001, she joined the faculty at South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas.  Prior to teaching, Prof. McGaugh practiced criminal law in state and federal courts in Texas.