Dr. Anita Hill, professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at the Heller School has taken a position at the Cohen, Milstein, Sellers and Toll law firm based in Washington, D.C. She will serve as counsel in the large firm and plans to remain a professor at Brandeis.

Hill, who first gained national attention when she testified against Supreme Court nominee and future justice Clarence Thomas in 1991, is a scholar of social policy and management and has spoken on women’s issues for decades.

Before working with Thomas, who she famously charged with sexual harassment, Hill worked as a chairman’s assistant for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, taught at the O.W. School of Law and the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

Suzanne Turner, a spokesperson for the firm, says Hill believes “this generation faces challenges that are institutional and require a broad view.”

Hill came to Brandeis in 1997, joining the Heller School for Social Policy and Management as a faculty member. Cohen, Milstein, Sellers and Toll offered her the opportunity to further her role as a civil rights activist, as the firm specializes in civil rights and discrimination cases.

Regarding the new addition to the firm, Turner says Hill “was interested in the opportunity to bring her academic perspective to a firm that has such a broad range of expertise in protecting the individual.”

Hill plans to work as a full-time professor at Brandeis and will work with the law firm on “an as-needed basis.”

“Combining her expertise, the concept of the ‘Brandeis brief’ and Cohen Milstein’s depth of practice areas will allow her and [the firm] the opportunity to look deeply at [civil rights] challenges,” says Turner.