After graduating from Yale, Archer clerked for Judge
Alvin Thompson of the
United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Archer was assistant counsel at the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 1998 to 2000, and then an associate at the law firm
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett from 2000 to 2003. In 2003, Archer joined the faculty of
New York Law School (NYLS), where she was the first dean of
diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, and associate dean for academic affairs and student engagement. She led the school’s Racial Justice Project and the Impact Center for Public Interest Law, which she co-founded. She is also a member of the boards of the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Legal Aid Society, and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. In 2016 and again in 2017, Archer served as acting chair of the
New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, the body that investigates allegations of
police misconduct. After 15 years at NYLS, Archer moved to
New York University in July 2018. Archer is Jacob K. Javits Professor and Professor of Clinical Law, Co-Faculty Director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law, and director of the Civil Rights Clinic at
New York University School of Law. As its eighth president, she chairs the board of directors, setting the direction the organization takes in civil litigation policies. Archer succeeded
Susan N. Herman, a professor at
Brooklyn Law School and ACLU president since 2008, who oversaw a period of growth with increased donations following the election of President
Donald Trump and extensive litigation during his administration. In a statement on Archer’s election, Romero said that civil rights and racial justice were top priorities for the organization moving forward and noted Archer’s expertise in these fields. ==Honors==