Susan Stefan, J.D.

Susan Stefan currently represents clients with psychiatric disabilities at the trial and appellate level in Massachusetts. She is the author of Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws: Examining Current Approaches to Suicide in Policy and Law (Oxford University Press 2016), and Emergency Department Treatment of the Psychiatric Patient: Policy Issues and Legal Requirements (Oxford University Press 2006), as well as a number of articles on race discrimination in mental health law. Her most recent article is “Wyatt and Psychiatric Jim Crow,” 46 Law & Psychol. Rev. 229 (2021-2022). Other books include Unequal Rights: Discrimination Against People With Mental Disabilities and the Americans With Disabilities Act, and Hollow Promises: Employment Discrimination Against People With Mental Disabilities.

Susan was also a visiting professor at the University of Miami School of Law between 2011 and 2020, teaching Disability Rights Law and Mental Health Law. She has been a consultant for the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, the Institute of Medicine, Amnesty International, and the Joint Commission. She has successfully litigated a number of federal and state civil rights cases seeking equal treatment and inclusion for people with psychiatric disabilities, and she has received numerous advocacy and teaching awards over her forty year career. A long-time NARPA member and supporter, Susan is a past President of NARPA’s board of directors.