Jennifer Ward

Jennifer Ward joined the faculty at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law in 2022 as the next step in her employment law career. She has practiced law in the Phoenix metro area since 2006, with a primary focus on providing advice and counseling to small- and medium-sized employers on all aspects of employment law and employee benefits. In addition to maintaining her license to practice law, she is a certified HR professional, holding certifications as an SPHR and SHRM-SCP. 

Immediately after graduating law school, Professor Ward joined the transactional law practice at the oldest law firm in Arizona, Fennemore. She practiced law there for nearly eight years, spending time in the Business and Finance, Labor and Employment, and ERISA and Employee Benefits practice groups. She then joined Employers Council, a nonprofit membership-based employers association which provides its member companies with employment law and HR advice. While she initially joined as a staff attorney, she was later promoted to run the Employers Council Arizona office as the Arizona President. During her tenure at Employers Council, she provided training classes to HR practitioners on employment law topics, including harassment prevention, legally-compliant employee relations, and employee benefits.

After a brief, pandemic-era stint as a solo practitioner, she joined Caritas Law Group to further her passion for helping non-profit organizations. While she loved that work, she couldn't resist the opportunity she was offered shortly thereafter to become a full-time member of the faculty at her undergraduate alma mater and fulfill a long-time dream of teaching.

Professor Ward teaches exclusively in the Master of Legal Studies and Master of HR and Employment Law programs.