A specialist in Disability Law, Professor Ellen Saideman teaches legal research and writing at RWU. As an attorney for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Professor Saideman served as Director of the Disability Law center and litigated impact cases in federal and state courts and administrative agencies. As a consultant for the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, Professor Saideman continues her work for persons with developmental disabilities, mental illness, and other disabilities through both litigation and advocacy. Recently, she has assisted the National Center for Law and Economic Justice and the Rhode Island ACLU on a lawsuit to require Rhode Island to process food stamp applications in a timely manner.

In her legal methods class, Professor Saideman teaches first year students how to frame legal questions, research legal authority, and develop legal arguments. She uses technology in her class to communicate with students and to provide electronic commenting on student drafts.

Professor Saideman earned her B.A. (cum laude) from Barnard College and her J.D. from Columbia.