Sara Ochs

Professor Ochs teaches Legal Method & Communication and international law courses. Her scholarly expertise lies in the fields of international criminal law and transitional justice, with a focus on the prosecution of mass atrocities before international and hybrid courts and the use of transitional justice mechanisms in post-conflict and settler colonial societies. She has published over a dozen scholarly works, which have appeared in publications including the Stanford Journal of International Law, the Michigan Journal of International Law, and the Seton Hall Law Review, and has presented on these works throughout the United States and Europe.

Prior to joining the Elon Law faculty, Professor Ochs served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar and visiting researcher at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, as well as an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law. Before joining academia, she clerked for the Honorable Judge Carl J. Barbier on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and subsequently practiced tort and insurance defense and maritime law in New Orleans. She proudly earned her Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she graduated second in her class.

Professor Ochs is also a novelist. Her debut thriller, The Resort was published in 2024. It was a Book of the Month Club selection and an Amazon Editor's Pick, and has already been translated into several different languages. Her second book will be released in 2025.