When it came to deciding the course of her career, Sharona Hoffman found herself returning to a central focus: health law.
She leaned in, becoming an internationally recognized expert in health information technology and medical privacy law and teaching on the Case Western Reserve University School of Law faculty for what’s approaching three decades. In the spring of 2026, the university recognized Hoffman’s extraordinary impact in her field by naming her a Distinguished University Professor.
Hoffman’s journey to this honor first took root when, armed with a bachelor’s from Wellesley College and a JD from Harvard Law School, she clerked for a federal judge and then worked for three years at a large Los Angeles law firm on cases including the Exxon Valdez oil spill case.
By this point, it was the early 1990s, and Hoffman knew big-firm work wasn’t for her.
She then began a new path in law at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where she gained experience in employment and disability discrimination.
“It was a very exciting time to do disability law, because the Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect in 1992,” she explained. “So every case was really cutting-edge and precedent-setting.”
While in Houston, Hoffman’s family grappled with several serious health problems, which compelled her to learn how to navigate the American medical and health insurance systems. This personal quest piqued her interest in health law, which led her to earn an LLM at the University of Houston Law Center.
“Everything was leading in the direction of health law,” she said, “and I've never looked back.”
In 1999, Hoffman joined the faculty at Case Western Reserve University School of Law where she is now the Edgar A. Hahn Professor of Jurisprudence and co-director of the Law-Medicine Center. She also has a secondary appointment at the School of Medicine’s Department of Bioethics.
Hoffman is one of the law school’s most prolific writers, having written two books, more than 80 articles and book chapters, and 45 opinion and other short pieces.
“This is remarkable because most law review articles exceed 50 pages,” said law school Dean Paul Rose in his nomination of Hoffman for the honor. “These publications span several areas related to health law, and Dr. Hoffman is recognized for her expertise in each of them.”
Among the subjects about which Hoffman has recently written are law-related aspects of aging, cognitive decline, health care access and artificial intelligence. Her first book, Aging with a Plan: How a Little Thought Today Can Vastly Improve Your Tomorrow, helps readers understand how to build sustainable social, legal, medical and financial support systems for aging and caregiving.
Importantly, Hoffman doesn’t stop at publishing her findings; she takes them on the road, sharing her research with the general public at community venues and events.
“It is a challenge to translate academic work into a popular audience talk,” she said, “but it's important to me that my work have broader impact.”
“It’s been a wonderful 27 years at Case Western Reserve,” Hoffman enthused. “This is a great honor, and I’m humbled to be joining such a distinguished group of scholars.”