Sarah Morando Lakhani

Law and Social Science Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellow 2012-14

Sarah Morando Lakhani is a sociologist and a J.D. candidate at the U.C. Berkeley School of Law. Lakhani earned her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2013.

Lakhani's empirical research examines immigration and related social inequality issues, including legalization, immigration lawyering, and immigrant incorporation. Her research has been funded by diverse interdisciplinary audiences, including the National Science Foundation, the Law and Society Association, and the American Association of University Women. Her findings have been published in the American Journal of Sociology, Law & Policy, Law & Social Inquiry, Social Forces, Social Problems, The Sociological Quarterly, and other forums. Lakhani is an advisory board member of the New Legal Realism Project, an effort to improve interdisciplinary communication between law professors, lawyers, and social scientists.

Research Focus

International migration; sociology of law; immigration law; legalization; lawyering; social inequality; immigrant incorporation

Publications

Menjívar, Cecilia and Sarah M. Lakhani. (2016). “Transformative Effects of Immigration Law: Migrants’ Personal and Social Metamorphoses Through Regularization.” American Journal of Sociology 121 (6): 1818-1855.

Abrego, Leisy and Sarah M. Lakhani. (2015). “Incomplete Inclusion: Legal Violence Against Immigrants in In-Between Statuses.” Law & Policy 37 (4): 265-293.

Lakhani, Sarah Morando. (2014). “From Problems of Living to Problems of Law: The Legal Translation and Documentation of Immigrant Abuse and Helpfulness.” Law & Social Inquiry 39 (3): 643-665.

Lakhani, Sarah Morando and Stefan Timmermans. (2014). “Biopolitical Citizenship in the Immigration Adjudication Process.” Social Problems 61 (3): 360-379.

Hernández-León, Rubén and Sarah Morando Lakhani. (2013). “Gender, Bilingualism, and the Early Occupational Careers of Second-Generation Mexicans in the South.” Social Forces 92 (1): 59-80.

Lakhani, Sarah Morando. (2013). “Producing Immigrant Victims’ ‘Right’ to Legal Status and the Management of Legal Uncertainty.” Law & Social Inquiry 38 (2): 442-473.

Morando, Sarah J. (2013). “Paths to Mobility: The Mexican Second Generation at Work in a New Destination.”The Sociological Quarterly 54 (3): 367-398.

Professional Service & Recognition

Advisory Board Member, New Legal Realism Project

Website

Learn more about Sarah Lakhani at sarahmlakhani.com