Anna Endter

After spending her early years as an attorney at a top law firm on the West Coast, Anna Endter parlayed her legal education into a career as a law librarian that eventually landed her at the UW.

It was at William H. Gates Hall, the University of Washington School of Law, where she discovered a passion for working with students, and today, she does so on an even greater scale as the law school’s new associate dean for students.

As associate dean for students, Endter serves as a key resource for UW Law students at every level — something with which she has extensive experience.

When Endter joined the Gallagher Law Library at the UW in 2013, the library was largely public- and faculty-facing with what she identified as a number of barriers to student access. That began to change as she set to bring students further into the fold. She helped launch the library’s student-focused web portal, expanded programming and services, and established clear lines of communication for students who come to the library — often in their most stressful moments — to seek guidance from Gallagher’s team of experts.

For Endter, the transition to her new role was a natural fit given the work she has done already. “That’s really why I wanted to be in this role,” Endter said. “I see myself as an advocate for students, and because I’ve worked so closely with them over the years as a librarian, not necessarily as a faculty member, I have a different relationship with them.”

Endter completed her undergraduate education at the University of Southern California before earning her J.D. from the University of California, Davis. After practicing as a commercial litigator in San Francisco, she transitioned into mediation work in Seattle. When she decided she wanted to transition into a new professional phase, Endter enrolled in UW’s iSchool, where she earned her Master of Librarianship and Information Science with a special certificate in Law Librarianship.

In her seven years of experience — three of which were spent as head of research services — at Gallagher Law Library, Endter has seen the full spectrum of the student experience. She said if there is one skill incoming law students should hone, it is prioritizing their own wellness, health and self-care. Learning how to take care of oneself early, she said, sets a strong foundation to be a more effective and successful lawyer beyond the classroom. Among the demands students face with classes, experiential learning opportunities and life outside of the law school, Endter understands that time is valuable and not always available to spend on oneself — a reality that law schools across the country struggle to address.

That is why supporting the student experience, she said, is a key priority moving forward in her new role.

Peer Reviewed Journals & Law Reviews

• Anna L. Endter, Authentication of Online State Primary Legal Resources as a Social Justice Issue: The Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act and How It Can Benefit Pro Se Litigants, 31 Legal Reference Services Quarterly 293-311 (2012).

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Professional Publications

• Anna L. Ender, Ask a Law Librarian: Where to Find Fantastic, Free Legal Research Guides, NW Law., May 2019, at 16.
• Anna L. Endter, Mindfulness Meditation: A Tool for a Profession in Need, NW Law., Mar. 2019, at 44-47.
• Anna L. Endter, A Profile of LL.M. Student Isatou Jallow: Legal Education and a Life Transformed, NW Law., Sept. 2016, at 16-19.
• Anna L. Endter, The Naming of the Salish Sea: A Legal, Historical, and Cultural Exploration, NW Law., Dec. 2015/Jan. 2016, at 14.
• Anna L. Endter, Venturing Beyond Seattle: Traveling Outside the Annual Meeting's Host City, 17 AALL Spectrum 29-32 (2013).

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