Eric S. Janus received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton College and his juris doctor degree from Harvard University. Before joining the William Mitchell faculty in 1984, he was with the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society for 11 years, serving as managing attorney for the developmental disabilities advocacy project, then as managing attorney of the central office.
Since joining the William Mitchell faculty, Janus helped establish and lead the college’s pioneering Law and Psychiatry Clinic, which teams William Mitchell students with University of Minnesota medical residents. He has devoted much of his legal expertise, time, and energy to persons with mental disabilities. He has drafted and lobbied for legislation on landlord-tenant, mental health, and vulnerable adults protection issues. He has spent more than a decade focused on the boundaries of the state’s ability to use civil commitment to protect public safety. He is also deeply concerned with public policies regarding sexual offenders, and, more generally, the tensions between civil liberty and public safety.