Margaret Lane Taylor

Margaret L. Taylor is currently a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow with the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project. Previously, she served as an attorney in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, where she was responsible for advising State Department officials on foreign assistance appropriations and implementation issues, including the department’s anticrime, counternarcotics, and peacekeeping programs worldwide, as well as assistance programs in Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia.

In previous positions at the State Department, Ms. Taylor advised on domestic and international legal issues relating to trafficking in persons, extradition, and other international law enforcement matters. While in the Legal Adviser's Office, she negotiated international agreements on law enforcement training and assistance cooperation for peacekeeping operations. She advised regularly on legislative issues related to the department’s authorizations and appropriations. She has also worked in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Ms. Taylor received her A.B. from Princeton University and J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review. After graduating from law school, she clerked for Judge Amalya Kearse on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.