Five professors join the law faculty
Professor Erica J. Suter is professor of the practice and the new director of the Innocence Project Clinic (IPC), a unique and collaborative position with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender and the School of Law. She replaces Michele Nethercott, who retired after leading the clinic for almost 20 years.
Suter joins Baltimore Law from private practice, where she has been widely recognized as an accomplished appellate and post-conviction criminal defense attorney. In addition to her private practice, Suter gained experience working with students at Georgetown University and UDC’s David A. Clarke School of Law.
She earned a B.A. from Bates College, a master’s from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Professor Shanta Trivedi returns to Baltimore Law, where from 2016 to 2020 she was a clinical teaching fellow in the Bronfein Family Law Clinic. She is teaching family law and directs the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts.
After concluding her fellowship at Baltimore Law, Trivedi spent one year at Georgetown Law Center, as a clinical teaching fellow and women’s law and public policy fellow in the Domestic Violence Clinic.
Prior to entering teaching, Trivedi was an attorney in the family defense practice at Brooklyn Defender Services in New York. She has a B.A. in journalism from New York University and a J.D. from Boston University. Trivedi takes the CFCC reins from Professor Barbara Babb, who has retired after 32 years at Baltimore Law.
Professor Zina Makar returns to Baltimore Law, where from 2016 to 2019 she was a clinical teaching fellow and co-director of the Pretrial Justice Clinic, which she co-founded. Prior to that, she was a public defender and Open Society Fellow at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. In 2017, she was named Public Interest Attorney of the Year by the Baltimore City Bar Association.
After completing her Baltimore Law fellowship, she became a teaching fellow in the Civil Rights Clinic and Voting Rights Institute at Georgetown University Law Center. While at Georgetown, she earned her Master of Laws in Advocacy. Makar has a B.S. from University of Maryland and a J.D. from University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
Professor Melinda Dunmire is professor of the practice and director of the law school’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, replacing John Snyder. Prior to joining the faculty, she was assistant to the Maryland Comptroller, where she provided general counsel on legal and policy matters, monitored federal tax law changes, and led legislative workgroups, among other duties.
Dunmire also has extensive experience as a hearing officer for the Comptroller’s Office and as a guest lecturer on tax matters at law schools and professional organizations. She earned her bachelor’s, Master of Laws in Taxation, and J.D. degrees at The University of Baltimore, as well as a certificate in nonprofit management from the Community College of Baltimore County.
Professor Marta Baffy joined the faculty as director of academic success and professor of the practice. She came from Georgetown University Law Center, where for five years she was faculty director of its two-year LL.M. program and taught a number of courses on legal research and writing, working with legal texts, linguistics and English for non-native speakers.
She has provided legal services to a variety of diverse communities, and she has published and presented widely on pedagogical practice in law schools. She earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and both a master’s and a doctorate in linguistics from Columbia and Georgetown, respectively. Her J.D. is from Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University.