Baltimore Briefs – Page 5 – University of Baltimore School of Law Magazine

Ernesto Villaseñor to Serve as Diversity and Inclusion Delegate to ABA Law Student Council

Posted on September 13, 2021September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

Rising 2L Ernesto Villaseñor Jr. will serve as the Delegate for Diversity and Inclusion on the American Bar Association Law Student Division 2021–2022 Council (LSD).

“The LSD is more than just a group within the American Bar Association,” he says. “It’s a door into law school advice, career guidance, perks, networking and opportunities for growth throughout your law school endeavor, and beyond. It is also a space to raise unmet needs that would help you succeed in your law school career … and work with the LSD to help fulfill those needs that would benefit you and fellow students across the country.”

A native of Compton, CA, Villaseñor describes himself as a “first-generation Lawtino.” He is also the incoming vice president of the law school’s Students for Public Interest (UBSPI). “After working in public interest, nonprofit leadership and governmental spaces for more than 10 years,” he says, “I want to connect those experiences as an aspiring public defender and be a zealous advocate for those who I will fight on behalf of.

“My goal is to strengthen the connection between public interest work and our law school, helping bring more opportunities for law students while serving our communities. As the next ABA Delegate of Diversity and Inclusion, I want to bring bold leadership and uplift the underrepresented voices among the law student body at [Baltimore Law] and across the nation, creating pipelines for leader- ship and representation in decision-making spaces.”

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Starger Begins Three-Year Term as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Posted on September 13, 2021September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

Prof. Colin Starger has begun a three-year term as associate dean for academic affairs, replacing Prof. Dionne Koller, who also served in the role for three years.

Starger is the founding director of the law school’s Legal Data & Design Clinic, and he also co-led the now-defunct Pretrial Justice Clinic, with Zina Makar. Makar recently rejoined the faculty and will teach criminal law. In recent years, Starger has taught Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Introduction to Lawyering Skills, Jurisprudence, and Coding for Lawyers, in addition to leading the clinics.

Before joining the law faculty in 2010, Starger served as an acting assistant professor of lawyering at New York University School of Law. He graduated in 2002 from Columbia University Law School, where he was a recipient of the Jane Marks Murphy Prize (for Clinical Excellence), and a graduation speaker for his J.D. class.

Following graduation, Starger clerked for Magistrate Judge Michael Dolinger in the Southern District of New York. From 2003 to 2007, he worked as a staff attorney at the Innocence Project at Cardozo Law School. At the Innocence Project, Starger was lead counsel on four DNA exonerations, including one from Oklahoma’s death row.

Starger is the principal on the SCOTUS Mapping Project, a software-driven effort to map Supreme Court doctrine. He has been honored for his innovative work in law and technology, named in 2014’s “Fastcase 50” and as a 2020 American Bar Association “Legal Rebel.” He is a member of the New York and Maryland bars.

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New Staff Join Law School Over Past Year

Posted on September 13, 2021September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

Rayna Simon joined the Office of Academic Affairs as student affairs coordinator after working in various roles at her alma mater, Stony Brook University, since 2010. Most recently, she was director of the office of undergraduate student government, where she managed a $3.7 million operational budget and supervised staff and volunteers. Prior to that, Simon was executive assistant to the vice provost for graduate education at Stony Brook.

She also served as an advisor to the Office of Multicultural Affairs, working with minority students in leadership and academic success programs. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work at Stony Brook.

Assistant Director of Admissions Justin Aromas-Janosik came to Baltimore Law from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, where he had been director of recruiting and marketing since 2015. Prior to that, he was an admissions officer at Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law from 2008 to 2015.

Aromas-Janosik earned a bachelor’s from the University of Cincinnati and a Master of Arts in Communications from Northern Kentucky University.

Denise Williams joined the Law Career Development Office as associate director. She has five years’ experience as an assistant state’s attorney in the felony trial unit, first in Baltimore City and then in Cecil County. She also clerked for four District Court judges
in Harford County.

Williams earned her B.S. from Drexel University and her J.D. from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

The law library welcomed a new digital reference librarian, Savannah Long, who is responsible for maintaining the law school’s ScholarWorks and SSRN presence, in addition to her regular reference librarian duties.

Before coming to Baltimore Law, Long was a Law Library Fellow at the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona, while she was pursuing a Master of Arts in Library
and Information Science. She earned her J.D. at Vanderbilt University and her B.S. at the University of Alabama.

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Baltimore Law Welcomes New Faculty Members

Posted on September 13, 2021September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

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.

Profess or 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.

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Law School Partners with State to Investigate Updates to Maryland Laws to Allow Autonomous Vehicles

Posted on September 13, 2021September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

This year, the law school embarked on a joint project with the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) to investigate updates to Maryland law to support the safe deployment of connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technology. Existing laws related to vehicles typically assume that key decisions regarding the operation and maintenance of a vehicle are made by a human, and these laws therefore may be poorly suited to governing vehicles that operate autonomously. Such laws threaten to undermine the future adoption of CAV technologies in Maryland.

To complicate matters, many diverse areas of law potentially relate to vehicles, including transportation, insurance, criminal, environmental and business law. With the emergence of CAV technologies, some states have revised certain key portions of their laws, but this “patchwork” approach to legal reform can lead to legal inconsistencies, enforcement difficulties, and unintended effects. As such, MDOT SHA and Baltimore Law have launched a comprehensive audit of all Maryland statutes and regulations relevant to automated driving.

The team at Baltimore Law is led by Prof. Will Hubbard, director of the law school’s Center for the Law of Intellectual Property and Technology. Three additional professors will spearhead the effort – Prof. Michele Gilman, Prof. Nancy Modesitt, and Prof. Colin Starger — while six law students will support the project as research assistants: Taylor Bayat, Michael Blanchard, Christian Coward, Nyari James, Sina Jahanshahi and Molly Shaffer.

The project will conclude in February 2022 with recommendations for changes to Maryland laws necessary to pave the way for safely deploying CAV technology in Maryland.

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New Staff Joined UB Law This Summer

Posted on October 29, 2020September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

Neal Kempler joined UB Law as director of bar success and professor of the practice in July 2020. Prior to joining UB, he spent 18 years as the vice president of program development for Shemer Bar Review, LLC, where he designed innovative bar-passage programs, taught classes in the techniques of bar success, and advised, supported and motivated thousands of individual students.

Prior to his work in the bar-exam preparation industry, Kempler served as an executive in the healthcare field. He received his B.A. in Philosophy and Psychology, cum laude, from Boston University, and his J.D., summa cum laude, from UB Law.

James Simermeyer has joined the UB Law staff as assistant director of admissions for non-J.D. recruitment (LL.M. and certificate programs) and special projects. In his previous role, Simermeyer was the assistant director of diversity and public interest at the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Law. Simermeyer grew up in Baltimore County and graduated from UNM School of Law.

Prior to working in law school administration, he was a juvenile public defender for the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Simermeyer is a member of the Coharie tribe. He is very excited to be back home in Baltimore and feels blessed to be joining the wonderful UB community.

26th Annual Auction Supported Paid Summer Public Interest Fellowships

Posted on October 20, 2020October 29, 2020 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

The Feb. 28 UB Students for Public Interest (UBSPI) auction was a great success. With additional support from the law school, Maryland Legal Services Corporation and the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association, 14 students were able to enjoy paid summer public-interest fellowships this year. These fellowships provide critical work experience for law students at nonprofit and government agencies.

UBSPI is a student group that informs students about the breadth of opportunities in public interest law and works to connect students to opportunities in this area of the law.

The grants supported students working at St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, Senior Legal Services, The Esperanza Center, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, FreeState Justice, Baltimore City Office of the Public Defender, Disability Rights Maryland, and other organizations.

“I came to law school knowing I would do public interest work,” says Shannon K. Thomas, a member of the Class of 2021 who completed her summer fellowship at FreeState Justice. ”I come from a difficult background and was always someone who was underestimated because of that.

“I knew that I had to do something to improve real people’s daily lives, or nothing I did would matter inside my heart.”

Thank you to everyone who supported the auction and UBSPI, including our generous in-kind sponsors, volunteers, attendees and everyone who bid on auction items. We couldn’t have done it without you!

26th Annual Awards Ceremony: UB Law Held Its Virtual Awards Ceremony on May 12

Posted on October 20, 2020October 29, 2020 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

For the Class of 2020, Rebekah Nickerson was valedictorian, and Raquel Flynn was salutatorian. Tia Holmes won the 2020 Pro Bono Challenge Award.

The Law Faculty Award winners were Sumbul Alam, day student, and Joshua Perry, evening student.

Ryan Bixler received the 2018–19 J. Ronald Shiff Award for Academic Excellence in Tax. The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) Outstanding Student Award went to Lisa Whiteleather, for her work in The Bob Parsons Advocacy Clinic. Naseam Jabberi received the Center for International and Comparative Law Director’s Award for 2019–20.

Clinical Excellence Awards went to Christina Araviakis, for her work in the Human Trafficking Prevention Project, and Ryan Fish, for his work in the Innocence Project Clinic.

The award for Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Faculty Member went to Prof. David Jaros, and Arturo Estrada received the award for Outstanding Teaching by an Adjunct Faculty Member. The Saul Ewing Award for Outstanding Teaching in Transactional Law went to Prof. Cassandra Jones Havard.

Prof. Margaret E. Johnson received the Faculty Scholarship Award for Traditional Research, and Prof. Michele E. Gilman was given the Faculty Scholarship Award for Public Discourse.

The Law Faculty Service Award went to Prof. Jaime Lee, and the Rose McMunn Distinguished Staff Award went to Laurie Schnitzer.

Movement Lawyering Is Focus of Non-Credit Reading Series for Students

Posted on October 20, 2020November 5, 2020 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

In the wake of the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd, and the sustained, massive social movement for racial justice that followed it, UB Law this fall launched a reading series for students on movement lawyering and organizing for social change.

Led by Prof. Elizabeth Keyes, director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, and Veryl Pow, clinical teaching fellow in the Community Development Clinic, the weekly lunchtime series features selected readings and virtual visits from leaders in the movement for social change.

“Already, in its short time, the movement has resulted in tangible policy changes across jurisdictions nationwide,” says Pow. “These events confirm that structural social change in this country follows waves of protest, movement activity and grassroots organizing.”

For lawyers, says Keyes, this surge of organizing and movement activity on the streets has brought to the surface the question of how we should relate to and enhance the platform of organizers and protesters. And the non-credit series was designed to help answer that question.

The reading group is part of several efforts to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion at the law school. It will feature discussions with organizers and community lawyers from Baltimore and beyond, organizing on critical issues such as anti-racism, urban equity, education, sexual violence, domestic worker rights, international labor solidarity, and more.

The reading group will cover nine themes designed to introduce students to various models and philosophies of law and organizing — ranging from “movement lawyering” to “rebellious lawyering” — and then address more nuanced issues in today’s organizing environment.

These themes include:

Models of Social Justice Lawyering
Critique of Law/Rights: Role of Law in Creating and Reproducing Subordination
Critique of Traditional Public Interest Lawyering Models
Movement Lawyering in Praxis
BLM and Law 4 Black Lives
Intersectional Resistance
Rebellious Lawyering: Direct Collaboration in Organizing
Popular Resistance and Mass Movements: 2020 George Floyd Rebellion, and
To Work Within or Without: Reform v. Abolition

“As future lawyers, students need to have the skills and analysis to work alongside organizers to be effective advocates for change, and through these weekly sessions, they will begin learning from the rich scholarship and experiences of people who do this work, day in and day out,” says Keyes.

UB Law Welcomes Four New Faculty Members

Posted on October 20, 2020November 5, 2020 by Jason Keller in Baltimore Briefs

Professor Jamie Abrams is visiting professor for the full academic year, teaching Torts/ILS, Family Law, and Rules & Reasoning.

Abrams’ research focuses on reproductive and birthing decision-making, gendered violence, legal protections for immigrant victims of domestic violence, and legal education pedagogy.

She previously taught at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, where she received two teaching awards. She has also taught at Hofstra University School of Law and American University Washington College of Law.

In 2014, while at Louisville, Abrams founded the Brandeis Human Rights Advocacy Program to advance the human rights of immigrants and refugees. Prior to entering law teaching, she was in private practice, specializing in complex civil litigation, white-collar criminal defense and environmental law.

Abrams has a J.D. from American University and an LL.M. from Columbia University, both with highest honors. She earned her B.A. from Indiana University at Bloomington.

Associate Professor Sheldon Bernard Lyke is teaching Property, Trusts and Estates, and Critical Race Theory. His research focuses on anti-discrimination laws regarding racial and sexual minorities in a comparative context. His current research explores anti-affirmative-action practices in higher education.

His work is increasingly observing property law institutions in our shared social world — particularly the realms of higher education, fashion and natural resources (i.e., parks, commons and shared green spaces) — and understanding their role in creating and ameliorating social inequality.

Before joining the UB Law faculty, Lyke was an assistant professor at Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law and Whittier Law School. He has also been a visiting assistant professor at University of California Irvine School of Law (Fall 2016) and Northwestern University School of Law (2012 through 2013).

Lyke received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago, a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, and an A.B. cum laude in Sociology from Princeton University.

Assistant Professor Matthew Sipe’s teaching interests include Intellectual Property, Property, Civil Procedure, Privacy, and Antitrust Law. His research focuses on the relationship among law, innovation and ownership. His work has been published in academic journals such as the Wisconsin Law Review, the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, and the American University Law Review.

Prior to joining the UB Law faculty, Sipe taught at George Washington University Law School as the Frank H. Marks Visiting Associate Professor in Intellectual Property. His previous position was at the U.S. Supreme Court, serving an appointment as a Supreme Court Fellow.

Sipe received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was an editor and author for the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal on Regulation. Following law school, he clerked for the Hon. Kathleen O’Malley, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Hon. Samuel Mays, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

He received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Virginia.

Assistant Professor Sonya Ziaja teaches Environmental Law; Climate Adaptation, Law and Equity; and Property. Her research interests focus on the overlapping areas of environmental governance and law, technology and society: How can environmental law and institutions sustainably adjust to rapidly changing bio-geophysical conditions and societal demands associated with climate change? And with what consequences for equity and democratic participation?

Her approach to these questions draws on her interdisciplinary background in geography, water policy and law, as well as her practical knowledge of energy regulation.

Before coming to UB Law, she worked in energy regulation at the California Public Utilities Commission and was the research lead for the Water, Energy, Climate Nexus at the California Energy Commission. Ziaja holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Arizona, M.Sc. in Water Science, Policy and Management from the University of Oxford, and J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.