John Albrecht is General Counsel at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, NV. (back to top)
Katherine M. Allen is Associate General Counsel at The Pennsylvania State University. Katherine received her B.A. cum laude from Davidson College and her J.D. with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Katherine represented several higher education clients as a shareholder in a private firm. For over sixteen years, she concentrated her private practice on the areas of civil rights law and employment law and litigation. Katherine previously worked in private practice in Tennessee and Wisconsin and served as a law clerk for the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Katherine currently serves on NACUA's Legal Education Committee. (back to top)
Allison Antwi is an Attorney at MFY Legal Services in New York City, where she assist low-income New Yorkers, devastated by Hurricane Sandy, with a broad range of legal services. Before joining MFY, Ms. Antwi was a post-graduate fellow with Rutgers University's Office of the Senior Vice President and General Counsel. At Rutgers, she specialized in investigating claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation. She also drafted legal briefs on behalf of the University before administrative agencies such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission. In addition to her responsibilities at MFY, she also created and runs the Conversations With Future Leaders® mentoring program. A mentoring program for elementary and middle school girls that uses hands-on activities, articles, videos, group discussions and individual reflections to keep students engaged while encouraging them to reach for nothing less than excellence. She also provides trainings for teachers and school administrators. Ms. Antwi received her B.A. in Mathematics and Master of Art in Teaching from Northeastern University, and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law – Newark. Before becoming an attorney, Ms. Antwi was the Project Manager for the Massachusetts General Hospital and Timilty Middle School Partnership. (back to top)
Ellen Babbitt is an attorney practicing with the Chicago firm of Franczek Radelet P.C. and concentrating in the representation of colleges and universities. In the course of her 30 years of practice, Ms. Babbitt has helped many institutions address the difficult employment challenges arising from tenure denials, dismissals for cause, financial exigency declarations, and program closures. She also works extensively with higher education clients to draft handbook language, procedures, and policies that may help institutions avert disputes following significant strategic or academic decisions. She has served as Illinois counsel for United Educators Insurance. She has published articles, compendia, and NACUANOTEs addressing legal and governance challenges that arise during academic decision-making, and she also presents frequently at NACUA conferences, the ACE Institute for New Chief Academic Officers, and other programs offered within the higher education community. She currently serves as an at-large member on the NACUA Board of Directors. (back to top)
Natasha J. Baker is a partner with Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP, in the firm's San Francisco office. Ms. Baker advises private and public institutions of higher education on a broad range of legal matters, including labor, employment, student affairs and compliance issues. She is the co-chair of the Higher Education Council of the Employment Law Alliance. Ms. Baker recently co-authored an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas, on the consideration of race in admissions. She also co-authored amicus briefs to the National Labor Relations Board on the issue of whether faculty and graduate students may be permitted to unionize under the National Labor Relations Act. Ms. Baker regularly presents training sessions to administrators and faculty around the country on higher education issues including Conducting Effective Campus Investigations, Managing the Search Process, Conducting Effective Faculty Evaluations, and Managing Within the Law. Her practice includes conducting preventative training and providing practical advice on a wide-range of legal issues, including ADA compliance; performance management and termination strategies that minimize risk; and labor relations issues. Ms. Baker also represents clients in administrative agency charges and state and federal litigation. She also regularly conducts third-party investigations into a variety of workplace issues and has trained supervisors and managers nationwide on the best practices to use when conducting an investigation. Ms. Baker advises Boards of Trustees for institutions of higher education on the negotiation of Presidential contracts and the termination of high level administrators. She assists institutions with the accreditation process, including appeals and revocation hearings. In addition to handling employee terminations, Ms. Baker advises institutions regarding the termination of tenured faculty members for cause. Ms. Baker is a member of the California Bar and a graduate of Tufts University (B.S. Physics) and the University of Maine School of Law. She currently serves as an at-large member on the NACUA Board of Directors.
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Lisa Mebane Barnett is Claims Counsel at United Educators Insurance Reciprocal Risk Retention Group in Bethesda, MD. (back to top)
Monica Barrett is Interim Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. After serving a clerkship for Presiding Judge Sylvia B. Pressler of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, and as a litigation associate at the Roseland, NJ law firm of Lowenstein, Sandler, Kohl, Fischer and Boylan, Monica began her legal career in higher education at Cornell University and then worked at Barnard College, the State University of New York, and Rutgers. She has been actively involved in NACUA over the years through service on committees and presentations on sexual harassment, psychiatric disabilities and the ADA, and faculty and staff discipline. She currently serves as an at-large member on the NACUA Board of Directors. She holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and a J.D. from the University of Michigan.
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Jennifer Becnel-Guzzo is Associate General Counsel at University of Delaware in Newark, DE. (back to top)
Tamara J. Britt is Assistant General Counsel at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and focuses her practice on matters involving: development, alumni relations, international programs, research and sponsored programs, purchasing, contracts, student affairs, employment, and tax. Before joining Rutgers, Ms. Britt was an associate based in the New York office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where she specialized in white collar defense, enforcement matters and bankruptcy litigation. Ms. Britt was also active in providing pro bono services to low-income individuals in bankruptcy and housing court proceedings and to nonprofit organizations in the New York/New Jersey area. Ms. Britt received her B.A. with honors from Hampton University, an M.P.A. from George Washington University, where she was a Patricia Roberts Harris Fellow, and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law–Newark, where she was an editor of the Rutgers Law Review and an Eagleton Institute of Politics Fellow. Ms. Britt has co-authored several articles, Guide to Human Research Subject Protections Laws in West Africa, published in the Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics; At the Border Your Laptop is Wide-Open, published in The National Law Journal; and Why Financial Statements Matter: Enforcement and Litigation Implications, published in The Banking Law Journal. Before becoming an attorney, Ms. Britt worked in the nonprofit and higher education sectors. Ms. Britt is a member of the New York and New Jersey Bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for New Jersey and the Southern District of New York. (back to top)
Jessie Brown is the Associate General Counsel for the American Council on Education, a higher education association representing the presidents of over 1,800 U.S. accredited, degree-granting institutions, which include two- and four-year colleges, private and public universities, and nonprofit and for-profit entities. Prior to joining ACE, Jessie served as the National Center for Philanthropy and Law fellow at New York University and worked as a litigation associate at a large law firm. She graduated from Harvard Law School and earned her bachelor's degree from Brown University. (back to top)
Sarah Brown joined Northwestern University in 2014 as Senior EEO Specialist in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. In her role as Senior EEO Specialist, Sarah serves as lead investigator of complaints alleging discrimination, harassment, and retaliation filed by faculty and staff members, develops and reviews campus policies and procedures to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations, trains faculty and staff regarding the Northwestern's discrimination and harassment policies, responds to external charges of discrimination, and manages the University's reasonable accommodation process. Prior to joining Northwestern, Sarah practiced labor and employment law in Chicago, and represented both employees and employers in all aspects of employment law, including preventative counseling, litigating discrimination and harassment cases, investigating internal complaints, and working with clients to ensure their policies complied with anti-discrimination laws. Sarah graduated from James Madison College at Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan.is Senior EEO Specialist at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. (back to top)
Naomi Butterfield is Attorney at Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A. in Manchester, NH. (back to top)
Shelley Carthen Watson , Associate General Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel at the University of Minnesota. Her practice is primarily devoted to providing advice, counsel, and training in labor relations and employment issues, as well as defense of the University in collective bargaining and internal grievance arbitrations, and administrative matters before the EEOC, Minnesota Department of Human Rights and Department of Labor. Prior to coming to the University, Ms. Carthen Watson was a partner with the law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, where her practice focused on business litigation and employment counseling and litigation. The former Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, she also served as Executive Director of the Hennepin County Bar Association and Hennepin County Bar Foundation. An honors graduate of Macalester College, she received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1985, where she was a member of the Jessup International Moot Court Team that twice won the Regional Competition and reached the International Semifinals. Ms. Carthen Watson recently served as a member of the Board of Directors of NACUA, and is the recent recipient of their First Decade Award that recognizes university attorneys who have been NACUA members for 10 or fewer years and have made ""a significantly innovative contribution, or provided outstanding service, to the association and to the practice." (back to top)
R. Yvette Clark is the General Counsel at Cambridge College in Cambridge, MA. Cambridge College is a non-profit mission oriented institution which is dedicated to providing academically excellent, time-efficient, and cost-effective higher education for a diverse population of working adults for whom those opportunities may have been limited or denied. Ms. Clark has also served as the General Counsel at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Stephen F. Austin is a regional state university in Texas governed by an independent Governor appointed board. Prior to these positions, Ms. Clark served as Assistant General Counsel for the University of North Texas and the UNT Health Science Center. Ms. Clark received a gubernatorial appointment to the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation Board of Directors and has served as the President of the Texas Association of State University Attorneys as well as the President of the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education. Ms. Clark received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a JD from the University of Texas School of Law. (back to top)
Thomas G. Cline became Vice President and General Counsel of Northwestern University on September 1, 2001. He joined the University's legal staff in 1989 as Assistant General Counsel, and was promoted to Associate General Counsel in 1993 and to Deputy General Counsel in 1996. Prior to coming to Northwestern, Mr. Cline served as the General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for the National Association for Home Care, a trade association based in Washington, D.C. Before that, he was in private law practice in Chicago and Washington, D.C. with the firm of Keck, Mahin & Cate. He also served on the staff of the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging. Mr. Cline received his B.A. in History from Yale University and his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. Mr. Cline is currently Chair of the NACUA Board of Directors after serving three years as an at-large member and another three years as the Association's Treasurer. (back to top)
Elizabeth Conklin is the Associate Vice President of the Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) and also serves as UConn's Title IX Coordinator and ADA Coordinator. Elizabeth's responsibilities include oversight of all discrimination and harassment investigations, campus-wide trainings for diversity and sexual harassment, coordination of employee requests for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, search and hiring affirmative action and equal employment opportunity compliance, and various diversity enhancement and discrimination and harassment prevention initiatives. As UConn's Title IX Coordinator, Elizabeth coordinates the University's response to reports of sex-based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual violence, including directly overseeing complaint investigations involving both students and employees. As Title IX Coordinator, she also works collaboratively with on and off-campus partners on sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention and education efforts to ensure UConn's commitment to creating and maintaining a campus environment free from all forms of sexual violence, harassment, exploitation, and intimidation. Prior to joining ODE, Elizabeth was an attorney with a small Hartford, Connecticut law firm practicing labor and employment law. Elizabeth represented employees with claims of employment discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment and many other disputes in all phases of litigation, including negotiation, mediation and arbitration, and trial work in state and federal courts. Elizabeth additionally represented labor unions before state and federal agencies and at arbitration and in negotiations. (back to top)
Mark C. DiVincenzo is Deputy General Counsel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. DiVincenzo joined MIT as the Institute's Litigation and Risk Management Counsel in 2001. As MIT's Deputy General Counsel, Mr. DiVincenzo assists the Vice President and General Counsel in the overall management of legal services at the Institute and the operations of the Office of the General Counsel. Mr. DiVincenzo has primary responsibility for management of all Institute legal process and litigation; serves as the Institute's senior student life and employment counsel, and advises the Institute on a wide variety of policy and compliance issues. He also is the co-chair of MIT's Institute Risk Council. Mr. DiVincenzo received his bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, from Boston College in 1985 and his juris doctorate from the Cornell Law School in 1988. (back to top)
Steve Frenkil is a principal at the Mid-Atlantic law firm of Miles & Stockbridge P.C. and resident in its Baltimore and Washington, D.C. offices. He concentrates his practice in education law, employment and labor law, and related litigation. Steve regularly advises colleges, universities, and K-12 institutions regarding employment, institutional equity, human resources, student affairs, Title IX issues and compliance, faculty matters, internal and external investigations, and related matters. He defends employers throughout the country in all areas of employment law. He works closely with in-house counsel, human resource leaders, and other members of administration and management to find solutions to education and employment law issues. Steve is a regular speaker at seminars held by professional associations, organizations and clients, and has regularly both spoken and presented papers at NACUA conferences and CLE workshops. He has written numerous articles on issues of importance to colleges and universities. Steve is a member of the Maryland and Washington, D.C. bars. He received his B.A. with Distinction in 1974 from The George Washington University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. in 1977 with Honors from The University of Maryland School of Law. He is the President of the George Washington University Alumni Association. (back to top)
Susan D. Friedfel is an attorney in the Labor & Employment Law Department at Proskauer Rose LLP, resident in the New York office. Susan regularly represents educational institutions with respect to a wide range of issues in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies, including claims by faculty, staff, and students relating to sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. She also has experience in Title IX athletics litigation and counseling. In addition, Susan assists clients in crafting and implementing policies and procedures relating to a variety of issues, including sexual assault. She also provides day-to-day practical advice on matters such as employee recruiting and hiring practices; family and medical leave; reasonable accommodations for disabilities and religion; preventing and investigating harassment, discrimination and whistleblower claims; discipline and termination of employees; and designing and implementing reductions-in-force. (back to top)
Luisette "Liz" Gierbolini in private practice focusing in labor and employment matters prior to joining USF. She also served as a staff attorney at the Second District Court of Appeal, where she worked in criminal and civil appeals. Liz earned her bachelor's degree (magna cum laude) from the Florida State University and received her J.D. (with high honors) from the Florida State University College of Law. Liz is a member of the Florida Bar and is admitted to practice in Florida state court as well as the federal district courts of the Northern, Middle and Southern districts of Florida. She was selected for inclusion in Florida Trend's Florida Legal Elite "Up & Coming Lawyers" category in 2006 and 2007.Her areas of practice include: Academic Affairs, Administrative Law, Employee Benefits, Civil Litigation, Compliance, Conflicts of Interest, Employment Discrimination, Employment Law, Equal Opportunity & Civil Rights, Ethics, Labor Law, Non-Competition, Open Meetings Law, Public Records, Sexual Harassment, and Subpoenas. (back to top)
Catherine Guttman-McCabe is a partner at Potomac Law Group and has spent her career advising educational institutions, with a particular focus on higher education. She serves a variety of clients in the education sector, including colleges and universities, associations, courseware developers, and service providers. She provides advice and counseling related to federal and state education regulations, accreditation, distance education, governance, faculty tenure, employment, student discipline, Title IX, campus security, disabilities, privacy, and consumer protection. In addition to providing advice and counseling, Catherine conducts internal investigations, compliance reviews, and training. She represents clients before administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights, and the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education. She has authored public comments for state and federal agency rulemaking proceedings and represented clients in federal audits and reviews of educational institutions. Catherine founded the Education practice group at Clearspire Law Co. in 2011 and joined PLG in 2014. Prior to joining Clearspire, she served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Strayer University; Associate University Counsel for Georgetown University; and Counsel for Cortiva Institute. Catherine worked for eight years at Hogan & Hartson, LLP (now Hogan Lovells) in the firm's Education and Labor & Employment practice groups. (back to top)
Dona Hamilton Cornell became vice chancellor for legal affairs and general counsel for the University of Houston System and vice president for legal affairs and general counsel for the University of Houston in 2002. Cornell joined the Office of Texas Attorney General in 1987 as assistant attorney general in the General Litigation Division. She left that position in 1992 to become a shareholder in the Austin-based Morehead, Jordan & Carmona law firm. She returned to the Attorney General's office in 1995 and became deputy chief of the General Litigation Division in 1996. Cornell earned her undergraduate and law degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to receiving her law degree, she worked in the Texas Legislature. She is licensed to practice law in Texas and is a member of the bars of the U.S. District Courts of all four federal districts in Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. (back to top)
Priya Jenveja Harjani is an Associate General Counsel at Northwestern University. She joined Northwestern University as an Assistant General Counsel in 2004. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Ms. Harjani was an attorney with the law firm of Gardner Carton & Douglas (n/k/a Drinkle Biddle & Reath) in Chicago, where she concentrated in commercial litigation. Ms. Harjani's primary areas of responsibility in the Office of General Counsel at Northwestern are employment law and litigation. She also advises on a variety of other issues, including regulatory and research compliance, community relations, and governmental investigations. Ms. Harjani received her bachelors degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she double-majored in Psychology and Speech Communication and graduated summa cum laude. She received her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. (back to top)
Caroline Hendel is Senior Associate General Counsel at Yale University. She has been in the General Counsel's office at Yale for 24 ½ years. Her primary areas of practice are employment and student discrimination law. Caroline graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Yale College in 1983 and received her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1986. She clerked for the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and worked for several years at Foley Hoag in Boston before joining Yale's Office of the General Counsel. (back to top)
Robb Jones is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for claims management at United Educators (UE) Insurance Risk Retention Group. At UE, he heads the team of 50 lawyers and other professionals responsible for liability claims management for several thousand colleges, universities, and K-12 schools. He has been at United Educators since 1997. Jones has over thirty-five years of experience serving the education community. He currently serves as a trustee for a liberal arts college, has evaluated higher education programs for the federal government and a state board of regents, and has taught as an adjunct faculty member at two different institutions. From 1994-97 Jones was Director of the Judicial Education Division of the Federal Judicial Center, where he developed and managed training and continuing legal education programs for the federal courts. From 1991-94 he served as Chief of Staff to Chief Justice William Rehnquist at the U.S. Supreme Court. Before that time he was a litigation partner in a Washington law firm, where he concentrated on education, employment, and media litigation. Jones received his undergraduate degree from Grove City College and graduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia. (back to top)
Dan Kaufman graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College and received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1986. Mr. Kaufman served as a judicial law clerk on the Michigan Supreme Court for one year after graduating from law school. He is a Partner in the Chicago office of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP and a member of the Education and Employment Relations Practice Groups as well as the Trade Secret Protection and Non-Competition Team. He served on the Management Committee from 2000-2003 and as Managing Partner of the Chicago office from 1996-2000 and 2005-2010. Mr. Kaufman was selected as one of "40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 Years Old to Watch" in 2000 by Law Bulletin Publishing, an Illinois Leading Lawyer and an Illinois Super Lawyer. In 2010, Mr. Kaufman received a Pro Bono Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service from the Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Kaufman has represented educational institutions in a wide variety of matters. He also is experienced in class action and multi-party litigation. His practice entails all aspects of labor and employment law, and employment and business litigation. Mr. Kaufman handles cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts and before administrative agencies. He counsels clients and regularly conducts workshops on numerous employment issues, including the hiring and firing of employees, discrimination and harassment, retaliation, privacy issues in the workplace, supervising and disciplining employees, wage and hour claims, non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements and avoiding and handling litigation. (back to top)
Jeanne Kincaid is a nationally known disability lawyer and consultant, representing colleges and universities nationwide and public and independent schools regionally on a host of disability and special education issues, including the physical accessibility requirements imposed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Jeanne has been a special education hearing officer and mediator for the State of New Hampshire, and has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Hampshire's Graduate School of Education, Antioch University and Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law). Jeanne has worked in an advisory capacity with AHEAD, has held staff attorney positions with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, the Oregon Department of Education, and served as a hearing officer for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and the New Hampshire Department of Education. She has been a contributing author to ""Section 504, the ADA and the Schools"" and ""Disability Compliance for Higher Education."" Jeanne represents institutions of higher education before the Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice. She has an active practice serving in a consulting capacity to the Office of General Counsel for numerous private universities throughout the country. An engaging presenter whose improvisational comedic background affords participants a unique approach to understanding complex legal issues, Jeanne has shared her expertise in dynamic presentations on hundreds of campuses from coast to coast. (back to top)
Madelaine Lane is a senior associate at Warner Norcross & Judd LLP in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense, from pre-charge negotiations to appeals. In her years of court experience, she has cultivated professional relationships with prosecutors throughout Michigan. She serves as a Criminal Justice Act Panel attorney for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. In this capacity, she has represented dozens of defendants in federal criminal prosecutions. She also works on compliance issues with corporations and executives in order to keep them out of trouble and out of court. She regularly works with colleges and universities on internal investigations and Title IX cases, and advises these institutions on investigative policies and procedures. Madelaine also blogs. She's a regular contributor to One Court of Justice, which puts a spotlight on Michigan's appellate courts, and Right Side of the Law, a blog that discusses corporate compliance, internal investigations and white-collar defense. (back to top)
Barbara A. Lee is Professor of Human Resource Management at Rutgers University, where she teaches employment law and the law of higher education. Professor Lee is the former Dean of the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, where she also directed the Center for Women and Work. Lee is also Counsel to the law firm of Locke Lord Edwards, where she represents business and higher education clients in employment and student matters. Professor Lee is the coauthor of The Law of Higher Education (with William Kaplin). She chairs the Editorial Board of the Journal of College and University Law and is a former member of the NACUA Board of Directors. She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Vermont, her M.A. and PhD from The Ohio State University, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. (back to top)
M. Dru Levasseur is the Transgender Rights Project Director for Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people with HIV. Levasseur leads Lambda Legal's transgender rights work through impact litigation, advocacy and community education to advance the civil rights of transgender people nationwide. Prior to joining Lambda Legal, Levasseur was the first staff attorney for Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, where he advocated for transgender equal rights through test-case litigation, public policy efforts, community organizing and public education. Levasseur is the Co-Founder and Vice-President of the Jim Collins Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money to fund gender-confirming surgeries. He is a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and served as chair of the WPATH Legal Issues Committee from 2010 to 2013. Levasseur's work has been recognized with the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition's Community Service Award (2014); the Brooklyn Law School OUTLaws Distinguished Community Service Award (2014); the City Bar of New York's Art Leonard Pride Award (2013); and the National LGBT Bar Association's Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 (2011). In 2013, Levasseur was named as a member of the inaugural Trans 100, a list of "100 people who are actively doing serious, difficult work that is too often overlooked, too often ignored." He received his bachelor's degree magna cum laude in Women, Sexuality and Gender Studies from the University of Massachusetts, and his law degree from Western New England University School of Law. He is a member of the New York Bar. (back to top)
James Lidon is 1985 graduate of the Duke University School of Law, a former New Jersey Deputy Attorney General and a partner resident in Morristown, New Jersey office of the law firm of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP. His practice is limited to management-side labor and employment law and he has been representing public and private institutions of higher education in the New York-New Jersey area since the late 1980s. (back to top)
Deborah Love is Vice President, Institutional Equity at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. (back to top)
Sarah Luke is an Assistant General Counsel at Wayne State University where she provides legal advice to university officials in a wide range of areas, with special expertise in labor and employment, faculty affairs, and student affairs. Active professionally, she serves as a member of the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and has given presentations covering a wide range of subjects pertinent to higher education law including employment discrimination, wage and hour compliance, ADA and FMLA issues, religious accommodation, Title IX, and first amendment issues arising in academe. Sarah earned a bachelors degree in psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she was an Angell Scholar and active in the Michigan Community Scholars Program. Sarah is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. (back to top)
Laurel Pyke Malson is a partner in Crowell & Moring's DC-based Litigation Group and co-chairs the firm's Education Practice, which provides broad-based legal services to educational institutions in many areas, including IP recovery, Title IX compliance, labor and employment, government contracting, health care compliance, privacy and cybersecurity, renewable energy, and other regulatory guidance. Malson's practice focuses on international and governmental litigation; complex commercial, class action, and administrative litigation; and compliance counseling and litigation involving educational institutions. She also serves as a mediator for the US District Court for the District of Columbia in a wide range of disputes, with a focus on commercial and employment matters. Recent key representations include: counseling universities on Title IX and related compliance issues; conducting an internal investigation of an athletic program at a major university; advising a public university regarding tuition benefits for undocumented students; advocating for victims of Libyan State- sponsored terrorism before the US Courts and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States; defending a large urban public school system in a class action and US enforcement action under Title VI and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act involving English language learners; defending the District of Columbia Public Schools in a class action under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act; defending the American Psychiatric Association in the Ritalin and ECT consumer fraud class action litigations in multiple state and federal jurisdictions; and representing a class of thousands of African American farmers against the US Department of Agriculture to redress claims of race discrimination in federal farm loan credit transactions. Before entering private practice in 1985, Malson served in the Office of Legal Counsel of the US Department of Justice for four years, where she was responsible for a broad range of constitutional and federal statutory matters. Malson clerked for the Honorable Harry T. Edwards on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (1980-81) and the Honorable Damon J. Keith on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1979-80). She received her JD from Harvard Law School in 1979 and her BA from Wesleyan University in 1976. (back to top)
Vannesa Martinez joined Yale University's Office of the Vice President and General Counsel in July 2012, where she focuses primarily on labor and employment and student affairs matters. Prior to that, she was an Assistant University Counsel with Princeton University's Office of the General Counsel. She received her B.A. in Politics from Princeton University in 2003, with minors in Latin American Studies and Political Theory, and her J.D. from the University of Michigan in 2006. (back to top)
Tracy B. Mitrano is the director of IT Policy and Computer Policy and Law Programs for the Office of Information Technologies at Cornell. Elected to the EDUCAUSE Board in 2006, she will take her seat as its Treasurer in January 2007. Mitrano is a 2002 graduate of the Frye Institute, and since then a member of its faculty, chair of Internet 2 InCommon Steering Committee and from 2004-2006 the co-chair of the Internet 2/EDUCAUSE Security Task Force, Law and Policy Team. A member of the 2005 EDUCAUSE Program Committee, Mitrano is also faculty of the EDUCAUSE Leadership Institute and co-facilitator of the Seminars on Academic Computing. In 2003 the University of Iowa named her the Ada Stoflet Lecturer. In spring 2005, Mitrano taught an Internet Law class for the MiNE Program at the Universite Cattolica in Piacenza, Italy. At Cornell, Mitrano is an adjunct assistant professor in the Information Science Program where she teaches Information Science 515, "Culture, Law and Politics of the Internet." (back to top)
Allison B. Newhart is Associate General Counsel at The Pennsylvania State University, where she focuses her practice on labor and employment matters, litigation management, and general higher education legal issues. She also provides advice on compliance with various federal and state statutes. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Allison was in private practice with a law firm in Philadelphia, where she concentrated her practice in higher education law, commercial litigation and labor and employment law counseling and litigation. She also devoted a significant part of her practice to litigation under ERISA. While in private practice, Allison has advised numerous institutions of higher education on compliance with federal laws and regulations, risk management issues, and policy drafting, and has represented colleges and universities in litigation. She has taught seminars in legal writing and research, FMLA compliance, and business law. She is admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and New Jersey Bar, and is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. (back to top)
Bill Nussbaum is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Saul Ewing LLP who specializes in litigation on behalf of higher education clients. Bill has handled more than 90 jury trials in 36 years of practice. Bill is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is a summa cum laude graduate of The American University Law School who served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia for six years before going into private practice in 1984. (back to top)
Yoora Pak is Partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP in McLean, VA. (back to top)
Lili Palacios-Baldwin is an experienced employment counselor and litigator at Hirsch Roberts Weinstein LLP in Boston, MA. Lili also has an active fact-finding and investigations practice. She frequently advises employers on their internal investigations policies and procedures, and she has also independently conducted sensitive workplace investigations concerning internal complaints of discrimination. Lili has also served as an independent fact-finder for her college and university clients to assist them in meeting their obligations pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA. Prior to joining Hirsch Roberts Weinstein LLP Lili was a Senior Trial Attorney with the Boston Area Office of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. While with the EEOC, Lili was responsible for the litigation of individual and class employment discrimination cases on behalf of the EEOC in federal courts throughout New York, New England, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She was also responsible for coordinating enforcement efforts with the local Fair Employment Practice Agencies (FEPAs) in each of the states contained within the New York District, including the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). Lili is bilingual (Spanish/English) and has used her language skills throughout her legal career, especially during a year- long assignment to the EEOC's San Juan Area Office. She received her B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. (back to top)
Troy J. Perdue is Associate Counsel at East Tennessee State University, where he frequently handles First Amendment, employment, and transactional matters. Prior to joining ETSU, Mr. Perdue was in private practice for over ten years. Mr. Perdue holds a J.D. from the University of Tennessee where he was graduated cum laude in 1999, and earned his B.A. degree in Business Administration from Palm Beach Atlantic University in 1992. He has presented on various legal issues in higher education, including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, immigration law and commercial transactions. Mr. Perdue recently appeared on National Public Radio (NPR) in Charlotte, North Carolina, to discuss transgender rights on college campuses, and has presented on transgender rights at the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) Annual Conference. In addition to acting as legal counsel for ETSU, Mr. Perdue enjoys teaching Ethics and related courses at East Tennessee State University. (back to top)
Hillary Pettegrew is currently an attorney in the risk management department of United Educators Insurance, where she creates resources and provides UE member institutions with advice on a variety of issues, including compliance with Title IX and the Campus SaVE Act, employment law, and study abroad. She previously spent 8 years as a UE claims attorney, handling primarily employment matters. Prior to UE, she worked as a writer/editor advising employers on compliance with HR and benefits laws and practiced employment litigation at a Washington, DC firm. She received her A.B. magna cum laude in Political Science and History from Colgate University and her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was Articles Editor for the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. (back to top)
Diana Prieto is the Executive Director for Human Resources and Equal Opportunity and Chief Human Resource Officer at Colorado State University and serves as Title IX Coordinator. Ms. Prieto joined Colorado State University in July 2010 as the Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity. Before joining Colorado State University, Ms. Prieto was the Director of the Office of Institutional Equity at Purdue University. As Director of the Office of Institutional Equity, she was responsible for the adjudication of formal complaints of discrimination and harassment. Ms. Prieto started her career in higher education as the Assistant Director for Conflict Resolution in the Affirmative Action Office at Purdue University addressing and investigating complaints of discrimination and harassment. In her leadership roles at Colorado State and Purdue, she has had responsibility for handling complaints of discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and sexual assault. Ms. Prieto obtained her law degree from the Tulane University School of Law and her undergraduate degree in Economics and Spanish Literature from Smith College. Ms. Prieto maintains her legal license in the State of Indiana. (back to top)
Megan Pritts joined Georgetown University as University Counsel in 2014. Prior to coming to Georgetown, she served for seven years as Associate General Counsel at the University of South Florida, specializing in employment matters. Megan also previously worked in private practice in the areas of labor and employment law. She received her undergraduate degree in English from Florida State University and her law degree from the University of Georgia. While in law school, Megan was an Articles Editor of the Georgia Law Review. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif. (back to top)
Smruti Radkar is Associate General Counsel & University Ethics Officer at University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC. (back to top)
Alexandra Relias is an Assistant General Counsel at City Colleges of Chicago, and focuses on labor, employment and civil rights law. Prior to joining City Colleges she was a member of the City of Chicago's Law Department in the Employment Law Division. Ms. Relias is a 2005 cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and is a member of the Trial Bar of the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois. (back to top)
Angela Robinson is General Counsel and Vice Chancellor of Administration at Tarrant County College District in Fort Worth, TX. (back to top)
Alysa Christmas Rollock is Purdue's Vice President for Ethics and Compliance. As Vice President for Ethics and Compliance, she serves as Purdue University's equal opportunity and Title IX officer, with responsibility for developing and implementing University-wide equal opportunity, equal access, and affirmative action policies and establishing benchmarks, surveys, and instruments to measure Purdue University's climate and progress in achieving diversity and equity. The Vice President for Ethics and Compliance provides oversight to the Office of Institutional Equity. Vice President Rollock received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1981 and her law degree from Yale University School of Law in 1984. Following her graduation from Yale, she worked as an associate with the New York City law firms of Cahill Gordon & Reindell and Battle Fowler. In 1988, she became associated with the Indianapolis law firm of Ice Miller. In 1992, Ms. Rollock was appointed associate professor of law at Indiana University-Bloomington, where her research and teaching were concentrated in the areas of corporate law, corporate finance, securities regulation, and professional responsibility. In July 1998, Vice President Rollock joined Purdue as Interim Vice President for Human Relations and an associate professor of management. She became Vice President for Human Relations in July 1999 and Vice President for Ethics and Compliance in November 2008. Ms. Rollock is a member of the Board of Directors of the Lafayette-West Lafayette Development Corporation, the Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette, and the YWCA Camp Tecumseh. (back to top)
Jill L. Rosenberg is a partner in the Employment Law Department of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in New York. Ms. Rosenberg has substantial experience in the counseling and representation of colleges and universities, hospitals, foundations, cultural institutions, and other non-profit organizations in employment litigation, labor relations, and education law, including student issues and Title IX athletics compliance. Ms. Rosenberg has been a NACUA member for over 20 years and is a regular speaker at NACUA conferences and programs. Ms. Rosenberg received her A.B., cum laude, from Princeton University and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. (back to top)
Kathleen Curry Santora has been President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) since February 2001. Before coming to NACUA, she was Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE). She previously served in various positions at Georgetown University - as Secretary of the University, as Assistant to the President for External Relations, and as Assistant to the President/Chief of Staff. For nearly ten years prior to that, from 1982-1986 and again from 1987-1992, Ms. Santora worked for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) - as Vice President for Operations and Counsel; as Executive Director and Counsel for State Relations; as Associate Director of Government Relations and Associate General Counsel; and as its Legislative Representative. In the intervening year 1986-87, she served as Director for Public Policy and External Relations at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). Kathleen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Scranton and a Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and currently serves on the board of the University of Scranton and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). She previously served on the boards of EDUCAUSE (the association for IT professionals), the American Council on Education and the Academic Search Consultation Service; as a member and Chair of the Washington Higher Education Secretariat Steering Committee (WHES); and as a member of the Council of Higher Education Management Associations (CHEMA) Steering Committee, and the Association Mutual Health Insurance Company (AMHIC), and Western New England College boards. (back to top)
Mary Spellman is the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. In this role she has served as the Title IX Coordinator and oversees residential life, student activities, community services, student conduct, recreation and intramural sports, new student orientation, and academic support. Mary serves as a member of the senior staff and works collaboratively with other student affairs professionals within the Claremont University Consortium. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Occidental College, a Master's in Education from Indiana University-Bloomington, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Saint Mary's College of California. (back to top)
Rebecca Springer currently serves as counsel in Crowell & Moring's Labor & Employment practice group. Her practice focuses on labor and employment litigation and counseling, particularly in the area of Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ("OFCCP") compliance. Rebecca has extensive experience representing employers in OFCCP compliance reviews, conducting audits of personnel practices, preparing Affirmative Action Plans, and counseling clients on affirmative action issues. She also has experience conducting statistical analyses of compensation practices for purposes of class action litigation, OFCCP compliance audits, and employer self-audits. Rebecca's practice also includes counseling higher education institutions regarding Title IX compliance issues. Rebecca has also worked extensively on single-plaintiff, multi-plaintiff and class action labor and employment litigation involving allegations of race discrimination, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, protection of trade secrets, and traditional labor law issues. Rebecca received a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law where she received the Duke Law Advocacy Award for excellence in oral advocacy. Prior to attending law school Rebecca worked in the White House as the assistant to the counselor to the president and then at U.S. News & World Report as the special assistant to the editor-at-large. She is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars. (back to top)
Amy Stirling Lammers is an alumnus of the Wayne State University Law School and was admitted to practice law in Michigan in 1997. She began her career in private practice representing plaintiffs in personal injury and civil rights cases, including representing individuals in police misconduct cases. Amy then spent a few years focusing exclusively on plaintiffs'-side employment and union-side labor law, representing police and firefighter locals across the state of Michigan. Amy began representing employers in labor and employment law matters in 2004. Before joining the Office of the General Counsel in 2009, Ms. Lammers also served as Acting Director and Equal Opportunity Specialist in the Office for Equal Opportunity at Wayne State for two years. Ms. Lammers now represents the University in a wide variety of litigation, contract negotiation and grievance arbitration matters, including the defense of police misconduct lawsuits. In April 2014, Amy second-chaired a police misconduct trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and the jury returned a verdict of no cause of action. (back to top)
Sankar Suryanarayan is University Counsel at Princeton University, and he joined Princeton's Office of the General Counsel in 2001. He provides advice in a variety of areas, including employment, litigation, student affairs, campus security and athletics. Previously, Sankar worked in American University's Office of General Counsel, and before that as a litigation associate at Chadbourne & Parke. He received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Georgetown University. He currently serves as an at-large member on the NACUA Board of Directors. (back to top)
Christian Vinten-Johansen is Manager, IT Accessibility Team at The Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA. (back to top)
Scott Warner is a partner with the Chicago law firm of Franczek Radelet P.C. Scott served as Assistant and Associate General Counsel for Northwestern University for approximately four years prior to entering private practice for a second time in 2006. His current practice focuses on the representation of both private and public colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher education in a wide range of governance, faculty, student, and general employment matters. He holds both a B.A. and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan. After graduating from law school in 1995, Scott clerked for the Honorable Jay C. Waldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.(back to top)
Jason Waters is Partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP in McLean, VA. (back to top)
Josh Whitlock is an attorney in the Charlotte office of McGuireWoods. He practices primarily in the areas of higher education and commercial litigation and regularly defends and counsels colleges and universities in connection with a variety of issues, including Title IX, ADA, Section 504, FERPA, Title VII, and program integrity rules compliance and student lending, student discipline, tenure and general employment matters. Mr. Whitlock has handled numerous OCR, FSA, and EEOC investigations and defended schools against a broad range of claims from students, parents, and employees. In the Title IX context, Mr. Whitlock routinely assists schools with the drafting, revision, implementation, and application of sexual misconduct policies and procedures and defends them against sexual misconduct-related complaints and claims. Additionally, he frequently makes presentations and publishes articles regarding Title IX compliance and campus sexual misconduct. He served as Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Education Law Section, annually helps teach the Higher Education Practicum at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, and was named a 2013 and 2014 North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star in Schools & Education Law. (back to top)
Margaret Wu is Managing Counsel of the Litigation group at the University of California, which represents the University and oversees outside counsel in litigation throughout the system. Ms. Wu's practice focuses on academic affairs and other complex litigation in a variety of areas, including student and faculty free speech, public records requests, and privacy and data breaches. Ms. Wu is a co-author of the chapters on forensic accounting and computer forensic evidence in Scientific Evidence in California Criminal Cases. She has also presented at NACUA CLE seminars and the Annual Conference and served on the NACUANotes Editorial Board as co-Vice Chair from 2010-13 and currently as Chair. Prior to joining UC, Ms. Wu worked as a litigator at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco and at Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Oakland. Ms. Wu also clerked for U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. Ms. Wu graduated from Stanford University (A.B. 1991) and the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall) (J.D. 1996), where she was a member of the California Law Review and Chair of the Moot Court Board. (back to top)