Study

Gaia Clara Barcilon, LLM '16

Human Rights for Businesses: A Socially Responsible Path

Ms. Barcilon is the founder and CEO of EOS Social Responsibility Solutions SA, based in Lugano Switzerland, which consults with major companies on corporate social responsibility and delivers educational programming to promote human rights. She also serves as in-house counsel for HOPS Technik and has worked in the areas of international arbitration and commercial relations. She holds an LL.B. from City University in London, and an LL.M. from Duke Law.

Isabella Bellera Landa, L '14

Investor-State Relations: An Arbitration Case Study

Ms. Bellera Landa is an associate at White & Case LLP in Washington, D.C. in the Firm's International Arbitration Practice and Commercial Litigation groups. She represents and advises private companies, foreign sovereigns, and state entities in the resolution of international disputes. She has represented clients in arbitrations before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), as well as in litigation in US federal district and appellate courts. Ms. Bellera Landa has experience in disputes in a wide range of industries, including construction, infrastructure, textiles, and sovereign debt. A native of Venezuela, Ms. Bellera Landa is multilingual in English, Spanish, Italian, and French. Her dual training and experience in civil and common law jurisdictions allow her to understand the differences between various legal systems and structure advice accordingly. Ms. Bellera Landa received her JD from Duke Law School.

Stuart Berkson

Practice and Strategic Development of International Transactions: Investment in Latin America

Mr. Berkson is a partner at DLA Piper in Chicago, where he focuses his practice on international business transactions, with an emphasis on international investments and mergers and acquisitions. He provides counsel for international companies, and on their behalf handles direct investments, acquisitions, dispositions, reorganizations, joint ventures, licensing and distribution arrangements that often encompass multiple jurisdictions. He is well versed in international investment issues and legal and business concerns for investors, including tax. Among his clients are high tech companies, service companies, petrochemical companies and a wide variety of manufacturers from around the world. Mr. Berkson has extensive experience in matters involving jurisdictions throughout the Americas, along with South Africa, Israel, Western Europe and Asia. He is licensed as a foreign consultant in Brazil by OAB-SP, the bar association of São Paulo, and opened DLA Piper’s offices in Brazil and Mexico as part of his leadership of the firm’s Latin America practice group. He received his law degree from Harvard in 1980.

Kathleen Blanchard, L '17

Counselor and the Client

Ms. Blanchard is a senior associate in the Corporate & Finance practice group at Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC., where she works closely with public and private clients on a range of U.S. and cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, and strategic investments. Currently on secondment to a client, Kathleen has previously represented both buyers and sellers in transactions across industries including technology, food, financial services, aerospace and defense, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. She received her JD from Duke Law School.

Ridge Blanchard, L '17

Congressional Investigations in the Private Sector

Mr. Blanchard is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where his practice focuses on government investigations and congressional oversight. He regularly provides strategic counsel to major tech companies, financial institutions, and other industry-leading clients facing corporate crises and high-stakes reputational matters. He has deep experience in advising clients in connection with public affairs challenges and regularly prepares CEOs and other senior executives to appear before Congress. Additionally, Ridge counsels clients facing regulatory and litigation-related inquiries brought by state attorneys general. Prior to joining Kirkland, he practiced at another major law firm, which he joined following a clerkship for Judge Lance M. Africk of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Before attending law school, he worked as a legislative aide in Congress and as a legislative assistant for a leading public policy group. He received his JD from Duke Law School.

Johanna Collins-Wood, L '10

Getting to "Yes" with the SEC: Mastering the Art of Comment Letters

Ms. Collins-Wood is the Senior Counsel of Bitwise Asset Management ("Bitwise"), and the Chief Compliance Officer of Bitwise Investment Manager, an SEC-registered investment adviser and CFTC-registered commodity pool operator. Prior to working in-house for Bitwise, Johanna served as outside counsel to Bitwise and other digital asset and cryptocurrency companies as a senior associate at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati, LP. Johanna started her career as a capital markets associate in the London office of Davis Polk & Wardwell, LLP, where she executed almost every type of IPO that can be done in the US and European markets, including the IPO that won the IFLR's European Equity Deal of the Year in 2017. A devoted Duke alumna, Johanna graduated from Duke University with her B.A. in religion and from Duke Law with her J.D. and an LL.M. in international and comparative law, married another Duke Law graduate in the Duke Chapel, and serves on the Duke Law Alumni Association Board of Directors and the DukeNY Alumni Board.

Jason Cowley

Prosecutorial Ethics

Mr. Cowley is a partner with McGuireWoods, where he is a member of the firm's Government Investigations and White Collar Litigation departments. He joined the firm after serving as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York since 2011, where he held roles including Co-Chief of the Office's Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and Chief of the Office's Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit. Mr. Cowley has prosecuted a number of individuals and entities for a wide array of white-collar offenses including securities fraud, money laundering, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA), tax evasion and related violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Prior to joining the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Cowley served for four years in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. As a prosecutor, he has tried over a dozen federal criminal jury trials.

Collin Cox, L '01

Hearings Practice

Mr. Cox is a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Houston, Texas, where he leads the firm's litigation practice and focuses on representing plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial cases. Mr. Cox was formerly a partner with Yetter Coleman LLP and has extensive experience in the energy and financial services sectors, and has also been a lead trial lawyer in computer software trade secrets cases, fraud cases involving the Madoff bankruptcy, and antitrust actions. Prior to moving to Texas, he practiced with Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C. Mr. Cox received his J.D. from Duke Law School in 2001.

Professor James D. Cox, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law

Basics of Accounting

Professor James Cox joined the faculty of Duke Law School in 1979, where he specializes in the areas of corporate and securities law. He has authored texts including Financial Information, Accounting and the Law; Cox and Hazen on Corporations; and Securities Regulations Cases and Materials (with Hillman & Langevoort). Professor Cox has also published extensively in the areas of market regulation and corporate governance as well as having testified before the U.S. House and Senate on insider trading, class actions, and market reform issues.

Cassandra Creekman, T’ 02

Compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

Ms. Creekman is an attorney with Wyrick Robbins in Raleigh, working on regulatory and compliance matters including antitrust, export controls and sanctions, anticorruption, and foreign investment issues. She began her legal practice in New York, working on cross-border transactions and arbitration for a UK-based law firm, then first joined Wyrick Robbins in 2007, practicing in the firm’s Emerging Companies and Mergers & Acquisitions groups. After nearly eight years as in-house compliance counsel for SAS, multinational data analytics company, she returned to Wyrick Robbins in 2021. She holds a BA from Duke University and a JD from New York University School of Law.

William J. Curtin, III, T '92

Counselor and the Client

Mr. Curtin is Global Head of the M&A practice for Hogan Lovells and a partner in the firm's Washington, DC and New York offices. He advises market-leading companies on their cross-border transactions, with significant international experience practicing out of major commercial centers around the world. He has been based in both Paris and London, where he led the development of the firm's French and European operations, and also served on the firm's Global Board. He holds a BA from Duke University, and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Kelly Margolis Dagger

Deposition Practice

Ms. Dagger is an attorney with Ellis & Winters in Cary, where her practice focuses on business litigation, employment litigation, and criminal defense. She regularly appears in federal district court, the North Carolina Business Court and other state trial courts, both criminal and civil, and represents clients on appeal in both state and federal court. She holds a JD from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.

Jeremy Dresner, T '00, L '06

Congressional Investigations in the Private Sector

Mr. Dresner is a government, regulatory & internal investigations partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Jeremy's practice focuses on government and internal investigations, regulatory counseling and crisis management assistance. He regularly counsels major financial institutions, market-leading companies and senior executives facing high-stakes reputational matters, frequently in connection with enforcement proceedings, congressional investigations and actions with significant collateral consequences. A trusted counselor to some of the world's highest-profile companies, he provides investigations-related guidance, regulatory advice and strategic counseling to a broad range of companies and senior executives confronting criminal, civil and congressional matters. He regularly advises companies facing public affairs challenges at the intersection of law and policy and prepares CEOs and other senior executives to testify before Congress. He received his JD from Duke Law School.

Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap, Jr., USAF (Ret.)

Legal and Policy Aspects of U.S. Civil-Military Relations

Professor Dunlap joined the Duke Law faculty in July 2010, after serving as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the United States Air Force. His teaching and scholarly writing focus on national security, international law, civil-military relations, cyberwar, and military justice.

Miguel Eaton, L '06

Litigation Strategy in the Corporate Context

Mr. Easton is a partner with Jones Day in Washington, DC, where he co-chairs the firm's employee benefits and executive compensation group. His practice focuses on complex employee benefits issues that present significant business challenges, with a significant portion of his time spent defending ERISA class actions and litigating on behalf of employers that contribute to multiemployer plans. He also advises benefit committees regarding participants' claims and defends companies under investigation by the Department of Labor. After a career as a two-sport athlete (basketball and boxing) at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, he received his J.D. from Duke Law School in 2006.

Bethan Eynon

Cross-Cultural Lawyering

Ms. Eynon is the Director of Public Interest Careers at Duke Law, counseling and developing programming and resources for students pursuing government and public interest careers. She also advises students in the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate Program and several student organizations. Prior to joining Duke Law in 2017, she was the Community Development Attorney-Fellow at the UNC Center for Civil Rights, where she represented communities of color in Central and Eastern North Carolina on fair housing, environmental justice, and access to municipal services issues. She then worked in Durham at Southern Coalition for Social Justice, first as an Equal Justice Works/AmeriCorps Employment Opportunity Legal Fellow and then as Director of SCSJ's Clean Slate Project, which provides statewide direct reentry legal services for people with criminal records and addresses collateral consequences and criminal justice reform issues through a racial justice and community lawyering model. She holds a JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.

Lily Farel, L '06

Deposition Practice

Ms. Farel works as legal counsel at SAS Institute in Cary. Prior to her current position, she was a Trial Attorney in the Office of the General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, where she represented the Commission in litigation matters before federal district courts and other tribunals. She previously served as a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the US Department of Justice, which she joined through the honors program, and defended the United States against challenges to the constitutionality of government programs such as the No Fly list, certain economic sanctions imposed by the Departments of State and Treasury, and the Controlled Substances Act. Ms. Farel received her JD from Duke Law School in 2006.

Brody Greenwald, T '01

Investor-State Relations: An Arbitration Case Study

Mr. Greenwald is a partner in White & Case's Los Angeles office. His practice is centered on assisting with strategic corporate decisions and resolving complex disputes through international arbitration, mediation, and litigation. He represents clients in commercial, construction, and investment arbitrations across critical sectors such as technology, energy, manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, and sports. He also advises on drafting arbitration agreements and structuring investments. Publications like Who’s Who Legal, The Legal 500, Law360, and Lawdragon recognize Mr. Greenwald as a leading practitioner. He is a founding member of California Arbitration (CalArb) and serves in key positions as CalArb’s treasurer and as a member of its Executive Committee and Board of Directors. Mr. Greenwald holds a BA from Duke University and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.

Chris Hart, L '05

Litigation Strategy in the Corporate Context

Mr. Hart is a partner with Foley Hoag LLP in Boston, MA, where he co-chairs the firm's Privacy & Data Security Practice. With significant trial litigation, appellate advocacy and data privacy and security experience, Mr. Hart has counseled and represented sovereign nations, Fortune 500 companies, start-up companies, non-profits, and individuals in a wide variety of contexts for over a decade. He represents clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, argues in appellate courts across the country, including successfully before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court; and advocates on behalf of clients in federal and state courts nationwide. He also frequently represents clients in significant internal investigations. Mr. Hart also represents companies and individuals in investigations brought by federal and local law enforcement authorities, including the Massachusetts State Attorney General's office. Mr. Hart received is B.A from Harvard in 2000, his M.A. from St. John's 2002 and his J.D. from Duke Law School in 2005.

Kirk Jensen, '00

A Brave New Economic World: Financial Services Law in an Era of Uncertainty

Kirk Jensen is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and its subsidiary First Interstate Bank, a large regional bank headquartered in Billings, MT. Prior to joining First Interstate, Mr. Jensen was a founding partner of the law firm BuckleySandler LLP in Washington, D.C., where he advised financial institutions on a variety of regulatory compliance matters and represented financial institutions in federal and state government enforcement actions and in high-stakes litigation. He is a fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers, a member of the Conference on Consumer Finance Law, and has held various leadership positions in the American Bar Association's Consumer Financial Services Committee and Litigation Section. In 2018, he was recognized with the Global Counsel Award for Financial Services-Regulatory by the Association of Corporate Counsel and Lexology. Mr. Jensen has been a frequent speaker on financial services legal topics and has published numerous articles on financial services issues in both scholarly journals and professional publications.

Alexandra Johnson, T '99

Basics for the Finance Lawyer

Ms. Johnson is a partner in the Transportation & Space group of Milbank LLP in New York, where her practice involves the representation of Fortune 500 companies and top financial institutions in their roles as, among other things, issuers, lenders, underwriters, and placement agents in a wide variety of international financial and corporate transactions in the worldwide transportation industry. Her experience includes portfolio securitizations, acquisition financing, mergers and acquisitions and secured lending, that involve transportation assets, such as aircraft, railcars and loan obligations collateralized by aviation-related assets. Ms. Johnson has worked on some of the most complex and innovative financings involving aircraft, including many that have been recognized by industry publications as "Deals of the Year." Ms. Johnson helped lead the creation and implementation of, and is the lead instructor for, the Deals@Milbank Transactional Drafting Series for junior associates at Milbank. Professor Johnson graduated from Duke University and received her law degree from Georgetown University School of Law.

Dan Katz, L '83

Deposition Practice and Strategy

Mr. Katz is a partner at Williams & Connolly in Washington, DC, and an experienced litigator who has tried cases all over the country, in state and federal courts, before both judges and juries, as well as numerous arbitrations and administrative proceedings. He has practiced in a diverse array of fields, representing both corporate and individual clients in cases involving financial services, franchise, automotive, employment, real estate, construction, healthcare, RICO, securities, and antitrust law. He received his law degree from Duke in 1983.

Jana Kovich, L’15

Excel for Lawyers

Ms. Kovich is a partner with Lathan & Watkins, practicing in the firm’s Chicago office, where she advises life sciences and technology startups and venture capital investors on a full range of transactional and operational maters across the company lifecycle. She partners with founders, management, and investors to develop a sophisticated understanding of their long-term business objectives. Ms. Kovich also actively contributes to Latham’s recruiting, mentoring, diversity, and training and development programs, and is a former leader of the Chicago Women’s Lawyers Group. She is an auxiliary board member of the Center for Conflict Resolution Chicago, a not-for-profit helping individuals, communities, courts, and other institutions resolve conflict through mediation. She maintains an active pro bono practice, including general corporate governance work on behalf of A Better Chicago, a venture philanthropy that invests in the nonprofits helping Chicago children escape poverty. She holds a JD/LLM in International and Comparative Law from Duke University School of Law.

Michael McAuliffe

Life or Death: The Decision-Making Process in a Death Penalty Case

Mr. McAuliffe is the founding partner of McAuliffe Law PLLC, a firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is a frequent opinion columnist for the Sun-Sentinel and the Tampa Bay Times, writing about legal ethics and federal law enforcement issues. In 2008, Mr. McAuliffe was elected and served as the State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County), leading an office of 125 lawyers and 200 support staff. After leaving public service, Mr. McAuliffe served as general counsel for a global, privately held company. He has been a litigation partner at a major law firm and a visiting law professor in the Czech Republic in the early 1990s. Mr. McAuliffe also served as a supervisory assistant United States attorney in the Southern District of Florida and a prosecutor in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division through the Department of Justice Honors Program. McAuliffe received his JD from the law school at the College of William & Mary in 1989.

Gray McCalley, L '79

In-House Practice

Mr. McCalley is Acting General Counsel to Nexus Circular, an advanced recycler of hard to recycle plastics that are otherwise landfilled. Before joining Nexus, he was with the Taylor English law firm where he co-led the firm's fractional general counsel practice. Prior to joining Taylor English, Mr. McCalley was Vice President and General Counsel of Printpack Inc., an Atlanta-based, privately-held manufacturer of flexible packaging. He worked for over 15 years in the domestic and international operations of The Coca-Cola Company in a variety of positions, including as Vice President and Deputy General and General Counsel Europe (based in London) for Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. Mr. McCalley has also served as a Foreign Service Officer for the US Department of State and practiced as an associate with Alston & Bird in Atlanta. He received his J.D. from Duke Law School in 1979.

Bryan McGann, LLMLE '15

Counseling & Creating a New Entity

Bryan McGann is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Start-Up Ventures Clinic at Duke Law School. Prior to joining the Duke Law faculty in 2016, McGann had a broad career as a lawyer, entrepreneur, and commercial banker. He is of-counsel to the Smith Anderson firm in Raleigh, an entrepreneur in residence at the University of North Carolina, and a contributor to the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network. McGann is the inventor and founder of the Pill Pockets® brand pet treats, the world's leading medicine delivery aid for animals. After building and commercializing the brand, McGann's company was acquired by Mars, Incorporated and today the Pill Pockets® brand is sold across the United States and around the world under various Mars' divisions. He also co-owns Sundial Homes, a general contracting firm building lakefront, residential property, and McGann has recently been granted a U.S. patent on a medical brace to aid in the rehabilitation and recovery of orthopedic surgical patients. Prior to his practice of law, McGann was vice president of a regional commercial bank, and is a graduate of the North Carolina School of Banking. He received his JD from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Jose Meirelles

Practice and Strategic Development of International Transactions: Investment in Latin America

Mr. Meirelles is a partner at Pinheiro Netto Advogados in São Paulo, Brazil. Mr. Mereilles specializes in corporate finance and has written on securitization and structured finance in Brazil. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois School of Law. Mr. Mereilles received an LL.B. degree from São Paulo University in 1986 and an LL.M. from the University of Illinois in 1989. He is a visiting scholar at Duke Law for the 2023-24 academic year.

Mike Murphy

Improv for Lawyers

Professor Murphy joined the Duke Law faculty in 2023, teaching in the Start-Up Ventures Clinic. He teaches students how to provide transactional legal services to entrepreneurs and small businesses, using a unique perspective based on his experience working as an attorney for a large law firm, a startup, and a publicly traded corporation. His research explores social entrepreneurship, how technology changes legal practice, and how members of the legal profession can lead happier lives. He is also an award-winning storyteller, with stories featured on First Person Arts's "#US" podcast, WHYY-Philadelphia's "NewsWorks Tonight" and "CommonSpace" podcast, and WNYC's "The Takeaway," and is a stand-up comedian and comedic improviser. He earned his JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 2006.

Allen Nelson, T '86, L '89

In-House Practice

Mr. Nelson is a partner with Taylor English Duma LLP in Atlanta, where he focuses his practice on advising boards of director and senior executives of both public and private companies. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Nelson was Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Administrative Officer for Crawford & Company, the world's largest independent provider of claims management solutions to the risk management and insurance industry, as well as self-insured entities. In those capacities, he handled all legal matters for the company, and directed the firm's Quality and Compliance, Corporate Communications, Corporate Real Estate, Ethics and Compliance, and Internal Audit functions. He previously served as chief compliance counsel for BellSouth Corporation and practiced with Atlanta-based firms Hawkins & Parnell and Troutman, Sanders, Lockerman & Ashmore. Mr. Nelson received his B.A. from Duke University in 1986, and his J.D. from Duke Law in 1989.

Peggy Nicholson

Lawyering for Systemic Change

Peggy Nicholson joined the Duke Law faculty in 2020 as a lecturing fellow and supervising attorney in the Children's Law Clinic. In this capacity, she works with law students to represent children and their families in special education, school discipline, and public benefits cases. Before joining Duke Law, Nicholson served as director of the Youth Justice Project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, where she worked with directly impacted youth, parents, and communities to advocate for legal and policy solutions to North Carolina's school-to-prison pipeline. She earlier practiced public interest law at Legal Aid of North Carolina, where she provided legal advice and representation in education cases to hundreds of low-income students and families across the state. Nicholson has represented children and their families in administrative hearings and state and federal court. She has also provided continuing education for attorneys, judges, social workers, and other professionals on a variety of education matters including special education, school discipline, and racial equity. Nicholson received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Stephanie "Stevie" Pearl, L '15

Overview of Merger & Acquisition and Enforcement

Ms. Pearl is a trial attorney in the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, in the Transportation, Energy and Agriculture section. Stevie represented the government in its successful bid to block JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit Airlines. Prior to her career at DOJ, Stevie worked as an associate at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in D.C. and served as a law clerk on the Third Circuit. She is a Vice Chair of the ABA Women.Connected Committee and received an Outstanding Performance Award from the ABA in Spring 2023. She received her JD from Duke Law School.

Brandi Bush Percy

Litigation Management

Ms. Bush Percy is managing counsel at a global commercial insurance company. She has spent her entire legal career as in-house counsel managing corporate litigation. Her practice involves advising corporate litigants on litigation strategy, efficiency, cost-effective and preventative measures. She has handled a broad range of cases including premises liability, product liability, construction defect, insurance bad faith and extracontractual liability and was a member of the in-house legal team for the corporate defendant in a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 2014. Her article discussing the use of data analytics to predict legal strategy and legal spend was recently published in the Association of Corporate Counsel's Docket publication. She received her JD from Oklahoma City University School of Law and her LL.M. from Baylor Law School.

James Rhee

The Way It All Works: Investing, Negotiating, and Operating in the Real World

Mr. Rhee is the founder and President of FirePine Group, LLC and the former Chairman and CEO of Ashley Stewart. He lives a life focused on multi-dimensional transformation, the intersection of capital and race/gender, and values-based investing and leadership. Prior to founding FirePine Group and leading Ashley Stewart, he played a senior role managing billions of dollars of capital at institutional private equity firms, where he helped lead numerous platform investments. He has significant public and private board experience (distressed, growth, and otherwise), and currently serves on the governing board of JP Morgan Chase Advancing Black Pathways and the CEO Action for Racial Equity. Mr. Rhee holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and serves as a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Shanna Rifkin, L '17

Federal Sentencing: A Primer and a Case Study in Compassionate Release

Ms. Rifkin is Deputy General Counsel with Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), where she works alongside the General Counsel to advance the initiatives of the legal department, including advocating for reform of federal sentencing and corrections law and policy before Congress, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Department of Justice. Prior to her position with FAMM, she worked at Northwestern Law School's Children and Family Justice Center to win clemency on behalf of incarcerated youth in Illinois. She was also a litigation associate with Jenner & Block, where she took on an array of pro bono criminal defense matters at both the trial court and appellate court, and clerked on the Western District of New York and the First Circuit Court of Appeals. She earned her JD from Duke Law in 2017.

Laura Scott T '93

Introduction to Research for Public Interest Practice

Ms. Scott is a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke Law, where she teaches introductory and advanced legal research courses. She received her undergraduate degree in history from Duke University and her J.D. from New York University School of Law. After graduating from law school, she practiced law in the litigation and bankruptcy departments of Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston, Massachusetts. She later received her M.S.L.S. from Simmons College and worked as Choate's reference librarian for five years. She joined Duke Law as a reference librarian in August 2005. Ms. Scott is a member of the Massachusetts bar, the American Association of Law Libraries, and the Southeastern Association of Law Libraries.

Lisa Simpson, T '91, L '94

Advising Clients on Use of Trademarks and Copyrighted Material

Ms. Simpson is a partner in the New York office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where she is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property and Litigation Groups. Her practice focuses on the representation of retail, entertainment, technology, and pharmaceutical companies in matters involving copyright, trademark, false advertising, rights of publicity, defamation, product liability and consumer class action litigation. She serves as counsel to Oracle in its litigation with Google regarding whether Google’s use of the Java APIs in Android is a fair use under the Copyright Act. She also served as counsel to DISH Networks, LLC in its copyright litigation with the broadcast networks over various features offered by DISH’s Hopper DVR, and served as counsel to Supap Kirtsaeng on his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of the copyright first sale doctrine’s applicability to goods manufactured abroad. Ms. Simpson received her B.A. from Duke University in 1991, and her J.D. from Duke Law in 1994.

Shane Stansbury, T '95

Prosecutorial Ethics

Mr. Stansbury the Robinson Everett Distinguished Fellow in the Center for Law, Ethics, and National Security, and a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke Law School. Prior to returning to Duke, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, representing the United States in criminal prosecutions involving terrorism, cybercrime, money laundering, export violations, public corruption, international narcotics trafficking, and other violations of federal law. Mr. Stansbury previously worked in the international arbitration and litigation group of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in New York City. He received his A.B. from Duke in 1995, and his J.D. from Columbia University in 2001.

Caroline Stapleton, L '11

A Brave New Economic World: Financial Services Law in an Era of Uncertainty

Ms. Stapleton is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where she advises financial institutions from fintech startups to multinational banks in federal and state regulatory compliance, supervision, and enforcement matters. Recently, her practice has focused on counseling clients regarding the use of automated systems and artificial intelligence in financial services. She has previously held roles as an attorney-advisor at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the head of compliance and assistant general counsel at a Richmond, VA-based fintech. She received her JD from Duke Law School.

Paul Sun, L '89

Deposition Practice

Mr. Sun is an attorney with Ellis & Winters in Raleigh, NC. His practice focuses primarily on business litigation and appeals. He has experience in the areas of trade secrets and unfair competition, business and health care fraud (civil and criminal), employment, consumer claims, premises and product liability, and contract disputes. He received his J.D. from Duke Law in 1989.

Thomas Telfer, LLM '92

Mindfulness and the Legal Profession

Dr. Telfer is a Professor of Law at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, where his research and teaching interests include bankruptcy law, commercial law, contracts, legal history, and mindfulness. Prior to joining Western's faculty in 2022, he taught at the University of Auckland for eight years. He was admitted in 2023 as a member of the International Academy of Commercial and Consumer Law, composed of more than a hundred specially-selected scholars from throughout the world, focused on the global exchange of ideas. He received his LLM from Duke Law in 1992.

Casey Thomson

Exploring Gender and Culture in Negotiation

Ms. Thomson joined the Duke Law faculty in 2015, and received the law school's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2018. She teaches first-year Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing, as well as Negotiation for Lawyers and Mediation Advocacy for upper-level students. Prior to coming to Duke, Thomson was an attorney with Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles. She was a member of the litigation department, and her practice focused on complex commercial litigation, including antitrust, RICO, fraud, and insolvency-related matters. She regularly practiced in both state and federal courts, and appeared in arbitral proceedings before the Players' Status Committee of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Thomson clerked for the Honorable John F. Walter of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Thomson received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School in 2000.

Amelia Thorn, L '10

Trauma-Informed Lawyering

Ms. Thorn is assistant director for special projects at the Bolch Judicial Institute. In her role, she designs educational programming for state and federal judges and serves as the articles editor for Judicature, the Institute's scholarly journal about the administration of justice. She was previously the inaugural Bolch Judicial Institute Fellow. Ms. Thorn clerked for Justice Don R. Willett of the Texas Supreme Court (now of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit) as well as for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She subsequently worked as an associate at Williams & Connolly and Crowell & Moring, as well as an assistant general counsel at the American Chemistry Council, one of the nation's oldest and largest trade associations. She has substantial publishing experience, having worked as a writer and editor prior to law school, including acting as editor-in-chief for a magazine with a circulation of more than 70,000. She earned her JD from Duke Law in 2010.

Raphael Winick, L '92

Media & Internet Platforms, IP Licenses and Changing Technologies

Mr. Winick is Assistant General Counsel for The Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles. He has been closely involved with legal issues related to the Internet, new technologies and media throughout his career, including other prior in-house roles in at ESPN and Comedy Central in New York, and litigating several landmark cases while in private practice. In addition to working in the United States, he was admitted in New Zealand as a Solicitor and Barrister, where he handled IP issues and transactions for local startups and multinational companies. He previously taught as an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School, and has published several law review articles regarding the intersection of law and technology. He received his JD from Duke Law in 1992.

Brian Zuercher

Compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

Mr. Zuercher is currently serving Of Counsel for Bagchi Law providing compliance and technology law advice to the global clients of this growing law firm. He is also serving as an Attorney Board Advisor to Gateway Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, a start-up dedicated to helping disadvantaged students gain entry into medical school. He retired in September 2020 from his role as Vice President and General Counsel for Ethics and Compliance at SAS Institute Inc., where he was responsible for worldwide compliance activities for the world's largest privately held software enterprise. In his career, Mr. Zuercher has counseled technology and aviation business clients operating across six continents. Mr. Zuercher holds a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.