American University Washington College of Law Welcomes New Faculty for the 2012-13 Academic Year

Mary L. Clark Named Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs & Robert Dinerstein Named Associate Dean for Experiential Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC, Aug. 20, 2012 – American University Washington College of Law welcomes Jorge L. Contreras and Andrew E. Taslitz to the full-time faculty this fall, with N. Jeremi Duru joining the full-time faculty in January 2013. In addition to these appointments, law school Professor Mary L. Clark has been named associate dean for faculty and academic affairs, and Professor Robert Dinerstein has been named associate dean for experiential education. A total of nine visiting professors and practitioners-in-residence will join the law school faculty for 2012-13 as well.

“We are honored to have such an outstanding group of professors join our exceptional faculty,” said Dean Claudio Grossman. “They will bring diverse legal teaching, scholarship, and service backgrounds to the law school, greatly enriching our academic life and contributing to our students’ success.”

Jorge L. Contreras, Associate Professor of Law

Prior to his appointment, Contreras was senior lecturer and acting director of the IP Program at Washington University in St. Louis. His research focuses on the effects of intellectual property structures on technical standardization and scientific research. He serves as co-chair of the National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists and the ABA’s Technical Standardization Committee. His work has recently appeared in Science, Nature Climate Change, Berkeley Technology Law Journal and Standards Engineering, and is forthcoming in Nature Biotechnology, Pace Law Review and the St. Antony International Review. His frequent speaking engagements have included the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the American National Standards Institute, the European Commission Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry, and numerous academic conferences. He has been featured in the media regarding current issues in intellectual property law. Contreras earned his JD from Harvard Law School.

N. Jeremi Duru, Professor of Law

A visiting professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, Duru will join American University Washington College of Law in January 2013 to teach civil procedure and sports law. His research concentrates on the intersection of civil rights law and professional and collegiate sports. Duru is the author of numerous articles and book chapters exploring employment discrimination in the sports industry, and of a new book Advancing the Ball: Race, Reformation, and the Quest for Equal Coaching Opportunity in the NFL. His recent articles have been published in Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy, University of Cincinnati Law Review, and Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. Prior to teaching, Duru clerked for Judge Damon J. Keith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and worked as an attorney for Wilmer Cutler & Pickering and for the boutique civil rights firm Mehri and Skalet, PLLC. Duru received his JD from Harvard Law School.

Andrew E. Taslitz, Professor of Law

Professor Andrew E. Taslitz teaches and researches in the areas of criminal procedure, evidence, criminal law, and professional responsibility, and has been named one of the best 26 law teachers in America in Professor Michael Hunter Schwartz’s forthcoming book, What the Best Law Teachers Do. Before teaching, Taslitz worked as an associate at a large law firm, then as a prosecutor, in Philadelphia. He has published more than 100 works, including articles in such leading journals as the Michigan Law Review and the Georgetown Law Journal. His current research focuses on cognitive science in the areas of search and seizure and prosecutorial ethics. He is the author of eight books, notably Reconstructing the Fourth Amendment: A History of Search and Seizure, 1789-1868 and Rape and the Culture of the Courtroom. He has recently been appointed as the reporter for two Uniform Law Commission Committees respectively on interrogations and eyewitness identifications. Taslitz received his JD from University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Visiting Professors and Practitioners-in-Residence

• Amy Dillard, visiting professor, is an assistant professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law. She will teach Criminal Law and a seminar on capital punishment in Spring 2013.
• Nancy Knauer, visiting professor, is the I. Herman Stern Professor of Law and the director of D.C. Programs for Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia. She will teach Taxation and Wills, Trusts, and Estates in Spring 2013.
• Juan Mendez, visiting professor, is the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the former president of the International Center for Transitional Justice. He will teach International Law, Advanced Human Rights, and the Prevention of Genocide.
• Carl Monk, visiting professor, was the executive director of the Association of American Law Schools. He will teach Civil Procedure, Comparative Media Law, Comparative Perspectives of the First Amendment, and Higher Education Law.
• Jasmine Harris, practitioner-in-residence, was a staff attorney at the Advancement Project in Washington, D.C., a civil rights law and advocacy organization that supports community-based movements to promote racial justice and education reform. She will teach in the Disability Rights Law Clinic.
• Jennifer Mueller, practitioner-in-residence, was counsel of the Raben Group in Washington, D.C. She will teach in the Janet R. Spragens Federal Tax Clinic
• Natalie Nanasi, practitioner-in-residence, was a pro bono coordinator for Tahirih, and acted as the managing attorney. She will teach in the Disability Rights Law Clinic.
• Anita Sinha, practitioner-in-residence, was the director of both the Immigrant Justice and the Inclusive Development Programs at the Advancement Project in Washington, D.C. She will teach in the Disability Rights Law Clinic.
• Shana Tabak, practitioner-in-residence, was a visiting associate professor of Clinical Law and Friedman Fellow in the International Human Rights Clinic at George Washington University Law School. She will be teaching in the International Human Rights Clinic.

American University Washington College of Law

In 1896, American University Washington College of Law became the first law school in the country founded by women. More than 100 years since its founding, this law school community is grounded in the values of equality, diversity, and intellectual rigor. The law school’s nationally and internationally recognized programs (in clinical legal education, trial advocacy, international law, and intellectual property to name a few) and dedicated faculty provide its 1700 JD, LL.M., and SJD students with the critical skills and values to have an immediate impact as students and as graduates, in Washington, DC and around the world. For more information, visit wcl.american.edu.

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