Board of Directors
Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Robert K. Rasmussen—Board Chair

J. Thomas McCarthy Trustee Chair in Law and Political Science, University of Southern California, Gould School of Law

Robert K. Rasmussen

Robert K. Rasmussen joined the AccessLex Institute Board in 2013 and serves as J. Thomas McCarthy Trustee Professor of Law and Political Science at USC Gould School of Law, where he previously was Dean and Carl Mason Franklin Chair in Law from 2007 to July 2015. Professor Rasmussen's scholarly expertise is focused on the interaction of market forces and corporate reorganization law, and his most recent work addresses fundamental changes in corporate reorganization practice. He teaches contracts, business bankruptcy, syndicated lending and an undergraduate course on the legal profession.

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Professor Rasmussen earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was comment editor of the University of Chicago Law Review, and his B.A. magna cum laude from Loyola University of Chicago. He clerked for the Honorable John C. Godbold, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and worked in the Civil Division Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, handling litigation in the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court before joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 1989. At Vanderbilt, Professor Rasmussen served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and as Chair of the Faculty Senate. He has won numerous teaching awards at Vanderbilt and at USC. He also has been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago and University of Michigan law schools.

A widely cited scholar, Professor Rasmussen is the author or co-author of dozens of articles published in some of the country's leading law journals, including the Supreme Court Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the Michigan Law Review and the Yale Law Journal. He has played a role in shaping the jurisprudence in his field as the principal author of an amicus curiae brief on behalf of nine law professors in the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case Bank of America v. 203 North LaSalle Street Partnership; was the principal author of an amicus curiae brief on behalf of three law professors in Integrated Telecom Express, Inc., a 2004 case decided by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals; and was the principal author of an amicus curiae brief on behalf of seven law professors in Owens Corning, a 2005 case also decided by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the American Law Institute.

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Mary Crossley—Board Vice Chair

Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Mary Crossley

Mary Crossley joined the AccessLex Institute Board in 2013 and is a John E. Murray Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she teaches courses relating to health law and torts and directs the Health Law Program. Widely recognized for her scholarship in disability and health law, Professor Crossley has written broadly on issues of inequality in health care financing and delivery and has published articles in numerous law journals, including Columbia Law Review, Iowa Law Review, and Notre Dame Law Review. In 2013, she was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Health Law Scholar in Residence, and in 2016 was elected to membership in the American Law Institute.

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A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, she earned her bachelor's degree in history at the University of Virginia and her J.D. from Vanderbilt University. After graduating from law school, she served as judicial clerk for the Honorable Harry W. Wellford of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and then practiced health care and corporate law as an associate at the law firms of Wiggin & Dana in New Haven, Connecticut, and Shartsis, Friese & Ginsburg in San Francisco, California. She began her academic career at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1991, where she was promoted to Professor of Law and served for two years as Associate Academic Dean. In 2000, Professor Crossley joined the faculty of the Florida State University College of Law, where she was named the Florida Bar Health Law Section Professor of Law. At Florida State, she also served as a courtesy member of the faculty of the Florida State University College of Medicine. Professor Crossley was appointed Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2005, serving as the first female dean in the school’s 110-year history. She served as Dean from 2005-2012, focusing her leadership on initiatives relating to curricular reform, innovation programming and promoting diversity.

In addition to her service on the AccessLex Institute Board, Professor Crossley has served on the boards of the Magee Women’s Research Institute, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Health Initiatives for Youth and ACHIEVA.

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David A. Brennen—Board Secretary/Treasurer

Frost, Brown and Todd Professor of Law and Immediate Past Dean, University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law

David A. Brennen

David A. Brennen joined the Board in 2014 and is a professor and former Dean of the University of Kentucky College of Law. He joined UK in 2009 as Dean from the University of Georgia School of Law where he was a professor since 2006 and from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) where he served a two-year term as deputy director. Along with more than twenty-five years of experience in the classroom, Brennen is regarded as an innovator in the field of nonprofit law. He is a co-founder and co-editor of Nonprofit Law Prof Blog, founding editor of Nonprofit and Philanthropy Law Abstracts, co-founder of the AALS Section on Nonprofit and Philanthropy Law and a co-author of one of the first law school casebooks on taxation of nonprofit organizations.

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Professor Brennen received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Florida Atlantic University in 1988 and his law degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 1991, where he also received his LL.M. in tax law in 1994. In 2002, Professor Brennen was elected to the American Law Institute where he served as Advisor to Restatement of the Law, Charitable Nonprofit Organizations.  He also served in leadership roles with AALS (former Deputy Director), ABA Section on Legal Education (currently Council Vice-chair), Law School Admission Council (former Committee Member) and the Society of American Law Teachers (former Board of Governors Member). A former ACE Fellow, Brennen also recently served as President of Southeast Association of Law Schools and Chair of the Board for Bluegrass Care Navigators (a statewide hospice nonprofit in Kentucky).

Professor Brennen began his career in legal education as an adjunct professor at Florida A&M University in 1994. He also taught as a professor at Syracuse University College of Law, the University of Richmond School of Law and Mercer University School of Law prior to his last position at the University of Georgia. In addition, he taught as a visiting professor at the University of Alabama and Temple University.

His law practice work began with Moody & Salzman, PA in Gainesville, Florida. He went to work with Bobo, Spicer & Ciotoli, PA in West Palm Beach, Messer, Vickers, Caparello, Madsen, Lewis, Goldman & Metz, PA in Tallahassee and the State of Florida Department of Revenue.

He has been a member of the Florida Bar - Tax Section, American Bar Association - Section of Taxation and the National Bar Association. In addition, he has served his professional academic community as chair of site teams for both the American Bar Association Section on Legal Education & Admission to the Bar and Southern Association of Colleges – Commission on Colleges.

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Christopher P. Chapman

President and Chief Executive Officer, AccessLex Institute

Christopher P. Chapman

Christopher P. Chapman has served as president and chief executive officer of AccessLex Institute since January 2008 and joined its Board of Directors in 2012.

Immediately prior to joining AccessLex, Chris was the president and chief executive officer of ALL Student Loan, a California-based nonprofit student loan provider, from 2001 to 2007. Earlier, he served as vice president of Student Loan Funding Resources, a student loan originator and secondary market, and as director of its joint venture loan servicing company. From 1999–2000, Chris practiced law as a senior attorney with Calfee, Halter & Griswold, LLP, working in its corporate, public finance and higher education practice areas. His early career was spent in the policy arena, including acting as special assistant and policy counsel for two members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Chris has served on numerous nonprofit boards, committees and task forces throughout his career, and regularly presents on matters relating to the financing of higher education, the state of legal education and public policy matters.

Chris earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Xavier University, his post-baccalaureate Certificate in finance and accounting from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Chris is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

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Neel Chatterjee

Partner, Goodwin Proctor's Intellectual Property Practice

Neel Chatterjee

Neel Chatterjee joined the AccessLex Board in September 2023 and is a partner in Goodwin Procter’s Intellectual Property practice, also having formerly served on the firm’s Executive Committee. An internationally recognized technology litigator and trial lawyer, Mr. Chatterjee has a proven track record of wins in hard-to-win technology cases. He has a passion for representing entrepreneurs and disruptive technology companies, even at their earliest stages. His cases often break new ground in undefined areas of the law. Clients frequently turn to him shortly before trial to take over complex technology cases. A key strategist on complex litigation spanning multiple venues, Mr. Chatterjee simplifies extremely complex concepts to ensure that judges and juries understand the key issues in each case. Mr. Chatterjee also has substantial expertise handling disputes related to patents, trade secrets, copyrights, internet law, and complex commercial technology issues. 

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Neel Chatterjee represents companies and individuals at the cutting edge of new and disruptive technologies in their most significant technology disputes. He has led matters for some of Silicon Valley’s most legendary companies in their most significant technology disputes. He has handled groundbreaking cases for Facebook, Oracle, eBay, NVIDIA, LinkedIn, Logitech, and many others. He defended Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook in the famed Winklevoss case that later served as the inspiration for the Academy Award winning film “The Social Network.” He helped develop and then later defended eBay with respect to its online transaction business model, creating important fundamental law that validated internet business models related to user generated content. He has prosecuted, defended, and tried cases involving global patent litigation for NVIDIA as part of the smartphone patent wars. Most recently, he is representing Anthony Levandowski, the star engineer at the center of the complex intellectual property dispute between Google/Waymo and Uber related to self-driving car technology. Through a pro bono engagement, he handled internationally followed litigation involving civil rights issues for same sex couples seeking to adopt through online adoption services. He is currently handling pro bono cases related to ICE detainees, rally protests, and Silicon Valley homelessness. Mr. Chatterjee has also handled numerous pro bono cases seeking to advance the law to protect victims of domestic violence. 

Neel Chatterjee serves or has served on numerous highly influential nonprofit boards. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and the Asian Pacific Fund. He also serves on the National Advisory Committee of the National South Asian Bar Association. In addition to his board-level work, Mr. Chatterjee has served on the Magistrate Selection Committee, the Patent Local Rules Committee, and the Federal Practice Program for the Northern District of California. He is also active in the Sedona Conference Patent Litigation section. As a passionate proponent of diversity, he founded the Bay Area Diversity Career Fair, one of the most successful diversity career fairs in the U.S., and is a regularly invited speaker on the issues of intellectual property, internet law, litigating high-profile cases, diversity and inclusion, and mentorship. 

Mr. Chatterjee has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America Best Lawyers for his work in Litigation – Intellectual Property, Litigation – Patent and Trade Secrets Law 2022-2023. He has been selected for inclusion by The Legal 500 in 2021 and 2022. Chambers USA and Global 2021 and 2022 recognize Mr. Chatterjee in Intellectual Property: Patent. Benchmark Litigation recognizes him as a 2021-2023 Litigation Star in California for his work in Intellectual Property. In 2022, Mr. Chatterjee was recognized by Chambers USA for Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation – California. He has been recognized as a top IP litigator and trailblazer by Intellectual Asset Management, Managing IP, Chambers, Benchmark Litigation, National Law Journal, the Daily Journal, and the IAM Global Leaders Guide. Chambers USA has described him as being “singled out for his abilities acting for hi-tech companies in patent infringement claims,” with “the ability to think outside the box” as well as having “in depth knowledge of patent law.” In addition, Chambers USA refers to him as being “knowledgeable, quick to learn, and truly innovative,” with providing “practical, business-minded patent advice” and a sensitivity “to the business objectives of patent litigation." Chambers Global recently recognized Mr. Chatterjee as being “sought-after” and “valued for his strategic approach to contentious matters and his strong courtroom advocacy.” Chambers Global further stated that his peers say, “He is an outstanding lawyer who is beloved by his clients. He always puts in extra effort and really knows the law.” Most recently, IAM 1000 highlighted Mr. Chatterjee as someone who “gives terrific legal advice and has seen a lot of success in court,” also remarking that “he exudes friendliness and confidence, and has the right personality to remain at the top.” Mr. Chatterjee has also been recognized by U.S. News and World Report — Best Lawyers in the field of patent and intellectual property litigation. In 2019, “Best Lawyers” named him the Trade Secret Lawyer of the Year. He was also named to the 2020 Lawyers of Color Power List and recognized by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association as a 2019 MCCA Rainmaker. That same year he was recognized for lifetime achievement by Narika, a Bay Area-based organization that promotes women's independence, economic empowerment, and well-being by helping domestic violence survivors with advocacy, support, and education. 

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Danielle M. Conway

Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law, Penn State Dickinson Law

Danielle M. Conway

Danielle M. Conway joined the AccessLex Board in 2020 and is dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law. Dean Conway joined Dickinson Law in 2019 after serving for four years as dean of the University of Maine School of Law and for 14 years on the faculty of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law, where she was the inaugural Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professor of Business Law. Prior to her deanship, she was a member of the faculties at the Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. She also served as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Australia and later as Chair in Law at La Trobe University, Faculty of Law & Management.

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In 2016, Dean Conway retired from the U.S. Army in the rank of lieutenant colonel after 27 years of combined active, reserve, and national guard service. Select assignments included service as Vice Chair, Contract and Fiscal Law Department at the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School and Honors Program Attorney at the headquarters for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C.

Dean Conway is a leading expert in procurement law, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property law. She is the author or editor of six books and casebooks as well as numerous book chapters, articles, and essays. Her scholarly agenda and speeches have focused on, among other areas, advocating for public education and for actualizing the rights of marginalized groups, including Indigenous Peoples, minorities and members of rural communities. Dean Conway is one of five Black women law deans to have recently curated the AALS Law Deans Anti-Racist Clearinghouse Project. She also serves as one of three co-chairs of the newly formed Select Penn State Presidential Commission on Racism, Bias and Community Safety.

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Mark C. Dawkins

Professor of Accounting, Coggin College of Business, University of North Florida

Mark C. Dawkins

Mark C. Dawkins joined the Board in 2016 and served a five-year term as Dean and Distinguished Professor for Excellence of the Coggin College of Business at the University of North Florida (UNF) from 2015–2020, and now serves UNF as a Professor of Accounting. Prior to this appointment he was an Associate Professor of Accounting in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia (UGA), served as the Associate Dean for Academic Programs from 2008-2014, and served on the accounting faculty from 1994-2015. He received his Ph.D. in Accounting from Florida State University, MBA (finance) and MACC (auditing) degrees from the University of Florida, and a B.S. in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Professor Dawkins’ research interests include bankruptcy, market effects of information asymmetry and market reactions to information disclosures. His recent research focuses on evaluating alternative earnings metrics, assessing faculty publications and connecting academic research to business practice. He has published in The Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, the Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, the Journal of Banking and Finance, Accounting Perspectives, the Journal of Managerial Issues, and other journals.

Professor Dawkins was a co-recipient of the 2006 and 2003 Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding Teacher of the Year award at UGA, and received the 2006 and 2003 Alpha Kappa Psi Accounting Teacher of the Year Award. He is a member of the American Accounting Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of Accountants, PhD Project (www.phdproject.org), and the Accounting Doctoral Student Association. In August 2009 he was one of five recipients of the inaugural Ernst & Young Inclusive Excellence Award for Accounting and Business School Faculty. In January of 2014, he received the 2014 UGA President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award at the MLK Freedom Breakfast.

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Vilas Dhar

President and Trustee of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

Vilas Dhar

Vilas Dhar joined the AccessLex Institute Board in 2022 and is President and Trustee of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, a 21st century philanthropy advancing AI and data solutions to create a thriving, equitable and sustainable future for all. A leading voice on equity in a tech-enabled world, Vilas champions individuals and communities as architects, decision makers and primary stakeholders in shaping our digital future.

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A trained computer scientist, lawyer and philanthropist, Vilas serves on the Advisory Council at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), as Expert Contributor to OECD.AI, Co-Chair of the Global AI Action Alliance at the World Economic Forum, Advisor to MIT SOLVE, Director of the Network of Engaged International Donors and as a Trustee of the Christensen Fund. He has been named a Young Global Leader and Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum and has previously served as a Senior Fellow of the Berggruen Institute, the Gleitsman Fellow on Social Change at Harvard University, a Practitioner Resident on Artificial Intelligence at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Illinois. 

Vilas holds a J.D. from NYU School of Law, a master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and dual bachelor's degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation at the University of Birmingham, where his research drives novel approaches to economic and policy infrastructure for a data enabled society to support and empower vulnerable populations.

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Chris Guthrie

Dean and John Wade-Kent Syverud Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School

Chris Guthrie

Chris Guthrie joined the Board in 2017 and is the Dean and John Wade-Kent Syverud Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School. Dean Guthrie is a leading expert on behavioral law and economics, dispute resolution, negotiation and judicial decision making. Over the course of his academic career, he has been recognized for his research and teaching with two CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution Professional Article Prizes, the Outstanding First-Year Course Professor Award at Northwestern University Law School, and multiple teaching and research prizes at the University of Missouri, among other awards. Guthrie is one of the authors of the influential textbook Dispute Resolution and Lawyers and has published more than 50 scholarly articles and essays in leading law journals, including the University of Chicago Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

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Dean Guthrie joined Vanderbilt’s law faculty in 2002 following six years on the faculty at the University of Missouri School of Law. He served as the law school’s associate dean for academic affairs from 2004-2008 and became Dean in July 2009. During his academic career, Dean Guthrie has served as a visiting professor at the Northwestern, Vanderbilt and Washington University law schools. Before entering the legal academy, he practiced law with Fenwick & West in Palo Alto, California.

Dean Guthrie graduated with distinction and honors from Stanford University and then earned his master’s in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a law degree from Stanford Law School. At Vanderbilt, Dean Guthrie has taught Introduction to Law, Dispute Resolution, Leading in Law, Negotiation, and Torts.

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Renée McDonald Hutchins

Dean at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law 

Renee McDonald Hutchins

Renée McDonald Hutchins joined the AccessLex Board in 2022 and is Dean at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Prior to that she was Dean and Rauh Chair of Public Interest Law at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC Law). Dean Hutchins joined the University of Maryland as Dean in July 2022 and previously served for fourteen years in positions on the faculty including Jacob A. France Professor of Public Interest Law, co-director of the school’s Clinical Law Program and founding director of the Appellate and Post-Conviction Advocacy Clinic.


 

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Dean Hutchins is widely recognized as a leading expert on the Fourth Amendment and criminal appellate practice. Her legal scholarship, which sits at the intersection of criminal procedure and social science, has been published in high-impact journals like the UCLA Law Review and NYU Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, among others. Her scholarship has been cited by numerous U.S. Courts of Appeals and state appellate courts on issues-of-the-day ranging from Fourth Amendment protections for location data to the intricacies of credibility assessments by trial juries.

She has authored two casebooks: Learning Criminal Procedure (2d ed. West Academic 2019, with Ric Simmons) and Developing Professional Skills: Criminal Procedure (West Academic 2017). She has written on the law of racial profiling and stop and frisk, most recently as a contributing author to the anthology Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution and Imprisonment (Penguin 2017), edited by Angela J. Davis, as well as David Tanenhaus’ Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States (Macmillan 2008). In addition, Dean Hutchins has a long record of supporting faculty scholarship, including as a founding member of the Mid-Atlantic Criminal Law Research Collective in 2006.

In 2017, Dean Hutchins was elected to serve as a member of the prestigious American Law Institute, a national association of distinguished lawyers, judges and academics that works to clarify and improve the law through the publication of Restatements of the Law and Model Codes. She remains highly engaged in practice due to her extensive experience spanning federal and state courts across the nation, including the high courts of Maryland and New York. Dean Hutchins is currently serving her third four-year term on Maryland’s Appellate Courts Judicial Nominating Commission and is a former board member for the Judicial Institute of Maryland.

Dean Hutchins joined the faculty of Maryland Carey Law following a decade-long career in trial and appellate litigation. Her passion for exposing students to the “invigorating, intellectually challenging, rich, and textured” field of government and public interest practice motivated her transition to academia. In addition to teaching on the faculty at Maryland Carey Law, Dean Hutchins has taught in the Lawyering Program at the New York University School of Law and, most recently, as Visiting Professor of Law and Acting Director of the Criminal Appeals and Post-Conviction Services Clinic at The George Washington University Law School.

In addition to her clinical teaching, Dean Hutchins has taught traditional doctrinal courses such as Criminal Procedure as well as legal seminars on topics including Criminal Appeals, Fourth Circuit Decisions and Comparative Criminal Procedure. In the wake of Freddie Gray’s death while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department in April 2015, Dean Hutchins worked with colleagues to create “Freddie Gray’s Baltimore,” an innovative eight-week practicum that brought law school professors, elected officials and civic leaders together with law students to explore the broader historic context that created the West Baltimore community where Gray lived and died.

She is an active member of the Association of American Law Schools Standing Committee on Clinical Legal Education and a past board member of the Clinical Legal Education Association, Dean Hutchins has advanced standards for clinical legal excellence and promoted the importance of the clinical model to achieving access to justice.

Throughout her academic career, Dean Hutchins has served as an officer and board member for a variety of nonprofit organizations engaged in public interest practice. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, as well as a former member of the ACLU of Maryland’s Committee on Litigation and Legal Priorities.

A frequent commentator in both local and national media on issues ranging from post-conviction relief to the constitutional dimensions of criminal procedure, Dean Hutchins has provided legal analysis and insight for outlets including MSNBC, “Voice of America” and CSPAN-TV’s “Landmark Cases” series. She is a regular contributor to local media as a strong believer in the importance of community legal education. While a faculty member at Maryland Carey Law, Hutchins was often featured in the Baltimore Sun and made appearances on Baltimore’s public radio station WYPR.

Dean Hutchins graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Mathematics from Spelman College, America’s oldest historically black liberal arts college for women. She went on to receive her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was Chair of the Moot Court Board of Directors. Shortly after graduating, Dean Hutchins clerked for the Hon. Nathaniel R. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, a distinguished jurist who directed litigation for the NAACP as its General Counsel from 1969 to 1979 prior to his appointment to the federal bench.

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Maureen A. O’Rourke

Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs at Boston University

Maureen A. O'Rourke

Maureen A. O’Rourke joined the Board in 2015 and is Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs at Boston University. O’Rourke is a member of the faculty of Boston University School of Law and served there as Interim Dean from 2004-2006 then Dean until 2018. Prior to that she worked at IBM Corporation, where she handled a variety of issues surrounding software licensing. She is a graduate of Yale Law School and earned her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Marist College.

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She served on the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section on Legal Education including as Chair and is a past-Chair of the AALS Section on the Law School Dean and the Section on Computers and the Law. She is a member of the American Law Institute and a member of the Board of Trustees of Marist College. O’Rourke is a co-author of one of the leading copyright casebooks in the U.S., Copyright in a Global Information Economy (Wolters Kluwer), and has written extensively on the intersection of intellectual property law with other fields, particularly contract law. She is also a recipient of the Metcalf Award, Boston University’s highest teaching honor.

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Austen L. Parrish

Dean and Chancellor's Professor of Law at University of California, Irvine School of Law

Austen L. Parrish

Austen L. Parrish joined the Board in 2015. He is the third dean at University California, Irvine School of Law. Before joining UCI Law, he served as the Dean and James H. Rudy Professor of Law at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University Bloomington from January 2014 to June 2022. Twice he was appointed a Wells Scholars Professor for his work with Indiana University’s Wells Scholars Program. Before joining Indiana University Bloomington, he served as the Irwin R. Buchalter Professor of Law, Vice Dean and interim Dean and CEO at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. In 2015, Southwestern Law School recognized him with an honorary Doctor of Law degree. From 2003 to 2010, he directed an international and comparative summer law program at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law in collaboration with Southwestern Law School and the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, a United Nations affiliate. Prior to entering academia, Dean Parrish was an attorney with O'Melveny & Myers LLP in their Los Angeles office.

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Dean Parrish is active in a number of national organizations focused on legal education. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a member of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools. He is also a member of the AALS Deans Steering Committee (2019-2022), Chair of the AALS Audit & Investment Policy Committee and a member of the Budget Committee and the Nominating Committee for the Deans Steering Committee (2022). From 2015-2020, he served as member, then chair, of the AALS Membership Review Committee. He also served as a member of the faculty/programming committee for the 2019 New Deans Workshop. That same year, the Indiana Supreme Court appointed him to the Study Commission on the Future of the Indiana Bar Examination.

Dean Parrish’s research and scholarship is focused on transnational and international law, with a particular expertise in legal and policy issues related to the extraterritorial application of domestic law. Over his career he has taught a variety of courses, including civil procedure, constitutional law, federal courts, international environmental law and public international law. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and his law degree from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar.

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