HLS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Alfred Smart Professor of Law
Job Titles:
- Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs
Job Titles:
- Senior Events Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner of Gamma Law
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director of Harvard Law School 's Criminal Justice Institute / Clinical Professor of Law
Ms. Umunna coaches the Harvard Law School (HLS) National Criminal Justice Trial Advocacy team and the HLS Black Law Student Association trial teams. She also serves as a faculty member for Gideon's Promise and is a frequent presenter at Public Defender Training Conferences around the country. She spent seven years at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) as a trial attorney. From 2002 to 2007, Ms. Umunna was an adjunct professor of law and Practitioner in Residence at American University, Washington College of law. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from California State University, a JD from George Washington University Law School, and a Masters in Public Administration (MC) from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is the very proud mother of daughter, Ifeanyi and son, Edozie.
Job Titles:
- Program Coordinator
- Program Coordinator for the First - Year Legal Research
Ellen is the Program Coordinator for the First-Year Legal Research and Writing and the Climenko Fellowship Program. She has a B.A. in Art History from Brandeis University and a certificate in Graphic Design from Massachusetts College of Art. After a brief career in Graphic Design, she started her career in legal education by working at the HLS bookstore as a sales person/assistant manager. Her love of books brought her next to work in customer service for Aspen Publishers, now known as Wolters Kluwer. The natural progression after learning about every law textbook that WK published, was coming back to HLS as a Faculty Assistant to share that wealth of knowledge. Prior to her appointment as Program Coordinator, she supported Professors Andrew Crespo, Naz Modirzadeh, and Daphna Renan.
Job Titles:
- Engineer for the Business Solutions
Enrique is a QA Engineer for the Business Solutions team within ITS. He joined the HLS in 2017 following several years working for non-profits in the Washington, D.C. area. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring the outdoors by hiking and birdwatching.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to the Dean and Administrative Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Campus Safety
- Senior Director of Student Affairs and Administration, HLS & Johnny Earle
Jeff McNaught is the Associate Director of Campus Safety. In his former role Jeff counseled HLS students on the bar exam process, from general application questions to character and fitness. He oversaw a range of activities including student organizations, 1L Sections, law journals, moot court, and residential life. He directed the planning, implementation, and execution of campus-wide events including Orientation and Commencement. Before joining HLS Jeff practiced law for three years as a civil litigator.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to Jessica Soban, Dean for Student Services, and L. Tracee Whitley, Dean for Administration, and Special Projects Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives
- Student Services
Jill graduated from Boston University School of Social Work with an M.S.W. in 1981, and from Northeastern University School of Law in 1994. Before law school, she worked as a social worker both in the U.S.A. and in South Africa where she grew up. During her social work career, she held several management positions at non-profit organizations, including as director of a shelter for homeless families in Boston. Before joining the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs, she worked for many years as a staff attorney in a Boston area legal services organization (Volunteer Lawyers Project), where she focused on cases in Probate and Family Court, including divorce, custody, child support and guardianship. She also trained and mentored pro bono attorneys working with legal services clients. At the same time, she had a small private practice representing parents and children in child abuse, neglect, termination of parental rights and adoption cases in Juvenile Court. She has been Associate Director of the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs since October 2012.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Library
Jocelyn is the Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Library. She has worked in libraries for 16 years; as a student worker at the UNH School of Law Library, a research librarian at the University of Michigan Law School, and most recently as the director of library services at the University of Connecticut Law School. Jocelyn attended the University of New Hampshire (BA & JD) and the University of Washington (MLIS). Prior to law school, Jocelyn was a constituent service representative for Congressman Bass of New Hampshire. Before attending the University of Washington, Jocelyn clerked for two years with the New Hampshire state trial court. Jocelyn is a native of New Hampshire but has also lived in the Pacific Northwest, the mid-west, and Washington D.C. She currently lives in Watertown with her husband.
Job Titles:
- Dean
- Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law
Job Titles:
- Deputy Dean, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence
An expert in tort law, tort theory, and political philosophy, joined the Law School faculty in 2008. From 1995 until then, he was a faculty member of Vanderbilt Law School, where he served as Associate Dean for Research (2006-08). He is co-author of a leading casebook - Tort Law: Responsibilities and Redress (4th ed. 2016), as well as The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Torts (2010). He has also published dozens of articles and essays in scholarly journals. Goldberg has taught a broad array of first-year and upper-level courses, and has received multiple teaching prizes. An Associate Reporter for the American Law Institute's Fourth Restatement of Property, Goldberg also serves as an advisor to the Third Restatement of Torts. In addition, he is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Tort Law and Legal Theory, and in 2009 was Chair of the Torts and Compensation Systems Section of the Association of American Law Schools. After receiving his J.D. in 1991 from New York University School of Law, Goldberg clerked for Judge Jack Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York and for Supreme Court Justice Byron White. He earned his B.A. with high honors from the College of Social Studies, Wesleyan University. He also holds an M. Phil. in Politics from Oxford University and an M.A. in Politics from Princeton University. Before joining the Vanderbilt faculty, he briefly practiced law in Boston.
Job Titles:
- Alfred Smart Professor of Law
Hanson graduated from Yale Law School in 1990, clerked for Judge José A. Cabranes, spent one year as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Yale Law School, and then joined the faculty at Harvard Law School in 1992. His teaching and scholarship melds social psychology, social cognition, economics, history, and law. Hanson has received several teaching awards and is the faculty leader for 1L Section Six. Hanson's recent scholarship includes the book, Ideology, Psychology, and Law (Oxford University Press). His current projects focus on systemic injustice and the role of implicit motives in shaping policy.
Julia has been at HLS since 2016, first in ITS and now as a Financial Analyst in the Finance Office. She has been at Harvard for more than ten years, having previously worked for HUIT and HBS. She received her B.A. from Hamilton College and a graduate degree from the University of Edinburgh, both in history. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, music, traveling, and hanging out with her cat.
Job Titles:
- Director of Online Strategy
Julie Vakoc is the Director of Online Strategy in the Office of Communication and has been at HLS since 2011. She provides strategic direction in the development and management of the school's digital communications properties. Julie helped develop the project management function in the Communications Office over the last several years. She worked on the creation and development of several HLS websites, including the main HLS site, the Harvard Law Today news site, and the HLS200 site; she is currently working on a full redesign of the HLS site to launch in 2022. Julie manages the marketing and roll out for several school-wide initiatives, most recently for the new HLS shield, as well as the HLS200 Bicentennial. Prior to joining HLS, Julie worked in marketing for companies such as Apple and Visa and in event management, as the show director for the American Institute of Architects and Build Boston trade shows. Outside of HLS, Julie runs a non-profit that raises money for other, often small and local, non-profit organizations through a 5K race.
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Katie McGrath joined HLS in May 2018 as Associate Dean for Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Katie comes to us from Harvard Library and Harvard College Library, where she served as the Director of Administration and Finance beginning in April 2013. Before joining Harvard Library and Harvard College Library, Katie spent two years in the Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT) Office of Strategy and Planning as its senior project manager. Katie also brings a wealth of prior experience from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where she held numerous roles in the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, and the Public Consulting Group (PCG), where she worked as both a consultant and business analyst. Katie holds a master's degree in Public Affairs from the University of Massachusetts Boston and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Boston University.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Dean for Student Financial Services
Ken has worked at Harvard Law School since 1987 as a staff assistant, financial aid counselor, systems coordinator, Assistant Director of Financial Aid, and Director of LIPP and Summer Funding, before becoming Director of Student Financial Services in 2004. He is also an active musician and songwriter, regularly performing in the Boston area and occasionally touring. Besides music, he enjoys playing basketball, hiking and camping, books and movies, and he has served as a mentor for Boston's Year Up program and the HLS Emerging Leaders program. Ken is a graduate of Williams College.
Job Titles:
- EL Advisory Board Members
Job Titles:
- Assistant Dean
- Chief Human Resources Officer
Kevin joined HLS in October 2015 as the Assistant Dean and Chief Human Resources Officer. In this role, he oversees all strategic and operational aspects of the school's staff human resources function. Kevin works closely with the Dean, Dean for Administration, and senior management team on a wide variety of issues related to employment, compensation, diversity and inclusion, organizational design, change management, employee/labor relations, training and development, talent management and policy development. Prior to joining HLS, Kevin was the Senior Director for Administration at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, GA. He also held a number of HR management positions during his 14 years at Emory University. Before embarking on his career in human resources and academia, Kevin served in the United States Marine Corps as an air traffic control officer at the rank of Captain.
Job Titles:
- Director of Human Resources
- Associate Director of Human Resources
Kim joined Harvard Law School in May 2016 as the Associate Director of Human Resources. Kim previously served as the Assistant Director of Human Resources at the Harvard Kennedy School from 2007 through 2013. She worked at Foley & Lardner LLP, where she was the Human Resources Manager from 2013 until returning to Harvard in 2016. Before embarking on her career at Harvard, Kim held progressive human resources and administrative roles with several law firms, including Burns & Levinson LLP, Fish & Richardson P.C., and Rubin and Rudman LLP. Kim holds an MBA from the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University, and she earned her BA in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Kim holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) and a SHRM-SCP (Senior Certified Professional) certification through the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). She has also earned the Certified Professional Coach credential through the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). When she is not in the office, Kim enjoys dining out, traveling, spending time with her family and friends, and volunteering at various career day events at her alma maters, Boston Latin School (BLS) and Suffolk University. Kim lives in Dorchester, MA with her husband, and her daughter and son who both attend BLS.
Job Titles:
- Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown Law ) in "the Rage of Innocence
Kristin Henning (Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown Law) in "The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth" (2021), draws upon her 25 years in DC's juvenile courts representing young people to confront America's irrational and manufactured fears of Black youth. Co-sponsored by: The Criminal
Leah Plunkett is the inaugural Assistant Dean for Learning Experience & Technology and Meyer Research Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, where she heads the Learning Experience & Technology (LXT) team. She is also a faculty associate with the Youth & Media team at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Previously, Ms. Plunkett was an Associate Professor of Legal Skills, Associate Dean for Administration, and Director of Academic Success at University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. Ms. Plunkett is a national leader in online legal education, having served as a chief architect of the hybrid JD program in intellectual property, information, and technology law at UNH Law (the first specialized hybrid JD program in the country). Her scholarship focuses on privacy and the digital lives of kids and families. Her book, SHARENTHOOD: Why We Should Think Before We Talk About Our Kids Online (MIT Press 2019), won praise from WIRED and The New Yorker, among others.
Ms. Plunkett received her A.B., summa cum laude, in American History and Literature from Harvard College and her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she served as a board member of the Legal Aid Bureau. After graduating from law school, Ms. Plunkett clerked for the Honorable Catherine C. Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. She then received fellowship support to establish the Youth Law Project at New Hampshire Legal Assistance. Ms. Plunkett subsequently worked as a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, where she addressed such issues as the economic needs of domestic violence survivors, and was a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.
Job Titles:
- Director of Dean 's Office Events and Senior Executive Assistant to the Dean
Linda Braden (she/her/hers) joined Harvard Law School's Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) in 2014, where she currently directs all communications and data management advancements for the office and serves as a Digital Accessibility Liaison for HLS. Prior to her current position, she served as the Program Coordinator for OPIA and has also served on the Executive Board for Harvard Neighbors as President and as Committee Member. Prior to working at HLS, she worked at the University of Montana's Office of International Programs as Media Information Specialist and, before that, Study Abroad Coordinator. Linda graduated cum laude from Xavier University with a B.A. in International Affairs and graduated magna cum laude from Ohio University with an M.A. in International Studies and Latin American Studies.
Through her workshops, speeches, consulting, and publications, Nacie helps professionals & organizations craft a way forward with her unique, inside-out approach to growth. Her passion for development is rooted in her life-long interest in the power of transformative and authentic narrative. Trained as a historian, Nacie's background in research, information synthesis, and the articulation and interpretation of "truth" strongly influences her unique approach to modern development. Her book on adapting to the changing job market, The Finch Effect: The Five Strategies to Adapt and Thrive in Your Working Life (Jossey-Bass 2012), has been a best-seller on Amazon Kindle and was praised by critics and readers alike for its actionable and inspirational message.
Nefyn joined the Harvard Law School J.D. Admissions Office in 2014. Prior to working at HLS, Nefyn served as a Graduate Assistant in the Office of Admissions at Harvard Divinity School while earning an Ed.M. at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, completed a year-long service fellowship at an elementary school in Jamaica Plain, and worked in several research labs while an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia. Nefyn also serves as a resident Proctor and First-Year Adviser for the Dean of Students Office at Harvard College, a Co-Chair and Commissioner on the City of Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission, and a mentor for several professional programs and initiatives in the Boston area.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Pratike Patel has served as the Chief Information Officer of Harvard Law School since 2014 and has been in multiple roles at Harvard Law School since 2006. Currently, he works closely with senior leadership and faculty to further the school's academic mission. His expertise lies in his ability to navigate complex business challenges where technology is just one of many factors. Pratike provides leadership to a team of 55 IT professionals that are responsible for delivering services for customer support, IT infrastructure and systems, information security systems, software development and project delivery.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Professor
- HNMCP in 2013 As Its Assistant Director
Rachel A. Viscomi is a Clinical Professor at Harvard Law School and the Director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP). She runs the Harvard Dispute Systems Design Clinic, training law students to become problem-solving lawyers, while supporting clients to rethink the way they manage conflict within their organizations.
Rachel joined HNMCP in 2013 as its assistant director and a clinical instructor and became director in 2018. In her clinical work, she supervises projects related to dispute systems design, conflict assessment, facilitated dialogue, strategic negotiation advice, and curriculum design. Rachel has worked closely with students to re-envision public safety, reinvigorate public dialogue, increase access to justice, and enhance connection and accountability within organizations.
She teaches several advanced negotiation courses, including "Designing Dispute Systems for Justice," "Facilitation Workshop: Leading Challenging Conversations in Business, Politics, and the Community," and "Multiparty Negotiation, Group Decision Making and Teams." She has also taught a reading group for first-year law students for several years called "Strategies of Nonviolent Resistance." In the classroom and outside, Rachel strives to help her students engage not just with conflict in the external world, but with the internal tension this work can elicit.
Rachel has sought to increase access to facilitation and dialogue within the Harvard Law School community and beyond, training new lawyers and conflict consultants to lead through uncertainty, engaging the strong emotions, cognitive biases, and narrative intricacy that typify complex disputes. She has worked closely with the incredible Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program team to expand opportunities on campus for students interested in dispute resolution.
Viscomi's teaching and consulting work has taken her all over the globe, from Northern America to the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Central America, Africa, and beyond. She regularly presents on topics related to facilitation, mediation, dispute systems design, and negotiation.
Prior to joining HLS, Rachel was a principal in the Corporate Education Practice of Vantage Partners, a Boston-based consulting firm. Before joining Vantage, she was a civil litigator with the law firm of Bingham McCutchen, LLP, where she worked on First Amendment, contract, employment, prisoners' rights, and construction-related issues.
Rachel holds an M.A. in Italian from Middlebury College and a B.A. summa cum laude in Italian Literature from Columbia University. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Executive Education
Coyne works with faculty and an administrative team to develop leadership programs that serve law firm managing partners, emerging law firm leaders, and General Counsel from across the globe. Originally from upstate New York, Rebecca spent a year after college working and traveling abroad and then moved to Boston where she began a career in executive education. Prior to joining Harvard Law School, she spent 10 years at Harvard Kennedy School, most recently as the Executive Director of Program and Technology for Executive Education. In addition, she has worked at numerous educational institutions including Harvard Business School, The Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), and Suffolk University. Rebecca graduated from University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH with a dual degree in English and International Affairs. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, hiking, and reading.
Rebecca joined the Information Technology Services department in 2015 as and is currently working in ITS with the Business Solutions team as an Application Analyst. Forming relationships with mentors in her department played a substantial role in success in her department. And after utilizing her more than a decade of experience in customer experience to provide guidance to junior staff, she participated in the Harvard University IT mentorship program as well as the Emerging Leaders cohort of 2019-2020. Though her cohort was interrupted by the global pandemic, she is looking forward to applying what she learned to her new role on the board.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to Catherine Claypoole, Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs, and Faculty Services Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Director of HLS Executive Education
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Enterprise Infrastructure Group
- Managing Director of Enterprise Infrastructure Group
Sherif Hashem is the Managing Director of Enterprise Infrastructure Group at HLS. Sherif moved to Boston from Egypt to pursue his Masters in Information Systems at Northeastern University then proceeded to work in IT. Passionate about Higher Education, Boston was a natural fit and became his new home. He worked in Network Operations at Northeastern University then joined the team at Harvard Medical School as a Network Engineer responsible for designing high speed networks, internet traffic engineering and complex datacenters. In 2012, he crossed the Charles River to join HLS as the Manager of Network and Linux Systems working with the team behind the new HLS website, Secure File Transfer, Wired and Wireless network connectivity, VPN and Mailing Lists. When he is not at work he can be found at the Dojo practicing Judo or at the Sportsmen Club Clay Target Shooting.
Sheryl Dickey is the Attorney Advisor for the LL.M. Pro Bono Program. Sheryl graduated from American University, Washington College of Law where she served as a student clinician with the International Human Rights Law Clinic. In 2002, she joined the international law firm of White & Case LLP as a litigation associate in Manhattan. At White & Case LLP, she represented several pro bono clients on matters related to family law and social security disability benefits and participated in a 4 month firm-sponsored pro bono externship with a non-profit legal services provider. Sheryl can talk with you about your questions concerning law firm pro bono. In 2008, she joined the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic (ENRLC) at Vermont Law School as a Fellow. In this position, she supervised law students at the ENRLC while also working towards her LL.M. in Environmental Law. After her fellowship, she continued working with the ENRLC in various roles including Assistant Professor, Acting Director, and Consulting Attorney. Sheryl is happy to talk with you about clinical teaching. Sheryl is also always available to meet with LL.M. students who are interested in pro bono, clinical and/or externship opportunities or to provide J.D. students with general clinic advising.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Managing Director
- Managing Director, Climenko Fellowship Program Assistant Dean for Academic Career Advising
- Managing Director, Climenko Program Assistant Dean for Academic Career Advising
Susannah Barton Tobin is the Managing Director of the Climenko Fellowship Program and Assistant Dean for Academic Career Advising. She directs the First-Year Legal Research and Writing Program and teaches a section in the program. Susannah has been appointed the Ezra Ripley Thayer Senior Lecturer on Law at HLS.
She received her B.A. in classics, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 2000, where she was the recipient of the Newbold Rhinelander Landon Memorial Prize. She received an M.Phil. in classics from the University of Cambridge in 2001, and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2004. While in law school, she was a senior editor of the Harvard Civil-rights Civil Liberties Law Review and summered at the ACLU of Massachusetts and Ropes & Gray. She then clerked on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts for Judge Mark L. Wolf and on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for Judge Levin H. Campbell. She advised hundreds of Harvard undergraduates as a resident tutor for ten years in Leverett House, for which work the College recognized her with the Marquand Award for Exceptional Advising and Counseling. She was a recipient of the 2010 Dean's Excellence Award at Harvard Law School, and received a 2017 Teaching and Advising Award from the HLS Student Government. She serves on the board of The Harvard Crimson and on the Cambridge Historical Commission.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of IT Operations & Services
Tammie is the Managing Director of IT Operations & Services at HLS. Her functions include IT services to the HLS community, ITS Finance Administration, HR Administration and Staff Development. Tammie has been at Harvard for 15 years and in 4 different roles: HLS Director of IT Services, HBS Associate Director of IT Business Operations, HUIT Manager of Sales and Operations, and HLS Manager of Technical Support Services. Tammie describes her favorite part of her job as staff development and challenging folks to find their strengths and how to utilize them in their jobs and in life.
Job Titles:
- Policy Director at the Environmental Defense Fund