An Indiana University Maurer School of Law graduate is one of 84 recipients of a 2022 Equal Justice Works Fellowship from the nation’s largest facilitator of opportunities in public interest law.

Kat Grant, who graduated May 7, will spend two years working to improve the legal landscape for LGBTQIA+ people in the United States through a focused effort on advocacy based on the free exercise and establishment clauses of the First Amendment.

“As a queer person who grew up in a conservative religious community, I know first-hand how important the separation of church and state is to ensure the safety and dignity of LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities,” Grant said.

Members of the 2022 class of Equal Justice Works Fellows were selected from 385 applications. Each applicant designs a unique project in partnership with a legal service organization. The projects are funded by law firms, corporations, private foundations, and individual supporters. This year’s class includes graduates from 45 law schools across the country. Fellows will work at 76 different legal service organizations across 20 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

“We’re proud to see the Law School’s long legacy of outstanding public interest lawyers continue with Kat’s selection as an Equal Justice Works Fellow,” said Dean Austen Parrish. “Their dedication to improving the lives of those from traditionally underserved communities will have a lasting impact.”

Grant said their passion for advocacy started with their experiences as an openly queer student, reaffirming their commitment to “making the world a safer, more equitable place for all members of LGBTQIA+ communities.”

Grant will work on litigation through representation and amicus briefs as LGBTQIA+ rights cases make their way through the court system. They will also work on public educational materials, including know your rights resources and webinars, and participate in legislative advocacy efforts.

“It is an honor for Equal Justice Works to play a role in helping new public interest lawyers pursue their passion for public service and equal justice,” said Jessica Ryckman, Equal Justice Works Director of Fellowships. “We are proud to support Kat in their work to improve the legal landscape for LGBTQIA+ people in our country and we look forward to highlighting their contributions over the next two years.”

A native of Washington, Indiana, Grant earned their undergraduate degree in political science from Indiana University Bloomington. During their time at the Maurer School of Law, Grant served as co-director of the Law School’s LGBTQ+ Project, as student chair of the National Lawyer’s Guild Disability Justice Committee, as a member of the Disability Justice Committee for the Maurer Chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild, and was involved in OUTLaw, a student alliance working to promote equal rights and protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender.

Grant was honored on May 6 with the Leonard D. Fromm Public Interest Student Award, presented by the Law School’s Public Interest Law Foundation to a student who excelled at community service. Grant completed more than 250 hours of pro bono service during their time at Indiana Law.

Heather Gin was five when she announced to her mother that she would be going to law school one day. While the prospect of having an attorney in the family made her mother proud, the reality of affording a legal education was daunting. Upon hearing the news of her daughter’s intention to pursue a law degree, Nancy Gin wanted to support her daughter in every way possible. She impressed upon Heather the seriousness of her aspirations at a very young age:

“Heather, you have two good hands. Use them to help others,” she said.

Heather ran with her mother’s words. And when she earns her JD on May 7, Nancy and her husband Ming, who have worked tirelessly to support their family, will be there in person to celebrate.

“My parents grew up very poor,” Heather said. “My dad immigrated from Hong Kong when he was 14 and my mom grew up the youngest of five in downriver Detroit. She was raised by her older sister and was one of the first 13 women across the nation promoted to manager at a K-Mart store in the 1970s.”

Despite entering an American school for the first time as a freshman, Ming Gin went on to become valedictorian of Detroit’s Northern High School. Only one of two Asian students in the entire high school, Ming Gin spent his spare time working at the Golden Dragon, the family’s restaurant in the city’s Chinatown. He went on to work at General Motors in sales and marketing for 46 years and retired last spring.

Ming and Nancy started a family later in life—Heather and Nancy are separated by more than 40 years—and assisting her parents as they grow older hasn’t been a detriment for Heather.

It’s been an inspiration.

“My mother is paralyzed on her left side,” Heather said, “and my family is getting older. Through it all I’ve seen how the aging process is so inequitable and rife with fraud and abuse. Simply navigating choices such as placing a loved one into a nursing home or filling out health care directives can be an immense challenge. That’s what drew me to wills, trusts, and estate planning. Ultimately, I want to do good and help people.”

But it was the help of the Indiana Law faculty and staff that drew Heather Gin to Bloomington in the first place.

“When I walked through the doors, I felt comfortable here,” she said. “I didn’t get that feeling with other schools I visited—I felt like a number.”

And the Office of Admissions expressed a deep and authentic interest in her family and how Heather might adjust to law school. “They wanted to meet my parents and get to know them,” she said.

In fact, when the family was visiting prospective law schools, Nancy Gin couldn’t get in to any of their facilities due to her disability—they simply weren’t accessible. But the Maurer School of Law welcomed the Gins in and ensured they were able to see the place where Heather would spend the next three years.

She discovered quickly that law school is hard. But not impossible. A political science major at the University of Michigan, Gin was prepared for the rigorous academic challenges law school poses for any new student. But everyone has to adjust to their new surroundings.

“Every day of my 1L year I kept thinking to myself ‘I can’t do this,’” she said. But her self-doubt was overcome by ambition and a strong work ethic. Even the interruption of COVID-19, which forced Gin and her classmates to complete their 2L year mostly online, didn’t stop her. In fact, the experience changed her view of the world, and as she entered her 3L year, she’d gained a new level of confidence.

“I knew I’d have the backing of a world-class legal education,” she said.

With a “normal,” in-person final year, Heather Gin couldn’t have been happier. She is thankful for this community and the people within it.

“I’ve made so many incredible connections here,” she said. “I was walking home after class today and waved to five people I knew on the street. That’s what makes Maurer so special. The people here aren’t out to get you. They want to help and get to know you. The legal profession as a whole perpetuates this idea that you have to make your path at any cost. Here I’ve learned that’s simply not true. I’ve felt supported since my first day.”

Gin and her classmates have forged strong connections, having completed law school during a global pandemic.

“We help each other move. We get coffee and drinks together. We make Trader Joe’s runs up to Indianapolis,” she said. “This is a place where you can feel comfortable approaching your classmates to ask for clarification on class material or get a large group together to attend a Jukebox Luke concert at the Bluebird. That energy is special.”

Those classmates recognized Gin’s leadership abilities right away, electing her as their 1L representative to the Student Bar Association, which she became president of for her 3L year.

“I was the president of the Panhellenic Association, the biggest student organization at Michigan,” she said, “and I discovered I really like leadership. I want to make a mark on my communities and leave them better than I found them. I started as a 1L rep here with the SBA, and found it to be a great way to voice the opinions of the students to the administration and come up with a middle ground that works.”

Now, as she prepares for the next chapter in her life, Gin has already started providing advice to the next generation of students who will follow her.

“A 1L asked me for advice earlier this year, and I told him, ‘Put your blinders on. The people around you are going to say they were in the library until 4 a.m., and while that may work for some, you have to figure out what works for you. Be confident in your own abilities and the trajectory you’re on and pave the way forward for others like you.’”

Gin hopes to return to Michigan sometime in the future, possibly pursuing a run for elected office.

But her dream job?

“I want to be a Regent of the University of Michigan,” she said.

“I’m going to start small, then go big.”

Watching the afterburners of F-15s and F-16s take off from Elmendorf Air Base in southern Alaska lit a fire in Charles Westerhaus as a kindergartener. His passion for aviation led him to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, and later to the Navy’s flight school where he learned to operate the Lockheed P-3 Orion and Boeing P-8 Poseidon. Four decades later, Westerhaus is about to take off from a different runway altogether when he crosses the stage at the Indiana University Auditorium to earn his law degree.

Moving from place to place—and thus school to school—as the son of an Air Force veteran taught Westerhaus to adapt on the fly early on in life.

“Every year was different,” he said, of growing up in California, Alaska, Wisconsin, and Indiana. “But I knew early on I wanted to do two things—to fly and to go to law school one day.” When it came time to decide on a collegiate destination, the Naval Academy offered Westerhaus the best chance to pursue his dream of becoming an airman. He completed flight school and was sent to Jacksonville, Florida to become trained as a mission commander/tactical coordinator of the P-3, known primarily for its capabilities as a surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft.

The mission commander’s responsibilities include the safety of the airplane and ensuring the crew’s mission is completed. “Think ‘Goose,’” he said, referring to the Top Gun character.

His last day of flight school was on September 11, 2001.

That changed his first deployment from what he thought would be a relatively mundane deployment in Asia to a situation where a nation was suddenly in a wartime posture.

“I accumulated more than 600 hours of combat time,” Westerhaus said.

His leadership skills were quickly recognized by his peers and his commanding officers alike, and he was chosen to become an instructor for all new pilots and Navy officers. He went on to teach scores of pilots and commanders over the course of his two-decade career.

While his mother, fellow Maurer alumna Charlotte Westerhaus-Renfrow, ’92, thought her son could retire as a Naval aviator, he knew he wanted to become a lawyer. He always did.

As a child, Westerhaus would often visit one of his mother’s friends, the Hon. Norma Higgins, the first Black female judge in the state of Washington. On a road trip from Alaska to Ohio, Westerhaus’ biological father stopped in Washington so the pair could visit “Auntie Norma” as the younger Westerhaus called her. She invited him to her courtroom the next day.

“You never know those moments as a child that will stick with you,” he recalled. “But I remember walking into that courtroom as a five- or six-year-old and thinking it was inspiring. Seeing this woman who’d made us Easter dinner the day before take command of a courtroom made me realize early on I wanted to be part of this game of chess of very intricate rules.”

After his overseas deployment came to an end, Westerhaus was based again in Washington, where he’d see Higgins often. She continued to encourage him to pursue law school. And so, at the age of 41, he did.

The Law School’s former Assistant Dean of Admissions, Frank Motley, had recruited Westerhaus-Renfrow back in 1989, encouraging her and her late husband David Westerhaus—and Indiana native—to come visit. Motley even took Westerhaus to his first Indiana University basketball game, an exhibition against Athletes in Action.

In 2008, when his now-wife came out to Indiana to meet the Westerhaus family, Motley invited them down to Bloomington to see the Law School.

“As we were walking to the Indiana Memorial Union, I told my father that I’d come here and earn a law degree,” Westerhaus said. “It was a commitment I made to him before he passed away.”

Almost 15 years later, that promise will be kept when the school recognizes the Class of 2022 on May 7.

Life as an older law student can be lonely at times, Westerhaus admits, but he credits his family—his wife, three children, and yes, his mother—with providing a support system that has kept him engaged.

“I’ve been called ‘Professor’ more times than I need to hear,” he joked, “but I have a newfound appreciation for my younger peers. There’s a space of openness here that has exposed me to different ideas.”

As an Admissions Fellow, Westerhaus has been engaging with future Indiana Law students, serving as a resource for them as they navigate their path to law school. While Westerhaus will pursue a career in cybersecurity and data privacy with Faegre Drinker in Indianapolis, he knows not everyone has their journey mapped out before they start their legal education. And that’s okay, he said.

“When I have these discussions with admitted students, I always ask them if they know what kind of law they’d like to practice,” Westerhaus said. “And I applaud the ones who say they don’t know. As the son of a lawyer, I know my mom never brought her work home. I didn’t even know what kind of law she focused on. There are so many little things in law school that can change your direction.”

Westerhaus’ military background caught the attention of Dean Austen Parrish, who suggested that Indiana University’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity Risk Management program might be a perfect addition to his legal studies.

“You can read the tea leaves, and whether it’s in the military world or in the media, you can easily see that cybersecurity and privacy are going to continue being areas of strong growth in the years ahead,” he said. “When I was interviewing for jobs, the dual-degree would always stand out. When I was in the Navy, we were taught two things: Always have options and always try to be in an area of growth. The dual-degree is going to help me get in on the ground floor of a fast-moving field.”

As he wraps up his Law School career, Westerhaus has some advice for the next generation of law students.

“Let the fields of law find you,” he said. “Let the spontaneity of finding something that grabs your interest lead you in the direction you want. And enjoy every passing moment. They fly by.”

Christiana Ochoa, executive associate dean at Indiana University Bloomington’s Maurer School of Law, has been named interim dean starting July 1. Ochoa is the Class of 1950 Herman B Wells Endowed Professor at the Maurer School of Law and serves as the founding academic director for the IU Mexico Gateway, IU’s office in Latin America. She is the first Latina to hold a decanal title at the Law School.

“Professor Christiana Ochoa comes highly recommended by her colleagues and I am grateful that she has agreed to serve as interim dean of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Rahul Shrivastav. “Her experiences as a human rights attorney, corporate attorney, founding center director, professor, and academic leader have prepared her for the complexities of this role.”

In addition to her current administrative roles, Ochoa has served as associate vice provost for faculty and academic affairs for the IU Bloomington campus (2014-2017), as associate dean for research and academic affairs (2017-2019) at the Law School, and as a founding associate director of IU’s Center for Documentary Research and Practice (2015-present).

Ochoa’s scholarly and teaching contributions have been significant. Her theoretical and empirical research contributes to the fields of business and human rights, law and development, international finance, and foreign direct investment. She has taught Contracts, International Law, International Business Transactions, Human Rights, and Law and Development, and her scholarship in these areas has been published in the nation’s top law journals. In 2014 she directed a documentary film, Otra Cosa No Hay. She has also served in national leadership roles with the American Society of International Law and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), including serving as chair of the AALS Section on International Law and chair of the AALS Section on International Human Rights Law.

Prior to entering academia, Ochoa worked several years with the multinational law firm Clifford Chance in its London and New York offices. She holds B.A. degrees (in History and American Culture) from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

“I am honored to be asked to serve as interim dean for the Maurer School of Law,” Ochoa said. “We have an extraordinary faculty, dedicated and gifted staff, and tremendously engaged students and alumni. I look forward to working with all in the community to continue to advance the Law School’s mission in this interim period.”

After more than eight years in the role, Dean Austen Parrish announced on April 7 that he is stepping down from the deanship to take on the same position with the University of California, Irvine School of Law.

“Christy will be an excellent leader for the Maurer School of Law as the university launches a search for our new dean,” Parrish said. “Her appointment by Provost Shrivastav was supported by the unanimous recommendation of our elected Policy Committee, the school’s Board of Visitors, and our senior staff leaders. Christy is widely admired by our colleagues here and has played a key role in shaping the school’s strategic vision. I can’t imagine the Law School being in better hands.”

Shrivastav thanked Parrish for his leadership of the school since 2014.

“Dean Parrish’s successful eight-year tenure at Maurer has positioned the school for even greater success,” he said. “He has forged partnerships with nearly 30 external institutions to increase diversity among the student body; led a $60 million capital campaign; and expanded the school’s interdisciplinary degree programs, to name just a few of his many accomplishments.”

As Ochoa steps into the interim dean role, she will be supported by a talented senior leadership team. Professor Donna Nagy will step back into the interim Executive Associate Dean role (a position she held with distinction from 2013-2019 and again in 2020-21). Professors Deborah Widiss and Ryan Scott will remain as Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Affairs and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, respectively.

Brian Hills, a 2L at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, has been named the winner of a 2021-22 IAPP Westin Scholar Award.

With the growing need for well-qualified privacy and data protection professionals, the annual Westin Scholar Awards were created by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) to support students who are identified as future leaders in the field of privacy and data protection. The Law School presented the inaugural award to Charles Westerhaus, ’22, last year.

Hills, who is also pursuing a graduate certificate in information privacy and law, will receive this year’s award in recognition of his achievements and potential in information privacy law.

“Brian is a 2L who has demonstrated excellence and great potential in information privacy law,” said Joseph A. Tomain, Lecturer in Law. “Having taught Brian in multiple Information Privacy Law courses, he is an excellent recipient of this prestigious award offered by the IAPP.”

Hills earned the Book Award in Information Privacy Law I and will be the president of the Law School’s Cybersecurity and Information Privacy Law Association in 2022-23.

“The industry of privacy is fast growing and constantly evolving. We created this award as a way to put the privacy profession at the forefront of students’ minds as they explore potential career opportunities,” said IAPP President and CEO J. Trevor Hughes. “Congratulations to Brian Hills. We look forward to seeing the good work you will bring to the field of privacy”.

As part of the award, Hills will receive $1,000, a two-year membership with the IAPP, three complimentary exams for IAPP certifications, unlimited access to online training for those exams, and a copy of Dr. Alan Westin’s Privacy and Freedom.

“I am grateful and honored to receive the 2021-2022 IAPP Westin Scholar Award from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law,” Hills said. “I’d like to thank the Maurer faculty who sparked my interest in information privacy law, particularly Professor Tomain. The Law School’s various course offerings and certificate programs in information privacy law, cybersecurity, and law and technology are excellent. Thanks to the Law School and the IAPP, I will have a strong foundation in this fascinating, evolving and rapidly growing legal field.”

Hill plans to obtain CIPP/US certification through the IAPP during his 3L year, and hopes to pursue a career in information privacy law after graduating in 2023.

“The Law School is honored to participated in the IAPP’s Westin Scholar Award program,” Tomain said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with the IAPP and helping students interested in information privacy law develop the necessary skills to help advance this rapidly developing area of law.”

About the Westin Scholar Award

The Westin Scholar Awards pay homage to the late Dr. Alan Westin, a foundational voice in the field of privacy and data protection. Throughout his life, Dr. Westin researched and wrote about privacy, data protection, digital identity and the future of how societies will deal with issues at the intersection of law and technology. He is the namesake for the IAPP Westin Research Center and Fellowship Program, which was founded in 2013 and serves as a pathway for future leaders in the community. Read more about the Westin Scholar Award and find participating schools and past winners.

For some law schools, COVID-19 put a pause on hiring and other plans, but the Maurer School of Law has bolstered its faculty ranks since the start of the pandemic. The University of Chicago Law School’s Aneil Kovvali was announced last week (April 15) as Indiana Law’s most recent faculty hire, bringing to eight the total number of exceptional scholars and teachers who have joined the Law School over the past two years.

“The Law School is known for attracting the best and brightest to Bloomington. Its faculty is filled with leading interdisciplinary scholars, who care deeply about student learning and the student experience, while doing much to serve the public in different ways,” said Dean Austen Parrish. “The best law schools carefully weave together their teaching, research, and service missions, and the Maurer School of Law does that exceptionally well. By doing so, the school prepares the next generation of lawyers and leaders, who will make a difference in a rapidly globalizing legal profession.”

“Our latest hires build on our already impressive roster of exceptional faculty,” said Parrish, “and further underscores the school’s deep commitment to our innovative and uniquely well-rounded approach to legal education.” Noting that two of our new hires have already received teaching awards after just their first year teaching, and have already published influential books and articles garnering national attention, he added: “We have some of the most talented law faculty in the United States, and I’m proud that the law school continues this tradition of excellence.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Law School has added, or will add to its faculty:

Aneil Kovvali (Fall 2022): Professor Kovvali and his family will move to Bloomington this summer, where he will teach corporate and business law courses for the Law School. Professor Aniel Kovvali joins the law school from the University of Chicago School of Law, where he most recently served as a Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law. Prior to serving as a Bigelow Fellow, Prof. Kovvali was a litigation associate at some of the nation’s most prestigious law firms, including Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and Sullivan & Cromwell. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Christopher F. Droney of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Prof. Kovvali received his JD, master’s (statistics), and undergraduate degrees from Harvard. Prof. Kovvali’s most recent work on corporate governance is forthcoming in the Columbia, Cornell, and Minnesota law reviews.

Kellye Testy (Spring 2022): In spring 2022, the school celebrated a bit of a homecoming as Kellye Testy returned to the Law School as a distinguished visiting professor of law, teaching Corporations Law. Since 2017, Prof. Testy has served as president and chief executive officer of the Law School Admission Council. A national leader, Prof. Testy previously served as the 14^th and first woman dean at the University of Washington School of Law, and previously the first woman dean at Seattle University’s School of Law. A prolific scholar, outstanding teacher, and experienced administrator, Testy focuses her research and scholarship on contracts, corporate governance, business entities, leadership, and access to justice. Named the nation’s second most influential leader in legal education in 2017 by the National Jurist, Prof., Testy served as the president of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) in 2016. Prof. Testy graduated summa cum laude from the Maurer School of Law in 1991, where she was editor-in-chief of the Indiana Law Journal, John H. Edwards University Fellow, Chancellor’s Scholar, and member of the Order of the Coif. After graduation, she clerked for Judge Jesse E. Eschbach, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

India Thusi (Fall 2021): Holding a joint appointment with the Kinsey Institute, where she serves as a senior scientist, Prof. Thusi is one of the nation’s leading experts on racial and sexual hierarchies as they relate to policing, race, and gender, as well as criminal law and criminal procedure. Having joined the Law School this past fall, her most recent book—Policing Bodies Law, Sex Work, and Desire in Johannesburg (Stanford University Press)—was released this past December to much acclaim. Her work is inextricably connected to her previous legal experience at organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and The Opportunity Agenda. Prior to joining academia, she clerked for Judge Robert L. Carter, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; Judge Damon J. Keith, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; and Justice van der Westhuizen at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the country’s highest court. Among other acknowledgements, Prof. Thusi was selected as a Fulbright U.S. Global Scholar for 2020-2023. Her paper “Reality Porn” was selected for the 2020 Stanford/Harvard/Yale Junior Faculty Forum, and she was recognized as a Top 40 Rising Young Lawyer by the American Bar Association in 2019.

João Marinotti (Fall 2021): Building on the Law School’s growing expertise in law and technology, Prof. Marinotti joined the Law School in fall 2021,  while serving as affiliated fellow at the Yale Law School Information Society Project, and an affiliate at Indiana Law’s Center for Intellectual Property Research. Prof. Marinotti conducts research in the areas of law and technology, law and linguistics, property law, and private law theory. He came to Maurer from the Yale Law School Information Society Project and Harvard Law School’s Project on the Foundations of Private Law. Prof. Marinotti received a J.D. from Harvard Law School (cum laude), an M.Phil. and an M.A. in linguistics from the City University of New York, an M.Sc. in cognitive science from the University of Edinburgh (with distinction), and a B.A. in linguistics from Columbia University (magna cum laude). Prof. Marinotti has recently organized the Workshop on Private Law and Emerging Technology (2021), co-sponsored by the Yale Law School Information Society Project, Harvard’s Project on the Foundations of Private Law, and Yale’s Center for Private Law. He also established the Caselaw Visualization Blog, promoting digitization of legal resources and open access to law and legal data for public analysis and data visualization. His most recent work, Possessing Intangibles, was just published by the Northwestern University Law Review.

Lane McFadden (Fall 2021): Prof. McFadden joined the Law School after more than 16 years of experience as an appellate and environmental attorney, working with the United States Department of Justice. Over his career, he served as lead counsel for the United States in approximately 75 matters and presented more than 40 oral arguments to federal courts of appeal around the country. Prior to joining the federal government, he clerked for Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge Loren A. Smith on the United States Court of Federal Claims. Prof. McFadden teaches in the school’s legal research and writing program, has overseen many of the school’s external moot court competition teams, and next year will take over advising the Sherman Minton Moot Court Advocacy Program. He received his BA from University of South Carolina Honors College and his JD from New York University School of Law (cum laude). Prof. McFadden was recognized with an IU Trustee Teaching Award for excellence in classroom instruction in spring 2022.

Nicholas Almendares (Fall 2020): Prof. Almendares joined the Law School from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was program director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy. He previously taught at the Seton Hall University School of Law and Tulane University Law School and clerked for Judge Janis Graham Jack in the Southern District of Texas. His research focuses on accountability and democracy across areas of law, such as class actions, separation of powers, collective responsibility, and campaign financing. His work takes an interdisciplinary approach, often drawing upon economics, social science, and philosophy. He holds a BA from Amherst College, and his JD from New York University School of Law, where he was a Dwight D. Opperman Scholar. He also earned his PhD in politics from New York University, with specialties in political economy and political theory. He is currently teaching not only in the Law School but also in the Law School’s unique collaborative Bachelor of Science in Law and Public Policy Degree program with the top-ranked O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs—believed to be the only program of its kind in the United States. His most recent work will soon appear in the Washington University Law Review.

Asaf Lubin (Fall 2020): Building on Indiana University’s preeminence in the area of cybersecurity, Prof. Lubin is not only a member of our faculty, but also a fellow at IU’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research (CACR). He is additionally an affiliated fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project, a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and a visiting scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Federmann Cyber Security Research Center. Prof. Lubin’s research centers around the intersection of law and technology, particularly as it relates to the regulation of cybersecurity harms, liabilities, and insurance as well as policy design around governmental and corporate surveillance, data protection, and internet governance. His work draws on his experiences as a former intelligence analyst with the IDF Intelligence Branch as well as his vast practical training and expertise in national security law and foreign policy. Prof. Lubin holds a dual degree in law and international relations (LLB/BA, magna cum laude) from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Master of Laws and a Doctor of the Science of Law degrees from Yale Law School. He additionally attended The Hague Academy of International Law and interned for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In January 2022, he was named the winner of the prestigious 2022 Richard R. Baxter Military Writing Prize and was awarded Indiana University’s Trustee Teaching Award for excellence in classroom instruction in March.

Susan deMaine (Fall 2020): Great law schools have great libraries, and the Jerome Hall Law Library is the among the nation’s very best. Consistently ranked one of the top law libraries in the nation, it requires an exceptional director, which the Law School found in Prof. deMaine. A recognized leader, Prof. DeMaine is active at the university, state, and national levels. In 2016, she received the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Emerging Leader award, and, in 2017, was appointed as a member of AALL’s Body of Knowledge Development Special Committee and chair of AALL’s Digital Access to Legal Information Committee. In 2018, she was selected to serve as co-editor and -manager of book reviews for Law Library Journal. In 2019, she won a national election to serve on the executive board of AALL. Before joining the Law School, Prof. deMaine served as the assistant director of the Ruth Lilly Law Library at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, and before that clerked for the late Hon. David A. Nelson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Excellence in hiring continues. Next year, the Law School hopes to fill the Juanita Kidd Stout Professorship—the first endowed professorship at Indiana University named after a woman of color–with a talented lateral scholar with criminal law and criminal procedure expertise.

Laura Fonseca, director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Maurer School of Law, has been selected to receive the Latino Faculty and Staff Council (LFSC) Distinguished Staff Award later this month at a ceremony in the Indiana Memorial Union.

The award recognizes important contributions by Indiana University undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff members whose efforts have contributed to a positive campus environment in tandem with helping support the retention of Latinos at the university. It will be presented on April 29 at the LFSC’s end-of-year recognition ceremony.

Students throughout the school praised Fonseca’s abilities to make a diverse community feel united.

“During my two years at the Maurer School of Law, Laura has demonstrated outstanding character, capacity, and commitment to students of color,” said Samantha Espada, president of the school’s Latinx Law Student Association. “As director of DEI, Laura has established institutional mechanisms to support LLSA and all students of color this year, and will for years to come.”

Fonseca joined the Law School’s School’s Career Service Office in 2018, making it a welcoming hub for all students. In July 2021 she was appointed the school’s first director of diversity, equity, and inclusion, creating a DEI Board for students, providing student input into the school’s DEI efforts, and a forum for students to connect and provide support for each other. Fonseca has also led a number of trainings and programming initiatives on allyship, which one student described as “an incredibly meaningful experience to me.”

“Laura has done a tremendous job in such a short period of time as our DEI director,” said Dean Austen Parrish. “She’s developed deep connections with our students and alumni and has worked hard to ensure the Law School is a welcoming and inclusive place for all. We’re proud to see her win this prestigious honor.”

One student recalled experiencing a panic attack in the middle of class during the fall semester.

“The first person I thought to reach out to was Laura,” the student said. “I sent her an email and she was willing to make time and space just to listen to me for a few minutes and do what she could to help me feel heard and supported… Laura is truly a gift to Maurer and Maurer is better because of her efforts to support students and increase DEI efforts within the Law School.”

The Indiana University Maurer School of Law will add to its faculty ranks this fall with the arrival of corporate law and governance Professor Aneil Kovvali.

Kovvali, currently a Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School, will bolster a nationally recognized business and corporate law program in Bloomington.

“It’s an amazing intellectual community,” Kovvali said of his decision to join Indiana Law. “The faculty includes leading experts in a broad range of important fields, and it’s also a faculty that is willing and eager to try unconventional approaches and consider new ideas.”

Kovvali graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2012, going on to clerk for Judge Christopher F. Droney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He served as a litigation associate with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz from 2014 to 2020 before joining the University of Chicago Law School.

“We’re excited to welcome Aneil and his family to the Law School this summer,” said Dean Austen Parrish. “He’s a fast-rising superstar in the area of business and corporate law.”

Having taught the last two years at the University of Chicago and with published or forthcoming pieces in journals including the Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, North Carolina Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, and University of Chicago Law Review, Kovvali comes to the Law School with significant scholarly and teaching credentials.

“Aneil is exactly the type of dedicated and thoughtful scholar, who cares deeply about the community and his students, that we look for to join the Law School. He’s a fabulous addition to our innovative scholarly community,” Dean Parrish said.

Kovvali will teach corporations and corporate finance in the 2022-2023 academic year, and he said he’s eager to begin working with Maurer students.

“There’s a wonderful dynamic between students and professors at Maurer,” he said. “Legal education works best when it’s a two-way street. You need students who are passionate about learning and developing, and you need professors invested in helping students grow. That dynamic doesn’t just happen automatically, but it’s clear that students and faculty at Maurer have it, and continue to work at it.”

Kovvali said he’s also looking forward to exploring the many cultural amenities of Bloomington when he and his family arrive over the summer.

After more than eight years at the helm, the Indiana University Maurer School of Law’s Austen Parrish announced today (April 7) that he is stepping down from the deanship to take on the same position with the University of California, Irvine School of Law.

He will take on his new role beginning August 3.

Parrish, one of the longer-tenured deans in the history of the Law School, will leave a legacy in Bloomington.

“The Maurer community has been nothing short of amazing since my family and I first moved to Bloomington,” Parrish said. “I want to thank all of the faculty, staff, alumni, and most importantly our students, for their incredible support over the past eight years. While I’m sad to be leaving Indiana, I know the Law School is well positioned for continued success.”

Indiana University Provost and Executive Vice President Rahul Shrivastav agreed.

“During his successful eight-year tenure as dean, Austen has overseen tremendous growth and change that have elevated the reputation of the IU Maurer School as one of the nation’s leading public law schools and prepared Maurer graduates for rewarding and consequential careers in their chosen fields,” Shrivastav said. “In my first few months here, Austen has been a key campus leader and partner to me. I will miss his counsel, but I know that he leaves behind a legacy of success at the Maurer School and throughout IU Bloomington.”

Shrivastav said he will appoint an interim dean promptly, in consultation with the school’s faculty policy committee.

Since joining the Law School in January 2014, Parrish has led a period of remarkable success, including the completion of a $60 million capital campaign, the development and implementation of a visionary strategic plan, the launch of a number of new clinics and public interest programs, and the expansion of the school’s interdisciplinary degree programs. That success was all the more meaningful as he began the deanship in the wake of the Great Recession and ended it after helping steer the school through a global pandemic.

In collaboration with the school’s admissions office, Parrish built new recruiting partnerships with more than two-dozen colleges and universities, including women’s, HBCUs and Hispanic-serving institutions, and engineering schools to attract a more diverse student body. The Law School remains the only school in the nation with a formal scholarship partnership with the U.S. Army JAG Corps and is believed to be the only school with a partnership with the Asian Pacific Islander Scholarship Fund. Long globally focused, the Law School became the only U.S. law school to partner with Fulbright UK and Fulbright Hungary and was one of a small number of schools in the U.S. to partner with Fulbright Ireland and Fulbright Mexico.

In 2019, under Parrish’s leadership, the Law School received a sizeable gift from an anonymous alumnus. Combined with leadership gifts from former Deans Lauren Robel and Alfred Aman, Parrish, and many other faculty and staff, the school established an endowed professorship in honor of an alumna – Juanita Kidd Stout – who was the first African American woman to serve on a state supreme court in the United States. It was the first named professorship in the history of Indiana University to honor an African American woman and the first in the Law School’s history to be named after a woman of color.

Alumni generosity was a hallmark of the deanship. During Parrish’s tenure as dean, seven new professorships and chairs were established, including the first-ever endowed clinical chair. The Delaney Moot Court Room, the Fromm Office of Student Affairs, the Jerome Hall Law Library, and the Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession were all named. In 2015, the main building of the Law School was named in honor of Lowell E. Baier, ’64. Soon after the naming, facilities began to be renovated and updated, with new technology in the classrooms, new wood floors, new carpets, new furniture, and a new elevator, and the school expanded into Henderson House to provide greater space for its growing research centers. To further alumni engagement, the school established the Global Advisory Board, the Young Alumni Steering Committee, and the Family Office Advisory Board. Parrish engaged with students too, creating the Dean’s Student Advisory Council, to provide monthly input into the school’s direction.

“I’ve been one of those rare deans who has received simply tremendous support. Not only have alumni, faculty, staff, and students been unfaltering in their support, the Law School has been gifted with an extraordinary group of senior leaders who wake up every day committed to advancing the school’s mission. It has made all the difference,” said Parrish. “Long-serving Executive Associate Dean Donna Nagy and now Executive Associate Dean Christiana Ochoa are both truly remarkable and have been exceptional partners and collaborators. I am grateful for all they have done for the school. I couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated or hard-working senior leadership team.”

Working together, faculty and staff took the school to new heights as one of the most innovative and forward-thinking law schools. The Law School expanded and launched one-of-a-kind collaborative degrees with other schools, including a BS in Law and Public Policy with the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, a BA in International Law and Institutions with the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and an MS in Cybersecurity Risk Management with the Kelley School of Business and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. The school established partnerships and courses with the Hutton Honors Program and began a 3+3 program with the Wells Scholars Program. For graduate degree students, the school launched LLM specializations, a new two-year LLM with English program, and a Learning and Working Program to expand experiential opportunities. The first students in the PhD in Law and Democracy program graduated. Dozens of new joint degree programs were established with schools around the world.

The number of programs designed to expand the student experience created by faculty and the school’s centers have been dizzying in number. A sampling of the more unique programs include the Bradley Fellows in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, the Dean’s Writing Fellows, the Access to Justice Fellows, the CCD Fellows, the Public Service Program, and the Law and Technology Program. Some, like the Family Office Program, are the only one of their kind at a law school in the United States. New offerings implemented in recent years included the expansion of the Stewart Overseas Fellows Program, the creation of the Wintersession program, and the launch of two new student-run journals – IP Theory and Constitutional Design. New summer externship programs were created in Washington D.C., Miami, and New York, to complement the school’s long-running Semester in DC Program, and the Law School was a founding member school of the Institute for the Future of Law Practice.

Giving back to the community, partnering with local non-profits, and serving the state has been important too. The school cemented and expanded its relationship with the Conservation Law Center; launched its new Intellectual Property clinic; restarted its NonProfit Organizations clinic and Tenant Assistance Project; and created the Expungement Help Desk Project, the Wills Assistance Project, the Habeas Litigation Practicum, the PatentConnect Program, and the Rural Justice Initiative. Students began receiving recognition at graduation for their pro bono service, and together with the school’s Access to Justice Program, the school expanded the annual awards recognition for students performing pro bono service. Several years ago, Parrish directed an almost $1 million endowment gift to support students working in unpaid summer public service jobs with summer funding.

Students thrived. Student debt levels dropped each year over a five-year period. Early in the deanship, Parrish froze tuition, which guaranteed students flat tuition during their law school careers. The Back Home Again program created scholarships to provide in-state tuition rate for those who grew up in Indiana but lost residency. The same success occurred with Career Services. Thanks to efforts by the hard-working staff, the school reached record high levels of employment this year. The school’s innovative Legal Profession I course and a three-track approach to its Legal Profession II course remains a model for schools. The Jerome Hall Law Library dramatically grew its programming, and the Office of Student Affairs expanded the programming provided students, with new staff and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Student quality was a top priority.

In his time as dean, Parrish nurtured and promoted faculty excellence.

“One of the things I am most proud of is the talented faculty who have joined the Maurer School of Law during my tenure,” said Parrish. While gifted new scholars and teachers joined the Law School’s ranks, more senior faculty reached new heights. A number of faculty were inducted in the American Law Institute over the past eight years, two faculty were appointed prestigious Herman B. Wells Professors, one faculty member was named a University Distinguished Professor, another won the IU Outstanding Junior Faculty Award (the first time since 1992), two faculty participated in Princeton’s prestigious Program in Law and Public Affairs fellowships, and several more received prestigious Fulbright awards.

“There’s something special about being on Indiana University’s flagship Bloomington campus as one of the nation’s leading research universities, and the Law School’s faculty are part of that tradition as truly exceptional interdisciplinary scholars,” Parrish added.

Outside of administration, Parrish was an active scholar and teacher. An expert in transnational law and litigation, he continued publishing in leading law journals and teaching a variety of courses. He usually taught every year during the deanship, and three times taught seminars in in IU’s prestigious Wells Scholars program, where he was twice named a Wells Scholars Professor. He was also deeply involved in legal education at a national level, and one of a very small number of deans nationwide to be so active.

He has served on the board of AccessLex Institute, as well as on the Executive Committee, the Deans Steering Committee, and the Membership Review Committee (which he chaired) for the Association of American Law School. In 2019, he was elected into the American Law Institute. That same year the Indiana Supreme Court appointed him to the Study Commission on the Future of the Indiana Bar Examination. He often hosted the Law School Deans Group of the Big 10 Academic Alliance, and in 2020 he organized and hosted the Big 10 Law Deans Speaker Series on Race, Law, and Equality.

Parrish’s enthusiasm and pride for the school and its 180-year history was unprecedented. Rare was the day, or even hour, when he wasn’t sharing news from the school to one of his many social media accounts—accounts that he himself managed. And it was nearly impossible to visit the Starbucks on Indiana Avenue without running into Parrish at some point in the day. When addressing admitted students every spring, he offered—and stayed true to his word—to buy a cup of coffee for any student when they joined the school.

It was an offer frequently accepted by members of the Maurer community.

Parrish’s last day at the Law School will be in early July.

Maurer School of Law Professor Donna Nagy will testify before the U.S. Congress Committee on House Administration tomorrow, April 7, in Washington, D.C.

The hearing, “Examining Stock Trading Reforms for Congress,” begins at 9:10 a.m. in the Longworth House Office Building and will be simultaneously livestreamed here.

Nagy, the C. Ben Dutton Professor of Business Law and an internationally recognized expert in securities litigation and the law of insider trading, will be sharing her research about government ethics and financial conflicts of interest. She will be testifying on her own behalf in support of federal legislation that would prohibit members of Congress from owning the securities of individual publicly traded companies as well as certain other investments that would likely conflict with their official duties.

It was nearly 10 years ago to the day when President Barack Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, requiring enhanced financial disclosures and creating new securities transaction reporting rules for members of Congress, certain members of their family, and their staff.  The Act also made absolutely clear that a member of Congress who trades securities based on material nonpublic government information would be violating the federal securities law’s insider trading prohibition. Nagy testified in both the House and Senate hearings that preceded the STOCK Act’s passage, but she believed then, as she does now, that it did not go far enough in preventing lawmakers from profiting off their congressional service.

Nagy’s scholarship in the areas of securities litigation and insider trading has been widely cited. She is the co-author of Ferrara on Insider Trading and The Wall and the forthcoming fifth edition of Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and Compliance: Cases and Materials as well as the author of more than 20 published law review articles and book chapters.

In addition to Nagy, the Committee will hear testimony from Liz Hempowicz, director of public policy for the Project on Government Oversight; Jennifer J. Schulp, director of financial regulation studies at the CATO Institute; Donald Sherman, senior vice president and chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; and Jacob Straus, a specialist on Congress for the Congressional Research Service.