UGA law school announces appointment of new associate dean and the addition of four assistant professors

Abstract

Thursday, August 11, 2005

WRITER: Heidi Murphy, 706/542-5172, hmurphy@uga.edu CONTACT: Peter J. Spiro, 706/542-5145, spiro@uga.edu; Rebecca H. White, 706/542-7140, rhwhite@uga.edu

UGA law school announces appointment of new associate dean and the addition of four assistant professors

ATHENS, Ga. – Peter J. Spiro, the holder of the Dean and Virginia Rusk Professorship of International Law, has been named associate dean for faculty development at the University of Georgia School of Law. In addition, the school has added four new faculty members – Robert P. Bartlett III, John Neiman, Usha Rodrigues and Jason M. Solomon.

Georgia Law Dean Rebecca H. White said these changes will help to forward the academic mission of the law school. “Our new professors have impressive resumes and will strengthen our curricular offerings in the areas of torts, contracts, public law, business law and employment law. Peter’s appointment as associate dean for faculty development will benefit these new scholars as they transition into their professorial roles. He will also work closely with our communications office to heighten the awareness of faculty activities and accomplishments,” she said.

Specializing in international law, the constitutional aspects of U.S. foreign relations, and immigration and nationality law, Spiro joined the UGA law faculty in 2004 after serving in a similar teaching and administrative capacity at Hofstra University for 10 years. Previously, he was a judicial clerk to Justice David H. Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Stephen F. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has served as director for democracy on the staff of the National Security Council (a White House position), as an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser and as a resident associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In 2002, he was ranked among the top 20 legal scholars entering the field since 1992 on the basis of citation frequency. Spiro obtained his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Harvard University and his law degree from the University of Virginia, where he served as notes editor of the Virginia Law Review and on the editorial board of the Virginia Journal of International Law.

Bartlett joins Georgia Law from Fordham University, where he served as a visiting professor, and will lead courses in business and contract law. Prior to Fordham, he was a corporate associate in the Menlo Park, Calif., and Waltham, Mass., offices of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, where he specialized in venture capital and private equity partnerships as well as emerging growth company matters. Bartlett earned both his bachelor’s and law degrees magna cum laude from Harvard University, where he served as a notes editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Joining UGA from the University of Alabama where he was the Hugo Black Faculty Fellow, Neiman will instruct in the areas of torts and public law. Neiman is a former judicial clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Paul V. Niemeyer of the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He was also an associate at the Bradley Arant firm in Birmingham, Ala., where his practice included appeals before the Alabama Supreme Court and the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He received his bachelor’s degree with highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard, where he was Supreme Court chair of the Harvard Law Review.

Rodrigues will teach courses in contracts, business planning and nonprofit business associations. Prior to becoming a Georgia Law faculty member, Rodrigues was a corporate associate with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Reston, Va., where she specialized in corporate law and technology transactions. She also served as a judicial clerk to Judge Thomas L. Ambro of the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Rodrigues earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Georgetown University, her master’s degree in comparative literature summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin and her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia, where she was editor in chief of the Virginia Law Review.

Solomon comes to UGA from Harvard University, where he was chief of staff for university President Lawrence H. Summers. Solomon will head torts and employment law classes. He previously served as a judicial clerk to Judge Chester J. Straub of the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. He also worked for several years in government and politics, including as an aide in the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department under Secretary Robert E. Rubin. Solomon earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Harvard and his Juris Doctor from Columbia, where he served as notes editor of the Columbia Law Review.

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Note to editors: Photographs of these professors are available by calling 706/542-5172 and additional biographical information is available at: www.law.uga.edu/academics/profiles/index.html .

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