Faculty

Our program will be led by accomplished faculty who are committed to helping their students develop practice-related competencies for the real world of practice.

Peter C. Alexander
Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Visiting Professor

Peter Alexander is the Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and a Visiting Professor at UNT Dallas College of Law. He recently served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. He is the former Dean of Southern Illinois University School of Law and the Founding Dean of Indiana Tech Law School in Fort Wayne.
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Alexander earned his J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Following law school, he clerked for the Hon. Harold A. Baker, U.S. District Judge for the Central District of Illinois and for the Hon. Larry L. Lessen, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of Illinois.

Prior to his deanships, Alexander was a faculty member at The Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University. He has taught in the areas of Bankruptcy Law, Criminal Law, Ethics, Evidence, Legal Writing, and Trial Practice. He began law school teaching in 1992 and has taught continuously except for one year during that time.

Prior to becoming a law professor, Alexander was in private practice for seven years where he focused on bankruptcy, real estate transactions, and civil and criminal litigation in federal court.

Alexander is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and he is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.

Alexander is the author of two monographs on bankruptcy topics and more than a dozen law review articles. In 2014, he co-authored a book with his father, entitled "It Takes a Village: The Integration of the Hillburn School System," which was published by Page Publishing. He has completed a manuscript that will be published in the near future as a book entitled "Insufficient Funds: The Financial Life of Frank Lloyd Wright." He is regular CLE presenter, leading programs on Bankruptcy, Legal Education, and Trial Skills.

Jonathan Bridges
Assistant Professor of Law

Jonathan Bridges joined the faculty of UNT Dallas College of Law as an Assistant Professor of Law in 2015. He left a partnership at premier litigation boutique Susman Godfrey LLP to join the College of Law. Professor Bridges teaches Property and varioius other courses, including subjects related to trial practice and advanced legal writing.
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Before attending law school, Professor Bridges spent five years teaching English to high school students and also completed a master’s degree in English. He then attended Notre Dame Law School, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Notre Dame Law Review and graduated magna cum laude.

After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Thomas M. Reavley of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. During 14 years of practicing law at Susman Godfrey, Professor Bridges handled high-stakes commercial litigation, including cases involving real estate, oil and gas interests, coal mining, power plants, zoning, eminent domain, patents, copyrights, and movie theater chains.

Respected legal writing expert Brian Garner, in his book The Winning Brief (3rd ed. 2014), features a brief authored by Professor Bridges and introduces it with these comments: “How good is this brief? Let’s just say that many experienced appellate lawyers have told me they consider it to be the best they’ve ever seen: a beautiful marriage of rhetorical skill, thorough research, and humane lawyering.”

Stewart Caton
Law Librarian - Reference

Stewart Caton is a Law Librarian - Reference at UNT Dallas College of Law. Caton teaches legal research, and he provides reference assistance to students and faculty at the College of Law.
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Caton joins the College of Law from the University of Washington, where he was an intern in the law librarianship program. Prior to his internship, Caton worked at the Stanislaus County Law Library in California from 2012-2014. Caton received his Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of Washington, his J.D. from the University of Oregon, and his B.A. from California State University Stanislaus. He was selected as a 2018 Fellow in the American Association of Law Libraries Leadership Academy.

Caton began his law library career while a law student employed at the University of Oregon - John E. Jaqua Law Library. Soon after graduating, he began working at the Stanislaus County Law Library in his hometown of Modesto, CA, where he assisted judges, attorneys, and self-represented litigants. After spending two years at the County Law Library, he then completed a one-year internship at the highly regarded law librarianship program at the University of Washington, where, in addition to furthering his education, he provided reference assistance to the general public, students, and faculty. Caton spent an additional month interning at the University of California Berkeley Law Library, providing reference assistance and working on their digital scholarship repository. As the culminating project for his internship, he authored “Perspectives: Changes in Reference Assistance and Collection Development in the Digital Age” (forthcoming Legal Reference Services Quarterly).

Caton is a member of the American Association of Law Libraries, the Dallas Association of Law Librarians, where he recently began serving as the archivist, and the Southwestern Association of Law Libraries. His past memberships include the Law Librarians of Puget Sound and the Council of California County Law Librarians.

Everett D. Chambers
Assistant Dean of Pedagogy
Assistant Professor of Law 

Professor Everett Chambers is an Assistant Professor of Law effective fall 2016, teaching Family Law topics, Legal Methods, and Legal Analysis for the Texas Bar III. He became Assistant Dean of Pedagogy in fall 2017. Professor Chambers received his undergraduate degree from the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, and his J.D. from Texas Wesleyan School of Law.  
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Matt Crockett
Assistant Professor of Law

Professor Matt Crockett is an Assistant Professor of Law, teaching Contracts, Commercial Law, and other business courses. Professor Crockett graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of New Orleans in 2004, where he played baseball, and he graduated magna cum laude with aa J.D. from California Western School of Law in 2007. In law school, Professor Crockett served on the law review and as a judicial extern for Federal Judge Roger Benitez in San Diego and for Federal Judge Jerry Buchmeyer in Dallas.
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Angela Downes
Assistant Director of Experiential Education
Professor of Practice

Angela Downes joins UNT Dallas College of Law as Professor of Practice and Assistant Director of Experiential Education beginning with the 2015-2016 academic year. She is a graduate of Mercer University and Texas A&M School of Law (formerly Texas Wesleyan School of Law).
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Professor Downes’ law career has focus on public service, policy, and legislative efforts to protect the public trust. After positions with the Collin and Dallas counties’ District Attorney’s offices, Professor Downes served as the Attorney for Court Programs at the national office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the largest nonprofit dedicated to drunk driving and impaired driving issues. She is a former Senior Attorney at the National District Attorneys Association in Alexandria, Virginia, where she focused on child abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking, victims’ rights, and elder abuse.

She has provided training, policy expertise and technical assistance to non-profit agencies on the interpersonal violence issues of child abuse, child protection, domestic violence, human trafficking, and elder abuse. She is a recognized subject matter expert on interpersonal violence issues.

In 2008, Professor Downes was appointed by the governor to serve on the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists and was re-appointed in 2013. The Board is the regulatory and licensing agency for psychologists in the state. She also served as a member of the Texas Violent Gang Taskforce from 2001-2004. Professor Downes also serves as an associate municipal judge for the City of Glenn Heights, Texas.

Bailey S. Eagin
Law Librarian - Reference

Bailey S. Eagin is a Reference Law Librarian at UNT Dallas College of Law, where she teaches Legal Research and provides reference assistance to students and faculty at the College of Law. Eagin is a Kentucky native and joined the College of Law from the University of Kentucky, where she received her Master’s in Library Science, and interned for the UK College of Law Library.
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Additionally, Eagin received her J.D. from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and her B.S. in Political Science from Campbellsville University. During her time at the University of Louisville, she worked as a Legal Research Fellow and student assistant for the law library and served as Notes Editor for the Journal of Animal and Environmental Law. Eagin is a member of the American Association of Law Libraries and is a previous member of the Ohio Regional Association of Law Libraries.

Laura A. Frase
Assistant Professor of Law

Laura A. Frase is Assistant Professor of Law as of fall 2018 at UNT Dallas College of Law, teaching Practice Foundation 1: Interviewing and Counseling, and Practice Foundation II: Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. She also teaches Dispute Resolution on the topic of decision-making. Beginning in the 2019-2020 academic year, Frase will direct the law school’s Advocacy program, including student competitions around the country. Prior to joining the faculty full time, she was an Adjunct Professor at UNT Dallas College of Law, teaching negotiation.
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Prof. Frase earned her undergraduate degree from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee majoring in International Relations. She earned her J.D. from St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio Texas, where she served as an Associate Editor of St. Mary’s Law Review. She was also a member of the academic fraternity of Phi Delta Phi and was honored by St. Mary’s Board of Advocates. Seeking to deeper her understanding of conflict management, in 2013 she earned a M.A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas in Dispute Resolution.

Prior to joining the College of Law, Frase practiced law in Dallas for over 30 years, concentrating on insurance defense and mass tort trial litigation. She served as Regional and National Coordinating Counsel for a number of her clients and trained attorneys across the country on strategies for the defense of those clients. She also served several of her clients in the role of Negotiation/Settlement Counsel. In 1994 she was named Outstanding Young Lawyer by the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers.

Prof. Frase is an accomplished author of numerous articles on cognitive biases that impact negotiation and decision-making. She is also a frequent local and national speaker on these and other topics related to dispute resolution. Prof. Frase began her dedication to volunteerism and community service at the age of 15. An almost life-time resident of Dallas, Prof. Frase is a Sustaining Member of the Junior League of Dallas, having served in numerous leadership and training positions. As Bylaw Chair, she revised the JLD’s governing documents enhancing its entire leadership structure. She is also past president of the CHANCE Center Auxiliary Board, and has served on other non-profit boards of directors in our community.

Edward T. Hart
Assistant Dean for Law Library
Assistant Professor of Law 

Assistant Professor Edward T. Hart is the Assistant Dean for Law Library. He will oversee the services and collections of the Law Library, including legal research skills instruction. Before coming to UNT Dallas College of Law in August 2013, Hart was Head of Technical Services and Adjunct Professor of Law at University of Florida Levin College of Law.
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Edward Hart is a native of Valdosta, Georgia, where he graduated from Valdosta State University in 1992 before going on to the New England School of Law, graduating in 1999. He earned his Master's in Library Science from Simmons College in 2002 and an LLM in European Union from Northumbria University in 2006. He started his library career while attending NESL as a student assistant and later served as the Acquisitions and Collections Management Librarian (2000-2005). He then moved to the University of Florida where he started as Acquisitions Librarian (2005-2008) before his promotion to Head of Technical Services (2008-2013). While at University of Florida he also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law teaching Advanced Legal Research.

Hart is the author of the chapter “Technical Services 2.0” in Law Libraries in Digital Age.  He has published several articles that have appeared in such journals as International Journal of Legal Information, Legal Information Management, and Journal of Southern Legal History.

He has been a member of the American Association of Law Libraries since 2000. He was a Fellow of the AALL's first Leadership Academy in 2007. He served as president of the Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries in 2012-13 and is currently the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect of the Government Documents – Special Interest Section as well as Vice-Chair of the AALL Committee on Indexing of Legal Periodical Literature.

Diana K. Howard
Professor of Practice

Diana K. Howard joined UNT Dallas College of Law as a Professor of Practice in fall 2014 specializing in the area of writing and writing resources. She works individually with students, provide writing resources, and coordinates with other faculty in design and implementation of the writing components of the curriculum.
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Professor Howard graduated from Rice University and the University of Texas Law School. She practiced law for ten years with firms in Dallas, New York, and Houston. She then received a master’s in English from SMU, serving as a Teaching Assistant, Teaching Fellow, and then Adjunct Lecturer in English and Rhetoric at SMU.Starting in 2006, she joined the SMU English faculty as a Lecturer in English and Rhetoric, teaching freshman English and Rhetoric and also directing a student honors program known as the Hilltop Scholars. She received SMU’s 2010 Rotunda Outstanding Professor Teaching Award. Professor Howard also has taught English at the Dallas County Community College.

Loren Jacobson
Assistant Professor of Law

Loren Jacobson is an Assistant Professor of Law effective fall 2016, teaching Professional Responsibility, Health Care Law, Constitutional Law, and other courses. Professor Jacobson received her undergraduate degree from Yale University, magna cum laude, and a Masters degree from Cambridge University in England. She then earned her J.D. at Columbia Law School, where she was a James Kent Scholar. 
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Michael P. Maslanka
Assistant Professor of Law

Michael P. Maslanka joined the faculty of UNT Dallas College of Law as Assistant Professor of Law effective with the 2015-2016 academic year. Professor Maslanka will teach Contract Law, Employment Law, and other courses.
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Professor Maslanka is widely regarded as one of the top employment and human resources lawyers in Texas. After earning his J.D. from Tulane Law School with honors, Professor Maslanka served as a trial attorney for the National Labor Relations Board; his legal career in Dallas includes being an associate and partner with Clark, West, Keller, Butler and Ellis; serving as partner and head of Labor and Employment group at Godwin Gruber; and serving as managing partner of the Dallas office of a national employment law firm, Constangy, Brooks, and Smith.

Professor Maslanka is a prolific writer and speaker on employment law, and also on topics relating to professionalism, ethical decision-making, and law practice. Among his regular writings are: Work Matters, a monthly column in the Texas Lawyer on professionalism, and on employment law; The Literate Lawyer, a quarterly column in the Texas Lawyer on how literature makes us better lawyers and better human beings; and the Texas Employment Law Newsletter, a monthly newsletter. He is also the author of Human Resources Forms with Commentary (Warren, Gorham & Lamont 1998); Maslanka’s Field Guide to the FMLA (4th ed. 2015); Maslanka’s Field Guide to the ADA (2012); and Maslanka’s Field Guide to the Texas Labor Code (2012), among other books.

He developed “The Adaptable Lawyer” in conjunction with the Texas Bar CLE annual program at the Texas Bar Convention; the program is designed to help solo and small firm lawyers adapt to the changing practice of law. His extensive teaching in continuing legal education has addressed employment law, as well as topics of effective client communications, dealing with professional challenges such as dysfunctional counsel, and professionalism.

Brian L. Owsley
Assistant Professor of Law

Brian L. Owsley joined the faculty of UNT Dallas College of Law as Assistant Professor of Law. Professor Owsley will teach Torts, Constitutional Law, and other courses beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year.
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Professor Owsley received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He served as Executive Editor of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. He also received a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

After law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Janis Graham Jack, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas; served as Leonard H. Sadler Fellow for Human Rights Watch in New York City; and clerked for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. After his appellate court clerkship, he practiced with the Southern Poverty Law Center as a legal fellow in Montgomery, Alabama; the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C.; and with a private law firm in Washington, D.C., which now has merged with the international firm of Troutman, Sanders.

After private practice, Professor Owsley returned to government practice, working as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Following this period, he was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Texas, where he served from 2005 until 2013. With this extensive and varied practice and judicial experience, he entered law teaching in 2013. He has taught at Texas Tech and Indiana Tech Law Schools.

Thomas P. Perkins, Jr.
Assistant Professor of Law

Assistant Professor Thomas P. Perkins, Jr., joined the inaugural faculty of the UNT Dallas College of Law after eight years of service as the Dallas City Attorney. Professor Perkins will teach in the areas of legislation, civil procedure, negotiation, and problem-solving.
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Perkins obtained his B.A. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Loyola University School of Law. He started his legal career with the Federal Trade Commission, and then moved into private practice, engaging in public finance law, commercial and insurance litigation, and trial and appellate work.

In 1992, Perkins was appointed Division Chief of the Antitrust and Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas. As Division Chief for five years, he had primary responsibility for enforcement of the State’s consumer protection and antitrust laws; this also entailed supervision of staff attorneys in regional offices across the State of Texas.

Following his work with the Attorney General, Perkins returned to private practice before being named as First Assistant City Attorney and Chief of Litigation for the Dallas City Attorney. In 2005, the City Council appointed him as Dallas City Attorney.

In his position as Dallas City Attorney, Perkins was the chief legal officer for the City, and supervised approximately 100 attorneys in the Litigation Division and the General Counsel Division. His responsibilities included advising the City Council, council members, and all city departments. In overseeing the work of the Litigation Division, his responsibilities included litigation relating to employment, personal injury, zoning, environmental, and class actions. The General Counsel division, which he also oversaw, advised all city departments (including boards and commissions) and drafted all procurement contracts, ordinances, and opinions. As City Attorney, Perkins also managed outside counsel and the City’s risk fund, and managed all Municipal Court prosecutions, including the Office’s nationally recognized Community Prosecution team and Community Courts.

In 2010, the Dallas Business Journal named him as the “Best Corporate Counsel” with a staff of 11 or more.

Perkins’ service to the legal and civic community includes serving as Council Member of the State Bar of Texas’ Antitrust and Business Litigation Section, membership on the Court Advisory Committee for the Northern District of Texas, and membership on the Boards of Texas Appleseed, C.C. Young Retirement Center, and St. Mark’s School of Texas.

Eric Porterfield
Assistant Professor of Law

Assistant Professor Eric Porterfield joined the inaugural faculty of UNT Dallas College of Law in June 2014, after serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Texas Tech University School of Law, where he taught Legal Writing and advanced classes in the areas of Civil Procedure and Evidence. Professor Porterfield teaches Civil Procedure, Evidence, and upper division procedural courses.
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Professor Porterfield co-authored Civil Procedure in Focus (with Professor Jeremy Counseller), a Federal Civil Procedure casebook that provides students accessible explanatory text and opportunities to apply the law to multiple sets of facts in every chapter. 

In 2001, Professor Porterfield earned his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin with highest honors with a double major of Government and German, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and the National Golden Key Honor Society. In 2004, Professor Porterfield graduated as the Valedictorian of his law school class at Baylor Law School, earning his J.D. degree summa cum laude. He earned the highest score in the class in many of his first year classes, including Contracts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, and Torts. He also served as Senior Executive Editor of the Baylor Law Review, making initial publication decisions, and as Managing Editor of the 2004 edition of Texas Practice, Baylor’s inaugural special issue focusing on Texas evidence and procedure.

Also while at Baylor, Professor Porterfield competed successfully in several advocacy competitions. His team won the inaugural 2003 National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Mock Trial Tournament and he was named the Best Oral Advocate of the competition as his team went undefeated to claim the championship. His team also claimed the Regional Championship of the 2004 Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now AAJ) Mock Trial Competition, beating another Baylor team in the finals, and was a National semi-finalist, placing third on points overall. His brief was also named Third Best Brief of the 2002 New York Bar Association Moot Court Tournament. 

After graduating from Baylor, Professor Porterfield served as a law clerk to the Honorable David C. Godbey, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. While a law clerk to Judge Godbey, Professor Porterfield was an assistant coach of Baylor’s National Championship Mock Trial Team in the 2005 ATLA Competition. The Texas House of Representatives issued a congratulatory Resolution describing the school’s success in the 2003, 2004, and 2005 competitions. See Texas House Resolution 2058 (May 26, 2005).

Professor Porterfield then joined Carrington Coleman, a large Dallas law firm. He defended a variety of medical and legal professionals in malpractice and administrative licensure actions, health care institutions in a variety of matters, and corporations in multi-national disputes, helping to resolve a global dispute in London involving parties from three continents. While at Carrington Coleman, he was active in pro bono work for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, helping victims of domestic violence and exploited consumers. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Dallas Wind Symphony from 2006-2009.

In 2009, Professor Porterfield joined Lee Brown at the Brown Law Firm in Dallas – a firm specializing in complex automotive product defect cases. He represented catastrophically injured consumers in these complex cases against car manufacturers and automotive component suppliers from around the world. Professor Porterfield has tried several multi-week product liability cases and has litigated these cases in courts all across the country – including Hawaii – at all stages, from pretrial through trial and appeals, including briefing to the Courts of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court. 

In 2012, Professor Porterfield left the Brown Law Firm to pursue an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, he researched and specialized in international civil litigation and published his first article with the Temple Law Review, entitled “Too Much Process, Not Enough Service: International Service of Process Under the Hague Service Convention,” a critique of the treaty governing international service of process, including suggestions for reform. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2013 and his LL.M. Thesis, which earned Honors marks, focuses on reforming personal jurisdiction and judgment enforcement rules, including a critique of the Hague Judgments Convention. He continues to research and write in the areas of Civil Procedure and Evidence.

Ellen S. Pryor
Professor of Law 

Professor Ellen S. Pryor, Professor of Law, served as Founding Associate Dean for Academic Affairs through May 2018 for UNT Dallas College of Law. Before joining the College of Law in January 2013, Pryor was the Homer R. Mitchell Endowed Professor of Law at SMU Dedman School of Law. 
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Preyal Shah
Director of Academic Success and Bar Readiness
Professor of Practice

Preyal D. Shah is the Director of Academic Success and Bar Readiness and Professor of Practice effective Fall 2016, teaching Legal Methods and the Capstone courses.  Professor Shah graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Finance from Austin  College in 2003, her Masters in Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and her J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2008.  In law school, Professor Shah served on law review and Board of Advocates.
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Melissa Bezanson Shultz
Assistant Professor of Law
Director of Legal Writing

Melissa Bezanson Shultz joined the faculty of the UNT Dallas College of Law as Assistant Professor of Law and Director of Legal Writing effective with the 2015-2016 academic year. In late 2014, she relocated to Dallas, Texas, where she served as Director of Conflicts and Information Services with the firm of Gardere Wynne & Sewell. She served as Adjunct Professor at College of Law in Spring 2015.
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Following graduation from law school, Shultz joined the global firm of King & Spalding LLP, in Washington, D.C. At King & Spalding, she focused her practice on business litigation and civil and criminal antitrust law. She managed complex cases, drafted dispositive motions and appellate briefs, prepared corporate clients for trial, and represented an inmate on death row. In addition, she represented corporate and individual clients before the grand jury and conducted civil and criminal antitrust and SEC investigations. Late in 2006, Professor Shultz left King & Spalding and co-founded ReLegal Group LLC. She relocated to Dallas in late 2014.

Shultz attended the University of Texas School of Law, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Texas International Law Journal and received the Vinson & Elkins’ Scholarship for Excellence in International Law. Before law school, Professor Shultz graduated from Grinnell College with a B.A. in English and a concentration in Global Development Studies in 1998. After graduation, she worked for the Japanese government as an English teacher in the Tokushima prefecture of Japan.

Christine M. Tamer
Assistant Professor of Law
Assistant Director of Legal Writing

Christine M. Tamer is Assistant Professor of Law and Assistant Director of Legal Writing effective Fall 2016. Tamer joined UNT Dallas College of Law for the 2015-2016 academic year as Professor of Practice and Assistant Director of Legal Writing. After clerking for firms including Fulbright & Jaworski, Haynes & Boone, and Susman Godfrey, she joined the firm of Baron & Budd with a focus on appellate law and motion practice. She served as Adjunct Professor at College of Law in Spring 2015.
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Tamer has successfully authored numerous appellate briefs in courts across the country as well as two successful Motions for Rehearing in front of the Texas Supreme Court. She recently represented a family in a jury trial resulting a $48 million verdict that was included in the Top 100 Verdicts for 2012. She has published two law review articles: “Arab Americans, Affirmative Action and a Quest for Racial Identity,” 16 Tex. J. on C.L. & C.R. 101 (2010) and “Toddlers, Tiaras and Pedophilia: The Borderline Child Pornography Embraced by the American Public,” 13 Tex. Rev. Ent. & Sports L. 85 (2012). She is licensed in Texas and California.

Tamer graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2011, receiving her degree with highest honors. She served as an Associate Editor on the Texas Law Review, and graduated as a member of Order of the Coif and Chancellors. She also served for several years as a “Teaching Quizmaster” in the law school’s first year legal writing and research program. She received Dean’s academic achievement awards in Brief Writing and Oral Advocacy, and in Legal Research and Writing. She was honored by the Texas Supreme Court for receiving one of the top three scores on the Texas Bar exam.

Reynaldo Anaya Valencia
Associate Dean for Finance and Administration
Professor of Law 

“Rey” Valencia is Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Finance and Administration effective June 2016. He served UNT Dallas College of Law as Visiting Professor of Law and Interim Associate Dean of Operations from July 2015 - May 2016.  Professor Valencia will teach Business Associations.
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He previously served as Associate Dean for Administration and Finance, and held the Ernest W. Clemens Professorship for Corporate and Securities Law at the St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. He was the founding director of the Center for Latina/Latino Legal Studies at St. Mary’s.

Born and raised in the Texas Panhandle, Professor Valencia is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School. Following law school, he practiced law with Jones, Day in Dallas for 5 years, in the areas of commercial litigation and corporate bankruptcy.

He joined the St. Mary’s law faculty in 1995. He was appointed by President Clinton as one of 16 White House Fellows for 1999-2000, and worked in the White House Office of Chief of Staff, focusing primarily on race, civil rights, immigration, and Hispanic education issues. He is the lead author of Mexican Americans and the Law: ¡El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido!

Valencia has received the 2012 Equality Texas Becky Cross Anchor Award in recognition of work with and support of LBGTQ students; the 2008 Distinguished Faculty Award from St. Mary’s Law School; and the Outstanding Legal Achievement Award (2003 and 2006) from the Mexican American Bar Association of San Antonio. He has served, by appointment, on: the Supreme Court of Texas Task Force for Gender Fairness; several committees of the Law School Admission Council; and the Council on Legal Education Opportunity.

Cheryl Brown Wattley
Professor of Law
Director of Experiential Education

Professor Cheryl Brown Wattley joined the inaugural faculty of the UNT Dallas College of Law from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where she served on the faculty from 2006 through 2013, and was Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Education. At UNT Dallas College of Law, Professor Wattley will teach Criminal Law in the first-year curriculum; she will also be the Director of Experiential Education and teach courses in professional skills, criminal law, and professionalism. Professor Wattley is the author of a new book,  "A Step Toward Brown v. Board of Education: Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher and Her Fight to End Segregation," published in October 2014, and winner of the 2015 Oklahoma Book Award, Non-Fiction category.
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Professor Wattley graduated from Smith College, cum laude, with high honors in Sociology. She received her Juris Doctorate degree from Boston University College of Law, where she was a Martin Luther King, Jr. fellow and recipient of the Community Service Award. She also served as a summer intern for the General Counsel's Office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Professor Wattley began her legal career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Connecticut representing the United States in civil litigation. Through her actions, the United States participated as litigating amicus curiae in Connecticut ARC v. Thorne, the lawsuit that led to the entry of a consent decree overhauling the system for serving persons with mental retardation in Connecticut.

She later transferred to the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, located in Dallas, where she focused on the prosecution of white collar crime and served as Chief of the Economic Crime Unit. During her service as a prosecutor, she received two Department of Justice Special Achievement Awards, the United States Postal Inspection Service National Award, and commendations from the Department of Treasury, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Customs Department.

Professor Wattley then went into private litigation practice, where her work included white-collar criminal defense, civil rights litigation, federal and state criminal defense, and post-conviction proceedings. After joining the OU College of Law faculty in 2007, Professor Wattley continued to represent clients on a pro bono basis, primarily involving post-conviction relief.

Professor Wattley continues to work with Centurion Ministries, a non-profit organization based in Princeton, New Jersey, devoted to the vindication and liberation of persons wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Through Centurion, she served as one of the attorneys for Kerry Max Cook, a former Texas death row inmate. In 2009, Professor Wattley represented Richard Miles in his release from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Professor Wattley has served on a variety of civic and professional boards and committees, including the State Bar of Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals; District 6 Grievance Committee; Dallas Bar Foundation; and the Board of Regents for Texas Woman's University. She was appointed to serve on "Dallas Together," a mayoral committee appointed to address racial issues within the City of Dallas, and also was appointed Vice Chairperson for the 1990 and 2000 City of Dallas Redistricting Commissions. She has been an instructor for National Institute of Trial Advocacy programs.

Professor Wattley received the Dallas Bar Association’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award in 1994. She is also the recipient of the DaVinci Institute Fellow Award for Innovative Teaching (2013), the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Diversity Award (2012), the Association of Black Lawyers’ Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Award (2012), and the University of Oklahoma Regents’ Award for Superior Professional and University Service and Public Outreach (2011).

Meijken Westenskow
Assistant Director of Academic Success and Bar Readiness
Professor of Practice

Jennifer L. Wondracek
Director of Legal Educational Technology
Professor of Practice

Jennifer L. Wondracek is Director of Legal Educational Technology and Professor of Practice effective fall 2016.She was previously Senior Law Librarian and Associate Director of Instructional Technology at UNT Dallas College of Law.
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A native of Ohio, Wondracek chose to pursue her undergraduate studies in the warmer climate of Charleston, SC. Wondracek graduated from the College of Charleston with a B.S. in Business Administration, a B.A. in Political Science, and a minor in Economics in 2000.

In 2003, Wondracek earned her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Licensed to practice law in North Carolina, Wondracek went on to become a Staff Attorney at North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services in Raleigh, NC. Family obligations changed Wondracek’s career path, and in 2006 she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with her Masters of Library and Information Science. Wondracek also obtained her Florida bar license in 2006. She has since worked as a law librarian and legal research instructor for Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law, Elon University School of Law, and University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Wondracek is the co-author of a forthcoming book chapter “Librarians & MOOCs” in Creating the 21st Century Academic Library published by Scarecrow Press (November 2014) and author of journal article “The E-FAC – One Year Later” in the January, 2015 issue of the Florida Bar Journal. Wondracek has also published in several newsletters and was a blogger and Editor for the RIPS Law Librarian Blog.

Wondracek has been a member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) since 2005. She has served on the AALL Copyright Committee, as Secretary/Treasurer of the Government Document Special Interest Section, and as current Chair of the Research, Instruction, and Patron Services Special Interest Section. In July 2014, Wondracek coordinated the first AALL Hackathon at the Annual Meeting. In addition to AALL, Wondracek is a member of the Southeastern Association of Law Libraries, American Bar Association, North Carolina Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, and Dallas Association of Law Librarians.

Visiting Professors, 2014-2015

Visiting Professors, 2015-2016

Visiting Professors, 2016-2017 - None

Visiting Professors, 2017-2018, None

Adjunct Professors, Spring 2015

Adjunct Professors, Summer 2015

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS, FALL 2015

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS, SPRING 2016

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS, SUMMER 2016

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS, FALL 2016

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS, SPRING 2017

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS, FALL 2017

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS, FALL 2018

This page will provide additional information about the founding faculty of the UNT Dallas College of Law as appointments are completed and made public. 

Page last modified on November 15, 2018 at 9:21 am.