Jamie Abrams
Legal Rhetoric Instructor
Office: Room 129D
Phone: 202-274-4302
E-mail: jabrams@wcl.american.edu
Jamie R. Abrams is a full-time instructor in the Legal Rhetoric Program at the Washington College of Law and the Coordinator of Legal Research. She first joined the faculty of the Legal Rhetoric Program in the Fall of 2006 as an Adjunct Instructor. Prior to joining the faculty full-time, Ms. Abrams was a Litigation Associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP where she specialized in complex civil litigation matters. She represented clients in various state and federal courts in a range of substantive areas, including accounting malpractice, products liability, wage and employment, contract disputes, and third-party discovery claims. She also served on Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP's Women's Initiative Committee and its Community Foundation Advisory Committee. As an associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Ms. Abrams was profiled in the American Bar Association Journal in a piece titled "Coach Me, How 3 Lawyers Learned to be All-Stars at Climbing the Corporate Ladder, Making Rain, Marketing their Practice.” Ms. Abrams began her career at Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. specializing in white collar criminal defense and environmental law.
Ms. Abrams has also devoted much of her practice to pro bono cases and community activism. She has represented petitioners seeking civil protection orders in D.C. Superior Court and advised pro se petitioners in the clinical setting, counseled Open Arms Housing (a developing not-for-profit organization seeking to provide housing to mentally-ill homeless women), and represented immigrants women in "U" Visa and Violence Against Women Act petitions.
Ms. Abrams graduated summa cum laude from American University, Washington College of Law in 2002. While a student at American University, Ms. Abrams was a recipient of the Mussey Gillet Fellowship, served as Notes and Comments Editor on the International Law Review, and performed in student productions of the Law Revue and the Vagina Monologues. She received her B.A., cum laude, in political science and criminal justice from Indiana University in 1999.
She is admitted to practice in Maryland, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia. She is an active member of the D.C. Women’s Bar Association, serving as the editor of its Raising the Bar publication, co-chairing its History Committee and its Archives Project, and the Chair of the Reporter’s Committee of the Initiative on the Advancement and Retention of Women. She is a member of the Legal Writing Institute, the chair of its Committee on Cooperation between Pro Bono and Legal Writing Professors, and a member of Academics Promoting the Pedagogy of Effective Advocacy in Law.
Currently Teaching
- LAW-516-001 LegalRhetoric:Wrtng&Rsrch I
Degrees & Universities
- J.D., American University Washington College of Law 2002 (summa cum laude)
- B.A., Indiana University at Bloomington 1999
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Selected Publications- Jamie Abrams, Using a “Mini-Memo” Assignment to Teach Sizeable Concepts, The Second Draft: Bulletin of the Legal Writing Institute (Fall 2008).
- Jamie Abrams & Daniela Kraiem, Banding Together: Reflections on the Role of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia and the Washington College of Law in Promoting Women’s Rights, 4 Modern Am. 2 (forthcoming Fall 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Creating Pathways to Success for All, Advancing and Retaining Women of Color in Today’s Law Firms, Chair of Reporters’ Committee for the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia’s Initiative on Advancement and Retention of Women of Color (May 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Transitioning from First-Year to a Successful and Satisfying Legal Job, Suffolk U. Podcast Series (May 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Legal Protections for an Invisible Population: An Eligibility and Impact Analysis of U Visa Protections for Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence, 4 Modern Am. 1 (Spring 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Gone but Not Forgotten: Leaving Your Job, Not Your Professional Reputation, 12 Young Law. 3 (Dec. 2007).
- Jamie Abrams, Innovative New Program Offers Area Law Students Critical Insights Into Creating Own Pathways to Success, WBA Raising the Bar (Fall 2006).
- Jamie Abrams, Creating Pathways to Success, Reporter’s Committee for the WBA Initiative on the Advancement and Retention of Women (2006).
- Jamie R. Abrams & John N. Hanson, Compassionate Conservatism: Friend or Foe of the Environment?, 31 St. B. Tex. Envtl. L.J. 173 (2000 - 2001).
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Selected Presentations
- Jamie Abrams, Presentation, Interactive Workshop on Legal Writing for Lawyers Re-Entering the Profession (WCL Lawyer Re-Entry Program, American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Nov. 14-15, 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Facilitator, Workshop on “Using Narrative Theory in the Legal Rhetoric Classroom" (Conference on How Legal Rhetoric Shapes the Law II, American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Nov. 7, 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Presentation, Building Coalitions to Extend and Strengthen the Bridge: The Relevance of Professional Development Diversity Initiatives to the Instruction of Legal Writing (Writing and Legal Writing Teachers, Instructors, and Professors of Color and/or Progressive Orientation Conference, Howard University School of Law, Wash., D.C., May 17, 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Presentation, Why Go it Alone? Leveraging the Collective Expertise of Law Library and Legal Writing Faculty in 1L Research Instruction (Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law, Salt Lake City, Utah, Mar. 21, 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Panel Moderator, Understanding U Visa Regulations and Creating Best Practices for Trafficking and Other Immigrant Relief (Conference on “The New U Visa Regulations: Understanding their Application and Building Collaboration”, American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Feb. 21, 2008).
- Jamie Abrams, Panel Moderator, Panel on Metaphor (Conference on “How Legal Rhetoric Shapes the Law”, American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Nov. 2, 2007).
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Selected Honors & Awards
- Mussey-Gillett Shining Star Award (Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia’s Annual Stars of the Bar Reception Sept. 23, 2008).