Program Faculty

Lawyer Re-Entry Program Faculty

Washington College of Law has brought together an extraordinary group of WCL faculty members, practicing attorneys, career and professional development experts and coaches to ensure your experience is a success. The program is led by Executive Director Linda Mercurio, founder of Transformative Impact, a leadership coaching and consulting practice.

Program faculty will help you:

  • Develop a career vision
  • Identify strengths, transferrable skills, and further training needs
  • Reinforce confidence and self-assurance
  • Develop a successful job search strategy
  • Learn how to reestablish a professional network
  • Update basic legal research
  • Gain exposure to new technology and technology-based research

In addition, the program features inspiring keynote and panel speakers. This year's featured speakers will be announced soon. Please check back for updates or view the list of last year's featured speakers.


Linda Mercurio, Executive Director
Linda Mercurio, executive director of the Lawyer Re-Entry Program at American University Washington College of Law, is the founder of Transformative Impact, a leadership coaching and consulting practice. She has served on the faculty at Seton Hall Law School, Ramapo College of New Jersey and William Paterson University. In 2000, Linda was the Democratic Candidate for the United States Congress in New Jersey's 5th Congressional District. She is a 1990 graduate of Brooklyn Law School and began her career as a tax lawyer with Coopers & Lybrand, LLC in New York.
(photo to left by Ashley Britner)



  • Billie Jo Kaufman, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Library and Information Resources
  • David Spratt, Academic Coordinator, Legal Rhetoric Instructor
  • Paul Figley, Associate Director of Legal Rhetoric and Legal Rhetoric Instructor
  • Traci Jenkins, Assistant Dean Office of Career and Professional Development
  • Matthew Pascocello, Director, Career Development & Alumni Counseling


Fall 2011 Featured Program Speakers: Coming Soon

Fall 2010 Featured Program Speakers


Dorian S. Denburg, President, National Association of Women Lawyers, General Attorney, AT&T
Dorian Denburg is General Attorney for AT&T with responsibility for Network Operations, including counseling clients, federal and state litigation, legislation and regulation. Previously she held numerous positions within the AT&T (previously BellSouth) Legal Department. During that time, the company avoided $600 million in expenses due to numerous federal and state cases of first impression and first-of-its-kind legislation for which Ms. Denburg was responsible.


Holly Loiseau, President, Women���s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Holly E. Loiseau is a litigation partner and a member of the firm���s Complex Commercial Litigation and Product Liability practices in the Washington, DC office. Ms. Loiseau���s litigation practice is dynamic and diverse. She has litigated and tried cases in a variety of fields including, antitrust, trade regulation and false advertising, products liability, insurance coverage, tax, bankruptcy, contracts, derivative transactions, healthcare and international trade. She has extensive experience litigating large consumer class actions and multi-jurisdictional cases for clients in various industries and has achieved significant victories for clients on motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment and oppositions to class certification motions. Ms. Loiseau has litigated numerous bankruptcy litigation matters for both debtors and creditors. She has represented and advised clients in grand jury proceedings and Congressional investigations. In addition, she counsels clients with respect to select government contracts issues.


Jenny Brody, President, DC Volunteer Lawyers Project
Jenny Brody is a founder of the DCVLP and currently serves as its President and Foster Care Project Coordinator. Ms. Brody practices family law in the areas of domestic violence, adoption, custody and child abuse and neglect. She is a member of the Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN) Attorney Panel of the DC Family Court. Ms. Brody was formerly a litigator in private practice in Washington, DC. She also served as an appellate staff attorney with the US Department of Justice, Civil Division, where she briefed and argued cases in the US Courts of Appeals. Prior to her work at the Justice Department, Ms. Brody clerked for the Honorable Irving L. Goldberg of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ms. Brody has served on the board of directors of Hospice Care of DC and has been active as a volunteer in the Montgomery County public school system. Ms. Brody earned a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Karen Marcou, Vice-President & Treasurer, DC Volunteer Lawyers Project
Karen Barker Marcou is a founder of the DCVLP and currently serves as its Vice President and Treasurer. Ms. Marcou practices family law in the areas of custody and domestic violence. She was formerly a staff attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services in Washington, DC. Ms. Marcou has served on the boards of directors of School for Friends, Green Spaces DC, Friends of Guy Mason and the Rosedale Conservancy. Ms. Marcou earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from Washington College of Law, American University; and a B.A. in political science from Middlebury College.

Daniel M. Mills, Manager, Practice Management Advisory Services, District of Columbia Bar
Daniel M. Mills is the Manager of the Practice Management Advisory Service of the D.C. Bar. Dan helps lawyers with the business side of their law office. He is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia and State of Indiana. Dan leads Basic Training, a regular, free program for solo and small firm lawyers in the DC Bar sponsored by the Practice Management Service Committee.

John Lim, Academic Account Manager, West, a Thomas Reuters business
John Lim is the Westlaw Account Manager for AU-WCL and licensed to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania and his JD from the Georgetown University Law Center. During law school John was a member of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and authored a note that was published in Spring, 2000 and has since been cited by several treatises and publications. Prior to joining West, John practiced commercial litigation and D&O insurance coverage with a prominent DC law firm. Since joining West, John has worked with several law schools in the DC area and for a time, was also a Law Firm Research Specialist and Academic Account Manager in Southern California. In addition to law schools, John has extensive experience working with and instructing attorneys, paralegals, investigators and legal assistants. In 2008 ��� 2010 John was a Senior Consultant with West���s Government Services division and worked with various federal and state law enforcement agencies on the CLEAR platform, specializing in criminal and asset-based investigations on public records. In Spring 2010, John returned to the Academic segment and to WCL.


Certificate Ceremony/Reception Keynote & Featured Speaker


Keynote Speaker: Deborah P. Kelly, Partner, Dickstein Shapiro and Distinguished Washington College of Law Alumnus
Deborah Kelly joined Dickstein Shapiro in 1988 and is head of the firm���s Employment Practice as well as its Deputy General Counsel. She also recently concluded a four-year term on its Executive Committee. Ms. Kelly focuses her practice on civil litigation with emphasis on all aspects of employment law. She defends employers against class action suits, regularly counsels companies in all areas of employment compliance, advises and represents companies concerning the enforceability of non-competes and other restrictive covenants, conducts training in all aspects of equal opportunity employment (EEO) compliance and human resources (HR) issues, drafts employee policy manuals, and represents companies against employment claims up to and including jury trial litigation. As head of the firm���s Employment Practice, she directed the development of Dickstein Shapiro���s innovative PolicyPartner�� web-based service, which provides Dickstein Shapiro���s clients with ���one-stop��� desktop access to compliance information related to a company���s HR policies, procedures, guidelines, and forms. Ms. Kelly has been recognized by Chambers


Keynote Speaker:Julia Court Ryan
Julia Court Ryan is of counsel in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where she is a member of the International Department. Ms. Ryan advises multi-national companies on US and foreign anti-corruption laws in connection with these companies��� worldwide business activities. She has developed corporate compliance programs, and advises companies on anti-corruption aspects of specific events and transactions. With anti-corruption experience encompassing the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), as well as with the specifics of the laws of numerous foreign jurisdictions, Ms. Ryan is adept at tailoring advice to address the confluence of US and foreign anti-corruption requirements.


Featured Speaker: Claudio Grossman, Dean, Washington College of Law

Fall 2009 Featured Program Speakers


Karen M. Lockwood: Managing Director, The Lockwood Group, LLC.
A former partner at Howrey LLP with 31 years of trial and federal appeals practice, Karen founded The Lockwood Group, LLP in 2009 to help professional service firms and corporations by increasing client value while leveraging diverse talent and adapting to 21st century economics.


Consuela Pinto: President of the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia and Chair of the WBA's Task Force on the Initiative for Advancement and Retention of Women.
Consuela Pinto is President of the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia as well as Chair of the WBA's Task Force on the Initiative for Advancement and Retention of Women. Ms. Pinto has been an active member of the WBA since 1996 and has been a member of the WBA Board of Directors since 2006. Additionally, she served as a member of the WBA Foundation Board of Directors from June 2000 - May 2006.


Jenny Brody, President, DC Volunteer Lawyers Project
Jenny Brody is a founder of the DCVLP and currently serves as its President and Foster Care Project Coordinator. Ms. Brody practices family law in the areas of domestic violence, adoption, custody and child abuse and neglect. She is a member of the Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN) Attorney Panel of the DC Family Court. Ms. Brody was formerly a litigator in private practice in Washington, DC. She also served as an appellate staff attorney with the US Department of Justice, Civil Division, where she briefed and argued cases in the US Courts of Appeals. Prior to her work at the Justice Department, Ms. Brody clerked for the Honorable Irving L. Goldberg of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ms. Brody has served on the board of directors of Hospice Care of DC and has been active as a volunteer in the Montgomery County public school system. Ms. Brody earned a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania


Fall 2008 Featured Program Speakers


Carol Fishman Cohen: Author of Back on the Career Track
Carol Fishman Cohen, author of the acclaimed career re-entry book Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work (with co-author, Vivian Steir Rabin), will be the program's opening keynote speaker. Cohen is a frequent speaker and consultant to corporations, universities, non-profits and mothers groups on the topic of career re-entry. She has 18 years of diverse business experience, primarily in finance. Cohen, a mother of four, relaunched her career after 11 years out of full time workforce. She co-founded iRelaunch.com, a company providing career re-entry programming, events, and information to employers, universities, and organizations and to mid-career professionals in all stages of career break. She has presented career re-entry strategies to over 3,500 people at more than 60 events since 2006. She has a BA in Economics from Pomona College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
(photo to left by Lynn Wayne Photography)


Marci Alboher: The New York Times "Shifting Careers" columnist
Marci Alboher, who writes the "Shifting Careers" column and blog for The New York Times, is the program's featured speaker on Saturday, Oct. 26. Her recently released book, "One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success," popularized the term "slash" to refer to a new breed of individuals who can't answer "What do you do?" with a single response. Alboher is herself a slash. The author/journalist/speaker began her career in law after graduating from The University of Pennsylvania and American University's Washington College of Law. After nearly 10 years of practice, she used her law background as a springboard to a second career as a journalist. Her articles have appeared in numerous national publications including: Time Out New York, Travel and Leisure, Marie Claire, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Legal Affairs, The International Herald Tribune and More Magazine covering such topics as workplace issues, entrepreneurship and travel. She has been a regular contributor to The New York Times since 2001. Alboher's career insights have been featured throughout the media including the "Today Show," The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CNBC, BusinessWeek, National Public Radio, USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Kansas City Star.
(photo to left by Marcia Ciriello)


Emma Gilbey Keller: Author of The Comeback
Emma Gilbey Keller, the program's closing speaker, is the author of The Comeback, in which she tells the stories of seven very different women who gave up work to become full-time mothers and their path's back into the workforce years later. Keller is also the author of Lady: The Life and Times of Winnie Mandela. Previously she wrote for The London Sunday Times, The London Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Marie Claire, More Magazine, Vanity Fair and Tatler among others. She grew up in England and lives in New York City with her husband Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, and their two children. Emma stopped writing for seven years after the birth of her first daughter.