Charles Abbott (he/him) is an Adjunct Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law, where he teaches Legal Research and Writing in the Juris Doctor (J.D.) program. He also has taught Negotiation & Communication and Introduction to Law and Courts in the Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.) program.
When he is not teaching, he practices civil rights and employment law at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. Previously, Prof. Abbott worked as in-house counsel to civil rights and whistleblower protection agencies, including the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights and, most recently, the Department of State Office of the Inspector General. Prior to that, he started his legal career as an impact litigator practicing before international human rights bodies, and as a staff attorney with Maryland Legal Aid. Prof. Abbott received his J.D. (cum laude) from American University Washington College of Law (’12) and his B.A. from the College of William and Mary, and was a Fulbright scholar in Argentina.

Mariam Ahmedani has dedicated her career to public service. She served as a policy advisor to the Vice President of the United States and held several positions within the Department of Homeland Security, including Senior Advisor to an Assistant Secretary and attorney with the Refugee and Asylum Law Division of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. She began her career as an Equal Justice Works Fellow, where she created a program to provide specialized legal services to unaccompanied children.

Professor Ahmedani is a 2007 alumna of American University Washington College of Law. She earned an LL.M. in Human Rights and is currently pursuing a J.S.D. at St. Thomas University College of Law. Her scholarship focuses on children’s rights and the role of law in promoting human flourishing.

Michael Artz is an Associate General Counsel at the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, one of the largest labor unions in the country. He received his B.A. in English-Journalism from Miami University (Ohio) and his J.D. from American University's Washington College of Law graduating cum laude in 2002. After law school, Michael clerked for the Honorable Stephanie Duncan-Peters in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He then served as a legal fellow for the Service Employees International Union and as an associate attorney at the union-side labor law firm of Mooney, Green, Baker & Saindon in Washington, D.C. Michael teaches legal writing and oral advocacy at the American University Washington College of Law and serves as a governing board member of the Peggy Browning Fund. He once managed a rock and roll band in Los Angeles, California. He is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Professor Erin Auerbach has worked as an education lawyer since 2010. In 2017 she joined the Bruman Group, PLLC (formally Brustein & Manasevit, PLLC) as Of Counsel. Her current practice focuses on representing public charter schools in the District of Columbia on issues related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Prior to joining the firm as Of Counsel, Ms. Auerbach worked as an associate assisting state and local educational agencies as well as postsecondary institutions with various federal grant matters, including matters related to the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), career and technical education, Title IV of the Higher Education Act, the IDEA and Section 504.

Previously, Ms. Auerbach served as a law clerk to the Honorable Carol Ann Dalton at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. During law school, Ms. Auerbach worked at the Public Defender’s Service for the District of Columbia, Civil Legal Services Division where she assisted in advocating for juvenile clients under the IDEA. Ms. Auerbach also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the General Counsel where she aided in representing the institutional interests of the House.

Ms. Auerbach received her Bachelor’s Degree in American Studies from the University of Maryland in 2004 and graduated from American University, Washington College of Law in 2009.

Professor Auerbach teaches Legal Research & Writing.

Adjunct Professor Dale Durrer is a Circuit Court Judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where he tries criminal and civil cases. Prior to his service as a judge, Mr. Durrer served as an Assistant and Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney in Culpeper County, Virginia, and a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and received his law degree from American University’s Washington College of Law in 2000. Following Mr. Durrer's graduation from law school, he joined the law firm of Davies, Barrell, Will, Lewellyn & Edwards as an Associate attorney, focusing on criminal defense and domestic relations. During Mr. Durrer's time in private practice, he served as a court-appointed attorney for indigent criminal defendants and as a guardian ad litem for juveniles. In March 2004, he debated Stephen Bright on the merits of capital punishment at the Yale Law School. Mr. Durrer is an active member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars. He has taught in the Legal Rhetoric program since 2006. He also serves on the adjunct faculty at George Washington University Law School and the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. Mr. Durrer co-authored the Evidence casebook: Evidence Common Law and Federal Rules of Evidence, 7th Edition (LEXIS 2015) with Professor Wesley M. Oliver and Professor Kirsha W. Trychta.

Adjunct Professor RJ Hamilton is commercial real estate attorney with the Washington, DC office of Holland & Knight LLP.  Mr Hamilton primarily represents institutional owners of commercial real estate with respect to leasing, acquisitions and dispositions and financing transactions backed by commercial real estate.  Mr. Hamilton is a graduate of The George Washington University (B.A., magna cum laude with special honors) and American University, Washington College of Law (J.D.).  While in law school, Mr. Hamilton was a Legal Research and Writing Dean's Fellow.  Mr. Hamilton has been an adjunct professor in the Legal Research and Writing Program since 2007.

Kaitlyn Krall is an Attorney Advisor for the Office of Information Policy at the Department of Justice where she adjudicates FOIA administrative appeals. Prior to her current position, she clerked in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in the Program of Liberal Studies and International Economics, and received her JD from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. In her free time, Kaitlyn volunteers at the local cat shelter, crochets, travels, and attends as many concerts as she can. 

Meredith C. Manuel is an associate at Crowell & Moring LLP, where her practice focuses on healthcare, commercial, and education litigation. She represents clients in complex disputes in federal and state courts and in arbitration, with experience spanning trial and appellate litigation. Before joining Crowell, Meredith served as a law clerk to Justice William Montgomery of the Arizona Supreme Court. Prior to her legal career, she served as an officer in the United States Navy aboard surface warships homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Norfolk, Virginia. During two deployments to the Arabian Gulf, she supported ballistic missile defense and counter-piracy operations. Meredith earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as Executive Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics. Her scholarship examines legal ethics and student honor codes. She also holds a Master of Arts in Defense and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy.

Michael McGovern is an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. As a senior attorney in the office’s Appellate Division, Mr. McGovern represents the United States in criminal appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Before joining the Appellate Division, Mr. McGovern served as a line prosecutor in the office’s Sex Offense and Domestic Violence section. Mr. McGovern received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with highest honors from the University of Michigan in 2003, and his Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School in 2008. Following law school, Mr. McGovern worked as a litigation associate at Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP, where he represented clients in civil litigation, white collar investigatory and enforcement matters, and various pro bono matters.

Adjunct Professor Belgin Palaz is an Assistant Public Defender at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. She currently works in the Forensics Division handling specialized and complex challenges to scientific evidence and expert testimony. She graduated from Wellesley College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and received her law degree from American University Washington College of Law. Following her graduation from law school, she clerked in the Circuit Court for Charles County, Maryland before joining the Public Defender’s Office.

Professor Sweet was raised in Massachusetts.  He received a B.S.F.S. degree from Georgetown University, and a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School.  After graduating from law school, Professor Sweet clerked for the Honorable Judge Nina Gershon, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the Honorable Judge Jane Roth, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  Then, he served as an Associate and Senior Associate at Goodwin Procter, LLP, a Special Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and a Trial Attorney at the United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, National Courts Section.  Professor Sweet was appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals as an Administrative Judge in 2016. He has been an Adjunct Professor teaching Legal Research and Writing at American University, Washington College of Law since 2018. Professor Sweet also is a Master of the Bench at the George Mason American Inn of Court.

Martin M. Tomlinson is an Assistant General Counsel with the Department of Justice's Justice Management Division. Mr. Tomlinson's practice primarily consists of advising and counseling DOJ management personnel on regulatory matters, as well as representing the interests of DOJ before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Government Accountability Office. Prior to his current position, Mr. Tomlinson was a Senior Trial Counsel with the DOJ's Civil Division for almost ten years, handling matters of constitutional law, administrative law, employment discrimination, and government contracts law in federal courts nationwide. Prior to joining DOJ in 2013, Mr. Tomlinson worked for the Wyche Law Firm in Greenville, South Carolina, handling commercial litigation matters, and clerked for Judge Michael A. Chagares of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge Patrick Michael Duffy of the District Court for the District of South Carolina. He is a graduate of Yale Law School (J.D. 2007), where he was Managing Editor of the Yale Law Journal, and the College of Charleston (B.A. & B.S., 2004). He lives in Silver Spring with his wife and two children.

Alexis Cosentino began working for the Legal Rhetoric Department as a Program Dean’s Fellow in August 2025. Before starting law school, Alexis attended American University, where she majored in legal studies and minored in secondary education. Alexis is a third-year law student at WCL and will be working in the Gender Justice Clinic as a student attorney during the Fall 2026 semester. Throughout her time in law school, Alexis participated in WCL's Summer at the Hague Program, where she studied international law and terrorism in the Netherlands, as well as the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, where she taught constitutional law to D.C. high school students. Outside of the classroom, Alexis enjoys exploring new restaurants across the DMV and sharing her reviews on Beli.

Noah Hale started working as a Program Fellow for the Legal Rhetoric Program in 2025. Prior to law school, he graduated from American University with a BA in International Studies. Noah currently serves as a Note and Comment Editor for the Administrative Law Review and, as a third-year law student, will participate in Lawyering Peace, The Kovler Project Against Torture, and the Elliot S. Milstein Civil Advocacy Clinic. Noah enjoys playing sports—both real and fantasy—as well as spending time with friends.