Notre Dame Law School welcomes new faculty for 2023-24 academic year
Nine new faculty members are joining Notre Dame Law School for the 2023-24 academic year.
“I am thrilled to welcome this group of brilliant scholars and teachers to Notre Dame Law School,” said Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law G. Marcus Cole. “These new colleagues will bring unique energy and insights to the Law School while sharing in our commitment to Notre Dame’s Catholic mission to educate a different kind of lawyer.”
Meet the Law School’s new faculty members:
Professor of Law Derek Muller is a nationally recognized scholar in the field of election law. His research focuses on the role of states in the administration of federal elections, the constitutional contours of voting rights and election administration, the limits of judicial power in the domain of elections, and the Electoral College.
He has published more than two dozen academic works, and his op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal.
He has testified before Congress, and he is a contributor at the Election Law Blog. He is a co-author on a Federal Courts casebook published by Carolina Academic Press. He is also the co-reporter on a new Restatement of the Law, Election Litigation, an effort led by the American Law Institute.
Muller graduated from Notre Dame Law School summa cum laude in 2007. He teaches Election Law, Civil Procedure, and Evidence.
“I’m thrilled to return to Notre Dame,” Muller said. “No law school embodies a commitment to faith and the pursuit of legal knowledge like this institution. I am eager to contribute to the life of the Law School and to teach the outstanding students who attend this incredible university.”
Stefan McDaniel has been appointed an associate professor of law after serving as a visiting professor for the past two years. In addition, he was the Program on Church, State & Society’s inaugural Rodes Fellow during the 2022-23 academic year.
He earned his J.D. from NYU School of Law, an M.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, and an A.B. in religion from Princeton. He previously worked for Jones Day in the labor and employment department, at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett in the litigation department, and clerked with Judge José Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
McDaniel taught Labor and Employment Law during the spring 2022 and fall 2023 semesters, and he is teaching the course again this fall.
“Notre Dame Law School is simply the best place in the world to be a Catholic legal scholar,” McDaniel said. “Nowhere else can boast Notre Dame’s combination of excellence in teaching and scholarship, warm collegiality and unwavering focus on Catholic mission. I immediately felt at home in this community when I arrived two years ago, and I am grateful and delighted to join the regular faculty.”
Associate Professor of Law Michael Francus teaches and writes about bankruptcy law. His scholarship focuses on the use of legal entity structures in bankruptcy and how they can be better designed to address insolvency, both for government entities and corporate ones.
Francus is a graduate of Stanford Law School, where he served as an articles editor on the Stanford Law Review. After law school, he clerked for Judge Stephanos Bibas on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He also practiced as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis, where he focused on commercial and appellate litigation. He earned his B.A. from the University of Chicago, where he graduated with Honors in Philosophy and Political Science.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Notre Dame Law community,” Francus said. “I’m excited to be part of an excellent group of scholars, a warm and supportive environment, and an institution with a real sense of purpose.”
Associate Professor of Law Rev. Patrick Reidy, C.S.C., teaches and writes in the areas of property law, land use, and religion. He also serves as faculty director for the Church Properties Initiative within the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, is an ordained Roman Catholic priest with the Congregation of Holy Cross, and serves on the University of Portland Board of Regents.
In his research, Reidy explores the intersection of property law and religion. While contributing to private law theory, he seeks to address practical questions faced by faith communities in their ownership of real and personal property. His work has been published, or is forthcoming, in the Yale Law Journal, Virginia Law Review, and Florida Law Review.
Reidy earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and served as the Law School’s chaplain during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years. Since graduating from Yale Law School in 2021, he has clerked for Judge Thomas Hardiman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and served as a visiting fellow in private law at Yale Law School. He also taught Property at Yale Law School during the fall 2022 semester as visiting lecturer in law.
“Blessed Basil Moreau, the founder of Holy Cross, taught that our work of education should ‘prepare useful citizens for society,’ even as we ‘do our utmost to prepare citizens for heaven.’ That conviction,” Reidy said, “has guided the Law School since its very beginning. I’m honored to share in such an inspiring community of men and women with hope to bring.”
Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Jorge Barrera-Rojas joins the Law School as a visiting assistant professor. In addition, he will serve as the Program on Church, State & Society’s Rodes Fellow for the 2023-24 academic year.
He previously taught Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Constitutional Justice Clinic, and International Human Rights Law as an assistant professor of law at the University of Chile and the University San Sebastian. He has also been a non-resident fellow of Stanford Law School’s Constitutional Law Center since 2021.
Barrera-Rojas has practiced law for several years in the Chilean Congress and as a senior associate and later a former partner at Bofill Mir Abogados in Chile. He has been the lead attorney in several landmark cases before the Chilean Constitutional Tribunal. He currently serves as chief counsel and constitutional coordinator at the office of the majority for the Chilean Constitutional Council, the body in charge of drafting Chile’s new constitution. He has
He holds an LL.B. from the University of Chile and an LL.M. from UCLA School of Law. In addition, he is a J.S.D. candidate at Notre Dame Law School and a Ph.D. in Law candidate at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
“For me, it is an honor to be part of the faculty at one of the most prestigious law schools in the world,” Barrera-Rojas said. “I am grateful for Notre Dame Law School, the Program on Church, State & Society, and the support of my former professors and future colleagues in this journey as a law professor in the United States.”
Legal Writing Program
Three new faculty members are joining Notre Dame Law School’s Legal Writing Program.
Associate Teaching Professor Kari Gallagher has been promoted from adjunct professor to full-time faculty member. She initially joined the Notre Dame Law School faculty in 2000 as an adjunct professor in the Deposition Skills program. She has taught Legal Writing since 2016 and the Judicial Externship Seminar since 2021.
Gallagher’s legal career has included work in the judiciary and in private practice. She served as a career law clerk to Judge Kenneth Ripple of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. During her almost 25 years of service, she assisted in the drafting of more than 200 published opinions, spanning almost every area of federal practice.
She also practiced at Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath), where she handled a wide range of litigation, employment, and traditional labor matters.
Gallagher is a member of the St. Joseph County and Seventh Circuit Bar Associations, as well as the Robert A. Grant Inn of Court.
She received a B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame, where she studied sociology and Soviet studies. In 1993, she graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School, where she served as lead articles editor for the Notre Dame Law Review.
“I am excited for the opportunity to serve our students full time and to work with my new colleagues to grow the legal writing program,” Gallagher said.
Associate Teaching Professor Jacqueline Carney joins Notre Dame Law School after recently concluding a clerkship with Judge Thomas Hardiman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Before that, she worked for the Washington, D.C., office of Latham & Watkins in the complex commercial litigation and appellate groups. She also maintained an active pro bono practice.
Carney earned her B.A. magna cum laude in international studies from Boston College in 2016, and her J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2021. At Georgetown, she served as a Law Fellow in the Legal Practice Program and was an online editor for the American Criminal Law Review. She worked as a paralegal at a patent prosecution firm prior to law school.
“I am thrilled to be joining the wonderful community at Notre Dame Law School,” said Carney. “It’s an honor to teach legal writing alongside incredible colleagues and students who are deeply committed to the Law School's Catholic mission and the law as a vocation.”
Associate Teaching Professor Kristina Swanson is a seasoned trial attorney who brings her wealth of experience to the Legal Writing Program.
Since graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School, she has litigated cases in state and federal courts across the country, including aviation accidents and plaintiff’s-side civil rights. She clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and gained significant trial experience at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago and Morrison & Foerster in San Diego.
She is pursuing academic scholarship in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession and foundational skills for legal analysis and writing. She recently presented at the 20th Annual Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, comparing first-year legal writing and research curriculum to present-day legal practice. She is a member of the Legal Writing Institute and AALS sections on Litigation and Women in Legal Education.
Swanson is thrilled to return to Notre Dame Law School after earlier teaching Trial Advocacy and Deposition Skills here. She spent the last two years transitioning from practice to full-time teaching as a visiting professor at Indiana University McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. She taught first-year legal writing and also created and taught an Alternative Dispute Resolution course. She volunteers for the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic.
“Notre Dame Law School ignited my passion to teach students to become ethical and excellent lawyers, and I am thrilled to join the NDLS community,” said Swanson.
Kresge Law Library
Michael Greenlee has joined the Notre Dame Law School faculty as associate director of the Kresge Law Library.
He previously served as a librarian with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He has also worked in academic law libraries, serving as the library director of the Concordia University School of Law and as associate director at the University of Idaho College of Law.
Greenlee earned a dual-degree in Law and Library Science (J.D./MLS) at Indiana University-Bloomington. He also completed a graduate certificate in Bioethics & Health Policy from the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics at Loyola University Chicago. In addition to his work as a law librarian, he is a certified tai chi, yoga, and mindfulness instructor.
“I’m honored by the opportunity to work with such an outstanding group of students and faculty,” Greenlee said. “Everyone I’ve met, in the Law School and across campus, has been welcoming and supportive. I’m looking forward to teaching in the legal research program and supporting the students and faculty with their research and scholarship.”