Contact Us

. . . who are we and how do you find us?

Our professionals have extensive experience in law practice, business, counseling, and higher education. We look forward to assisting students, graduates, and employers. All deans advise students and alumni about career planning and professional development, coordinate programs and workshops, and cultivate recruiting relationships with employers.

[[mjende,Michael J. Ende]]
Associate Dean
J.D., Fordham University School of Law
B.A., State University of New York at Albany
(757) 221-3811

Dean Ende has served as William & Mary Law School’s Associate Dean for Career Services since 2013. Dean Ende’s portfolio of responsibilities include:

management of the Law School’s Office of Career Services with a focus on development and implementation of strategic initiatives related to all aspects of student and alumni career and professional development, alumni and employer outreach, and student and graduate employment;
development and delivery of programming for students on career and professional development-related matters;
employer and alumni outreach efforts to increase internship and post-graduate job opportunities for students and graduates, and market and grow the Law School’s on- and off-campus recruitment programs; and
extensive one-on-one student and alumni career advising and coaching.

Before joining William & Mary, Dean Ende was a partner with the law firm of Cullen and Dykman, LLP, in Garden City, N.Y., where he specialized in bank regulatory and compliance and corporate transactional matters. After leaving practice, Dean Ende was a professional legal recruiter and then served for nearly six years as the Assistant Dean for Career Services at Hofstra Law School. From 2020-2022, Dean Ende was a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) and was a member of the Board’s Finance Committee. Dean Ende currently serves as co-Chair of NALP’s Future of the Legal Workplace Strategic Advisory Committee. At William & Mary, Dean Ende has chaired the Dean’s Advisory Committee on Diversity & Inclusion; served on the Law School’s Strategic Planning Committee, Judicial Clerkship Committee, and Ad Hoc Committee on Legal Practice Program Review; and the university-wide Career Pathways Team.

[[rjsein,Ramona J. Sein]] Ramona J Sein
Assistant Dean for Employer Relations
J.D., William & Mary
M.U.R.P., University of Virginia
A.B. Georgetown University
(757) 221-7686

Dean Sein joined the law school administration in 2004 and her current portfolio of responsibilities include: 1) Conducting employer outreach and connecting employers with William & Mary law students and recent graduates. Collaborating with employers to develop holistic recruiting strategies to raise their profiles with students through targeted communications, on-campus information sessions and presentations, informal networking events, and formal on- and off-campus recruiting programs; 2) Developing online career resources and delivering career-related programs to educate students about the wide variety of career paths open to JD graduates; 3) Teaching sections of the 1L course, Leadership & Professional Development, which introduces students to the foundational skills and professional competencies and characteristics that entry-level lawyers must possess to be successful at the start of their careers; and 4) Serving the legal recruiting profession and William & Mary university community as an active member of the National Association for Legal Career Professionals (NALP) Recruiting Section, the Washington Area Legal Recruitment Administrators Association (WALRAA) Media & Communications Co-Chair, and the William & Mary Employer Partnership Team Co-Lead. Prior to joining the Office of Career Services, Dean Sein clerked for the Honorable J. Calvitt Clarke, Jr., Senior Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk and practiced real estate and land use law in Virginia with Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh in Arlington, and the Tysons and Richmond offices of McGuireWoods. During law school, she interned for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, and served as the first Symposium Editor of the William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review.

[[gppodolin,George P. Podolin]]
Assistant Dean
J.D., Yale Law School
M.A., University of Pennsylvania
A.B., Duke University
(757) 221-7431

Dean Podolin joined the Office of Career Services in 2012. He advises JD students and alumni on career planning and job search strategies for private sector, government, and public interest careers, and also develops and delivers programming on aspects of the job search and associated skills. His advising portfolio includes state and federal judicial clerkships.

Prior to joining the Law School, Dean Podolin practiced law with several firms in Philadelphia for 11 years, litigating a variety of civil cases, including matters relating to commercial disputes, ERISA fiduciary breach, professional malpractice, and the recovery of fraudulently-transferred assets. Dean Podolin served for two years as a law clerk for a federal district judge in Philadelphia before entering practice. During law school, Dean Podolin interned with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC and worked as a summer associate at firms in Boston and Chicago. He was the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of International Law and a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal. Prior to law school, Dean Podolin was a commissioned officer in the United States Navy, serving on surface ships homeported in Norfolk and San Diego.

He is an active member of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), serving as Co-Chair of the JD Career Advisors Section for 2021-22, presenting at the 2019 and 2021 NALP Annual Education Conferences and the 2019 NALP Professional Development Institute, and authoring several articles for NALP’s Bulletin.

[[eabeal, Elisabeth A. Beal]]
Assistant Dean
J.D., University of Miami School of Law
B.A., St. Olaf College
(757) 221- 4004

Elisabeth A. Beal is an Assistant Dean in the Office of Career Services at William & Mary Law School, having rejoined the team in June 2022. Elisabeth most recently served as the Director of Career & Professional Development at the University of South Carolina School of Law and was a member of the Office of Career Services team at William & Mary Law School from 2014-2019. Elisabeth currently serves on NALP’s Nominating Committee, as Co-Chair of the Knowledge Management & Resource Implementation Advisory Group, and as a member of the Future of the Legal Workplace Advisory Group. She was the Chair of the Law Student Professional Development Section from 2019-2020. Elisabeth began her career at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in Miami, where she was an associate in the Labor & Employment Practice Group. Elisabeth is a summa cum laude graduate of both the University of Miami School of Law and St. Olaf College in Minnesota, where she received her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology/Anthropology.

[[lmcurran, Lauren M. Curran]]
Assistant Dean
J.D., University of Denver Sturm College of Law
B.A. (English and Political Science (minor)), University of Colorado at Boulder
(757) 221-5814

Dean Curran joined the Office of Career Services in May 2023. She provides individualized advising for JD students on all aspects of career planning and the job search process. Having spent a majority of her career in the public sector, Dean Curran specializes in public sector career planning.

As an attorney, Dean Curran served as an Assistant Attorney General in Colorado and Vermont, where she advised the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Vermont Department of Taxes. Dean Curran was also a trial attorney for the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, where she defended civil citations regarding workplace safety.

Dean Curran is a JD graduate of the University of Denver, where she participated in the University of Denver Law Review. Dean Curran received her undergraduate degree in English with a Political Science minor from the University of Colorado Boulder. Upon graduation, Dean Curran was awarded the Harold D. Kelling Essay Prize for literary excellence.

Dean Curran is passionate about mentorship. Throughout her career, Dean Curran was mentored by excellent attorneys and public servants who demonstrated the value of professionalism and creative problem solving. The eagerness and guidance of her mentors inspired Dean Curran to mentor others as her professional career grew. She is pleased to collaborate with students on their career goals.

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[[mmorendorff, Melissa M. Orendorff]]
Recruiting Program Administrator
B.A., University of Nebraska
(757) 221- 4617

Melissa Orendorff is the Recruiting Program Administrator in the Law School’s Office of Career Services. Melissa previously worked in William & Mary Information Technology as a Business Analyst. Prior to William & Mary she worked at the Daily Press and Virginia Gazette as the Business Development Manager. Melissa graduated from the University of Nebraska with a B.A. in Journalism.

[[mnlacroix, Mackenzie LaCroix]]
Career Services Coordinator
B.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(757) 221- 5581

Mackenzie joined William & Mary Law School in September 2023, after previously working in the Registrar’s Office at Virginia Tech. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, minoring in history, in December 2022. Born and raised in Newport News, Mackenzie returned to Williamsburg to continue to grow her passion for higher education.