Law Professors Promoted
“These four individuals are wonderful examples of the strength of the Law School’s faculty,” said Dean Davison M. Douglas. "Through their work, they underscore our commitment to both excellent teaching and scholarship.”
Professor Jeffrey Bellin
Promoted to Professor of Law, 2015
Recognized as one of the foremost scholars on the topic of electronic evidence, Cabell Research Professor of Law Jeffrey Bellin’s research has garnered acclaim for its exploration of the interaction between new technologies and criminal procedure and evidence doctrines. Many of the nation’s leading legal journals have featured his work, including the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Cornell Law Review, and Northwestern University Law Review. His legal commentary on events such as the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, the trial of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, and New Jersey’s "Bridgegate" (and the Fifth Amendment) have been featured in stories by the Associated Press, Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, Newsweek, and the Washington Post. His honors include William & Mary’s Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence (2015), the Law School’s Class of 2014 Walter L. Williams, Jr., Teaching Award, and Southern Methodist University Law School’s Class of 2012 Don Smart Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2013 Bellin was appointed by a three-judge Special Committee to serve as Special Counsel to investigate a misconduct complaint filed against a prominent federal judge.
Professor Bellin received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University (summa cum laude) and his law degree from Stanford Law School, where he was elected to Order of the Coif. Before beginning his academic career, he clerked for Judge Merrick Garland on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; served as a prosecutor with the D.C. United States Attorney’s Office; and practiced with the San Diego office of Latham & Watkins.
Professor Tara Leigh Grove
Promoted to Professor of Law, 2015
Robert E. and Elizabeth S. Scott Research Professor of Law Tara Leigh Grove is widely recognized as a rising star in the areas of federal courts and separation of powers. Her work has been published by prestigious law reviews, such as the Harvard Law Review, Columbia Law Review, New York University Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and Cornell Law Review, and also has been cited and discussed in leading federal courts casebooks. Professor Grove’s article, The Article II Safeguards of Federal Jurisdiction (SSRN), was selected by the American Association of Law School’s Federal Courts Section as the Best Article of 2012 by an untenured professor. Her article, Standing Outside of Article III (SSRN), was one of three selected for presentation and discussion at Vanderbilt Law School’s 2014 New Voices in Civil Justice Workshop. She was recognized with William & Mary’s Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence (2014).
Professor Grove received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Duke University. After teaching English in Japan for a year, she attended Harvard Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude and served as the Supreme Court Chair of the Harvard Law Review. Before embarking on her academic career, she clerked for Judge Emilio Garza on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and then spent four years as an appellate attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, where she argued fifteen cases in the courts of appeals.
Professor Vivian Hamilton
Promoted to Professor of Law, 2014
Cabell Research Professor of Law Vivian Hamilton has been recognized as an expert in the law governing adolescents and their education. Her work is interdisciplinary and is informed by research in the social and developmental sciences. Her articles have explored age, capacity and the public good in issues such as voting, marriage, and driving. She is editor of the forthcoming Oxford Bibliography of Children and the Law, and her articles have been published in the Boston University Law Review, University of Georgia Law Review, and B.Y.U. Law Review. Her work has been featured in several Family Law casebooks and cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Virginia American Civil Liberties Union.
Professor Hamilton is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School (cum laude). At Harvard, she was Articles Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and a student attorney for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. She was honored at her graduation with the National Association of Women Lawyers' Outstanding Woman Graduate Award. Before beginning her academic career, Professor Hamilton clerked for Judge Gladys Kessler of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She later practiced law in the litigation group in the Washington, D.C., office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP and at the Legal Aid Society of Washington, D.C.
Professor Patricia Roberts
Promoted to Clinical Professor of Law, 2014
It takes only a glance at Professor Patricia Roberts's C.V. to find ample evidence of why Virginia Lawyers Media named her to its list of the 2015 “Influential Women of Virginia.” As Director of the Law School’s Clinical Programs, she manages eight legal clinics that provide pro bono representation to the community, as well as the Virginia Coastal Policy Center. She also directs the Lewis B. Puller, Jr., Veterans Benefits Clinic, and has been a leader in the effort to rally law schools nationwide to join in the effort to aid veterans. Among other endeavors, she is a Vice Chair of the Military and Veteran Health Law Task Force (Health Law Section, ABA), a founding member of the National Veterans Legal Clinic Coalition, and a member of the AALS Standing Committee on Clinical Education. Her recent scholarship focuses on veterans and has appeared in the Memphis Law Review (SSRN) and the Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice (SSRN).
Professor Roberts is a graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman's College and William & Mary Law School. She practiced law for eight years as a solo practitioner and later as a managing partner of a civil practice law firm in Virginia. In 1997 she began teaching in the Legal Skills Program (now known as the Legal Practice Program) and from 2000-2007 served in numerous administrative roles at the Law School, including Associate Director of the Legal Skills Program, Director of the Academic Support Program and Externship Program, and Associate Dean for Academic Programs, until her appointment to the faculty. Under her leadership of Clinical Programs, four in-house clinics and a center were started and enrollment opportunities for students more than tripled. She received the John Marshall Award in 2004 in recognition of her exceptional service to the Law School.
About William & Mary Law School
Thomas Jefferson founded William & Mary Law School in 1779 to train leaders for the new nation. Now in its third century, America's oldest law school continues its historic mission of educating citizen lawyers who are prepared both to lead and to serve.