School of Law announces inaugural faculty and staff

Over the past several months, Davis has been conducting a national search for outstanding legal educators who will work together to create a national model for engaged learning in legal education at Elon.

The law school’s faculty and staff members have a combined total of more than 240 years of experience in legal education and the practice of law. They join the Elon School of Law after teaching at such law schools as the University of Iowa, Indiana University, George Mason University, the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Georgia, the University of Florida and Howard University.

Professors of Law:

Don Peters has taught for 32 years at the University of Florida, where he is a professor of law and director of the Institute for Dispute Resolution and director of the Virgil Hawkins Civil Clinics. He has served as a visiting faculty member at universities in Jordan, Australia and Malaysia as well as the University of Iowa, the University of Alabama and the University of Colorado. He has also been a legal consultant in South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, Poland, Israel, the Republic of China, Haiti, Jordan, Australia and India. After receiving a senior Fulbright Hays award as visiting professor with the law faculty at the University of Malaya, he developed and co-taught the first clinical lawyering skills course in Southeast Asia. Peters, who has received an award for excellence and innovation in teaching at Florida, has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa and a juris doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law.

Helen Grant joins the Elon faculty from the Indiana University Law School – Indianapolis, and the University of Louisville (Ky.), where she was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law. A native of Australia, Grant was a member of the law faculty for 11 years at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, where she received numerous awards for excellence in teaching. In legal practice, she was the presiding legal member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal in Brisbane, and also spent two years as a legal officer in the Office of the Special Prosecutor in Brisbane, investigating cases of official corruption and prosecuting government officials. Grant has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Queensland University of Technology and a doctorate in law from the University of Queensland.

George R. Johnson, Jr., formerly served six years as president of LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tenn. He also has been academic dean and professor of law at Howard University in Washington, D.C. From 1979 to 1981, he worked in the Carter administration as assistant general counsel in the Executive Office of the President. He also served as assistant counsel to the Committee on Banking, Finance & Urban Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition to Howard, he has taught at George Mason and Indiana universities. He has spent the past four years in Washington, D.C., practicing law and serving as a consultant to colleges and universities. Johnson has also served on the boards of trustees/directors of Amherst College, the United Negro College Fund, the Council of Independent Colleges, the Economic Club of Memphis, and Universal Life Insurance Company. Johnson has a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and a juris doctor from Columbia University.

Steven Friedland comes to Elon from Nova Southeastern University (NSU), Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where he has been a professor of law for 20 years. At NSU he was awarded various teaching honors, including several law school “teacher of the year” awards and one university-wide honor. He has taught at law schools across the southeast, including the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and the University of Miami. While in practice, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. A co-author of two books published by the Carolina Academic Press, “Techniques For Teaching Law” and “Teaching the Law School Curriculum,” he is a national leader and frequent speaker and consultant on improving law school teaching, including the establishment of law schools in Japan. He is on the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Law School Teaching and has directed NSU’s Guardian Ad Litem and Street Law programs. Friedland has a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, a juris doctor from Harvard Law School, and a master of laws and a doctor of jurisprudence degree from Columbia Law School, where he also was a Dollard Fellow in Law, Medicine and Psychiatry.

Associate Professor of Law:

Catherine Ross Dunham comes to Elon from the University of Virginia School of Law where she is working on research exploring social psychology and legal education while completing an advanced master of laws degree. She previously served as director of legal research and writing and was assistant professor of law at Campbell University School of Law. She also served as a law clerk to Judge Sidney S. Eagles, Jr. at the North Carolina Court of Appeals before practicing law for five years, representing clients in trials and in appellate litigation in both North Carolina and federal trial and appellate courts. In 2003 she received the American Bar Association’s E. Smythe Gambrell Award for teaching professionalism. Dunham has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a juris doctor from Campbell University.

Professor of Legal Education:

Martha Peters joins the Elon faculty from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she has directed the academic achievement program for the last seven years. Previously, Peters developed and directed the Law Student Resource Program at the University of Florida. She has led numerous workshops and given conference presentations around the world on best practices in legal education and ways to support students, reduce stress, and promote their success in law school. She is a two-time winner of the Clara Gehan Award for the Advancement of Women’s Issues presented by the Law Association for Women and recipient of an outstanding service award from the Black Law Students’ Association. Peters has a bachelor’s degree from Mary Baldwin College, a master’s and doctorate in educational psychology and an educational specialist degree in counselor education from the University of Florida.

Executive Coach in Residence:

Bonnie McAlister will work with Elon law students in the areas of leadership development and communications. She comes to Elon following distinguished teaching careers at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) and Davidson College. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at CCL and in the Bryan School of Business and Economics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is an experienced communications consultant to businesses and organizations. She has taught seminars nationwide for nearly 30 years, specializing in leadership, speaking, interviewing and presentation skills. McAlister has a long history of civic involvement in Greensboro, serving on various boards for the Bank of America, Greensboro College, Guilford College, UNCG, United Way and the Women’s Professional Forum. McAlister has a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in speech communications from UNCG.

Davis has also named three associate deans who have begun their work for the law school. They include the following:

Associate Dean for Library and Informational Services and Associate Professor of Law:

Mitchell Counts is coordinating the acquisition of materials for the law library as well as the technology resources for the school. He comes to Elon from the Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was the associate dean for library and information services during that school’s successful candidacy for ABA approval. After clerking at a law firm in Houston, Counts served as the computer services librarian at Indiana University School of Law and then as the associate director of the law library at Mississippi College School of Law, where he also taught legal research and writing. Before joining the Ave Maria faculty, Counts served as director of the law library at Baylor University School of Law and taught in the legal analysis, research and communication program. Counts holds a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University, a juris doctor from South Texas College of Law and a master of library science degree from Indiana University.

Associate Dean for External Relations and Assistant Professor of Law:

Margaret Robison Kantlehner will prepare students for internships and full-time employment as part of the school’s Office of Professional Recruitment, Development and Placement. She will also coordinate relationships with the school’s external publics, including a broad range of volunteer lawyers, mentors and preceptors who will enrich the development of Elon’s students and educational program. A former partner in the Greensboro law firm of Johnson, Peddrick, Kantlehner & McDonald, she also has executive experience in business. Kantlehner has chaired the Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar Association, done pro bono legal work for Habitat for Humanity and was a North Carolina Volunteer Lawyer for the Arts. She has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a juris doctor from Campbell University.

Associate Dean and Director of Admissions and Associate Professor of Law:

Alan Woodlief was named associate dean and director of admissions for the Elon University School of Law in May 2005. He had served as associate dean for admissions at Campbell University’s law school since 1999. Woodlief joined Campbell’s law faculty in 1995, after serving as a research assistant for Associate Justice (later Chief Justice) Henry E. Frye of the North Carolina Supreme Court. The author of three North Carolina legal treatises, he has taught a broad range of law school courses. Woodlief serves as a research associate for the Institute of Government, working with the North Carolina Superior Court judge’s pattern jury instruction committee, and serves on the publications board of the North Carolina State Bar. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a juris doctor from Campbell University.