Enrique Armijo, James G. Exum, Jr., Keith McCrickard and Hannah Vaughan join the 2012-13 full time faculty of Elon University School of Law.
Enrique Armijo – Assistant Professor of Law
Enrique Armijo teaches and researches in the areas of media, communications and internet law and policy, torts, and international freedom of expression. Prior to joining Elon, Armijo practiced with Covington & Burling LLP in Washington D.C., where he advised journalists, news organizations and trade associations on media law-related issues. As an appellate lawyer, Armijo briefed cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and briefed and argued cases in federal and state courts of appeal. His appellate work included cases concerning broadcast indecency and the First Amendment (FCC v Fox Television Stations, S. Ct. 2011), Guantanamo detainees’ rights to habeas corpus (Boumediene v. Bush, S. Ct. 2008), and foreign sovereign immunity for cultural property (Odyssey Marine Exploration v. Spain, S. Ct. 2012).
Before entering private practice, Armijo was a Visiting Scholar at the Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. There he worked on international media law projects and comparative research on media ownership regulation in the US and Europe. Armijo’s scholarly work has appeared in the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, the Administrative Law Review, the Journal of International Media and Entertainment Law, the Federal Communications Bar Journal, the International Journal of Communications Law and Policy, and other journals. He has provided advice on media and internet law reform to governments, stakeholders and NGOs located around the world, including in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. His commentaries on these and other topics have appeared on NPR’s On the Media and WUNC-FM.
Armijo clerked for the Honorable Karen LeCraft Henderson at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after law school. He also worked as a law clerk at Brooks Pierce and Smith Moore (now Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP), both in Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C. He earned a B.A. from the University of Florida, an M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. from the University of North Carolina where he was Editor-in-Chief of the North Carolina Law Review.
James G. Exum, Jr. – Distinguished Professor of the Judicial Process
The Honorable James G. Exum, Jr. joins Elon Law as a full time member of the faculty after serving in a part time capacity as Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence since 2006. He is a founding member of the Elon University Law School Advisory Board.
Exum served on the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1975-1994, and was Chief Justice from 1986-1994. In 1996 he returned to the practice of law at Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP where he led the appellate practice group, supervising and assisting lawyers with appeals in state and federal courts.
Exum was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1967 and that same year began service as Resident Superior Court Judge in Guilford County, NC, holding that position until being elected to the state Supreme Court in 1974. During his service with the Supreme Court, Exum wrote 402 opinions for the court and 208 concurring or dissenting opinions. As a lawyer, he has helped brief and argued more than 40 appeals in state and federal appellate courts.
Exum is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He has served in the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association as Chairperson of the ABA Criminal Justice Standards Committee, and as State Chair of the ABA Foundation. He has been active in the North Carolina Bar Association, serving in the 1980s as co-chair of its Commission on Alternate Dispute Resolution and most recently as co-chair of its Committee on Judicial Independence.
Exum is the recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Judge John J. Parker Award for conspicuous service to the cause of jurisprudence, the North Carolina ACLU’s Frank Porter Graham Civil Liberties Award, and the American Judicature Society’s Herbert Harley Award for contributing to the improvement of the administration of justice in North Carolina. He earned a B.A. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. at New York University.
Keith McCrickard – Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
Keith McCrickard will teach administrative law and legal writing at Elon. His primary research interests include administrative law, communications law, environmental law and constitutional law.
Before entering academia, McCrickard was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of an international law firm. His practice focused on the communications industry, encompassing a wide variety of litigation, regulatory advocacy, transactional matters, and lobbying campaigns. As part of this practice, McCrickard represented clients before federal administrative agencies, state utility commissions, and federal appellate courts. In addition, he performed pro bono work with several legal-aid organizations.
McCrickard also served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Jerome A. Holmes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, as well as to the Honorable Catherine C. Eagles and the Honorable Thomas D. Schroeder of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
McCrickard received his undergraduate degree in history and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and the Golden Key National Honor Society. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Hannah Vaughan – Clinical Practitioner-in-Residence
Hannah Vaughan joins the faculty of Elon University School of Law as practitioner-in-residence for the Elder Law Clinic. She served as a Visiting Assistant Professor, directing the Elder Law Clinic, at Syracuse University College of Law during the 2011-2012 academic year. Previously, she was an attorney at Booth Harrington and Johns of NC PLLC, where she practiced Elder and Special Needs Law. She also served as primary counsel to Corporation of Guardianship, a non-profit trustee of a Special Needs Pooled Trust.
Vaughan is a member of the State Bars of North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama and she is certified by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to represent claimants regarding their VA benefits. She holds a B.S. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from the University of Alabama where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law and Psychology Law Review. Her research interests include elder law, clinical legal education, end of life planning, and legal ethics.