Western New England University School of Law's Dean Sudha Setty and Professor Jennifer Levi are serving on a bipartisan advisory committee assembled by United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) to review and provide recommendations on federal District Court candidates across Massachusetts. The Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Judicial Nominations is soliciting, interviewing, and commenting on applications for federal District Court vacancies.
In a press release announcing the committee earlier this year, Senators Warren and Markey said the Advisory Committee plays an important role in ensuring that a highly-qualified, fair-minded, and justice seeking candidate is appointed as U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
Setty became Dean of the School of Law in 2018, and has served on the faculty since 2006 teaching courses in Constitutional Law, Law & Terrorism, National Security & Government Accountability, Contracts, and Business Organizations. Her scholarly work focuses on comparative analysis of separation of powers, rule of law, and national security. Dean Setty is the first woman of South Asian descent to serve as dean of an ABA-accredited law school.
Levi serves as Professor of Law at Western New England University School of Law. Professor Levi has dedicated her career to fighting for the rights of women; children; the poor; and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered clients. In addition, Levi is the director of GLAD's Transgender Rights Project, litigating precedent-setting cases establishing basic rights for LGBTQ people, and a nationally recognized expert on transgender legal issues.
The Advisory Committee comprises distinguished members of the Massachusetts legal community, including prominent academics and litigators, and is chaired by former U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner. The full list of Committee members include:
Pamela E. Berman, Partner at Robins Kaplan LLP
Jack Corrigan, Principal and Owner at Corrigan & Associates
Elissa Flynn-Poppey, Member/Partner at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo, PC and former Deputy Legal Counsel to Governor Romney and Executive Director of the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Office of the Governor of Massachusetts
Georgia Katsoulomitis, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Marianne LeBlanc, Principal at SUGARMAN
Jennifer Levi, Professor of Law at Western New England University School of Law and Director of the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) Transgender Rights Project
Janeth Moreno, President of the Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys and Founder and Managing Attorney at Moreno Law
Willard Ogburn, Senior Fellow at the National Consumer Law Center
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Dean and Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law
Walter Prince, Partner at Prince Lobel and former president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association
John Pucci, Partner and trial lawyer at Buckley Richardson
Sue Reid, Senior Advisor - Finance at Global Optimism and former Vice President and Director of the Conservation Law Foundation Massachusetts
Sudha Setty, Dean and Professor of Law at Western New England University School of Law
Dehlia Umunna, Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Faculty Deputy Director of the law school's Criminal Justice Institute
