Happy 2023!

Hi Jordan,

The year 2022 proved to be an exciting time of growth for the Online LL.M. Program!

We started the year with the Spring 2022 High Tech in High Demand webinar series, featuring thought leaders from the University of Dayton School of Law and our partner universities around the world. Panelists discussed emerging topics, such as the intersection of data science and criminal law, cryptocurrency regulation, digital inequalities, the use of technology in justice administration, and the intersection of patent law and technology in healthcare.

The webinar series culminated with our first University of Dayton School of Law Online LL.M. Student Colloquium (March 22-23) where participants shared their research interests and/or presented their original work at the virtual Symposium. We ended the year with the launch of Prof. Carlos Bernal’s exclusive Inter-American Human Rights Law course.

It’s a New Year, and we’re excited about a lot of new developments for the Program. Read on to learn more: 



• If your NEW Year’s resolution is to pass the U.S. bar, start planning now by reviewing our article about tackling the U.S. bar exam.
• Meet our NEW faculty members and get their take on what 2023 has in store for the international law community.
• Celebrate the NEW successes of our students, faculty, and alumni in 2022.

We’re proud to say that our Online LL.M. community is continuing to grow! Check out this map that illustrates where our students—past and present—come from around the globe.

Many students choose our Online LL.M. Program because it was specifically designed to impart the knowledge and tools needed for the U.S. bar exam (CA & WA). If you're interested in more information on this or know someone who is, check out our recent article on How Internationally Educated Lawyers Can Qualify to Take the Bar Exam and Practice Law in the United States.

In each newsletter, we feature outstanding members of our faculty who are making waves at UD or in their careers. Our faculty brings a diverse set of experiences and talents and serve as the backbone of our Program.

This month, we’re excited to introduce … our brand-new faculty members for Spring 2023!

Laura Reich is an attorney and arbitrator based in Miami, Florida. As a partner at the firm of Harper Meyer LLP, she focuses on complex commercial and probate litigation as well as domestic and international commercial arbitration. She specializes in resolving issues in telecommunications, the hospitality industry, and in art & antiquities.

A frequent author, lecturer, and adjunct professor, Laura recently published Prepare to Win: First Steps in International Arbitration in the American Bar Association’s The Woman Advocate. She is also an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association and the Court of Arbitration for Art.

If any students are interested in learning more about this emergent field, Laura is open to meeting for further discussion. Please respond to this email if you wish to connect with her.

Amber Donley, Esquire owns Donley Law Firm, P.L.L.C. in Orange Park, Florida, and practices law throughout the state of Florida. A native of Miami and alumna of Bethune-Cookman University, she first earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and served as a fifth-grade teacher in Title I schools.

Mrs. Donley opened her law firm in 2015 to focus primarily on the areas of estate planning, family law, probate, and guardianship matters. She is also a member of the Board of Governors for the Jacksonville Bar Association, Vice President of Three Rivers Legal Services (pro bono provider), graduate of the William Reece, Jr. Leadership Academy, Class IV, Past President of the D.W. Perkins Bar Association, and the Former Chair of the 4th Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee 4D.

For those interested in pro bono work, Amber is an excellent resource. Please respond to this email if you wish to connect with her.

Brian Owsley is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law. He received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an Executive Editor of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. He also received a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs. After law school, he served as a law clerk in the Southern District of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, as well as a Leonard H. Sadler Fellow for Human Rights Watch in New York City.

Professor Owsley went on to practice with the Southern Poverty Law Center as a legal fellow in Montgomery, Alabama; the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C.; and with a private law firm in Washington, D.C. After private practice, he returned to government practice, working as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Following this period, he was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Texas, where he served from 2005 until 2013. With this extensive and varied practice and judicial experience, he entered law teaching in 2013. He taught at Texas Tech and Indiana Tech Law Schools before joining the UNT Dallas faculty in 2015.

UDSL Professor Ericka Curran (pictured above) was a presenter at this year’s American Immigration Lawyer’s Association (AILA) Conference and invited two Online LL.M. students to join the experience—Cynthia Azor & Ivan Andres Ramirez Reinoso (pictured above).

Cynthia Azor earned her first law degree in Nigeria and seeks to broaden her knowledge of the American legal system. As an immigrant, she is passionate about learning how the immigration system in America works to enable others like herself to successfully navigate a way to reach their dreams. “My favorite takeaway from the conference was learning the different processes and filing systems for immigrants with the USCIS.”

Immigration Law is a popular field for many of our LL.M. students, so we strive to provide enrichment opportunities for them to participate in supplemental professional development activities (including conferences and pro bono opportunities), that help keep them at the forefront of the topic.

Prof Ericka Curran enjoys being a mentor and resource for students interested in learning more about this field and career opportunities in the field of immigration law.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Cynthia, Ivan, and Professor Curran!

In November, we co-hosted a special webinar event with the Universidad de Piura (Peru) on Business Law—New Challenges and Opportunities. Guest speakers Professor Adam Todd (University of Dayton School of Law) and Dean Ernesto Calderon (Dean of School of Law at Universidad de Piura) led an engaging discussion, sharing their insights on how leading Blockchain technologies, smart contracts, the internet of things (IoT), and more are changing the legal landscape for companies around the world. If you're interested in the field, give it a watch!