Senior Administration

Richard D. Freer, JD

Dean and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law

Richard D. Freer is dean of Emory University School of Law. He clerked for a federal district judge and a federal appellate judge before litigating with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles. Graduating classes at Emory Law have named him Most Outstanding Professor ten times. He is a recipient of the university’s highest teaching award as well as the university's Scholar/Teacher Award. He has served as a visiting professor at George Washington University, Central European University in Budapest, Moscow State University in Russia, the University of Warsaw in Poland, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.

lawdean@emory.edu »

Faculty Profile »

Joanna M. Shepherd, PhD

Vice Dean and Thomas Simmons Professor of Law

Joanna Shepherd is the Thomas Simmons Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. She served as vice dean from 2020 to 2023 and again beginning in the summer of 2024. She teaches Torts, Analytical Methods for Lawyers, Law and Economics, and Judicial Behavior. Before joining Emory, Shepherd was an assistant professor of Economics at Clemson University and worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In addition to her position at the law school, she currently serves as an adjunct professor in the Emory Department of Economics.

Shepherd is a nationally-recognized expert on judicial behavior, judicial elections, tort reform, and empirical legal studies.

jshepherd@law.emory.edu »

Faculty Profile »

John Acevedo, JD, PhD

Associate Dean for Students and Academic Programs; Visiting Associate Professor of Practice; Faculty Director, LLM Program

John Felipe Acevedo is visiting associate professor of practice at Emory University School of Law. Before joining Emory Law, Acevedo assistant professor in residence at the University of Alabama School of Law. He has also taught law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, University of La Verne College of Law, and Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Acevedo’s research focuses on the repeal of obscenity laws, which are often used to target minority groups. He is currently working on an essay for a peer reviewed volume on the way censorship in general and obscenity law, in particular, dismembers the bodies of models as well as the corpus of artists’ works by focusing exclusively on individual body parts. He has also examined the way that obscenity laws are used to silence the models appearing in the artworks as well as the artists who create the pieces.

jfacevedo@emory.edu »

Faculty Profile »

Scott Andrews

Director of Information Technology

Scott Andrews has been working at Emory Law for more than 27 years. He manages the team that provides full technical support for faculty, staff, and adjunct professors to ensure smooth daily operations, including classroom support, on-site student IT help desk, A/V support and technical coordination for all major events, and the remote management of all Windows machines, as well as other back-end systems.

lawhelp@emory.edu »

Erik Choisy, JD

Assistant Dean for Admission

Erik Choisy's work is about connecting talented young people with educational opportunities that can change their lives. Choisy joined Emory after serving as the director of admissions at Yale School of Medicine and associate director of admissions at Michigan Law. Previously, he practiced law, first as a DLA Piper Krantz Fellow, working full time on public service and pro bono matters. After the fellowship, he worked in private practice in New York and Atlanta. Choisy is also an AmeriCorps alumnus, having served two terms before law school with City Year, a program dedicated to bridging the education gap in high poverty communities. Outside the office, he is known for overambitious home cooking, exceptionally long bicycle rides, and a love for mountain top sunrises.

erik.d.d.choisy@emory.edu »

Kimberly D'Haene Colvin, JD

Assistant Dean for Student Affairs

Kimberly Colvin serves as assistant dean for student affairs, bringing extensive expertise in academic support, bar preparation, and student services. Previously, she served as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the University of Michigan Law School, where she led student-centered initiatives, wellness programming, and ABA compliance efforts. Her background includes directing academic success programs at Georgia State University College of Law and Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. A former test designer for the National Conference of Bar Examiners and Kaplan Bar Review lecturer, she earned her JD from the University of Michigan Law School and a BA from Spelman College.

kimberly.williams.dhaene@emory.edu »

Katie Cox, MM

Senior Director of Registration

Katie Cox is an experienced higher education administrator with a demonstrated history of generating change in the industry. Prior to Emory, she worked at Yale Law School for four years and left with the title of senior associate registrar. Cox has a bachelor’s degree in music education from Furman University and a master’s degree in flute performance from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. She is skilled in student records management, process creation, data analysis, and fostering collaborative and inclusive workplaces, and she is driven by a desire to lead, serve, and support others towards achieving their goals.

katie.cox@emory.edu »

Mark Engsberg, JD, PhD, MA, MSLIS

Director of Library Services and Professor of Practice

Mark Engsberg is the library director and professor of practice at the MacMillan Law Library. Before coming to Emory Law, Mark Engsberg worked at the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School for eight years, where he served as a reference librarian, as the international and foreign Law reference librarian and as head of reference. Engsberg is active in professional legal and law librarianship organizations. Since 2005, he has served as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Legal Information, published by the International Association of Law Libraries. Engsberg received his master of science in library and information science degree, as well as a master's degree and a doctorate in English literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also holds a JD from Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon, and a bachelor's degree from Drury University in Springfield, Missouri.

mengsbe@emory.edu »

Faculty Profile »

Dave Fagundes, JD

Associate Dean of Faculty

Dave Fagundes is the associate dean of faculty. He writes and teaches about property, including copyright, real estate, and wills and trusts. His most recent and forthcoming scholarship focuses on how property rhetoric affects lay perceptions of ownership, the intersection of copyright and administrative law, the terminal doctrines of intellectual property, and the Anna Nicole Smith estates litigation. His articles have appeared in the New York University Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Texas Law Review, and Vanderbilt Law Review, among others. His work has been selected for presentation at leading national venues including the Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum and the plenary session of the IP Scholars’ Conference (on two occasions) and has been showcased five times in the Journal of Things We Like Lots (JOTWELL).

dfagundes@emory.edu »

Faculty Profile »

Natasha Ferguson, PHR

Division Director, Human Resources

Natasha Ferguson serves as human resources director at Emory Law, where she leads the school's human resources function with a focus on strategy alignment, performance management, and organizational development. With over 20 years of HR experience across multiple industries, she partners with school leadership to strengthen HR processes, build accountability into everyday practice, and support a culture of proactive problem-solving. Natasha holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from Mercer University and professional certifications in HR, DISC Assessments/Profiles, and Six Sigma. She brings a people-first approach to HR leadership, grounded in the belief that strong organizations are built on clarity, communication, and trust between leaders and their teams.

natasha.ferguson@emory.edu »

A. Kenyatta Greer, MA

Senior Director of Communication

A. Kenyatta Greer is senior director of communication and director of the Belonging and Community Council for the school of law. She leads the marketing and communications office and has developed her skills through careers in newspaper, magazine, public relations, and advertising environments. She has built expertise in change management, content development for various print and digital media, managing publication processes, crisis communications, social strategy, media relations, writing and editing compelling copy, and creating and nurturing safe spaces for others to be their favorite selves and to thrive professionally. She is an honors graduate of Gonzaga University, where she earned a master's degree in communication and organizational leadership, and Georgia State University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in print journalism.

kenyatta.greer@emory.edu »

Matt Mize

Associate Dean for Advancement and Alumni Engagement

Matt Mize is responsible for all facets of fundraising and alumni relations at Emory Law. He joined Emory Law after ten years at the University of Georgia, where he most recently served as director of principal gifts. Mize has more than 15 years of experience in higher education advancement, spanning school-based fundraising, regional and central advancement, alumni relations, parent giving, annual fund programs, and event planning. A graduate of Leadership Georgia, Matt spends most of his free time outdoors—on the lake, whitewater kayaking, or at the ball fields coaching and supporting his two children in recreational sports.

mjmize@emory.edu »

Natasha Patel, JD, MA

Assistant Dean for Career Development

Natasha Patel is assistant dean of the Career Center. She oversees the entire Career Center team, recruitment policies, and student professional development. She also advises students in their 3L year. She has more than 19 years of experience advising professionals and students. After working as an attorney at Morrison & Forester in Palo Alto, California, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, she transitioned to advising law students at Columbia Law School’s career development office, where she served as director and interim dean. She returned to her native Atlanta and joined Emory University School of Law in 2020. She holds a BA from the University of Georgia, JD from the University of California College of Law, San Francisco, and an MA in social-organizational psychology from Columbia University. She is licensed to practice in California, New York, and Georgia.

natasha.patel@emory.edu »

Kamina Pinder, JD, LLM

Associate Dean for Academic Excellence

Kamina Pinder joined the Emory faculty in 2016. She is the associate dean of academic excellence and a professor of practice. Pinder teaches Survey of Integrated Legal Concepts Contracts, Remedies, Introduction to Legal Analysis, Introduction to Legal Advocacy, Legal Profession, and Law and Legal Professionals. She has taught in several law and business schools in the areas of legal writing, contracts, professional ethics, ethical issues in healthcare, remedies, case settlement negotiation, bar prep, and externship. Pinder is also a bar review lecturer in the subject of professional responsibility.

kapinde@emory.edu »

Faculty Profile »

Chaun Stores, PhD

Senior Director of Decision Support and Data Management

Chaun Stores serves as the senior director for Decision Support and Data Management at Emory University School of Law, where he is responsible for assessing business intelligence needs, translating those needs into deliverables, and conducting cross-functional analytical research and modeling to support the school’s goals and objectives. Before joining Emory, he served as the assistant vice president for Decision Support & Analysis at West Virginia University and before returning to his alma mater, he served as the Director of Assessment and Institutional Research at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. As a presidential management fellow, W.E.B. Dubious Fellow, and an SREB Fellow, he earned his PhD in political science from West Virginia University. He also served on the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) Accreditation Board as a community representative, responsible for implementing the standards for the accreditation of education programs in behavior analysis. As a social scientist by training, Stores is passionate about exploring opportunities where the combination of different data types can help inform evidence-based decision-making.

chaun.stores@emory.edu »