Emory Law boards welcome new leadership

The Emory Law Dean’s Advisory Board and the Emory Law Alumni Board, representing a diverse range of perspectives and geography, are appointed and work together to advise the dean and senior staff on the interests of the Emory Law community. These groups recently welcomed new leadership that boast long histories of Emory Law service and clear goals for the future of the law school.

Ian Levin 92L serves as Advisory Board president. The Advisory Board concentrates primarily on fiscal and operational strategic planning. Levin graduated from Emory Law in 1992, where he met his wife Lisa Levin 92B who was studying for an MBA at Goizueta Business School. Their son Ryan Levin 19C 24L is a 1L at Emory Law and their son Zachary 22B is in his senior year at Goizueta Business School at Emory. 

Levin has served as a member of the Emory Law Alumni Board and now the Emory Law Advisory Board. He has been serving as chair of the Transactional Law Advisory Board at Emory Law. He took over as chair of the Advisory Board on September 1, 2021, and will serve as chair for two years. 

He and Lisa have been regular contributors to Emory Law, having supported the Carney Chair in Transactional Law and Practice, the Emory Law School Fund, EPIC and many other areas of the school and Goizueta Business School. Levin also serves as an adjunct professor at New York Law School. 

As chair, Levin will lead the Advisory Board on fiscal and operational strategic planning, advising the dean and senior staff on the interests of the Emory Law community. Representing a diverse range of perspectives, the Board works to keep the law school apprised of and responsive to the current state of the legal profession and the concerns and needs of Emory Law alumni and advises on a broad scope of matters ranging from admission to fundraising. 

Levin is an executive compensation and employee benefits partner in his firm’s M&A and Securities Group. His practice covers a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits matters, including the associated tax, securities, corporate, employment and labor issues. He has been recognized as a leading employee benefits attorney by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, New York Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers. Chambers USA describes him as “highly experienced in advising clients on the benefit and executive compensation issues associated with various business transactions” and noted that clients regard Ian as “very proactive” and “an excellent lawyer with strong technical knowledge.” The Legal 500 US has noted that he “operates at a very high level across many areas but brings a particularly unique set of skills to ERISA Title I matters in his representation of private investment funds.” 

The Emory Law Dean’s Advisory Board and the Emory Law Alumni Board, representing a diverse range of perspectives and geography, are appointed and work together to advise the dean and senior staff on the interests of the Emory Law community. 

Levin’s Advisory Board Vice Chair is Donna Yip 04L. New Advisory Board members are: Robert Preston Brown 89L, Jennifer Welch Hightower 90L, Catherine Marie Hilton 95L, Jay Steele 94L, Cheryl F. Turner 94C 99L, and Kellye L. Walker 92L. 

The new Alumni Board President is Benjamin Fink 92L. The new President-Elect is Emily Baker 98C 01L. Fink, a shareholder in Berman Fink Van Horn, concentrates his practice in business and employment litigation with a particular emphasis on non-compete, trade secret and other competition-related disputes. 

With nearly 30 years in practice, Fink has handled cases in Georgia’s state and federal courts as well as state and federal courts in more than 15 other states. He has also handled disputes in arbitration before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). 

Fink is a well-respected writer and lectures regularly on non-competes, trade secrets and related topics, as well as other topics involving competition-related legal issues and other legal issues facing businesses. Since 2005, Fink has been named a Super Lawyer in Atlanta Magazine for his work in Employment/Business Litigation and he has been selected by Georgia Trend magazine as one of Georgia’s Legal Elite since 2012. Since 2013, he has been named a Top 100 Georgia Super Lawyer and selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2015 – present). 

Benjamin Fink has been an incredible contributor of his time, serving as a speaker for Emory Law Career Center professionalism classes, and he often opens his firm, Berman Fink Van Horn, to host events for the law school and the university. Fink has served as an EmoryLaw@Work captain for several years, and his firm reached 100% participation at least six times. The firm hires Emory Law summer associates nearly every year, and they often return for permanent placement. Other partners in Berman Fink Van Horn are Jeffrey Berman 82L and Charles Van Horn 94L. Fink met his wife, Robin DePatrillo Fink 89C 92L, at Emory Law. Their son Henry Fink 18Ox 20C 23L is a 2L at Emory Law now, continuing his parents’ legacy. 

The Alumni Board focuses on strategic planning for alumni engagement. New Alumni Board members are: Stephen Bayer 92L, Diane Bessen 79C 87L, Christina Graham 02L, Jason Hyatt 17L, Heather Johnson 05L 05T, Shijuade Kadree 03Ox 05C 09PH 09L, Daniel Marti 99L, Jessica McKinney 97L, Oderah Nwaeze 11L, Mindy Planer 88L, Emily Richardson 05L, Elvin Sutton 00L, and Margaret Ward Scott 03L.