8/19/2024

Delaware Law School is thrilled to announce the addition of six distinguished professors to our faculty starting July 1, 2024. Their diverse expertise and dedication to legal education will enrich our academic community and provide our students with excellent teaching and learning. Below, we introduce Professors Margaret H. Zhang, Brooke Girley, Elena L. Cohen, Sarah Everhart, Randle DeFalco, and Wendy B. Scott. Linh Dai also joins us as a Teaching Fellow.

Brooke Girley

Assistant Professor of Law Brooke Girley is a seasoned civil rights attorney and media executive, and brings a wealth of experience to Delaware Law School. She has served both as an associate and of counsel at the Girley Law Firm, securing significant victories in civil rights, church law, and employment discrimination. Girley’s media career includes roles such as Interim Media Director for the Christian Cultural Center and VP of Media and Content for ARB Media. She holds a J.D. from Duke Law School, an M.A.R.S. from Yale Divinity School in Religious Studies, with a concentration in Black Religion in the African Diaspora and a B.A. from New York University in Religious Studies and Africana Studies. Professor Girley was a Teaching Fellow at Widener Delaware Law in 2023-24 and has also taught undergraduates. She will enrich Delaware Law with her expertise in Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, and Employment Discrimination, Evidence and Legal Methods. Her scholarship explores the intersection of civil rights and religion including the history of civil rights in America and how that history impacts and informs the present.

Elena L. Cohen

Assistant Professor of Law Elena L. Cohen is an accomplished attorney, activist, and academic with a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the City University of New York. She is the former President of the National Lawyers Guild and has extensive experience in civil rights litigation, criminal defense, and legal support for protest activities. Cohen’s scholarly contributions include articles on the intersection of politics and law and a chapter in "Biopolitics and Utopia: An Interdisciplinary Reader." At Delaware Law, Professor Cohen will teach a wide range of courses including Civil Rights, and Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Legal Writing and Torts.

Margaret H. Zhang

Assistant Professor of Law Margaret H. Zhang joins Delaware Law School from Rutgers Law School, where she served as a Visiting Assistant Professor and Equity and Inclusion Fellow. Professor Zhang is a reproductive justice scholar and former public interest lawyer who brings an interdisciplinary lens to her research, with particular interest in how workplace issues intersect with reproductive health and environmental issues. Previously, she was the Interim Associate Director for Equity and Inclusion at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Zhang also was an attorney at the Women’s Law Project in Philadelphia, advocating for the rights of pregnant and lactating people through client counseling, policy advocacy, and community education. She clerked for Judge Cheryl Ann Krause of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Zhang earned her J.D. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. At Delaware Law, she will teach Civil Procedure, Employment Discrimination, and Legal Writing, and she will also be a member of the Family Health Law and Policy Institute.

Randle DeFalco

Assistant Professor of Law Randle DeFalco joins Delaware Law School from the University of Hawaii’s Richardson School of Law. At Richardson Law he taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, International Criminal Law, and Lawyering Fundamentals. Professor DeFalco has also held positions as a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Liverpool Law School, a Fulbright Fellow in Cambodia, a Law Associates Fellow at Rutgers Law School, and a Fellow at the national security and international law blog Just Security. Professor DeFalco’s scholarship focuses primarily on international criminal justice and has appeared in a variety of books and journals. He holds a J.D. from Rutgers Law School and LL.M./S.J.D. degrees from the University of Toronto. At Delaware Law School, he will teach Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Legal Writing and International Criminal Law.

Sarah Everhart

Assistant Professor of Law Sarah Everhart joins Delaware Law School with a rich background in environmental law and agricultural policy. A cum laude graduate of Pace University School of Law and with a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Washington College, Professor Everhart’s scholarship focuses on state and federal agricultural and environmental law. Her previous academic roles include teaching at the University of Maryland Francis K. Carey School of Law and Widener University Commonwealth Law School. Professor Everhart’s courses at Delaware Law will include Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Property, and Land Use and Sustainable Development. She is also the Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, serving our students and the greater community.

Wendy B. Scott

Professor Wendy B. Scott joins us as a distinguished visiting professor. With a career spanning over three decades, Professor Scott has taught nearly 2,000 students since joining the legal academy in 1989. A nationally recognized scholar in constitutional law and school desegregation, she has taught various courses and will soon publish a book on Thurgood Marshall's dissenting opinions. Prior to joining the faculty at Widener, Scott served as the Associate Dean of Academic Success at Elon University School of Law, where she implemented innovative programs and expanded bar exam support. Her extensive administrative experience includes roles as Dean at Mississippi College School of Law Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at North Carolina Central University School of Law, and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at Tulane Law School. Prior to joining the academy, Professor Scott practiced labor, employment and civil rights law at the Center for Law and Social Justice, the Vladeck law firm and the Legal Action Center of New York. Professor Scott holds a JD from NYU School of Law and a BA from Harvard University.

Linh Dai

Dr. Linh K. Dai has recently joined us as a Teaching Fellow. She teaches in the areas of Criminal Law and Procedure, Torts, Human Trafficking, Gender and the Law, and International Human Rights. Her research focuses on advocating for the rights of women and children in Asia, exploring the complex intersection of power, exploitation, and justice. Before joining Delaware Law, Professor Dai was a Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Thomas University School of Law and Duquesne University School of Law. She has also taught at McNeese State University and was the recipient of the Mr. & Mrs. William D. Blake Endowed Professorship. Additionally, she has taught at Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University. Professor Dai holds a PhD from Arizona State University and was a Preparing Future Faculty Fellow (PFF) while at ASU. She also received an LLM in law and government from American University, a JD from Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law, an MPA from Hamline University, and a BA from Metropolitan State University.