Delaware Law School is delighted to welcome three new full-time faculty members this summer who will be both educators and scholars, shaping our transformative legal education. We also welcome our new associate director of Alumni Engagement, who started in May.
"We are proud of the newest additions to our esteemed full-time faculty," stated incoming Dean Todd J. Clark, who arrives July 1. "The success of our graduates is the defining hallmark of Delaware Law, and that success is inherently tied to the exceptional caliber of our faculty: exemplary scholars, impassioned educators, and seasoned legal practitioners. Their unique abilities exemplify our unwavering commitment to fostering a sense of belonging among our students and to preparing them for distinguished legal careers."
Brendan M. Conner
Brendan M. Conner is an assistant professor of law at Delaware Law. A first-generation college and law school graduate, Conner joins the faculty from St. Thomas University Benjamin L. Crump College of Law, where he taught courses including torts, constitutional law, and sexual orientation, gender identity, and the law. He previously taught legal research and writing at William & Mary Law School and the University of the District of Columbia Law and served as a clinical adjunct professor with the Economic Justice Project, a law student clinic at his alma mater, the City University of New York School of Law.
Conner’s scholarship focuses on civil liberties implications of the increasing convergence in “criminal” and “civil” law enforcement functions in America, particularly the rise of policing-for-profit and the growing use of "civil" actions by police and prosecutors attempting to circumvent constitutional, procedural, and evidentiary protections afforded to criminal defendants. He is also widely published in U.S and international law topics related to police and child protection interventions involving youth accused of drug- or prostitution-related offenses.
Before teaching, Conner served as a Yale Initiative for Public Interest Law fellow and later as an attorney for a New York City community-based organization, where he represented runaway and homeless youth in criminal, eviction, and public benefits proceedings and brought affirmative civil rights and police misconduct litigation on behalf of transgender and gender non-conforming youth.
Diego H. Alcalá Laboy
Assistant Professor of Law Diego H. Alcalá Laboy joins the faculty of Delaware Law from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Owner of the firm Defensoria Legal LLC, Alcalá Laboy represents federal defendants as a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel, and also advises startups. Constantly incorporating technologies into his legal workflow, Alcalá Laboy proudly focuses on legal technology, founding the nonprofit startup, Puerto Rico Legal Tech.
After completing his law degree at the Inter-American University, School of Law, he represented dozens of defendants in serious felonies at the largest public defender's office in Puerto Rico. Earning his LL.M. in international law and human rights law from the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington D.C., he worked as a public defender in both Virginia and Puerto Rico.
Prior to joining Delaware Law, he worked as an adjunct professor at the Inter-American University, School of Law and taught federal evidence and federal criminal procedure courses at the University of Puerto Rico Law School's Federal Bar Review. His scholarship focuses on surveillance, law, and technology from various critical theory perspectives.
Beth Jennings
Professor Beth Jennings joins the faculty as Legal Information Center director and associate professor of law. Beth brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in legal information and instruction having served as assistant librarian and associate adjunct professor at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law, where she was honored with the 2021 Association of American Law Schools Teacher of the Year award and the College of Law Excellence in Teaching award. Jennings currently serves on the Utah Supreme Court’s Committee on Resources for Self-Represented Parties and has led two grant projects creating accessible legal information about special education and eviction.
Prior to academia, Jennings represented LGBTQIA+ clients in private practice in the areas of family law, estate planning, and legal gender marker and name changes and continues that work as a legal clinic supervising attorney. Jennings began her professional career as a high school teacher and librarian in the New York metropolitan area. This experience continues to impact her approaches to teaching and learning.
Jennings’ scholarship focuses on how accessible legal information can increase access to justice and critical approaches to examining the sources of legal information, including databases and casebooks.
Tamisha Hopkins
Tamisha Hopkins joins the school as associate director of Alumni Engagement. A cause-driven leader in multiple diverse industries, Hopkins has worked in the nonprofit sector for 12 years and as an entrepreneur for over 15 years. Prior to joining Delaware Law, Hopkins served as executive director at the YMCA of Delaware’s Middletown location, and she is the current co-owner of Twisted Soul Sista’s Catering. Hopkins earned her bachelor’s degree at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in health physiology. With a wealth of experience in strategic planning, volunteer leadership and program design, Hopkins’ leadership philosophy is nurturing a mission-based environment. She aims to cultivate a culture of excellence, integrity, accountability, and infusing equity in all she does. She looks forward to cultivating strong relationships with alumni, stakeholders and colleagues.
Contact communication manager Shoshana Kohn-Kutny at srkohn-kutny@widener.edu for further inquiries.