Washington and Lee School of Law
Millhiser Moot Court Room
Zoom Panel
9:15 AM - 11:00 AM
Professor Leah A. Plunkett, Harvard Law
Leah Plunkett is the inaugural Executive Director of Harvard Law School Online and Associate Dean of Learning Experience and Innovation (LXI) at Harvard Law School, where she is proud to lead the Office of LXI. She is also the Meyer Research Lecturer on Law at HLS and a faculty associate with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Ms. Plunkett is a national leader in online legal education, having served as a chief architect of the hybrid JD program in intellectual property, information, and technology law at University of New Hampshire School of Law (the first specialized hybrid JD program in the country). Her scholarship explores the intricacies of digital privacy and the digital lives of kids, families, and communities. Ms. Plunkett received her A.B., summa cum laude, in American History and Literature from Harvard College, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Professor Erin Carroll, Georgetown Law
Erin Carroll, a faculty member at Georgetown University Law Center, excels in teaching and researching diverse legal disciplines, ranging from legal analysis and communication to rhetoric, the free press, and technology. Her expertise lies in exploring the intersections of these fields, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of their interplay. Her scholarship is informed by her work as a journalist before becoming a lawyer. She is particularly interested in how law can help to reinvigorate and reimagine the press such that journalists and journalism can better serve democracy. Ms. Carroll previously served as the Chair of the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Communication, Media and Information Law. Ms. Carroll also actively contributes to the governance of Georgetown University, serving as the Vice President from the Law Center to the Georgetown University Faculty Senate and as a member of the University’s Gender Equity Committee. She is a graduate of Yale University and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.
Professor Jasmine McNealy, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications
Jasmine E. McNealy serves as an associate professor in the Department of Media Production, Management, and Technology at the University of Florida. Her research is dedicated to the intersection of media and technology, with a deliberate aim to shape law and policy. Emphasizing technological ecosystems, privacy, surveillance, and data governance, her work explores the multifaceted implications of the evolving relationship between media and technology in contemporary society. In addition to her academic role at the University of Florida, Ms. McNealy is a senior fellow in tech policy at the Mozilla Foundation and is a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. She holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication with a focus on Media Law, a J.D. from the University of Florida and a B.S. in Journalism and Afro-American Studies from the University of Wisconsin.
Professor Peter K. Yu, Texas A&M School of Law
Peter K. Yu is a professor at Texas A&M University School of Law and a leading expert in international intellectual property and communications law. Mr. Yu has been a distinguished speaker at events hosted by prominent organizations such as WIPO, the World Trade Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, UNCTAD, UNESCO, and various governments including China, the European Union, and the United States. Mr. Yu lectures and presentations have spanned over 30 countries on six continents, and he is a frequent commentator in the national and international media. Mr. Yu received his B.A. in English and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his J.D., cum laude, from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.
Professor Patrick Walters, Washington and Lee University
Professor Walters worked in journalism for 15 years before entering academia in 2014, first at two local newspapers and then as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press ("The AP") in Philadelphia. At the AP, he spent more than a decade covering state, local and national government, as well as beats that included law enforcement, gambling, and coverage of breaking news. After leaving the AP, Walters taught journalism and mass communication courses at Kutztown University in eastern Pennsylvania for eight years. In May 2022, he earned his Ph.D. in Media & Communication from Temple University, where he completed a dissertation on how diverse kinds of journalistic collaborations are changing the field.
Professor Kevin Finch, Washington and Lee University
Professor Finch earned his Bachelor of Science from Murray State University majoring in Radio-Television and earned his Master of Arts from the University of Illinois-Springfield, focusing on Public Affairs Reporting. Finch has covered some of the biggest stories of our lifetime, managed TV newsrooms, and wrote and produced network documentaries before turning to teaching full-time. He was in Washington, DC on 9/11 and covered the first anniversary of the attacks in New York. Currently, he teaches a wide variety of courses focusing on journalism and mass communications.
Turna Ray, Managing Editor at GenomeWeb
Turna Ray is a reporter and editor at the life sciences-focused news publication GenomeWeb, where she has been covering the personalized medicine and molecular diagnostics industries since 2006. Using her extensive experience reporting on genomic medicines for cancer, she helped launch Precision Oncology News in 2019, a GenomeWeb sister news site that tracks how genomically informed treatment is improving and challenging cancer care. In 2023, she led efforts to expand that news site into Precision Medicine Online, which provides in-depth coverage of genomic medicine across disease areas beyond cancer. In addition to her role as managing editor of Precision Medicine Online, Turna continues to cover the regulatory, reimbursement, and legal issues raised by the growing availability of precision medicines and contributes in-depth features and investigative pieces on these topics.
Professor Christopher Seaman, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Christopher B. Seaman serves as the Robert E.R. Huntley Professor of Law. His research and teaching interests include intellectual property, property, and civil procedure, with a particular focus on intellectual property litigation and remedies for the violation of intellectual property rights. Professor Seaman's intellectual property-related scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in a variety of law reviews and journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Virginia Law Review, the Iowa Law Review, and the Washington Law Review. His empirical study of willful patent infringement and enhanced damages was selected as a winner of the Samsung-Stanford Patent Prize competition for outstanding new scholarship related to patent remedies. In addition, Professor Seaman has an interest in voting rights and election law, having written several works on the history, constitutionality, and potential future of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Professor Seaman received his B.A. in 2000 from Swarthmore College and his J.D. in 2004 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.