Faculty and Administration  

Mark Alexander – A widely respected specialist in politics, government, and election law, Professor Alexander has played a key role in a number of high-profile political campaigns. Included among his political activities, he served as a senior advisor for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and as a member of Obama’s Transition Team to review the Federal Elections Commission. In 2006, he served as General Counsel to Cory Booker in his successful bid as mayor of Newark.

Baher Azmy – A sought-after expert on human rights, Professor Azmy directs the Civil Litigation Clinic where he and his students work on issues related to torture, indefinite detention, and the protection of immigrants. At the forefront of the fight for the habeas corpus rights of detainees, he also represented Murat Kurnaz, a German resident of Turkish descent, who was released from Guantanamo in 2006.

Christina Bennett, J.D. – Director of  the Academic Success Program and the Legal Education Opportunities (LEO) Program, both of which seek to ensure the success of students from all backgrounds. Before returning to academia, Ms. Bennett served on Diversity Committees while an associate at Riker, Danzig et al., and as Counsel in the legal department at UBS/PaineWebber, Inc. (now UBS, Inc.).  She has had an abiding interest in supporting individuals who were underrepresented in the legal field since she was the Academic Chair for Seton Hall’s Black Law Student Association while attending Seton Hall Law, and later, as a mentor for the New Jersey Law Firm Group.

Ahmed Bulbulia – Professor Bulbulia joined several other Seton Hall Law professors in founding the groundbreaking LEO program in 1978. A native of South Africa, Professor Bulbulia is a barrister at law of the Middle Temple and an advocate before the Supreme Court of Africa. 

Wilfredo Caraballo – Professor Caraballo is a civil rights advocate with extensive experience in the political arena. He has served as New Jersey Public Advocate and Public Defender, as a New Jersey Assemblyman, and was a lead sponsor of the state’s civil union law. At Seton Hall Law, he was instrumental in creating the Legal Education Opportunities program to provide greater access to a legal education.

Mark Denbeaux – As a college student in the 1960s, Professor Denbeaux took part in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in support of the struggle for black voting rights. As he recalls, Selma then was “an ugly and scary place.” Taking on another scary place—Guantánamo Bay—he and his students spent several years poring through thousands of government documents to reveal the facts about the prison camp in their Guantánamo Reports.

Bernard K. Freamon – A strong advocate for protecting the rights of others and assisting the underrepresented, Professor Freamon was the founding director of Seton Hall Law’s Center for Social Justice. He currently directs the study abroad program in Cairo on International and Comparative Law, and Zanzibar Winter Intersession on Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking. He also is the author of numerous books and articles on Islamic jurisprudence and legal history.

Rachel Godsil – Professor Godsil has long been active in civil rights, land use, and environmental justice. She served as a senior policy advisor for the Obama election campaign, and has written extensively on the convergence of race, poverty, and the environment. Her current projects include Protecting Status: The Mortgage Crisis, Eminent Domain, and the Crisis of Homeownership, and Containments in the Air and Soil in New Orleans after the Flood: Opportunities and Limitations for Community Empowerment.

Shavar Jeffries – A devoted advocate for educational equality and empowering urban parents, Professor Jeffries in 2008 was appointed Counsel to New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram. Currently on leave from Seton Hall Law, he welcomed the opportunity as another avenue to help improve the lives of state residents. At Seton Hall Law, his focus is on representing clients on civil rights, consumer fraud, fair housing, and other matters.

Marina Lao – Professor Lao began her legal career with the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division and today is a highly sought after expert on antirust, corporate, and securities law. In 2007, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to the University of Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law.  While there, she taught U.S. Antitrust Law and conducted research on EU and U.S. competition law issues.

Solangel Maldonado –A family law specialist, Professor Maldonado centers her work on the world of children. Her primary focus is on reducing the impact of divorce on children and building support for transracial and transcultural adoptions. She is co-author of Family Law in the World Community, and presents extensively on race, culture, and adoption, and the well being of children. She is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association and served on the Board of Director of the Dominican Bar Association.

Marc Poirier – Professor Poirier’s interests and scholarship are varied and far reaching, stretching across such areas as coastal land use, gender discrimination, and sexual orientation. His recent journal articles include “Natural Resources, Congestion and the Feminist Future” (Ecology Law Journal) and “The Cultural Property Claim within the Same Sex Marriage Controversy” (Columbia Journal of Gender and Law).

H. Kwasi Prempeh – Counted among his achievements in the international arena, Professor Prempeh helped to shape democratic reform in his native country of Ghana. While serving as Director of Legal Policy and Governance for the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, he assisted with land sector reform and the review of the country’s constitution. His ongoing scholarly interests include constitutionalism in new democracies, and law and economic development.

Brenda Saunders-Hampden – Along with her work in entertainment and copyright law, Professor Saunders-Hampden is a committed champion of diversity within the legal profession. She founded the Summer Institute for Pre-Legal Studies at Seton Hall Law and is former director of the Legal Education Opportunities program (link to LEO). In 2006, the Garden State Bar Association presented Professor Saunders-Hampden with its Oliver Randolph Civil Rights Award for her outstanding contributions to diversity, and in April 2009 the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey honored her with its Changemaker Award.