I am pleased to share the appointments of seven new members to our distinguished faculty at the University of Tennessee College of Law. These talented scholars and teachers bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and immense talent that will further enrich our vibrant law school community. We are excited about the many contributions they will make in the years to come, as the College of Law continues to light the way by preparing skilled lawyers and leaders who are passionately committed to serving the public good.
– Lonnie T. Brown, Jr., Dean and Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor
Tyler Dougherty
Clinical Teaching Fellow
J.D., Rutgers Law School-Newark
B.A., Johns Hopkins University
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Tyler Dougherty joins the Advocacy Clinic as its first Clinical Teaching Fellow. Prior to joining the College of Law, Dougherty was a clinical attorney and adjunct professor in the Rutgers Criminal & Youth Justice Clinic in Newark, New Jersey. At Rutgers, she represented young people at various stages of the juvenile and criminal legal systems. In addition to representing clients, Dougherty worked on several youth-focused policy campaigns, appellate and state supreme court amicus advocacy, and partnerships with incarcerated youth to develop their own legislative proposals. She is particularly interested in building power with the communities most targeted by state systems of control.
Rebecca Eshbaugh
Lecturer, Legal Writing
J.D., New York University School of Law
B.A., Harvard University
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Before joining the College of Law, Professor Eshbaugh served as an Assistant Public Defender with the Knox County Community Law Office. She has worked with the Knoxville Bar Association and served as an Assistant Public Defender in Alaska. Professor Eshbaugh earned her law degree from the New York University School of Law, where she interned at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and the ACLU of Tennessee. Following graduation, she clerked for Judge Philip Volland of the Alaska Superior Court and Chief Judge David Mannheimer of the Alaska Court of Appeals.
Kristina Kersey
Assistant Professor of Law
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
B.A., Rutgers University
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Professor Kristina Kersey teaches in the Advocacy Clinic and her scholarship focuses on the juvenile carceral system and youth rights. Professor Kersey brings over two decades of experience in the field of youth defense to UT Law.
Professor Kersey worked for the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender for over 18 years, specializing in youth defense. She was the trial attorney in State in the Interest of N.H. in which the New Jersey Supreme Court held that youth are entitled to full and complete discovery prior to a transfer hearing for adult prosecution. Her advocacy extended beyond the courtroom as she led several statewide initiatives including representation of all detained youth at every hearing, expungement assistance, and post-disposition advocacy. Professor Kersey also served on the New Jersey Council on Juvenile Justice and System Improvement, the OPD Juvenile Training Committee and was the First Assistant Deputy Public Defender in the Essex juvenile unit.
Nicholas Nugent
Assistant Professor of Law
J.D., Vanderbilt Law School
B.S., Indiana University
B.M., Indiana University
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Before joining UT Law Professor Nicholas Nugent taught for two years at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he also served as Program Director for the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy. Professor Nugent specializes in technology law, including internet governance, intellectual property, and telecommunications. Prior to his time in academia, he served as Senior Corporate Counsel to Amazon, where he supported Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s cloud computing service, and worked with European regulators on net neutrality, cybersecurity, and telecom policy. He previously worked as an attorney for Microsoft, supporting Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service. He has also held business roles in the technology sector, both as a lead negotiator for Microsoft and as a product manager for Amazon.
Professor Nugent was previously an associate at Hogan Lovells, focusing on transactional work in the technology area, and Finnegan, where he practiced patent litigation and prosecution.
Tomer S. Stein
Assistant Professor of Law
J.D., University of Texas School of Law
B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Professor Tomer Stein focuses his teaching and scholarship on Business Associations (in particular, Corporate Law and Governance), Mergers and Acquisitions, and Contracts. Professor Stein is a frequent speaker in academic and industry conferences and his scholarly work appears or is forthcoming in the Arizona State Law Journal, the Hastings Law Journal, and the Buffalo Law Review.
Professor Stein previously practiced corporate law at the New York office of Latham & Watkins and as a legal consultant to the capital markets arm of the Royal Bank of Canada. His practice focused on capital markets, general securities, and corporate governance matters. Professor Stein’s experience includes advising corporate, private equity, and banking clients on a broad range of public and private domestic and cross-border financing transactions, including initial public offerings and high-yield and investment grade debt offerings.
Rachelle Ketchum West
Lecturer, Legal Writing
J.D., DePaul University College of Law
B.A., Wayne State University
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Prior to joining UT Law, Professor Rachelle Ketchum West was a faculty member at the University of Idaho College of Law in Boise, Idaho. Professor West began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Sean F. Cox of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. After her clerkship, she joined the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. through the Honors Attorney program. As a civil trial attorney, Professor West investigated mergers and potentially anticompetitive conduct involving entities primarily in the transportation, energy, and agriculture sectors.
Carlos A. Yunsan
Lecturer, Legal Writing
J.D., University of Tennessee College of Law
M.S. – M.P.H., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
B.S., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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Professor Carlos A. Yunsan spent five years as a judicial law clerk in Tennessee’s appellate courts, first for Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee and then for Judge Kristi M. Davis of the Court of Appeals. Professor Yunsan, a native of Panama City, Panama, has been teaching first-year courses in predictive and persuasive legal writing since 2018. His scholarly interests include diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, the impact of civics education and social media literacy on the legal system, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence in society.
Professor Yunsan is the current President-Elect of the Knoxville Bar Association (KBA), and will start his term as KBA President in December 2023. He was recently selected by National Conference of Board Presidents as one of ten 2023-2024 Diversity Scholars.