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Introducing new faculty members
Five new faculty members joined the full-time faculty for the 2023-2024 academic year. Each plays an integral role in developing the experiential learning course offerings at Willamette Law.
Professor Anozie joins the faculty following his time as a visiting assistant professor of law at Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Anozie has a passion for teaching and helping students realize their full potential.
“I look forward to working with students and collaborating with the faculty at Willamette to train the next generation of lawyers,” he says.
Anozie began his career as an associate in a law firm’s corporate division in Nigeria, where he advised domestic and foreign government agencies on energy, trade and environmental law issues as a foreign legal consultant.
Anozie is teaching Property Law, as well as Environmental Law, Energy/Climate Law, and Global Environmental Justice.
Professor Schroeder-Fenlon spent the first six years of her career in big law firms focused on finance and real estate transactions. After discovering a love for mentoring and teaching, she transitioned into her new career.
Most recently, Schroeder-Fenlon was the associate director of the Business Transactions Clinic at NYU Law School, where she taught and supervised secondand third-year law students.
“I am drawn to courses with experiential components that allow students to learn and practice the skills they need as junior attorneys,” she says. “I like these courses because I get to work closely with students and provide them with detailed feedback — I find it rewarding to watch students develop their critical thinking skills.” She is teaching Lawyering, Business Organizations, and Contract Drafting courses.
Professor Poor knew she wanted to be a lawyer after completing college. She worked in several areas of law before finding her way to academia.
Most recently, she completed a clinical teaching fellowship with the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Civil Advocacy Clinic, in which certified student attorneys represented low-income clients in civil matters related to experiencing poverty. For Poor, this was a great way to transition from direct public interest litigation work to the academic community.
Poor is teaching courses on Evidence, Gender and the Law, and Criminal Law, with a seminar in Policing.
“I’m very excited to be teaching Evidence in the fall,” Poor says. “As a former trial attorney and clinician in a Civil Litigation Clinic, I love the practical aspects of evidence law and helping students navigate the courtroom and figure out how to successfully introduce or oppose testimony and exhibits.”
Professor Purce was inspired to pursue a law career helping immigrant communities after working with undocumented students through AmeriCorps. When she earned her JD, she worked as a contract attorney for immigration firms in Washington state before focusing on public interest work.
Most recently, she led the immigration section of a limited-scope defense clinic at Portland Community College, which provides services for low-income immigrant clients facing deportation.
At Willamette Law, Purce joins Professor Beth Zilberman in the Immigration Clinic, where she is helping develop the clinic’s offerings. Additionally, she is teaching courses from Immigration Law to Rural Practice.
“I remember my clinic experience during law school as perhaps the most formative aspect of my time there,” she shares. “I am enthusiastic about helping students learn the practical skills that lawyers use every day and, hopefully, inspiring a love of immigration law and a commitment to this population of clients.”
Professor Olguín Torres joins the Willamette Law faculty as an international visiting faculty member from the law department of the University of Guanajuato, Mexico.
Olguín Torres is a member of the National System of Researchers Level 1 of the National Council of Science and Technology and is the author and editor of several books as well as book chapters and articles on Public International Law, Constitutional Law, and International Environmental Law.
At Williamette, he is teaching courses on the Law of Mexico, Comparative Constitutional Law, and International Environmental Law.
“It is a history of love, I think. I have been to Willamette Law before,” Olguín Torres says.
“I know the campus, professors and academics. And of course, I know the wonderful people who live there.”
