Mercer Law Welcomes New Faculty for the 2019-20 Academic Year

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Mercer Law Billie Jo Kaufman
Billie Jo Kaufman

MACON – Mercer Law School is pleased to welcome three new visiting faculty members, two new adjuncts and an interim library director this year.

Yesterday, Billie Jo Kaufman (photo above) became the interim director of the Furman Smith Law Library and visiting professor of law. She served as associate dean for library and information resources at American University Washington College of Law since 2004. She also teaches and specializes in advanced legal research, cyberlaw, criminal procedure, legal research, and writing and law librarianship. Before she received her J.D. from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law, she earned her M.S. and M.Ed. degrees from Indiana University Bloomington.

Brian Kammer will step into the role of director of the Habeas Project as a staff attorney and adjunct professor of law, as Professor Sarah Gerwig-Moore who founded the Habeas Project moves into the role of associate dean for academic affairs. Kammer served as executive director of the Georgia Resource Center since 2009, providing representation to death sentenced prisoners in Georgia in state and federal habeas corpus proceedings. Kammer earned his B.A. from Earlham College and his J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

Christina Hunt will serve as an adjunct professor to lead the Public Defender Externship program this year. She earned her B.A. from Furman University and her J.D. from Mercer Law School in 1985. She is a former senior litigator for the Federal Public Defender program and is currently serving as the executive director of the Federal Defenders for the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia.

Benjamin Templin, professor of business law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, will be a visiting professor teaching Contracts I and Business Drafting in the fall and Business Associations and Business Drafting in the spring. He is the author of Contracts: A Modern Coursebook and a co-author of LawClassFeedback – Contracts. Additionally, he has published a series of law review articles on Social Security reform and government investment in private enterprise. Before earning his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, he graduated from Grinnell College with his B.A. in political science.

James Smith, John Byrd Martin Chair of Law Emeritus at the University of Georgia, will serve as a visiting professor teaching Real Estate Transactions in the spring. He has authored several books, including Contracts and Conveyances of Real Property, Real Estate Transactions: Problems, Cases, and Materials and Property: Cases and Materials. He has taught courses in various topics, including Secured Transactions, Global Issues in Real Property Law and Comparative Commercial Law. He graduated from Saint Olaf College with his B.A. and earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.

Elizabeth Sherowski, former director of moot court and lawyering skills programs and lecturer in law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, will serve as a visiting professor this year teaching Legal Analysis and Writing. She will also be coaching one of our moot court teams. She received her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and her J.D. from the Ohio State University College of Law. She was a visiting clinical assistant professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law last year.