Visions of Leadership: The Moments & Voices that Drive Change

Thursday, November 30, 2023
4 p.m.
Albany Law School, 80 New Scotland Ave. Albany, NY 12208
1928 Building, Dean Alexander Moot Court Room

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Please join our panel of distinguished leaders who have effected transformative change at the intersection of the rule of law, equity, and justice. Moderated by Cinnamon P. Carlarne, the discussion will engage the panelists in a conversation about how they have embraced leadership roles, how their notions of leadership have evolved, and what they see as some of the greatest challenges and opportunities facing future lawyers and leaders.


 

Panelists

Maxine Burkett
Professor of Law, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa

Robert L. Capers ’96
Chief United States Probation Officer for the Eastern District of New York

Kathy Seward Northern
Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, Jones Day/Robert M. Duncan Designated Associate Professor of Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Moderator
Cinnamon P. Carlarne
Albany Law School President and Dean

About Dean Carlarne

This event is open to the Albany Law School community. A reception will follow the program.

The Visions of Leadership: The Moments & Voices that Drive Change event is a part of the Inaugural activities for Albany Law School as we celebrate the investiture of Cinnamon P. Carlarne as the 19th President and Dean of Albany Law School.

Cinnamon P. Carlarne

Cinnamon P. Carlarne (Moderator)

Albany Law School President and Dean

Dean Carlarne joined Albany Law School in July and comes to us from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law where she was the Associate Dean for Faculty & Intellectual Life. She joined Ohio State in 2011 as a faculty member, and was named the Robert J. Lynn Chair in Law in 2022.

Dean Carlarne is a leading international expert in environmental and climate change law policy. She has a deep commitment to environmental equity and social justice. She has authored several books and dozens of scholarly articles on climate change law and policy, Domestic and International Environmental Law, and Oceans and Human Health and Well-being.

Dean Carlarne has a Bachelor of Arts degree as a University Scholar from Baylor University and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. She also holds a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) and a master’s degree in environmental change and management from the University of Oxford. Prior to her career in higher education, she was an associate attorney in the Energy, Land Use, and Environment section at the Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld Law Firm in Washington, D.C.

Maxine Burkett

Maxine Burkett

Professor of Law, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa

Maxine Burkett is the Professor of Law the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Most recently, she was a Visiting Professor at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, where she advanced research on climate justice and public health, and is a Professor of Law (on leave) at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai‘i.  From January 2022 through July 2023, Burkett served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Fisheries, and Polar Affairs in the Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES).  At OES, Burkett oversaw the formulation and implementation of U.S. policy on a broad range of international issues concerning the oceans, the Arctic, the Antarctic, and marine conservation.  Prior to that appointment, Burkett served as an Expert Senior Advisor to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry where her portfolio included climate-related migration, climate security, bilateral relationships with island nations, and Indigenous Peoples’ engagement.  

Before joining the Biden Administration, Maxine served on numerous commissions, state and federal committees, and the boards of several organizations dedicated to climate mitigation and adaptation, environmental and climate justice, and just transitions.  Among other affiliations, Maxine is a member scholar of the International Law Association’s Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise, for which she served as a Co-Rapporteur from 2019 to 2021, and the American Law Institute.  

Prof. Burkett received her B.A. from Williams College, which awarded her the Bicentennial Medal for Distinguished Achievement in 2016, and Exeter College, Oxford University.  She received her J.D. from Berkeley Law, University of California, and served as a law clerk for The Honorable Susan Illston of the United States District Court, Northern District of California. 

Robert L. Capers ’96

Robert L. Capers ’96

Chief United States Probation Officer for the Eastern District of New York

Robert L. Capers is currently a Court Unit Executive within the United States District Court for the EDNY, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, and is responsible for overseeing a staff of approximately 90 federal probation officers and staff.

From October 2017 to his appointment as Chief Probation Officer in December 2019,  Capers was a partner in the New York City Office of Arent Fox LLP, where he co-chaired the White-Collar Defense and Investigations practice group and was a member of the Business Compliance and Integrity Monitorships practice group.

Capers began his career in the Eastern District in 2003 and served as a trial AUSA in the General Crimes, Narcotics, and the Violent Crimes and Terrorism Sections.  He also served as an Acting Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section, Deputy Chief and Chief of the Narcotics Section and the International Narcotics Strike Force, Deputy Chief of the Litigation Unit within the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section in Washington, D.C., and Senior Litigation Counsel in the Office's Public Integrity Section.

On October 8, 2015, Capers was nominated by Former President Barack Obama to be the United States Attorney for the EDNY. On the same day, Former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Mr. Capers to that position in an interim capacity.  Capers was confirmed by the Senate on December 15, 2015, and he took the oath of office on January 4, 2016.

 

Kathy Seward Northern

Kathy Seward Northern

Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, Jones Day/Robert M. Duncan Designated Associate Professor of Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Kathy Seward Northern is the Robert M. Duncan/Jones Day Designated Associate Professor of Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law where she has been a professor since 1991. She currently serves as the Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, represents the law school to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Leaders and Advocates group, and serves on the University’s Workgroup for Inclusive Excellence. She has also served as Associate Dean for Admissions and Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs while at Moritz. Dean Northern teaches in the areas of Tort Law, Poverty Law, Products Liability, and Environmental Justice. She serves on the Board of the Law and Leadership Institute, a pipeline program for underrepresented and under resourced high school students and has been deeply involved with this pipeline program since its inception in 2008. Dean Northern received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, her B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Psychology from Williams College.

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