Attorney & Staff Directory
Alexander E. Dreier
Alexander E. Dreier was appointed Senior Vice President and General Counsel in November 2014 and joined the University in March 2015. As Yale’s chief legal officer and legal counselor to the Corporation, he oversees all of the University’s legal affairs, and directs its Office of the General Counsel. In addition, he oversees the University’s federal relations, its program of enterprise risk management, and its governance operations. Read Full Bio
Attorneys
Gregory Bok
Associate General Counsel
Greg joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2019. Prior to his appointment at Yale, Greg was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He clerked for the Honorable Milan D. Smith, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for the Honorable R. Gary Klausner of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Greg earned his A.B., with honors, from the University of Chicago and his J.D. from Berkeley Law. Greg teaches legal writing at Yale Law School and is a member of the NACUANOTES Editorial Board of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. His work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance, Digital Media & Information Technology, and Litigation.
Vannesa Martinez Cecchini
Senior Associate General Counsel
Vannesa joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2012. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Vannesa served as Assistant University Counsel at Princeton and was an Associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLC. Vannesa earned her A.B. from Princeton University and her J.D. from the University of Michigan. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Labor & Employment, Litigation, and Student & Academic Affairs. Vannesa is a member of the Undergraduate Organizations Committee. She served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys from 2015-2018. She also chaired its Latino Lawyers Affinity Group from 2013-2015 and served on the Board Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion from 2016-2018 and 2019-2021.
Pamela M. Chambers
Senior Associate General Counsel
Pam joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2006. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Pam served as Law Clerk for the Honorable Alan H. Nevas and the Honorable Ellen B. Burns, both of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and as an Associate at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, PC and at Day, Berry & Howard, LLP. Pam earned her B.A. from Yale University and her J.D. from Quinnipiac School of Law. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Digital Media, Information Technology, and Intellectual Property Law and she serves as primary legal counsel to the Yale University Press. Pam serves on the Friends Board of Directors of the New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Inc.
Stephanie S. Chan
Senior Associate General Counsel
Stephanie joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2008. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Stephanie served as an Associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, and at Davis Polk & Wardwell. She also served as a management consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton. Stephanie earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale College and her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Her work is focused in the University’s Investments Office.
Deborah Chung
Deputy General Counsel for Investments
Deborah joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2006. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Deborah served as an Associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. Deborah earned her A.B. from Princeton University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance and Investments.
Joanna L. Cohen
Associate General Counsel
Joanna joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2020. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Joanna was an Associate at Nixon Peabody LLP and an Associate General Counsel at Northwell Health. Joanna earned her B.A. from Skidmore College, cum laude, and her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Her work focuses primarily in the Health Law practice area.
Tobias W. Crawford
Associate General Counsel
Toby joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2018. Prior to his appointment at Yale, Toby was an Associate at Hirsch Roberts Weinstein LLP and clerked for the Honorable J. Garvan Murtha in the District of Vermont. Toby earned his B.A., cum laude, from Bowdoin College and his J.D. from Boston College Law School. His work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Labor & Employment and Litigation. Toby serves on the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Resources for Students and Employees with Disabilities.
Alyssa Greenwald
Senior Associate General Counsel
Alyssa joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2009. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Alyssa clerked for the Honorable Chief Judge James P. Jones of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia and was an Associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Alyssa earned her B.A. from Yale College, her J.D., cum laude, from Duke Law School, her L.L.M. in International & Comparative Law from Duke Law School, and her M.A. in Political Science from Duke University. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance, Health Law, International & Immigration Law, and Research. Alyssa serves on Yale’s International Operations & Compliance Committee.
Alexander Jonghee Han
Associate General Counsel
Alex joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2019. Prior to his appointment at Yale, Alex served as a Director & Principal Legal Counsel at Samsung and was an Associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP and O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Alex earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale College and his J.D. with Pro Bono Distinction from Stanford Law School. His work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Technology Transfer, Transactions, and Research.
Caroline G. Hendel
Deputy General Counsel
Caroline joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 1990. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Caroline was an Associate at Foley, Hoag & Eliot LLP and clerked for Justice Ruth Abrams of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Caroline earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Yale College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Immigration Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation & Insurance, and Student & Academic Affairs. Caroline serves on the Web Accessibility Steering Committee, on the Board of Directors of the United Way, serving as chair of the Governance Committee, and she is also a longtime volunteer with New Haven Reads.
Andrew Kau
Assistant General Counsel
Andrew joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2019. Before coming to Yale, Andrew was a Litigation Associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and clerked for Justice Scott Kafker of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Andrew earned his B.A. summa cum laude from Yale College and his J.D. from Yale Law School. His work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance, Litigation, Research, Student & Academic Affairs, and Trusts & Estates/Development.
Aaron Mensh
Associate General Counsel
Aaron joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2022. Prior to his appointment at Yale, Aaron served as Associate General Counsel at Cornell University. Aaron earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Middlebury College and his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Connecticut Law Review. His work focuses primarily in the practice area of Real Estate.
Abigail Mulligan
Associate General Counsel
Abigail joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2022. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Abigail worked in private practice focusing on individual clients, charitable giving and charitable organizations. Abigail also was a Senior Officer in the Legal Affairs Department at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Abigail earned her B.A. summa cum laude from Yale College and her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance and Trusts & Estates/Development.
Rosina Mummolo
Assistant General Counsel
Rosina joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2022. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Rosina served as Assistant University Counsel at Princeton University and was an Associate at Foley Hoag LLP. Rosina earned her A.B., cum laude, from Dartmouth College and her J.D., cum laude, from Cornell Law School.
Sohail Ramirez
Associate General Counsel
Sohail joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2016. Prior to joining the University, he was an Associate in Fried Frank’s asset management group. Sohail was previously on the board of the Dominican Bar Association and is actively involved in the University’s DEI efforts. He teaches Introduction to Legal Analysis and Writing at Yale Law School. Sohail earned his B.A. from Fordham University and his J.D. from Yale Law School. His work is focused in the University’s Investments Office.
Susan Sawyer
Senior Associate General Counsel
Susan joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 1996. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Susan served as Associate General Counsel at Christie’s Inc. and was an Associate at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Susan earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Wellesley College and her J.D. from New York University School of Law. Her work is focused primarily in the practice areas of Student & Academic Affairs and Trusts & Estates/Development.
Tina Tyson
Deputy General Counsel for Health Affairs
Tina joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2017. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Tina served as Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Duke University, as Associate General Counsel at Washington University in St. Louis, and was an Associate at Bryan Cave LLP. Tina earned her B.A. from Virginia Wesleyan College and her J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Health Law, International and Immigration Law, and Research. Tina serves on the HIPAA Privacy and Security Advisory Committee.
Chris Unseth
Assistant General Counsel
Chris joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2021. Prior to his appointment at Yale, Chris served as an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Mayer Brown LLP, in New York. Chris earned his A.B., with honors, from Brown University, his M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, and his J.D. from New York University’s School of Law. His work is focused in the University’s Investments Office.
Arabella Yip
Senior Associate General Counsel
Arabella joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2015. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Arabella was in-house counsel at Bridgewater Associates, an Associate at Hogan Lovells, and in-house counsel at the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. Arabella earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Digital Media & Information Technology and Intellectual Property.
Chris Zheng
Assistant General Counsel
Chris joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2022. Prior to his appointment at Yale, Chris was an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Chris earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale College and his J.D. from Yale Law School. His work is focused in the University’s Investments Office.
Staff
Karen Bauer
Senior Administrative Assistant
Karen joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2013. Karen provides administrative support for Aaron Mensh within the Office of the General Counsel and for Nancy Loucks, Marje Lemmon, Janitza Matta, and Dimitrios Lemonas within the Office of Enterprise Risk Management.
Harriet Cooper
Paralegal
Harriet joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2006. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Harriet served as Senior Litigation Paralegal at Wiggin & Dana LLP. Harriet earned her B.A. from New England College. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Labor & Employment and Litigation & Insurance.
Regina Frangipane
Paralegal
Regina joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2021. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Regina served as a Corporate and Transactional Paralegal at Neubert, Pepe & Monteith, P.C. Regina earned her Paralegal Certification from Branford Hall Career Institute. Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance and Real Estate/Construction.
Denise Gilmore
Senior Administrative Assistant
Denise joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2006. Denise provides administrative support for Toby Crawford, Caroline Hendel, Vannesa Martinez Cecchini, and Susan Sawyer.
Vanessa Guerrero
Law Fellow
Vanessa joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2022. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Vanessa served as an Associate at O’Melveny and Myers. Vanessa earned her B.A. from UCLA, her M.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, and her J.D. from Stanford Law School. Before attending law school, Vanessa served as an Assembly Fellow for then-Assemblymember Rob Bonta.
Vanessa’s work for the University is supervised by attorneys admitted in Connecticut.
Christopher Hanson
Director, Institutional Compliance Program
Chris joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2017. Prior to his appointment at Yale, Chris served as Assistant Compliance Director in the Office of University Compliance and Integrity at The Ohio State University. Chris earned his B.S., summa cum laude, from Florida Southern College and his J.D., cum laude, from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Chris’ work focuses on institutional compliance with applicable legal and regulatory standards. He serves on Yale’s Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.
Amanda Jones
Institutional Compliance Program Manager
Amanda joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2022. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Amanda served as US Head of Risk & Compliance and Claims Counsel at Withers Bergman LLP and as Professional Responsibility Counsel at DLA Piper LLP. Amanda earned her B.S. and B.A., with honors, from the University of Oklahoma, her A.M. from the University of Chicago, and her J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School. Amanda’s work focuses on institutional compliance with applicable legal and regulatory standards.
Elizabeth Leonard
Paralegal
Liz joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2017. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Liz served as a Corporate Paralegal at Cravath, Swaine and Moore LLP. Liz received her Bachelor of Arts in History and her Paralegal Certification from the University of Saint Joseph in 2006. Her work is focused primarily in the University’s Investments Office.
Carolyn Marks
International Operations Compliance Manager
Carolyn joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2011. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Carolyn served as the Director of Compliance at Save the Children. Carolyn earned her B.A. from the University of Richmond and her M.A. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carolyn’s primary role is to provide operational support to members of the University community engaged in international activities. She serves on Yale’s International Operations & Compliance Committee.
Kelsie L. Newsom
Paralegal
Kelsie joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2016. Kelsie earned her B.S. and her M.B.A. from Southern Connecticut State University. She earned her Paralegal Certification from the University of Connecticut. Her work is focused primarily in the University’s Investments Office.
Crystal Patenaude
Senior Administrative Assistant
Crystal joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2005. She received her B.A. from Fairfield University and her M.A. from Southern Connecticut State University. Crystal provides administrative support for Pam Chambers, Joanna Cohen, Alex Han, Rosina Mummolo, Tina Tyson and Arabella Yip.
Richard Pearlberg
Senior Administrative Assistant
Richard joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2006. Richard provides administrative support for Greg Bok, Alyssa Greenwald, Chris Hanson, Amanda Jones, Andrew Kau, Carolyn Marks, and Abigail Mulligan. He has served on the Board of Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport since 2020.
Claire Sin-Clair
Senior Executive Assistant
Claire joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2021. Prior to her appointment at Yale, Claire served as Office Manager at Jun He Law Offices. She provides administrative support for Alex Dreier and Rich Jacob.