Attorney & Staff Directory

Robert joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2006.  Prior to his appointment at Yale, Robert served as Deputy University Counsel at the University of New Mexico.  Robert earned his B.A. from SUNY at Stonybrook and his J.D. from Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley. His work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance, Environmental Health & Safety, Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer, and Research.  Robert serves on Yale’s Tax Exempt Bond Compliance and University Research Compliance Committees. 

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.  Before attending law school, Greg was a police misconduct investigator for the New York Civilian Complaint Review Board.  His work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance, Digital Media & Information Technology, and Litigation.

Lauren joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2018.  Prior to her appointment at Yale, Lauren served as Assistant General Counsel at Commonfund.  Lauren earned her A.B. from Harvard College and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.  Her work is focused in the University’s Investments Office.

Cynthia returned to the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2011, following more than a decade as the General Counsel for Save the Children.  Cynthia previously served as Associate General Counsel and Director of Planned Giving.  Cynthia earned her B.A. from Austin College, her J.D. from Harvard Law School, and her L.L.M. from New York University Law School.  Her work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance, Intellectual Property, International & Immigration Law, and Trusts & Estates/Development.  Cynthia serves on Yale’s International Operations & Compliance Committee. 

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.

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 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 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 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.

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 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. 

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 joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2019.  Prior to his appointment at 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 International & Immigration Law, Research, Student & Academic Affairs, and Trusts & Estates/Development.

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.

Harold joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 1997.  Prior to his appointment at Yale, Harold clerked for the Honorable Ellen B. Burns of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, served as a Development Officer for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and as a correspondent for AP-Dow Jones News Service in Hong Kong.  Harold earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, his M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and his J.D. from Yale Law School.  His work focuses primarily in the practice areas of Corporate Governance, Digital Media & Information Technology, Labor & Employment, Litigation, and Student & Academic Affairs.

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. 

Peter joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2016.  Prior to his appointment at Yale, Peter served as an Associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York and London and was an Associate Fellow at the Office of the General Counsel of the University of Southern California.  Peter earned his undergraduate degree from the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz (Germany) and his J.D. and LL.M. degrees from the University of Southern California. His work is focused in the University’s Investments Office.

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 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 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. 

Karen joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2013.  Karen provides administrative support for Harold Rose and Eric Veenstra within the Office of the General Counsel and for Nancy Loucks, Marje Lemmon, and Kate Ebersole within the Office of Enterprise Risk Management. 

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 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 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 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.

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.

Alex is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia; his work for the University is supervised by attorneys admitted in Connecticut.

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.

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. 

Temi joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2021.  Prior to her appointment at Yale, Temi was a Judicial Intern to the late Honorable Chief Justice Ralph Gants on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a Summer Associate at Conn Kavanaugh. Temi earned her B.A. and her M.A. from Case Western Reserve University.  She earned her J.D. from Boston University School of Law. 

Temi’s work for the University is supervised by attorneys admitted in Connecticut.

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 Robert Bienstock, Pam Chambers, Alex Han, Joanna Cohen, Tina Tyson and Arabella Yip.

Richard joined the University’s Office of the General Counsel in 2006.  Richard provides administrative support for Greg Bok, Cynthia Carr, Alyssa Greenwald, Chris Hanson, Andrew Kau, and Carolyn Marks.  He has served on the Board of Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport since 2020.

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.