Rutgers Law Welcomes Three Esteemed Scholars to Faculty
Three new professors are joining the Rutgers Law faculty this fall. Each brings a wealth of teaching experience and cutting-edge research in fields such as antitrust, business law, consumer protection, and employment law. Discover how these new professors plan to shape the classroom, contribute to clinical programs, and advance legal scholarship—in their own words.
Assistant Professor of Law Omar Vasquez Duque will teach Antitrust, Business Organizations, and Causal Inference in Law. Before coming to Rutgers Law, Professor Duque was a law and economics fellow at New York University, a lecturer at Stanford University, and a research fellow at the Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance and the Stanford Olin Program in Law and Economics.
Expertise and research interests: Antitrust law and economics, business law, empirical legal studies, privacy, the regulation of the digital economy
What do you like most about teaching? I always been interested in the impact of law on society. And the classes I teach are critical for public policy. Teaching business regulation from an interdisciplinary and consequentialist perspective makes me feel I’m equipping my students not only to be smart and knowledgeable lawyers, but also to be more critical citizens. I take teaching as public service and seeing how my lectures influence my students’ careers and their lives in general makes me extremely proud!
How would you describe your teaching philosophy? I like to build a horizontal classroom culture in which students feel encouraged to participate. And rather than discussing the more formal structure of laws, I try to stress how the law affects power dynamics. I use interactive tools, like online polls to keep the students engaged during each lecture. Moreover, I meet with them for lunch or coffee to ensure even people who don’t feel confident enough to participate during the lecture can ask questions in a more informal setting. The idea is that they really see that I’m here for them.
Assistant Professor of Law Omolara Joseney will teach Civil Procedure and Consumer Law. She joins Rutgers Law from Georgetown University Law Center, where she worked as a clinical teaching fellow with the Civil Justice Clinic. Before teaching at Georgetown Law, Professor Joseney was an attorney for the Federal Trade Commission, specializing in consumer protection matters.
Expertise and research interests: consumer protection, consumer movements and the law
What do you like most about teaching? After 15 years of practice, I love the energy and optimism that my students bring to the study of law. It is a privilege to witness the moments when they begin to integrate their newly acquired legal knowledge with their own voice. I have also enjoyed the mentorship aspects of teaching and being able to be a sounding board for students deciding their professional futures.
How would you describe your teaching philosophy? My teaching philosophy emphasizes the importance of curiosity. I strive to reveal the building blocks of mastering a subject by encouraging students to remain inquisitive, and by creating an environment where students feel comfortable asking questions—whether they be foundational, practical, or theoretical.
Professor of Law Marcy Karin was previously the Jack and Lovell Olender Professor of Law and Director of the Legislation/Civil Rights Clinic at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. At Rutgers Law, she will teach Employment Law and launch the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Rights and Gender Justice Clinic.
Expertise and research interests: My expertise lies at the intersections of gender, workplace, and disability justice. My research focuses on legislative lawyering, women’s legal history, and advocacy for low-wage workers--including menstruators, workers experiencing menopause, survivors of gender-based violence and harassment, breastfeeding workers, military families, and workers with disabilities.
How would you describe your teaching philosophy? It depends! I don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching because there are many ways to learn—and many ways to practice law. So, adaptability is central to my pedagogy. It is my responsibility to meet students where they are, respond to different learning styles, and adjust accordingly. I also aim to create spaces where students can meaningfully engage with material — and in clinic, use a gender justice lens to identify and advance client goals while building a range of lawyering skills to support individuals and drive systemic reform.
What do you hope to accomplish at Rutgers? Inspired by Justice Ginsburg’s legacy, I hope to bring a client-centered, strategic, and collaborative approach to training and empowering students committed to advancing gender justice through law. I aim to educate students on how legal and policy strategies can combat reproductive harms and structural sexism and ableism, while also destigmatizing private issues. I also hope to work with students, clients, and others towards building a more just community that includes increased access to economic security and bodily autonomy for women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and their families.
Fun fact: I got to sing backup for Stevie Wonder and Bernadette Peters at a Presidential Inauguration concert.
One of the goals of the Rutgers Law Strategic Plan is to promote an ambitious culture of scholarly inquiry leading to high quality and meaningful scholarship. Recruiting faculty who can enhance our existing scholarly domains of expertise or who can expand areas of expertise into new and emerging domains are one of our strategies. Click here to learn more about our Strategic Plan.