Southwestern Law School has expanded its full-time faculty for the 2025–26 academic year, adding new professors across doctrinal teaching, skills-based training, and academic success and bar preparation. The Hon. Ashley Tabaddor, former Chief Counsel of USCIS and longtime immigration judge, joins as Distinguished Visiting Jurist. Professor Richard Lorren Jolly, a leading scholar on jury systems, has been promoted to tenured Professor of Law following national recognition for his civil justice research. 

“These new colleagues bring extraordinary range and depth to our faculty,” said Darby Dickerson, President and Dean of Southwestern Law School. “Their expertise and commitment to training the next generation of lawyers will allow us to continue Southwestern’s long legacy of preparing students to enter the profession ready to serve clients with excellence and empathy.” 

Andrew Gilden 
Professor of Law 
Professor Gilden writes at the intersection of intellectual property, emerging technologies, and outsider communities. His scholarship explores how legal frameworks shape sexual identity, nontraditional families, and creative subcultures, with publications in the Georgetown Law Journal, Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Washington University Law Review, and William & Mary Law Review. He previously taught at Willamette University and held visiting posts at Columbia, Georgetown, and UC Law San Francisco. Before teaching, he practiced at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and clerked for both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Learn more. 

Ande Davis 
Associate Professor of Law 
A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Professor Davis merges civil rights scholarship with tribal sovereignty advocacy and legal futurism. He holds a J.D. summa cum laude and a Ph.D. in English and spent more than a decade teaching literature and composition. Before joining the law faculty at Washburn University, he clerked for the Honorable Daniel Crabtree in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. His courses have included Federal Indian Law, Evidence, and Professional Responsibility, and he is widely respected for his inclusive pedagogy. Learn more. 

Angela Dean 
Associate Professor of Law 
Professor Dean brings deep expertise in employee-benefits law, ERISA compliance, and in-house legal practice. She served as associate general counsel for the YMCA Retirement Fund and worked in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. She holds a J.D. and a Tax LL.M. with an ERISA Certificate, and most recently taught at Penn State Dickinson Law, where she developed experiential courses in business law and in-house counsel practice. Learn more. 

Richard Lorren Jolly 
Professor of Law (Promoted to Tenure) 
Since joining Southwestern in 2021, Professor Jolly has taught civil procedure, criminal procedure, torts, and evidence. His research on procedural customization and judicial legitimacy appears in the Michigan Law Review, Boston College Law Review, and Pepperdine Law Review. In 2025, he received the National Civil Justice Institute’s Civil Justice Scholarship Award. A former clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, he also held fellowships at Berkeley Law and NYU’s Civil Jury Project. Learn more. 

Rebecca Friedman 
Associate Professor of Legal Analysis, Writing & Skills 
A Harvard Law graduate and former associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Professor Friedman draws on experience in tax and transactional law to emphasize clarity, logic, and precision in legal writing. She previously taught legal writing at Fordham Law. Learn more. 

Melissa Brandman 
Associate Professor of Legal Analysis, Writing & Skills 
Professor Brandman brings nearly two decades of employment litigation practice into the classroom. A UCLA Law alumna and former editor of the Journal of Gender and Law, she externed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and continues to mentor students through pro bono initiatives and mock trial coaching. Learn more. 

Arman Avagyan ’22 
Associate Professor of Academic Success and Bar Preparation 
Professor Avagyan combines civil litigation experience with a deep understanding of Southwestern’s academic culture. As a student, he held leadership roles in admissions, journals, and clinics. After graduating, he represented healthcare providers in civil litigation and previously worked in behavioral and mental health services. Learn more. 

Jessica Barclay-Strobel 
Associate Professor of Academic Success and Bar Preparation 
Professor Barclay-Strobel brings significant appellate experience from the California Attorney General’s Office, including a victory before the California Supreme Court and the filing of an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court. A UCLA Law graduate, she has also clerked for the Ninth Circuit and the Central District of California and serves on several public-law litigation committees. Learn more. 

Philip J. Costa 
Associate Professor of Academic Success and Bar Preparation 
Judge Costa most recently served as a U.S. Immigration Judge for the Department of Justice and has taught at Southwestern as an adjunct professor since 2019. He brings extensive judicial experience and mentors both students and early-career judges, with an emphasis on practical lawyering and public service. Learn more. 

Hon. Ashley Tabaddor 
Distinguished Visiting Jurist 
Judge Tabaddor is a nationally recognized leader in immigration and administrative law. After more than 15 years as an immigration judge, she served as Chief Counsel of USCIS during the Biden–Harris administration. In 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Judge Tabaddor to serve as a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court. She has testified before Congress on judicial independence and served as President of the National Association of Immigration Judges. Judge Tabaddor teaches Immigration Law & Procedure in Immigration Courts and Borders & Rights: Constitutional Issues in Immigration Law at Southwestern. Learn more. 

Jeffrey Haas 
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law 

Professor Haas is a leading authority on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, securities law, mutual fund regulation, and contracts. A former tenured professor at New York Law School, he previously practiced at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Latham & Watkins. At Southwestern, he teaches securities regulation, business organizations, and mergers and acquisitions. He is the author or co-author of leading texts in corporate finance and M&A and has maintained an active consulting practice, including prevailing in high-profile litigation involving Madonna. Learn more. 

Hon. Consuelo Maria Callahan 
Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence  
Judge Callahan has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 2003 and previously sat on the California Court of Appeal and the San Joaquin County Superior Court, where she was the first woman and Latina appointed. Earlier in her career, she prosecuted more than 70 jury trials and founded the county’s first Child Abuse Sexual Assault Unit. Learn more.