Attorneys, Graduate Fellows, and Associates
Attorneys
Courtney Oliva is an attorney at the Center. She graduated from Brown University in 2001, with an A.B. in Urban Studies. In 2004, she graduated from the University of Chicago Law School. Prior to joining the CACL, she spent 7 years working in both New York and Chicago at two large law firms, specializing in securities litigation, as well as SEC/DOJ and internal investigations.
Rena Stern Kates is an attorney at the Center. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis (B.A, summa cum laude) in 2008 and from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Senior Editor of the Human Rights Law Review, in 2011.
Sarah M. Nissel is an attorney at the Center. After graduating from Yale University (B.A. 2003), she attended New York University School of Law (J.D. 2008), where she was a Dean’s Scholar. Prior to joining the Center, she worked as an associate at the law firm Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, where she focused on white collar criminal litigation. She also previously worked as an intern at The Innocence Project.
Former Attorney In Residence
David B. Edwards was attorney-in-residence at the Center during 2009 and 2010. He was a recipient of a year-long public interest fellowship from the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. He has returned to his position as an associate at Simpson Thacher, where he focused on commerical litigation and arbitration as well as pro-bono criminal matters, where he also worked prior to arriving at the Center.
After graduating from the University of Washington (B.A. 2003), he attended New York University School of Law (J.D. 2008), where he was an Executive Articles Editor of the New York University Annual Survey of American Law. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Vanderbilt Medal for outstanding contributions to the School of Law. For his Note, "Out of the Mouth of States: Deference to State Action Finding Effect in Federal Law," 63 NYU Annual Survey of American Law 429 (2008), he was awarded the Seymour A. Levy Award for the most outstanding note published in the Survey by a graduating student.
Former Graduate Fellow
Rush Atkinson was a graduate fellow with the Center in the summer and fall of 2011. His research focuses on economic analyses of criminal procedure and the relationship between criminal procedure and common law. His article, "The Bilateral Fourth Amendment and the Duties of Law-Abiding Persons," was published by The Georgetown Law Journal in summer 2011. A graduate of New York University School of Law (J.D. 2010), Atkinson also holds an M.Phil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge (M.Phil. 2007) and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago (A.B. 2005). He clerked for Judge Julia Smith Gibbons of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and he joined the Department of Justice’s National Security Division through the Attorney General’s Honors Program in the fall of 2011.