Our People

Prof. Hugh Hansen – Director
Professor Hansen teaches courses in Copyright Law, Trademark Law and EU and International Intellectual Property Law. He also taught U.S. constitutional law for over 25 years. He is the founder and director of the Fordham Intellectual Property Law Institute and the Fordham Annual Conference on Intellectual Property Law and Policy, now in its 21st year.

Managing Intellectual Property magazine in 2010 named him as one of the 50 most influential people in IP in the world. In 2007, Chief Judge Michel of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit presented Prof. Hansen with an award for “his contribution to the legal community’s understanding of international intellectual property law.”

After graduation from Georgetown Law School, where he was a member of the Law Journal, Prof. Hansen clerked for Judge Inzer B. Wyatt in the Southern District of New York and Judge Murray I. Gurfein in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was also a litigation associate with Dewey Ballantine and an Assistant United States Attorney in the criminal division of the Southern District of New York. Since joining Fordham, Prof. Hansen has served numerous times as a consultant or expert witness in intellectual property litigations in U.S., Europe and the European Commission. He has also been the lead counsel in copyright and trademark actions.

Prof. Hansen speaks frequently on U.S. and international intellectual property law in the United States, Europe and Asia. He delivered the 30th Annual Brace Lecture of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. entitled “Copyright and the Culture of the Public Domain: A Critical Analysis.” He delivered the Herchel Smith Public Lecture in Intellectual Property Law at Queen Mary, University of London entitled “A Legal Realist Analysis of U.S. Trademark Law with Comparisons to Recent Developments in the European Union.” On January 25, 2013 he will present the Distinguished Professor Lecture at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, entitled, “The Supreme Court and Intellectual Property Law: It’s Not What You Think.”

Under the auspices of the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia (IPRIA), Prof. Hansen gave a series of addresses on aspects of intellectual property law at universities in Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney. In Japan he addressed U.S. and international Intellectual property law issues in addresses in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka and Nagoya in academic, governmental and think-tank settings. He was a visiting professor at Melbourne University and a visiting professorial fellow at Queen Mary Research Institute in London.

Prof. Hansen has been quoted in the media including The Economist, New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on 20/20 (ABC), CNN, WABC, WNBC and On the Media (NPR).

Prof. Hansen is the author of New York Intellectual Property Law (LexisNexis 2012), the editor of International Intellectual Property Law and Policy, Volumes 1-7 (Juris Publications), Volumes 10 & 11 (Hart Publishing), and U.S. Intellectual Property Law and Policy (2006) (Edward Elgar Publishing, UK).

He recently submitted an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in a copyright exhaustion case to be decided in 2013, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., No. 11-697.

Dr. Sandra Sherman - Director of Development & Special Projects
Sandra is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and completed an LL.M cum laude in Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology at Fordham in December, 2008. She also holds a Ph.D. in English from Penn. Sandra was an attorney for several years in the U.S. Department of Energy, where she specialized in international and administrative law, and has held legal positions in the Justice Department and Department of State. Before joining the Institute, she was a professor at the University of Arkansas and Georgia State University, where she specialized in 18th century British literature and culture. She was President of the South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.

Sandra is the author of four books, including Finance and Fictionality in the Early Eighteenth Century: Accounting for Defoe (Cambridge U.P., 1996), Imagining Poverty: Quantification and the Decline of Paternalism (Ohio State U.P., 2001), and Inventing the Modern Cookbook (Greenwood, 2010). She is also author of over 60 articles on literature, economics, and culinary history, and has lectured around the world. She is an Adjunct Professor of English at Fordham, teaching courses on literary history and Advanced Composition, and an Adjunct Professor at the Law School, where she is teaching a course on the development of Copyright theory.

Sandra has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. She was a Visiting Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge University, and the Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard.

Zach Slates - Assistant Director

Zach Slates is our Assistant Director of the Fordham Intellectual Property Law Institute. Before joining the Intellectual Property Institute, Zach was a Dean’s Fellow at the Fordham Corporate Law Center where his research focused on corporate governance and the regulation of financial markets. Zach was a Big Four accountant specializing in the insurance industry. Zach holds a JD from Fordham Law School, MAcc from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and BA in Classical Civilization from the University of Michigan.

Yelena Ambartsumian, a third year JD student at Fordham Law, is a Research & Conference fellow at the Institute and has served as Professor Hansen’s copyright teaching assistant. At Fordham, Yelena has also been an active participant in Stein Scholars in Public Interest Law, the Samuelson-Glushko Intellectual Property & Information Law Clinic, and Moot Court. She received her Bachelor’s degrees in Spanish Literature and Political Science from the Honors Program at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, where she also minored in Theology.

Nick Bartelt – Research & Conference Fellow

Nick Bartelt is a Research & Conference Fellow at the Fordham Intellectual Property Law Institute. His work as a fellow includes organizing the 20th and 21st Annual Fordham IP Conferences, serving as a Teaching Assistant for Prof. Hugh C. Hansen’s EU IP and Copyright courses, and contributing research and editorial work to an amicus brief and a number of publications. Also, while at Fordham Law, Nick served as Symposium Editor for the Fordham International Law Journal and as an Associate Editor on the Fordham Moot Court Board. Nick holds a JD from Fordham University School of Law and a BA in English from Roosevelt University.

Magdalena Berger – Research & Conference Fellow

Magdalena Berger is a Research & Conference Fellow at the Fordham Intellectual Property Institute. Magdalena studied law at the University of Passau in Germany and is admitted to the Munich Bar. She worked as an IP litigator in Germany for almost three years before coming to the United States. Magdalena holds an LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law cum laude from Fordham Law School. She was awarded the Emily C. and John E. Hansen Award for being ranked first in the Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law program.

Lydia Choi – Research & Conference Fellow

Lydia Choi is a Research & Conference Fellow for the Fordham Intellectual Property Institute. Lydia Choi spent most of her teenage years in NJ and considers herself to be a NJ native. She graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University with a B.S. in biochemistry with honors. She spent the following year working at Bristol-Myers Squib and an analytical laboratory after which she returned to Syracuse University and obtained a M.S. with thesis in synthetic organic chemistry. She is now pursuing a Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law.

Kyu Hee Chu – Research & Conference Fellow

Kyu Hee Chu is a Research & Conference Fellow for the Fordham Intellectual Property Institute. Kyu Hee is currently pursuing her J.D. from Fordham Law School and is a Notes & Articles Editor for the Fordham Environmental Law Review. Kyu Hee graduated magna cum laude from Rutgers University, with a B.A. in Political Science and French.

Daan Erikson – Research & Conference Fellow

Daan Erikson is a Research & Conference Fellow for the Fordham Intellectual Property Institute. Daan studied Entertainment Media and Identity at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. After earning his B.A. cum laude, Daan furthered his studies of media and intellectual property and received his J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. During law school, he served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Richard Fruin at Los Angeles Superior Court and interned with HBO’s Santa Monica office. Additionally, he spent his third year as a visiting student at Fordham Law School.

Jason Lunardi – Editorial & Conference Fellow

Jason Lunardi is an Editorial & Conference Fellow at the Fordham Intellectual Property Law Institute. At the Institute, Jason has worked on editing and preparing books and articles for publication including acting as Lead Editor for the forthcoming 2010 and 2011 editions of Fordham International Intellectual Property Law & Policy (Hart Publishing).

Jason is a 2009 graduate of Fordham Law School where he served as the Managing Editor of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal. He was awarded the First Prize in the 2009 Nathan Burkan Memorial Writing Competition at Fordham for his paper “Comparing EU and U.S. Approaches to Internet Piracy & “‘Graduated Response’”, and was the first runner up in the 2009 Grammy Foundation Entertainment Law Initiative for his essay “Navigating the Clouds: Exploring Revenue Sources for Creators in a Networked World” (20 No. 2 NYSBA Ent., Arts & Sports L.J. 87 (Summer 2009)). He also published a student note entitled “Guerrilla Video: Potential Copyright Liability for Websites That Index Links to Infringing Content,” (19 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 1077 (2009)).

Jason holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Business from the Berklee College of Music, and has worked at several music industry companies including legal internships at ASCAP and music publisher & royalty auditing firm H/B Webman.

Tiffany Mahmood – Research & Conference Fellow

Tiffany Mahmood is a Research & Conference Fellow for the Fordham Intellectual Property Institute. Tiffany studied chemistry at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London before studying law at the College of Law, London. Tiffany also holds an LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law from Fordham Law School.

Theresa McKenzie – Conference Administrator

Theresa McKenzie is our Conference Administrator. Theresa has an extensive background in many areas of legal practice, including intellectual property. She has been an Administrative Assistant and Legal Secretary for a number of law firms and corporations including Sullivan & Cromwell, Cravath Swaine & Moore, PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Colgate Palmolive Co.

Theresa is a big fan of thoroughbred horse racing and has strong interest in the industry from business deals to breeding and pedigrees. Theresa spent three years in Lexington, Kentucky working in the equine law firm of Wyatt Tarrant & Combs and at the breeding farm, Taylor Made. While in Kentucky, she pursued equine studies at both Midway College and University of Kentucky. Theresa also assists the New York Racing Association in managing logistics at both their Belmont and Saratoga racing meets.

Theresa holds an Associate’s Degree Berkeley College and also attended Fordham University.

Melissa Moriarty – Research & Conference Fellow

Melissa Moriarty is a Research & Conference Fellow for the Fordham Intellectual Property Institute. Melissa is currently pursuing her J.D. from Fordham Law School and is a Notes & Articles Editor for the Fordham Urban Law Journal. Prior to entering law school, Melissa worked with college athletic departments to protect and monetize their copyright and trademark rights at a sports media licensing agency. Melissa holds a B.A. in Economics and a Certificate in Markets and Management Studies from Duke University.

Tara Pollard – Research & Conference Fellow

Tara Pollard is a Research & Conference Fellow for the Fordham Intellectual Property Institute. Tara is currently pursuing her J.D. from Fordham Law School. While in law school, Tara was a trademark intern at Kenneth Cole Productions, intellectual property intern at NBCUniversal and various other entertainment and intellectual property internship. Prior to law school, Tara was a paralegal at a personal injury law firm, and a public relations intern at the New York Rangers. Tara holds a B.A. in Sport Management from Ithaca College.

A. Arda Semiz – Research & Conference Fellow

A. Arda Semiz is a Research & Conference Fellow for the Fordham Intellectual Property Institute. Arda studied law at Marmara University in Turkey and is admitted to the Istanbul Bar. He worked as a corporate law attorney in Istanbul before coming to the United States. Arda holds an LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law from Fordham Law School.