Pre-Law Board of Advisors

Carolyn McNamara Barry received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with minors in Spanish, Sociology, and Secondary Education from Ursinus College, where she was inducted into the honor society Phi Beta Kappa. She then earned her Ph.D. in Human Development with a specialization in Educational Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She has been a faculty member of the Psychology department for over twenty years, earning the rank of Full Professor in 2015. She has served in a variety of departmental and university leadership roles including chairing the Psychology Department, Academic Senate, and a Middle States Higher Education Commission Periodic Review Report before assuming the role of Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Graduate Programs in 2019. Amidst her duties in this role, she has the pleasure of supervising the pre-law program for the university.

Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Dr. Beverlin graduated with a B.A. from Rockhurst University. During his graduate training at the nearby University of Kansas he began teaching at Rockhurst as an adjunct, then as a full-time non-tenure track professor, and then as a tenure track professor. To further his education in public policy and the law, and just short of a decade at Rockhurst, he departed to earn a J.D. from Gonzaga University. After working as a legislative policy analyst, federal law clerk, and an attorney in private practice, he thereafter returned to teaching part-time at Gonzaga. He missed the classroom too much to stay away longer, happily accepting joining the Political Science Department in 2020 as a Visiting Professor at Loyola University Maryland, his third Jesuit institution. In addition to his teaching duties in Political Science, he serves as the university Pre-Law advisor and moderator for the Pre-Law Society.

James Denvil is counsel in the Privacy and Cybersecurity group at Hogan Lovells, a global law firm.  He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1996; a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Bowling Green State University in 1998; and a Master of Arts in Acting from the University of Alabama in 2003.  Before becoming a lawyer, he taught university courses in ethics, logic, and theater, and he worked as a professional actor for nearly a decade.  He earned his J.D. from the University of Baltimore in 2012.  He was first introduced to the field of privacy law in 2010 when he spent a summer working in the Privacy Office of the Department of Homeland Security.  He advises clients on a range of global privacy compliance, public policy, and cybersecurity preparedness and response matters.  And he regularly provides pro bono legal services to immigrants.

Arielle Harry-Bess is an attorney at the Social Security Administration focusing on disability agency. Previously, she was a counselor at TransAmerica for ten years where she specialized in alternative dispute resolution, administrative law, and business law. Bess received her B.B.A. in business administration from Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University Maryland) and then her J.D. from the University of Maryland. Both in 2012 and 2015 she received the Top 100 Women Award by the Maryland Daily Record.

Elizabeth Kennedy is a Professor of Law & Social Responsibility in the Sellinger School of Business at Loyola University Maryland. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and her B.A. in Urban Studies from Smith College. Her research focuses primarily on the evolution and application of legal rights for workers in an increasingly global and decentralized American workplace. Professor Kennedy previously practiced corporate law with the New York firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, and served as labor and employment counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee. Prior to law school, she worked as a union organizer for AFSCME Local 3299 and UNITE-HERE.

Gordon Feinblatt LLC

Searle E. Mitnick is a member of Gordon Feinblatt LLC, a Baltimore-based law firm, where he practices mainly in real estate and business. His combined 50 years of legal experience have gained him a reputation for forming various business entities; handling major lease transactions of commercial and multipurpose properties; managing bond financing, mortgage insurance, and state and federal subsidies; overseeing the acquisition, development and construction financing of real estate and solar facilities; collaborating on multistate transactions; and serving as an expert witness and presenter for numerous industry and professional seminars. Searle graduated with a B.S. from Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland) and holds a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School. After graduating from law school, he clerked for the Hon. Frederick J. Singley, Jr. of the Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Bill O’Hare is partner of the Orange County and Los Angeles, California offices of Snell & Wilmer, a full-service business law firm with offices throughout the West and in Washington D.C. and Los Cabos, Mexico. O’Hare is a member of the firm’s commercial litigation practice group.  A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, O’Hare has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Bet-the-Company Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation and Trusts and Estates Litigation and by Southern California Super Lawyers for Business Litigation and as a Top 50 lawyer in Orange County.  Bill is a recipient of the Marcus Kaufman Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League and the Robert Samuel Barnes Award from the Orange County Bar Foundation.  O’Hare serves on the board of directors of Public Media Group of Southern California.  O’Hare is a board member and past president of Project Youth OCBF.  He is a graduate of Loyola University of Maryland and the UC Hastings College of the Law.

Dr. Parlopiano received his Ph.D. and M.A. in medieval studies from the Catholic University of America and a B.S. in secondary education from the University of Scranton. He has received grants from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library, and the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library to further his research in the legal aspects of mental illness during the Middle Ages. 

Amanda Preller is a Senior Fiscal Law Attorney in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the General Counsel, General Law Division specializing in both appropriations and Federal property law. Ms. Preller was awarded a J.D. degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1999, having earlier received her BA from Loyola College of Maryland in 1996. Prior to joining HHS, Ms. Preller practiced law in various sectors; she initially practiced in the private sector as an associate in Baltimore-based law firm of Candy Thompson. Thereafter, she served as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore City in the Domestic Violence Unit. Later she served as an Attorney Advisor for the Department of Interior, Office of the Solicitor, Division of Indian Affairs; and provided legal counsel and expertise to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the areas of trust and estates.

Jamie Reinah is a law clerk at Milbank LLP in New York City doing transactional work. In February 2024, she will begin an 18-month term clerking for Vice Chancellor Paul Fioravanti on the Delaware Court of Chancery in Wilmington, Delaware. She graduated from Fordham University School of Law, magna cum laude, in 2022. During her time at Fordham, she served as Articles & Notes Editor for the Fordham Law Review and published a student note entitled LGBTQIA+ Public Accommodation Cases: The Battle Between Religious Freedom and Civil Rights. Prior to entering law school, she worked as a Corporate Paralegal at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York City for two years. Jamie is a 2017 alumna of Loyola University Maryland, where she earned her B.A. in Economics with minors in Business and Political Science. As a Loyola student, she served as President of the Pre-Law Society, a Road Trip Atlas, Resident Assistant, and a Messina Evergreen.

Ms. Schmidt-King she teaches business law, international business (IB), and ethics and corporate social responsibility courses. She is the Director of the IB program, the Academic Director of the Sellinger Scholars Program and chaired the Building a Better World Through Business initiative from 2016-2021. Prior academia, Astrid practiced in the fields of immigration law, business compliance, and health care policy. In addition to her B.A., J.D. and LL.M., Astrid completed a hybrid M.A. from the Freie Universität Berlin in International Relations and Global Politics. She authored a chapter, "Foreign Law and Policy," participated in a Fulbright International Education Administrators Seminar and the American Council on Germany's immigration delegation in Berlin, completed the Emerging and Developing Global Executive fellowship by the World Trade Center Institute, and is currently part of the Global Diplomacy Lab.

Serving as Program Counsel for the Legal Services Corporation, Ms. Tarver helps increase access to justice for low-income individuals. She previously worked at Maryland Legal Aid where she was the Director of the Pro Bono Program and represented clients statewide. She received her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law. Julianne also holds a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Planning from the Naval War College. She received her B.A. from Seton Hall University. Julianne lives in Baltimore with her husband Darryl, son Kellen, and French Bulldog Louie.

As a senior attorney in the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cate Tierney currently concentrates her practice on Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act enforcement. Tierney graduated with a B.A. in political science from Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University Maryland) and received a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She resides in the Annapolis, MD area.