Rutgers Holds Careers in Law Panel February 19

WHAT: Rutgers’ annual Careers in the Law panel, a free public program to introduce students and others to various career paths within the legal profession, is supported by the Office of the Vice President for Undergraduate Education. Speakers, with topics, follow.

WHO: Judge John W. Bissell (judging, arbitration, mediation) served 27 years on both state and federal courts in New Jersey. He was nominated by President Regan to serve on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1982. He was Chief Judge from 2001 until he retired in 2005. He also has been an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey and an associate and partner with a large New Jersey firm. He now is an arbitrator and mediator. Trevor Gardner II (public defender, academia) is an assistant professor and faculty fellow at the New York University School of Law. His primary research interest is in police-community relations, namely the degree of authority neighborhood residents and local governments hold over associated police departments. He has been a public defender in Washington, D.C., litigating both juvenile and adult criminal cases. John J. Sivolella (large firm, public service, academia) is an adjunct assistant professor of political science at Columbia University. His research focuses on U.S. federal agencies, presidential power, public law and the federal courts. He has been senior assistant counsel to the Governor New Jersey, where he supervised the process of evaluating nominees for judicial and prosecutorial appointments, and was the governor’s liaison to the state Senate. He also has practiced corporate law. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers and was Phi Bea Kappa and a Henry Rutgers scholar. Natalie S. Watson (large firm, commercial and intellectual property, litigation) is a partner at McCarter & English. Her primary focus is commercial and intellectual property litigation. She has defended corporations, individuals and public entities in state and federal courts nationally, in matters ranging from two-party disputes to complex class actions and multidistrict/multiparty litigation. She is an honors graduate from the Rutgers School of Law-Newark, and was a Henry J. Raimondo Legislative Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. Milton Heumann, Rutgers distinguished professor of political science and prelaw adviser, will moderate.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19

WHERE: Eagleton Institute of Politics, 191 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick