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@SvetlanaOzden
An interim dean has been appointed for the University of New Mexico School of Law.
Following an internal search for the position, UNM Provost Chaouki Abdallah announced on Oct. 8 that Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Barbara Bergman will serve as interim dean for the remainder of the 2013 academic year. Bergman will replace former law school dean Kevin Washburn, who was appointed by President Obama to be the assistant secretary for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Bergman has worked at the University since 1987, when she became a member of the UNM law faculty. In fall 2010, Bergman launched the Washington, D.C. Exchange Program, which allows UNM law school students to spend a semester studying at the Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.
In 2001, Bergman received the Robert C. Heeney Award, the highest honor given by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She has written and edited multiple works, including the New Mexico Criminal Practice Manual, which she edited in 1992, and EveryTrial Criminal Defense Resource Book, which she co-authored in 1994.
During a leave in 2000 and spring 2004, Bergman worked as a defense attorney in the case State of Oklahoma v. Terry Nichols, a death penalty case in which Nichols was charged with conspiracy and murder related to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in 1995. She currently serves as co-chair for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Amicus Curiae Committee, which provides assistance on criminal cases at the state and federal levels.
