This semester, The University of Alabama School of Law welcomed seven new faculty members to its community. Read about each of them below.
Joel Nichols, Vice Dean and Professor of Law
Prior to joining Alabama Law, Nichols served as interim dean of University of St. Thomas School of Law (MN) from 2022-2024 after serving as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2013-2022. He is a Senior Fellow at Emory’s Center for the Study of Law and Religion and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Nichols’ work focuses on the intersection of law and religion, especially in family law, First Amendment law, and human rights. Nichols clerked for Judge Tjoflat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, practiced complex civil litigation in Washington, D.C., and taught at Pepperdine Law School before moving to St. Thomas. He has served in leadership roles for several sections of the American Association of Law Schools, including as chair of the AALS Section on Associate Deans; participated on accreditation site teams for the American Bar Association; and has worked closely with state and local bar organizations and Boards of Law Examiners.
JD Hsin, Assistant Professor of Law
Professor Hsin comes to Alabama Law from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, where for four years he served as senior counsel in the Office of the Assistant Secretary. In that role, Hsin oversaw the office’s investigations involving students’ rights during the pandemic and advised on several high-profile rulemakings. Before that, Hsin was a law fellow at the American Law Institute, an attorney in Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor, and began his career clerking on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He earned his law degree from Harvard University, his Ph.D. in philosophy from Johns Hopkins University, and his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. Hsin’s research focuses on education and civil rights, torts, and legal theory.
Amber Polk, Assistant Professor of Law
As a legal philosopher with a primary interest in our collective environmental crises, Polk’s research focuses on rights-based environmentalism as a legal, political, and moral movement. Polk was most recently an Assistant Professor of Law at FIU College of Law and was the Teaching Fellow for the Environmental Law and Policy LL.M program at Stanford Law School. She earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, her law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law, and her B.S. in Mathematics and B.A. in Philosophy and Classics from the University of Pittsburgh. Upon graduation from law school, Polk clerked for the Honorable Robert W. Trumble in the Northern District of West Virginia and the Honorable Joseph R. Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia. She was also an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois College of Law in 2019.
Tobie Smith, Director of Criminal Law Clinic & Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Instruction
Tobie Smith is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Instruction and Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic. Before joining the faculty at Alabama Law, he was an appellate attorney from 2016 to 2024 with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Alabama, where he principally represented indigent defendants on appeal. From 2002 to 2016, he was a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham, defending children in trial-court and appellate juvenile-delinquency proceedings. His scholarship focuses on criminal and juvenile law and procedure.
Cassandra Adams, Assistant Dean of Public Interest Law and Assistant Professor of Law in Residence
Professor Adams joins Alabama Law from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University where she most recently served as Dean of Students and Community Outreach. Before returning to Cumberland, Adams was the Dean of Students at Wake Forest University School of Law. Prior to her tenure at Wake Forest, she was Assistant Dean for Cumberland’s Public Interest Program and directed the Externship Program and the Community Mediation Center. She earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee, a Master of Science in Public Health from Meharry Medical College, and a Bachelor of Arts from Fisk University. Her research interests are in civil and family mediation, restorative justice, victim outreach, and access to justice. Adams is often called upon as a victim outreach specialist in capital cases, especially those involving intra-family victims and defendants and cases involving diverse communities. She is the 2024 recipient of the Alabama State Bar Michael D. Ermert Award of Merit, the highest honor given by the Alabama State Bar.
Beth Crutchfield, Interim Director of Domestic Violence Clinic & Visiting Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Instruction
Beth Crutchfield is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Instruction and Interim Director of the Domestic Violence Law Clinic. Prior to joining the faculty at Alabama Law, Crutchfield worked as an Assistant District Attorney for Tuscaloosa County from 2001 through 2024. While with the District Attorney’s Office, she handled both criminal prosecutions and civil child support cases. Additionally, she was actively involved with the design and implementation of the newest version of the Tuscaloosa County Second Chance felony diversion program. Crutchfield also has experience with civil litigation, and she worked as a staff writer and sports editor for a small-town Alabama newspaper prior to attending law school.
Stefania Fusco, Visiting Professor of Law
Dr. Fusco’s research concentrates on intellectual property law and finance. She earned a J.S.D. from Stanford Law School where, for her doctoral dissertation, she conducted an interdisciplinary empirical investigation on patent protection and financial methods. Fusco has presented her research at several national and international IP conferences. She joined the faculty at DePaul College of Law as a visiting assistant professor in Fall 2012. In 2014, she became a senior lecturer at Notre Dame Law School. She teaches Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark Law, International and Comparative Intellectual Property Law, Design Law, and Corporate Finance.