JD #Changemaker Stories

Whether in Flint or New Orleans, “environmental racism” refers to the placement of low-income or minority communities in proximity to environmentally hazardous or degraded environments, such as toxic waste, pollution and urban decay.

Marek P. Bute ’05 has a business law dream job as corporate counsel with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (“Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds,” he allows.) But his most stunning achievement to date may be his work representing a same-sex couple in the case of Sevcik v. Sandoval, which successfully overturned Nevada’s law against gay marriage – helping set the stage for Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned such bans nationally less than a year later.

Elizabeth Colagiovanni ’10 is a senior associate in International Tax at Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd. Certified Public Accountants, Providence. Colagiovanni loves the complexity of international tax treaties and foreign law.

To David M. Holley ’99, managing director of Boston-based Berkeley Research Group, a global consulting firm, there’s a mounting body of evidence that compliance officers now have bull’s-eyes on their backs.

Nicole Rohr should teach a master class in time management. In addition to her busy life as a law student, the 3L holds a full-time position as assistant director of the Coastal Institute in Narragansett, R.I., while also serving as chair of the Rhode Island Environmental Monitoring Collaborative, and as science advisor to the Napatree Conservation Area in Watch Hill, R.I.

As a staff attorney with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Curtis Pouliot-Alvarez ’15 orally presents on cases to three-member circuit judge panels, recommending a disposition, answering the judges’ legal and...

Charles “Chad” Edgar ’04 is making serious headway in the DOJ’s battle to stop identity-theft tax-refund fraud by improving enforcement and prosecution. The former U.S. Army JAG officer now prosecutes tax crimes for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Brook Ashley ’08 has dedicated her professional life to ending violence against women. This February, she launched a new program designed to expand access to legal services for domestic violence victims who can’t afford lawyers. It’s called Partners Overcoming Domestic Violence.

Alyssa Boss ’97 graduated with RWU Law’s second law school class and she hasn’t stopped learning since. As Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Care New England Health System (CNE), Boss finds challenges every day on the job in keeping up with changes in health law. “It’s just rapidly evolving,” she says. “Regulations are changing all the time.”

Liz Tylawsky has now officially risen to the top in two very different, very demanding fields: she’s a successful taxation and business valuation expert with Meyers, Harrison & Pia, LLC, in New Haven, Conn., specializing in “high-net-worth marital dissolution cases” – and she has been crowned World Champion at the Grand National and World Championship Morgan Horse Show.