University of North Carolina School of Law

Duke University

Union Organizer, SEIU-Workers United Southern Region

The Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic pursues plausible claims of legal and factual innocence made by incarcerated people in North Carolina convicted of serious felonies. 

Students in the clinic study the causes of wrongful convictions, including mistaken eyewitness identification, false confessions, faulty forensic evidence, “jailhouse snitches,” and race. Student-attorneys work under the supervision of faculty to develop, manage, and litigate cases by carrying out a wide range of legal activities, including communicating with our clients, locating and interviewing witnesses about facts, gathering documents and records, drafting a range of legal documents and memos, working with experts, and helping to prepare for evidentiary hearings and oral arguments in state and federal courts.

Website: law.duke.edu/wrongfulconvictions

Duke University School of Law

Student-Attorney, Wrongful Convictions Clinic

As an Articles and Notes Editor, I work with three Staff members to develop one Note per Staff member; perform primary edits on student work throughout the full editorial process from the first outline through the final publication proof; perform secondary edits on professional pieces; and act as a grader during the Joint Journal Competition. Articles and Notes Editors are also responsible for editing and performing cite checks of professional pieces throughout the year. Volume 29 will be published in March 2025.

Recipient of a Mascia Family Banking Institute Scholarship. 
- Each year, the Mascia Family Foundation generously funds $10,000 scholarships for five NCBIJ editors. www.law.unc.edu/academics/centers-and-programs/center-for-banking-and-finance/scholarships-and-grants/

UNC Center for Banking and Finance

Articles and Notes Editor, North Carolina Banking Institute Journal

• Assisted in litigation cases involving police misconduct, wrongful conviction, direct criminal appeals, organized labor, and employment discrimination
• Drafted research memoranda on the following topics: bail bondsmen as “state actors” under § 1983; evidence fabrication as a due process violation under § 1983; North Carolina case law on the use of collective police knowledge to establish probable cause; “justified” terminations of classified city employees in North Carolina
• Drafted an opening brief in a direct appeal of a criminal conviction to the North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Assisted with trial planning and witness preparation for employee termination hearings in a union arbitration and a municipal civil service board proceeding
• Drafted a demand letter for a Title VII employment discrimination case

Firm Description: "Patterson Harkavy is a North Carolina law firm advocating for the rights of workers, the injured, and the criminally accused. For over forty years, our highly respected attorneys have helped clients obtain substantial monetary awards and have won landmark cases improving the lives of all citizens of North Carolina. Patterson Harkavy regularly litigates cases involving police misconduct, employment discrimination, workers’ compensation, organized labor, and wrongful convictions."

www.pathlaw.com

Patterson Harkavy LLP

Summer Associate

Substantively edited draft articles on topics related to arrests, criminal records, immigration, and civil rights

Research Assistant to Professor Eisha Jain

Published Note: Jacob G. Stanley, A Disruptive Ripple in the SEC’s Regulation of Crypto Assets, 28 N.C. BANKING INST. 467 (2024). Available at: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/ncbi/vol28/iss1/18

Staff Member, North Carolina Banking Institute Journal

• Represented clients facing eviction in small claims court (with practice certificate and under supervision)
• Drafted answers, counterclaims, affidavits, subpoenas, and other court documents 
• Wrote settlement agreements, demand letters, advice letters, and closing letters
• Examined leases, ledgers, notices, and investigated tenants’ residences to construct defenses 
• Requested and reviewed public records from county clerk’s office, register of deeds, and other agencies  
• Wrote legal memoranda on issues of state and federal housing and landlord-tenant law 
• Staffed Legal Aid’s housing clinic at the Durham County Courthouse; interviewed tenants to learn case facts, identify legal issues, and determine eligibility; coordinated with attorneys for same-day representation. 

legalaidnc.org/mlk-internships

Legal Aid of North Carolina

MLK Summer Intern - Eviction Diversion Program

• Led higher education union organizing campaigns in North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
•  Legal: Helped prepare briefs, oral arguments, and witnesses for NLRB hearings, educated workers about their legal rights; organized CARES Act unemployment benefits webinars during COVID 
•  Organizing: Developed campaign strategy and tactics with worker-leaders, planned public actions; prepared leaders to speak at events and with media, coordinated collective bargaining sessions 

www.workersunited.org/southern-regional-joint-board
www.seiu.org

SEIU Workers United Southern Region

Union Organizer

• Organized Elon University adjunct faculty to win their union by a near 2-to-1 margin 
• Assisted attorneys in preparing briefs, witnesses, and oral arguments for National Labor Relations Board hearings

www.seiufacultyforward.org

Union Organizer-in-Training, SEIU Faculty Forward campaign

• Moderated focus groups and consumer research workshops across the U.S. for clients including Verizon, Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, Delta, and Kelly Services.

Blue Lime US

Freelance Research Moderator

Select Freelance Projects: 

• Marketing Consultant, Google (2017-2018). Brand strategy and research for Google's U.S. economic development and consumer hardware teams. 

• Marketing Consultant, INVANTI (www.invanti.co). I contributed marketing expertise to a week-long workshop with aspiring social entrepreneurs at Notre Dame's ESTEEM master's of entrepreneurship program. I taught primary research methods (ethnography, depth interviewing, etc.) through practice—spending time with low-income/low-wealth community members. This included conducting individual and group interviews at meetings with a Council on Aging group in Elkhart and a Bridges out of Poverty financial literacy course in South Bend. I worked with Maria Gibbs and Dustin Mix of Invanti Ventures, a social impact/innovation incubator in South Bend. 

• Design Thinking Workshop to Counter Islamophobia, Prague, Czech Republic. The project convened an international and interdisciplinary group of experts: activists, behavioral and data scientists, NGO veterans, cultural anthropologists, marketers, etc. to participate in a two-day workshop to generate ideas to combat dangerous speech against migrants and refugees (primarily those from predominantly Muslim countries). Using a combination of design, creative, and strategic methodologies, the team conceptualized ideas to counter the accelerating national trend of hateful attitudes, beliefs, and ideas— before they become violent actions against vulnerable populations.

• Published short essay "How Silicon Valley Spreads the Dangerous Conservative Gospel of Personal Responsibility," for Paste Magazine. Link below.

Self-employed

Freelance Strategist and Researcher

• Clients in functional beverages and snack foods categories 
• New business pitches in hospitality/travel and sports categories

Barton F. Graf

Senior Strategist

American Express 
• Consumer credit cards 
• OPEN (Amex small business vertical)
• Serve prepaid card

Ogilvy & Mather

Senior Planner

• Clients: American Express, NASCAR
• New Business: Tiffany & Co. 
• Other: I taught a writing workshop for eight IBM employees as part of an training initiative by the CMO

Strategic Planner

• The Ogilvy Associates program is a training program for entry-level employees 
• Completed rotations in the research department, account management, and strategic planning departments

www.ogilvyearlycareers.com/associatesprogram

Associate

• Research Assistant to Professor Rebecca Stein in the Cultural Anthropology department on a project related to the role of technology and digital media in Israeli settler colonies in occupied Palestine

More info on Prof. Stein's work: https://scholars.duke.edu/person/rlstein

Research Assistant in Department of Cultural Anthropology

I worked in the Strategic Planning department with client teams for UPS, Citizens Bank and Pediatric Tylenol & Motrin. My internship duties included competitive research, writing copy for copy-testing of ad campaigns, and drafting client presentations. 

I was also involved in the strategic research for the agency's pitch for the Corporation for Travel Promotion, a public-private partnership whose purpose is to increase international travel to the United States. Highlights included conducting one-on-one qualitative research interviews with international employees of Ogilvy and doing "man on the street" interviews with international tourists in Times Square. 

As a leader of an eight-person intern team in a mock new business competition, I helped create a full creative campaign for British Airways. Our team presented it to client marketing executives and Ogilvy expert judges. The presentation earned high praise for its insights into the young adult target demographic. Our team was named runner up.

Strategic Planning Intern

• Performed extensive copyediting of early passes of manuscripts
• Researched competitive titles
• Investigated the social media and marketing potential of the company
• Contributed original copy for a published book title

The Experiment Publishing, LLC

Summer Publishing Intern

• Tutor for first-year Writing 101 course 
• Helped students develop skills in researching and writing academic papers
• Met with 12 students twice per semester for 50-minute sessions
• Coordinated with professors on course assignments and learning goals

Thompson Writing Program: twp.duke.edu

Undergraduate Writing Tutor, Thompson Writing Program

• Analyzed claimant files from a pharmaceutical category class action litigation
• Performed financial analysis and assisted with the firm's initial plan for representation of a major US investment bank in its bankruptcy litigation

Jake Stanley