The University of Baltimore School of Law welcomes three new faculty members whose
experience spans academic success, criminal law, appellate advocacy, property law,
public policy, and government service.
Together, the new faculty members bring a breadth of practical experience and scholarly
expertise that will enrich students’ legal education and prepare them to serve clients,
communities and the public.
“We are delighted to welcome Professors Johnson, Pathmanathan and Pough to UBalt Law,” said Dean LaVonda N. Reed. “Each brings a distinctive combination of scholarly expertise, professional experience and a commitment to legal education. Their contributions will strengthen our academic community and further our mission to prepare practice-ready lawyers who serve, lead and make a difference.”
Professor Johnson joins UBalt Law after 22 years at Mercer University School of Law, where she taught courses in legal process, legal research, bar preparation, introduction to law and advanced writing. She also served as Associate Director of Academic Success and directed Mercer’s Peer and Group Mentor Program.
At UBalt Law, Professor Johnson teaches Introduction to Lawyering Skills and Rules
and Reasoning, helping students develop the foundational skills they need to navigate
law school and prepare for legal practice.
Her scholarly interests include legal research, legal analysis, academic success,
environmental law, legislative history, and the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination. Her
scholarship addresses how law schools can prepare students for the legal research
component of the NextGen bar exam, including through curricular innovation and collaboration
across the curriculum.
In 2026, Professor Johnson received the Association of Academic Support Educators’
Outstanding Scholar Award. She also received Mercer Law’s 2022 Manley F. Brown Distinguished
Adjunct Teaching Award, recognizing exemplary teaching, legal expertise, and dedication
to mentoring law students.
Before entering academia, Professor Johnson served as an environmental regulatory attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. She earned both her bachelor’s and law degrees from Villanova University and is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
I joined UBalt Law because of the people. UBalt Law is filled with a warm, brilliant, and collegial faculty and staff who are dedicated to preparing the future lawyers of Baltimore and beyond. I am delighted to be a part of this community.
Professor Pathmanathan brings extensive experience in public interest law, criminal
defense, and trial and appellate advocacy to UBalt Law.
Before joining the faculty, she was an Associate Research Scholar at Yale Law School,
where she taught in the criminal justice clinics of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services
Organization. She previously served as an Assistant Professor of Legal Writing at
St. John’s University School of Law and an Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law at Brooklyn
Law School.
Professor Pathmanathan spent a decade in public interest practice before transitioning
to full-time academia. As Senior Appellate Counsel at the Center for Appellate Litigation,
she litigated criminal appeals and post-conviction matters on behalf of people convicted
of state crimes who could not afford counsel. At the Legal Aid Society of New York,
she represented indigent individuals facing criminal allegations as a trial public
defender. She also worked at the Vera Institute of Justice, providing technical assistance
to programs supporting people facing deportation and removal proceedings.
Her scholarship examines the doctrines, procedures, and principles that shape the
American criminal legal system, from the investigative stages of a criminal case through
trial and appeal. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in publications including
the American Criminal Law Review, the Georgia Criminal Law Review and the International Criminal Law Review, as well as The Harbinger of the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change and the New York Law Journal.
Professor Pathmanathan earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School and her bachelor’s
degree from New York University. She is admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut.
I chose to teach at UBalt Law because of the institution’s long-standing commitment to building opportunities to enter and succeed in the legal profession. I am inspired by the law school’s dedication to teaching excellence, and I am excited to help prepare future lawyers on how to become thoughtful advocates and ethical stewards of the rule of law while advancing justice. I am also proud to be back in my home state and have the opportunity to contribute to the place that gave me the tools and confidence to go after what I wanted to achieve.
Professor Pough joins UBalt Law with expertise in property, local government and land
use law, as well as a background spanning legal practice, public policy and government
service.
His scholarship examines the laws that shape cities and the built environment, with
particular attention to how legal systems influence the distribution of power and
resources at the local level. His work has appeared in the Tennessee Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change and the University of Virginia Journal of Law & Politics, among other publications.
Before entering academia, Professor Pough practiced in Jenner & Block’s Congressional
Investigations and Government Controversies practices, advising public- and private-sector
leaders navigating political risk in the United States and abroad.
He previously served as Domestic Policy Manager on the Kamala Harris presidential
campaign. During the Biden-Harris administration, he was a policy advisor to Vice
President Harris and counsel to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, focusing on civil
rights, access to justice and prison reform. He also clerked for Judge David Barron
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Professor Pough graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where he served as
an editor of the Harvard Law Review and received the Heyman Fellowship for public service. He earned his bachelor’s degree,
with distinction, in political science from Yale University.
After moving to Baltimore with my family, I knew I wanted to find a way to use my legal skills and policy experience to benefit the city. But I never imagined an opportunity like this. Educating the next generation of lawyers in the city I call home is such an immense privilege, especially given how much influence attorneys have over Baltimore’s public policy development and local governance. UBalt Law has shaped Baltimore for over 100 years. I’m proud to be part of that legacy now.