National Center for Adoption Law, Policy Has New Leadership Following Appointment of Kent Markus as Chief Counsel to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland
Denise St. Clair and Angela Upchurch have been named executive director and academic director, respectively, of the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy (NCALP) at Capital University Law School.
The appointments came following law professor and the center’s founding director Kent Markus’ announcement that he would take a leave of absence to serve as chief legal counsel for Gov. Ted Strickland.
“As the founding director of NCALP, Kent created and grew the center into the state and national resource it is today. We are deeply grateful for his leadership and commitment to Capital and wish him all our best in his new role,” said Law School Dean Jack A. Guttenberg. “NCALP’s education, advocacy and research projects will continue to grow and thrive under the leadership of Denise St. Clair and Angela Upchurch. They bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the center and will build on its programs to make it an even greater community and student resource.”
As executive director, St. Clair will oversee daily operations and major projects at the center, including the Ohio Child Protection Law Reform Initiative. Through this initiative, the center has partnered with a committee of the Supreme Court of Ohio to develop a new statutory structure to improve child welfare laws and practice in the state. St. Clair also will lead the Professional Development Initiative, aimed at developing multidisciplinary training programs for child welfare professionals and students.
She previously served as NCALP’s associate director and joined the staff in 2001 to oversee the center’s Adoption LawSite, the nation’s only comprehensive compilation of the adoption and child welfare laws of all 50 states. Since then, she has spearheaded many of the center’s key initiatives and legal research and analysis projects. A graduate of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, St. Clair is the former editor in chief of the Journal of Family Law and a former partner at a major Kentucky law firm. She spent 12 years in private practice.
“We will miss Kent Markus’ unflagging enthusiasm, but I am looking forward to seeing the vision for the center that began under his leadership continued in both our current work and in expanded programming and new initiatives,” St. Clair said.
As the academic director of NCALP, Upchurch will work to enhance the law school’s academic programs as they relate to adoption and child welfare law, including the Adoption Law Fellowship, National Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare and Adoption Law, Summer Adoption Law Institute and Maestros, a newly formed student organization that provides resources and mentoring to students interested in pursuing careers in children and family law.
Angela Upchurch is a scholar and frequent writer on children’s legal rights and procedural law. She was a contributing author of a child-centered guidebook for judges on child custody proceedings published by the American Bar Association’s Center on Children and the Law. She also writes on the resolution of legal disputes nationwide involving frozen embryos. Upchurch graduated first in her class at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she was editor in chief of the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal. A former law clerk to The Hon. Michael Murphy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Salt Lake City, Upchurch joined the law faculty at Capital in 2003. She teaches a course on children, families and the state, as well as civil procedure and torts.
“There is a great need for well-trained attorneys in the area of family law,” Upchurch said. “NCALP is paving the way as a training ground for new attorneys in this area and I am excited by this opportunity to help grow Capital’s program to better prepare future attorneys for practice in this important field of law.”
Founded in 1998, the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy at Capital University Law School seeks to improve the law, policies and practices associated with child protection and adoption systems. The center’s activities focus on research, education and advocacy. In November 2006, NCALP was honored with the Ohio State Bar Foundation’s Organization of the Year Award. Some of the center’s major initiatives include:
• Adoption Academy, a 12-week class that demystifies the adoption process for adoptive parents;
• Adoption LawSite, the first comprehensive online compilation and synthesis of the law of adoption that provides free access to adoption-related statutes and regulations, key cases and articles from every U.S. state and territory, along with federal and international materials;
• Adoption JobSite, which matches law students from across the nation with private, public and nonprofit employers working in child welfare and adoption law and policy;
• an annual symposium on a significant child welfare and adoption topic; and
• amicus curia briefs, and weekly news and case summaries.
Learn more about the center and its programs and services.