PROFESSOR SARAH WILLIAMS WELCOMED KRISTIN WELLS ’11 AS A GUEST LECTURER
August 2021 — Professor Sarah Williams recently welcomed Kristin A. Wells ’11 as a Guest Lecturer in Professional Responsibility. Wells serves as Counsel in the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and is also a proud graduate of Dickinson Law. Wells lectured on the disciplinary process in the Commonwealth, presented case studies, and described recent challenges to the professional responsibilities of Pennsylvania lawyers.
Wells has served as Guest Lecturer for Professional Responsibility students at Dickinson Law for the past three years. During her visit this fall, she described Pennsylvania’s processes to address potential misconduct by its lawyers and presented a review of select disciplinary actions taken by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Wells warned of the record-keeping challenges that sole practitioners may encounter, and shared potential impacts of the ongoing global pandemic on the practice of law. Wells also delivered a procedural update on court challenges to Pennsylvania Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(g), which relates to harassing or discriminatory conduct by lawyers.
Professor Sarah Williams currently serves as an Assistant Professor at Penn State Dickinson Law, where her research focuses on the intersection of federal securities regulation and accounting. She also serves as an attorney/client arbitrator for the D.C. Bar. Prior to joining Dickinson Law, Professor Williams practiced law as a securities regulator. She was Deputy Director at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board& and Associate General Counsel at NASD (now FINRA). She spent several years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, serving as staff attorney and branch chief in its Division of Enforcement, then as Counsel to SEC Commissioner Isaac C. Hunt, Jr. Professor Williams began her legal career as an associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C.