Joel H. Samuels is Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Rule of Law Collaborative (ROLC) at the University of South Carolina. In January 2021, he was appointed Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and prior to that, Interim Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies. His scholarship explores the challenges and opportunities presented by changing notions of sovereignty, and his written work addresses international boundary disputes, maritime piracy and cross-border litigation. He is a lead co-author of one of the premier casebooks on international law, Transnational Law (West Academic Press). He also lectures extensively on litigation matters involving foreign parties involved in cases in U.S. courts.

As Executive Director of ROLC, he oversees programming focused on rule of law development across the globe. In addition, he regularly lectures to U.S. Government officials from the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense on rule of law development abroad.

He has also worked at the World Bank in both Washington (in the Office of the Vice President for Africa) and in Zimbabwe (at the African Capacity Building Foundation) focusing on capacity building in economic policy analysis and development management. During that time, he was a member of the World Bank team that drafted the Initiative for Capacity Building in Africa, a cornerstone document in the World Bank’s initial efforts in that arena. Before joining the World Bank, he worked extensively in Russia in the early 1990s on efforts to combat organized crime, and he was an observer of the Russian Constitutional Assembly in 1993. In addition, he has been a contributor to several Russian newspapers and magazines and a variety of African publications. During his time in private law practice at Covington & Burling, he was involved in the ad hoc arbitration of the Eritrea-Ethiopia boundary dispute and led the team that drafted a new Civil Service Code for Eritrea.

Honored by the University of South Carolina School of Law student body in 2007 and 2016 as the Outstanding Faculty Member for teaching excellence, he received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a Clarence Darrow Scholar. While at Michigan, he also earned a master’s degree in Russian and East European Studies. He received his A.B., magna cum laude, in politics from Princeton University. At Princeton, he also received certificates in Russian Studies and European Cultural Studies and was awarded the Asher Hinds Prize in European Cultural Studies, the Montgomery Raiser Prize in Russian Studies, and the Caroline Picard Prize in Politics.

Steven Austermiller is the Deputy Executive Director for the Rule of Law Collaborative (ROLC), where he joined in June 2016. He has worked on rule of law programs throughout the world, advising officials in six countries on legal and judicial reform and managing various international development programs. He has served as trainer and expert advisor on programs involving commercial law, human rights, ethics, international law, institutional capacity building, professional skills, legal education, and other matters. He has trained government officials, civil society leaders, judges, lawyers, and academics. He published the first legal textbook on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Cambodia and later in Georgia and the first annotated criminal procedure code book in Cambodia. He has also published in law journals such as the Yale Journal of Human Rights and Development Law and the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law.

Before joining ROLC, he was Director for Legal Education and Deputy Chief of Party on the USAID-PROLoG Program (Promoting the Rule of Law in Georgia). There, he helped reform Georgian legal education by establishing nine legal clinics (including the first mediation clinic), promoting interactive teaching methods, introducing legal competitions, reforming curriculum standards and establishing academic journals, as well as founding the National Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution and the National Center for Commercial Law. He also helped lead important judicial and legal reform efforts.

Before PROLoG, he served in a similar capacity on the USAID-PRAJ Program in Cambodia (Promoting Rights and Justice) as country representative for the American Bar Association. There, he focused on modernizing the judiciary and the legal education system. He established a number of firsts:  the first model courtroom, the first academic law journal, the first legal clinic, the first legal ethics and ADR courses, and the first national law student competitions (mock trial and client counseling). He also helped the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions establish a continuing legal education program.

Before working in Cambodia, he managed various programs in other countries, including Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Oman. He helped establish a court-annexed mediation program in Bosnia. He trained lawyers and judges and helped establish legal clinics in several countries. He also ran a post-war inter-ethnic reconciliation program, established a FOIA center and trained professionals, including Iranian lawyers, on key advocacy skills.

Prior to his sixteen years of work in the field, he practiced commercial litigation for eight years at Pedersen & Houpt in Chicago, becoming a partner in 2000. He has a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where he served as Coordinating Note & Comment Editor for the Journal of International Law and Business. He also has a B.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University.  He is currently Vice-Chair of the International Client Counseling Competition.

Antonia Demons joined the Rule of Law Collaborative (ROLC) as Administrative Assistant in April 2018. She comes to ROLC from the University Police Department at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, where she also served as Administrative Assistant.

In that role, she served as the Records Custodian for the Annual Campus Security Report to comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Police and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). She obtained extensive knowledge of the Clery Act and composed the annual report and statistical information with input from various sources such as local law enforcement agencies, Division of Student Affairs, University Risk Management, and other campus officials.

In addition to her work in Texas, she brings five years of experience from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she was Administrative Coordinator and served as project manager for highly visible University publications, such as the University’s Operating and Capital Budget Requests and Authorized Budget, UA in Review, and Board of Regents materials. She also managed the operational budget for both the University of Alaska Statewide Budget office, as well as the University of Alaska Statewide Institutional Research Department. Additionally, she served as webmaster and independently designed, and maintained the departmental websites.

She holds a B.A. in Justice from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Karen Hall is Deputy Executive Director with the Rule of Law Collaborative (ROLC). Previously she was an Associate Professor and Director of the LL.M. program in Democratic Governance and Rule of Law at the Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law. Prior to joining ONU, She served for ten years with the U.S. Department of State in its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. While there, she directed the development and management of State Department assistance to the criminal justice system in Afghanistan as part of the overall U.S. foreign assistance initiative. She has also developed programs dealing with institutional reform, access to justice, protection of women’s rights, and legal education. She spent 2006-2008 living at the Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan directly managing the State Department’s criminal justice and corrections programs. In recognition of her work, Professor Hall has earned multiple Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards from the State Department.

Her teaching interests include International Rule of Law Reform, International Law, Comparative Criminal Law, Rule of Law Program Design and Management, Student Externship Courses and Introduction to the American Legal System. Her current research involves examining the consequences of the appropriations and administrative processes of the U.S. government in relation to rule of law reform worldwide.

She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, her M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown School of Foreign Service, and her B.A. in Russian from Brigham Young University, where she graduated magna cum laude.

Asma Peracha is a Program Manager with the Rule of Law Collaborative (ROLC), which she joined in March 2022. Before joining ROLC, she worked as a National Security Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union.

At the ACLU, she helped conduct impact litigation and advocacy in areas of national security concern, including government surveillance and watch listing. Her prior experiences include working on international human rights issues at NGOs around the world, including Al Haq in Palestine, the Human Rights Commission in Pakistan, and the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York.

She holds a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Tsuneko Terry is Finance Director at the Rule of Law Collaborative (ROLC), which she joined in July 2018. Prior to joining ROLC, she served as Business Manager at the Institute for Families in Society, within the University of South Carolina College of Social Work, for almost six years. She was responsible for proposal submissions for funding at the state and federal levels, as well as monitoring these accounts once funded. She has over 23 years of experience in state service, including 17 years at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science. She is an active member of the Administrative Employees Club, serving as a club officer for several years and currently club President, 2018-2019.

She holds a B.S. in Business Administration, Accounting, from the University of South Carolina.

Carol Young is Administrative Coordinator at the Rule of Law Collaborative (ROLC), which she joined in August 2016.

She came to ROLC from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where she served as a Faculty Scholarship Assistant. Her work included researching, editing and formatting casebooks and law review articles, and managing law review article submissions for faculty.

She brings nine years of experience serving the University of South Carolina, including five years at the Children’s Law Center where she managed over 70 training programs annually for child-serving professionals, including attorneys, judges, law enforcement and educators. She also edited Children’s Law Center publications and managed the digital content of the website, including online training.

She majored in Hospitality Management at Columbus State College, Columbus, Ohio. Her international experiences center around women’s leadership development. She has volunteered in Honduras, El Salvador, Zambia, Tanzania and DR Congo.