Megan Montcalm

Megan E.K. Montcalm has been the Director of Academic Excellence and an Assistant Professor of Legal Skills at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University since July 2023. In this role, she designs, implements, and administers a program of academic support benefiting all law students, and especially those students in their first and second years of study.

From 2019 to 2023, Prof. Montcalm contributed to and administered a similar program of academic support at another law school, where she achieved the rank of Assistant Dean for Academic Success.

Prof. Montcalm draws upon a wealth of real-world legal experience in her work with law students. Before joining academia, she served as a Senior Counsel in the Appeals Division of the New York City Law Department, where she briefed and argued dozens of civil appeals on behalf of New York City, the Mayor, and local government agencies in federal and state appellate courts. Her caseload there reflected the tremendous breadth of the city government’s dealings, presenting legal issues in the contexts of civil rights, tort, employment, family, and administrative law, among others.

She was previously a senior associate in Vinson & Elkins LLP’s Commercial & Business Litigation Practice and a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. While in private practice, she worked extensively on a series of interrelated international arbitrations and represented clients in securities matters and other commercial disputes.

From 2010 to 2011, Prof. Montcalm served as a law clerk for the Honorable Alvin K. Hellerstein on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. And from 2009 to 2010, she served as a law clerk for the Honorable John M. Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Prof. Montcalm graduated with highest honors from The George Washington University Law School and earned her B.A. in Experimental Psychology, summa cum laude, from the University of South Carolina, with honors from the South Carolina Honors College.

• J.D., The George Washington University Law School, With Highest Honors
• B.A., University of South Carolina, summa cum laude