Amelia Martella, a member of the Fordham Law’s Class of 2007 with varied experience in corporate law, returned to her alma mater this fall as the new executive director of the Corporate Law Center. She plans to work alongside Professor Richard Squire, the center’s faculty director, to reinvigorate the Center’s programming and events.
“I’m thrilled that Amy has joined us as the new executive director of the Corporate Law Center,” said Squire. “She has already distinguished herself through her creative leadership as we launch multiple Center initiatives this school year. I could not be happier to be working with her as her fellow director of the Center.”
Martella’s diverse career background includes work as an associate at Kramer Levin and as counsel to a number of tech startups. She also completed clerkships with several federal judges, including most recently for Judge Jon O. Newman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Martella began her position in September and has begun implementing a new vision for the Corporate Law Center after several years of pandemic-related limitations on in-person events.
“One thing that has happened to a lot of centers and institutes across all law schools is that, with the pandemic, they became somewhat dormant,” said Martella. “I want to move past that. I want to bring people into rooms together where they can sit around tables to debate and discuss business law issues.”
The Center’s first event since Martella’s tenure began, “Finding Purpose in Practice: Profit and Career Fulfillment in an Age of Corporate Social Responsibility,” managed to do just that, with attendees lingering long past its scheduled end time in order to continue the discussion.
“We got kicked out of the room,” said Martella. “We stayed so long after the event, just the students and the panelists, and they were engaging in so many conversations over a bite to eat and a glass of wine. Those are the types of things that I want to see happening.”
The upcoming annual A.A. Sommer, Jr. Lecture on Corporate, Securities, and Financial Law on November 17 promises to be similarly engaging, with Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal speaking at this year’s event. The event is co-hosted by Morgan Lewis, in honor of Al Sommer, a former SEC commissioner and Morgan Lewis partner.
“[Grewal] will be talking to us about current developments in the SEC’s enforcement program,” said Martella, “It’s going to be more of a laidback and informal style, not standing at the podium lecturing. He’ll be interviewed by one of the Morgan Lewis partners and we expect it to be very interesting.”
Martella said she was attracted to the executive director position because of her positive experience with Fordham Law as a student and as an alumna, and sees her new role as an opportunity to continue and expand the Law School’s track record of producing stellar corporate law graduates.
“Fordham has a reputation in New York City for graduating students who go on to be corporate lawyers—some of the best and brightest go to the best corporate law practices at top law firms,” Martella said.
Her approach will revolve around making the Corporate Law Center a place that will “bring together professionals, policymakers, public figures, and students to discuss and study and think about business and financial law,” with the goal of keeping Fordham Law at the forefront as a thought leader in the world of corporate law.
Next semester will include even more events and initiatives, including the “Caffeinated Corporate Law” speaker series, a debate-style program led by Professor Squire, and the return of the annual DeStefano Lecture on Corporate, Finance, and Securities Law.
“I think we just need to ramp up the programming,” said Martella. “Keep it diverse, keep it interesting, keep it cutting edge … there’s a lot to talk about when it comes to corporate law. I think that it’s going to be exciting.”