Dr. Lisa M. Schenck, J.S.D., is an American attorney and academic. In November 2009, Dr. Schenck was appointed as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at The George Washington University Law School. In this position, she manages the Adjunct Faculty Program. The Law School has over 320 adjunct professors who teach the 2,000 students studying in its Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree programs. In March 2010, Dr. Schenck was appointed as a Professorial Lecturer in Law, and teaches Military Justice. She joined the Law School in 2009 after serving in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps for more than 25 years. Established in 1865, The George Washington University Law School is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia. The Law School is accredited by the American Bar Association, and is a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
After retiring as a Colonel with over two and a half decades of service in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, Dr. Schenck held the position of Senior Advisor to the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services. During her 25+ year career as a Judge Advocate, Dr. Schenck served an Associate Appellate Judge, and later Senior Appellate Judge, on Panel 3 of the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Arlington, Virginia (2002–2008). From 2007 to 2008, Dr. Schenck was also an appellate judge on the United States Court of Military Commission Review. During her time on the bench, Dr. Schenck reviewed hundreds of cases for appellate error, and authored over 80 judicial opinions. Prior to her time as a sitting judge on these intermediate-level appellate courts, Dr. Schenck held numerous attorney positions.
While in the Washington, D.C., area, Dr. Schenck was an Environmental Law Attorney at the U.S. Army Legal Services Agency in Arlington, Virginia (2000–2002), and the Executive Officer at the Criminal Law (UCMJ) Division of the Office of The Judge Advocate General (OTJAG) in Rosslyn, Virginia (1999–2000). In the mid to late 1990s, while at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, Dr. Schenck served as the Chief Administrative and Civil Law Attorney in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (OSJA) (1998–1999), and as an Assistant Professor of Constitutional and Military Law, and Co-Course Director for the Introduction to Legal Methods course in the Department of Law (1995–1997).
Dr. Schenck spent over 3 years in the OSJA at the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama. There she served as the Chief of both the Claims and Legal Assistance Divisions, the Supervising Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, the Chief of the Criminal Law Division, and finally, the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the Aviation Center (1991–1994).
In the early 1990s, Dr. Schenck served a couple of years in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). At Camp Humphreys, she served as the Acting Command Judge Advocate, and as a Claims and Legal Assistance Attorney for the 23d Area Support Group (1991). Prior to those assignments Dr. Schenck served as Trial Counsel (prosecutor) and Infantry Brigade Legal Advisor at Camp Hovey, and as Trial Counsel and a Legal Assistance Attorney at Camp Stanley for the 2d Infantry Division (1990–1991).
While an officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Dr. Schenck held the positions of Assistant Fielding Team Chief and Assistant Secretary of the General Staff for the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey (1983–1986).
EDUCATION
Dr. Schenck attended Providence College on an Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship, graduated cum laude as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.), and was commissioned in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. She holds a Master of Public Administration degree (M.P.A.) from Fairleigh Dickinson University, from which she graduated in 1986 with a 4.0 GPA, and as a member of the Delta Mu Delta Honor Society. In 1989, Dr. Schenck received her Juris Doctor degree (J.D.) from Notre Dame Law School, having graduated cum laude and on the Dean's Honor List. In 1995, she received her Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in Military Criminal Law (Uniform Code of Military Justice) from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, and graduated on the Commandant’s List. In 1998, Dr. Schenck received a second LL.M. in Environmental Law from Yale Law School, with Honors. In 2007, Dr. Schenck earned the highest degree in the study of law, a Doctor of the Science of Law degree (J.S.D.) from Yale Law School, focusing on environmental law. Her military education includes the U.S. Army Signal Corps Officer Basic Course, The Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army Officer Basic and Graduate Courses, and graduate-level courses at the U.S. Army Combined Arms and Services Staff School, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
2003: Judge Advocates Association Outstanding Career Armed Services Attorney Award for the Army
1999: Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Scholastic Achievement Award
1999: Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Inductee (1 of 5 West Point staff & faculty members appointed into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society)
1997: Army Funded Master of Laws Program Recipient (1 of 10 selected)
1994: Fort Rucker Professional Woman of the Year Award
1986: Army Funded Legal Education Program Recipient (1 of 10 selected)
1986: Delta Mu Delta National Honor Society in Business Administration Inductee
1983: Providence College Alumni Military Academic Achievement Award
1980: Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Scholarship Recipient
PUBLICATIONS AND WORK IN PROGRESS
"The U.S. Can Escape the Climate Change 'Prisoners' Dilemma,'" by Earl Saxon and Lisa M. Schenck, The Hill's Congress Blog (November 10, 2010) (reprinted on the website for The Academy for Educational Development).
"Report of The Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services" (December 1, 2009) (served on the Task Force Staff as Senior Advisor and contributor to this report).
“Climate Change 'Crisis'--Struggling for Worldwide Collective Action,” 19 Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy 319 (Summer 2008) (from April 2007 J.S.D. dissertation).
“Achieving Global-Scale Collective Action: Applying Lessons From Nuclear Arms Control to Climate Change” (J.S.D. dissertation and book manuscript, April 2007).
“Let’s Clear the Air: Enforcing Civil Penalties Against Federal Violators of the Clean Air Act,” The George Washington University Law School and Section of Environment, Energy, & Resources of the American Bar Association, 6 Environmental Lawyer 839 (June 2000), Cited by The Pollution Control Hearings Board of the State of Washington in the case of U.S. Army, Fort Lewis, WA v. Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PCHB 00-190).
“Wetlands Protection: Regulators Need to Give Credit to Mitigation Banking,” Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson Law School, 9 Dickinson Journal of Environmental Law & Policy 103 (Spring 2000).
“Liability of Municipalities Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA): Is this a Legal Hazard to the Environment,” 23 Seton Hall Legislative Journal 1 (1998).
“Child Neglect in the Military Community: Are We Neglecting the Child?,” 148 Military Law Review 1 (Spring 1995) (LL.M. thesis article).
“Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker,” 148 Military Law Review 274 (Spring 1995) (LL.M. book review).
“Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW/MIA Myth in America,” 146 Military Law Review 291 (Fall 1994) (book review).
Operations and Training Note, “Military Qualifications Standards System,” October 1989, Army Lawyer (written by then-Captain Thibault).
BAR & COURT ADMISSIONS & PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS
Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Massachusetts (Massachusetts State Bar)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
U.S. Court of Military Commission Review