They’re dynamic. They’re accomplished. And now they’re teaching full time at Wilmington University School of Law. Alisa Klein and Kimberly Richardson bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Brandywine campus.  

“We are pleased to announce two more additions to our excellent full-time faculty,” says Philip Closius, JD, dean of the School of Law. “Both of these experienced attorneys fully embrace our mission of teaching excellence and our value of being student-centered.” 

Alisa Klein: A 30-Year U.S. Department of Justice Litigator

Alisa Klein remembers the moment her husband, Judge Craig Goldblatt of U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, told her Wilmington University was launching a new law school. 

“My reaction was you’re making that up. You have conjured my fantasy,” says Professor Klein, who spent 30 years litigating for the U.S. Department of Justice, where she defended COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium, and key Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provisions. 

While she felt “so lucky to have been representing the institutional interests of the United States and trying to promote the rule of law,” she also felt ready for a change.  

“What drew me to Wilmington University’s law school is that student-centered mission,” says Professor Klein, a Harvard Law School graduate who previously taught at Georgetown Law School and Haverford College. “What interests me at this phase of life — having done 30 years of litigation — is the student, the mentoring, the next generation.” 

Early in her career, she clerked for the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg twice — first when Ginsburg was a court of appeals judge preparing for her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, and then after RBG became a Justice of the Supreme Court. 

While attending the confirmation hearings, “one thing I will always remember is her supreme composure, which never altered,” Professor Klein says. “Her overarching concern was to be a fair arbiter of the dispute that came before her.” 

She recalls Justice Ginsburg used to say, “You are never allowed to knock the chess pieces off the chess board in order to get to the win.” 

Kimberly Richardson: A Skilled Mathematician Turned Lawyer

Growing up, Kimberly Richardson excelled at math, so she became an actuarial mathematician — a talkative actuarial mathematician. 

“I really enjoyed it. However, mathematicians aren’t always the most talkative people in the room,” says Professor Richardson, who calculated pension and retiree medical benefit plans. “I realized I was probably the most talkative person in the office. Something was going to have to change.” 

The broader legal issues surrounding those plans sparked her interest. She also volunteered with Amnesty International, writing letters about human rights, conflict diamonds and more. 

“With all of these things coming together, it was like maybe law school is for me. Maybe this is where I need to be,” says Professor Richardson, a graduate of Indiana University Maurer School of Law with more than 18 years of experience in health, safety, security, labor and employment law.  

After working for government agencies, law firms and major corporations — including as senior counsel for DuPont and senior corporate counsel for Amazon Web Services — she’s proud to be part of WilmU Law. 

“I encourage a lot of science-savvy, math-savvy students to pursue law because it’s a very logical discipline,” Professor Richardson says. “I am a kid from Flint, Michigan, who had no idea what I do today ever existed. As a function of talent, education and support from other people, I now do something that was beyond my imagination when I was younger.” 

Outside the Classroom

WilmU Law’s new professors also shared the little-known ways they like to relax, including a circus-related hobby. Professor Klein is a fan of the flying trapeze. 

“I would go the night before my oral arguments as a nice, head-clearing, two-hour exercise,” she says. “The people who do this obsessively call it flying, and that’s what it feels like.” 

Professor Klein “flew” for about five years and even performed in an amateur show, describing it as “one of the high points” of her life and “a very nice memory.” 

From the flying trapeze to winged flight — Professor Richardson, an avid wildlife photographer, enjoys traveling the world and capturing animals in action.  

“Law can be a very stressful discipline. I started to rely more and more on photography as being my form of meditation,” Professor Richardson says. “I can hike with just me and my camera and snap something in the quiet of nature that no one else saw.” 

She appreciates “the color of bird feathers and the behavior of animals when they don’t think anybody’s watching,” and recalls the time she witnessed two leopards in a tree fighting over a kill as hyenas circled below.  

“It was an amazing experience,” Professor Richardson says.