Melissa Aubin joins the Supreme Court Fellows Program from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon where she is a staff attorney for Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Coffin.  Ms. Aubin holds a B.A. in classics and religion from the University of Florida, an M.A. and Ph.D. in religion from Duke University, and a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law.  Before starting her legal career, Ms. Aubin was an assistant professor at Florida State University in the Department of Religion.  After law school, Ms. Aubin was a law clerk to Judge David Schuman on the Oregon Court of Appeals.  In addition to working for both Judge Schuman and Judge Coffin, Ms. Aubin has been a legal researcher for Professor Laird Kirkpatrick of the University of Oregon School of Law.  Ms. Aubin is currently part of a team that is evaluating the District of Oregon Drug Court, a reentry program for drug offenders.  She serves on the Boards of Directors for the Relief Nursery and Oregon’s Federal Bar Association.  Ms. Aubin will be the fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States.

Timothy F. Averill joins the Supreme Court Fellows Program from the Louisiana Supreme Court where he works in a dual capacity as an administrator and general counsel.  Mr. Averill holds a B.A. in English from James Madison University, an M.P.A. from the University of Alabama, and a J.D. from Loyola University School of Law.  Following law school, Mr. Averill engaged in the private practice of law, principally in the field of maritime insurance defense.  Mr. Averill also clerked for then Associate Justice Pascal Calogero, Jr., of the Louisiana Supreme Court before beginning his present employment at the Court, where he has served for 19 years.  Mr. Averill also teaches legal and maritime terminology to court reporting students, and he has written articles on legal and ethical issues of importance to court reporters.  Mr. Averill will be the fellow at the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

Irina G. Axelrod-Angres comes to the Supreme Court Fellows Program from the Nevada Supreme Court where she is a staff attorney in the civil division. Ms. Axelrod-Angres holds a B.A. and an M.A. in linguistics from St. Petersburg State University in Russia, a B.A. in English and English literature from the Sierra Nevada College, and a J.D. from California Western School of Law in San Diego. After obtaining her law degree, Ms. Axelrod-Angres clerked for Judges Peter I. Breen and James W. Hardesty (now Chief Justice Hardesty of the Nevada Supreme Court) on the Second Judicial District Court in Reno, Nevada. Following her clerkships, she went into private practice where she focused on issues involving state and federal corporate law, family law, and employment law. Ms. Axelrod-Angres left private practice to serve as a staff attorney at the Nevada Supreme Court where she drafts memorandums of law, orders, and opinions that include a broad range of legal specialties. Ms. Axelrod-Angres’s capacity for simultaneous translation between Russian and English has allowed her to serve as an interpreter in her law practice. Ms. Axelrod-Angres will be the fellow at the Federal Judicial Center.

Stephen E. Vance joins the Supreme Court Fellows Program from the District of Columbia Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission, where he is a staff attorney. Mr. Vance holds a B.A. in political science and Spanish from Kalamazoo College and a J.D. from the Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. He expects to obtain his Ph.D. in August 2009 from the University of Maryland’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Prior to joining the D.C. Sentencing Commission, Mr. Vance was a staff attorney for five years at the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA), where he provided sentencing and other post-conviction services to criminal defendants. At the D.C. Sentencing Commission, Mr. Vance has assisted with the oversight and implementation of a new sentencing guidelines system. His responsibilities include both legal and policy analysis of sentencing and other post-conviction issues. Mr. Vance has several publications on sentencing guidelines and reform. Mr. Vance will be the fellow at the United States Sentencing Commission.