Published: Sept. 10, 2014

The University of Colorado Law School is proud to welcome four new professors to its faculty. Kristelia García specializes in intellectual property; David Hasen researches complex income tax issues; Sharon Jacobs' work focuses on energy, environmental, and administrative law; and Audrey Huang brings added strength and expertise to our team in clinical education and environmental law. 

Kristelia García graduated from Yale Law School in 2003. Her passion for music, the creative process, and new distribution technologies led her to private practice in Southern California beginning in 2006. For the next six years, García advised entertainment industry clients on licensing and publishing compliance. Former employers include MySpace Music and Universal Music Group. García recalls the early days of digital music fondly. “In the beginning, there was a great amount of experimentation and curiosity,” she says. But by the late 2000s, “It all started to seem more boilerplate.” During that period, García began to take guest lecture invitations from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law and in 2012, García accepted a two-year fellowship to teach and conduct research at George Washington School of Law. She loved the energy and willingness to try things that she found in students. García said she was fortunate to have been invited to interview with more than a dozen schools for tenure track positions and Colorado Law felt like a natural choice. García teaches a first-year property course and works at the Silicon Flatirons Center, bringing her content expertise to what she describes as an “impressive faculty” already in place. Her current scholarly work focuses on anti-competitive behavior in creative industries. 

David Hasen, another Yale alumnus, graduated in 1996 already holding a PhD in government from Harvard University. In the eighteen years since, Hasen clerked for a U.S. District Court judge, worked at two private firms, taught tax law at eight separate universities, and served as a Professor in Residence at the Internal Revenue Service. Colorado Law reached out to him last year while Hasen was serving as an Associate Professor at Santa Clara University Law School. “It has been an easy transition to life in Boulder,” Hasen remarked, “Colorado Law has been very welcoming and I commend the school’s leadership. This is a well-run institution.” When asked where he sees future growth in his field of expertise, Hasen said that the internationalization of business will bring about unique opportunities and new challenges for tax practitioners. Hasen teaches courses in personal income and business taxation this academic year.  Hasen is also setting up a non-denominational Bible study group for faculty and staff at the law school.

Audrey Huang joins Colorado Law as an associate clinical professor, directing the Getches-Green Natural Resources and Environmental Law Clinic. She comes to Colorado Law from the University of California, Irvine School of Law where she was its inaugural clinical teaching fellow. Prior to entering academia, Huang practiced in the area of natural resources and environmental law for over ten years in California. She represented clients in both litigation and regulatory compliance and advocacy matters. Huang earned her JD from the University of Southern California School of Law, where she was a member of the board of the Hale Moot Court Honors Program. 

Sharon Jacobs is another faculty member settling into her first tenure-track position. Before entering the legal profession, Jacobs earned her Master of Music from Juilliard School and performed as a classical cellist. Jacobs graduated cum laude from Harvard Law in 2009 where she was the Executive Articles Editor of the Harvard Law and Policy Review. Jacobs previously worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Covington & Burling LLP in the firm’s Energy, Environmental, and Climate regulatory groups. She left private practice in 2012 to accept a teaching fellowship at her alma mater. Her current scholarship focuses on energy, the environment, regulation, and administration. 

Regarding the new hires, Dean Phil Weiser said, "Colorado Law is extremely fortunate to welcome aboard four immensely talented faculty members, reinforcing and building on our strength in critical areas. All four new hires have succeeded in practice and in the academy, positioning them to make a mark here at Colorado Law on a number of fronts—as teachers, as scholars, and as valued community members."