Pierre Emmanuel Noel
LLM ’95

Counsel, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Pierre-Emmanuel Noel recalls serving in West Germany as an 18-year-old sergeant in the Belgian military, when "the enemy was on the other side of the Berlin Wall." Seventeen years later, he notes, "I work in an institution, surrounded by Eastern Europeans."

In March 2006 Noel began a two-year term working in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which helps bring market economies and democracies to 62 European and central Asian countries that were once under Soviet control. Noel was seconded to the EBRD General Counsel’s Office in London by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg, where he has served as a senior counsel since October 2000.

Established in 1991 – two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall – the EBRD is now the largest single investor in these formerly Soviet countries, providing financing for banks, industries, and other businesses in the private sector.

Noel, whose day-to-day work with the EBRD includes advising and implementing equity and debt transactions with participating investors, says that though he is thrilled to be living and working in London, his greatest pleasure comes from working at the truly international EBRD, where colleagues originate from about 60 countries. For some of them, he can recall his time in the army and say: "not so long ago, we considered each other enemies. Now we discover that we have a lot in common."

Noel is one of several Duke Law School graduates who have served in positions at the institute on either a permanent or temporary basis. Other alumni with EBRD ties include Manuel Sager ’85, one of the organization’s directors, Ainagul Alimanova Wilkinson ’98, Oleg Bilousenko ’96, and Shaimerden Chikanayev ’96.

Andrea Nelson Miegs ’94

Talent Agent, Creative Arts Agency

"I am the first in the history of my family to ever have gotten a law degree," says Meigs, whose parents were educators. "When I looked at some of the clients we represent, people like Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Sidney Poitier, I felt like this would be a way of being able to be a first here as well, in the sense that there weren’t any other African American motion picture talent agents here."

At an early age, Andrea Nelson Meigs knew that she wanted a career in the entertainment industry – but not in front of the camera. Having worked as a child actor, she knew that actors are "at the mercy" of others. Now, as a motion picture talent agent at the legendary Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Meigs, not only controls her own career, but those of such high-profile clients as Grammy award winning singer/actress Beyoncé Knowles, Tony nominated actress Christina Applegate, and Academy Award winning actress Ellen Burstyn. The scope of her job ranges from reading scripts, meeting with producers and clients, and attending screenings to "helping to realize the dreams of my clients."

"It is literally the most rewarding thing when you hear [clients] say, ‘this is a dream come true,’ and you helped make it happen. It is incredibly gratifying," says Meigs. She adds that she never finds her work monotonous. "You’re on a high the whole time – you’re always talking to a new person, you’re always reading a new project, you just never know exactly what your day is going to entail."

Michael Dockterman ’78

Partner, Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon

"Every case you try is brand new, and that’s the fun of what we do. You learn a new discipline, you learn a new subject area, you learn new ways of presenting. It’s a great."

Michael Dockterman, a partner at Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon in Chicago, exudes enthusiasm for his specialty – litigation. Named one of the “winning” top -10 trial lawyers in 2006 by National Law Journal, Dockterman has a long list of big wins under his belt, most notably his innovative and effective representation of Toys “R” Us in a suit against Amazon.com to void a 10-year contract for online sales of its toys and baby products.

Having joined Wildman Harrold straight out of law school, Dockterman recalls second-chairing a trial even before he was admitted to the bar and taking his first deposition the afternoon he was sworn in. "Our philosophy has always been to get young people into the courtroom doing important things as quickly as we can. Responsibility builds confidence and character in lawyers."

During his tenure as president of Duke’s Law Alumni Association, Dockterman initiated a mentoring program to link law alumni with students, earning him the University’s Charles A. Dukes Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service in 2002. Now chair-elect of the Board of Visitors, Dockterman returns to the Law School several times a year for on-campus interviewing, ESQ., the Business Law Society’s annual career symposium, and occasionally for the Law School’s intensive trial practice weekends. "I love those weekends," says Dockterman, "I learn more from talking to students about what you do in a courtroom than I ever do sitting around and thinking about what I’m going to do."

Juliann Tenney ’79

Director, Duke University Institutional Ethics and Compliance Program

Our focus will be on making sure that members of the University really understand how issues related to the law and regulations – this assortment of principles called "compliance" – how they function in their own lives.

Just a few months into his tenure at Duke, President Richard Brodhead spurred the development of an initiative to build a University-wide code for compliance and ethics. Juliann Tenney was then recruited to serve as inaugural director of the Duke University Institutional Ethics and Compliance Program. She brings extensive experience and vision to the position, having served as associate dean at Duke’s Medical School, where she designed and led the compliance program for six years.

Tenney says she relishes the opportunity to make it as straight-forward as possible for everyone associated with the University to know, and to measure, what she calls “best ethical practices.”

“Our focus will be on making sure that members of the University really understand how issues related to the law and regulations – this assortment of principles called “compliance” – how they function in their own lives,” Tenney says. “It’s not that people are not behaving appropriately now; the vast majority of them are. But having a clear format of not only what constitutes responsible and ethical practices, but how to measure them, will make it that much easier for everyone.”

There are already several compliance tools in place at Duke, Tenney points out. “There is an electronic faculty handbook, which dictates University ‘dos and don’ts, from misconduct in research to tenure to conflict of interest, and a staff handbook, and a separate code for people at the Medical Center. Among the things we’re trying to do is to set up an overarching bridge that links the University’s mission statement and these myriad codes of conduct.” She is assisted by a “lively and energetic committee,” of compliance leaders from numerous Duke departments and schools, including the Medical School and Athletic Department.

Tenney recalls that it took about five years for the compliance program at the medical school to gain people’s trust. “At first, some treated us like we were members of the IRS – they ducked around the corner whenever they saw us coming. But ultimately we feel that we won them over, because people want to work in an ethical environment. Eventually, many of the original cynics began to seek us out. Then, together, we could figure out the most ethical approaches to particular situations. It was really rewarding for everyone. “

President Brodhead’s support is key to the initiative’s success. “He is highly ethical,” Tenney says of Duke’s leader. “People say that the tone starts at the top, and it is clear that he intends for the community at Duke—not only faculty and staff, but everyone who touches this university—to model behavior reflecting the highest principles.”