Wake Forest Law Welcomes Two New Faculty Members: Nathan Bennett Fleming and Samir Parikh

Wake Forest Law is pleased to announce the hiring of two new full-time faculty members: Samir Parikh and Nathan Bennett Fleming. Professor Parikh will focus on business law while Professor Bennett Fleming will teach constitutional law and election law. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Nathan Bennett Fleming and Samir Parikh to the Wake Forest Law community as our newest faculty members,” says Dean Andrew Klein. “Not only are they exceptional teachers and scholars, but both Nathan and Samir embody the spirit of Wake Forest’s Pro Humanitate motto through their civic engagement and many contributions to the legal community.” 

Professor Samir Parikh will be joining Wake Forest Law from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, where he currently serves as the Robert E. Jones Professor of Advocacy and Ethics. Says Professor Parikh: “I am extremely excited to join Wake Forest and add my voice to the school’s already stellar chorus.” 

A nationally recognized expert on business law and bankruptcy, Professor Parikh’s areas of expertise include mass tort restructurings, fraudulent transfer law, forum shopping, and municipal distress. In 2022, he was invited to join both the American Law Institute and the American College of Bankruptcy. He is one of fewer than 15 individuals to be admitted to both organizations.

Professor Parikh has served as an expert witness and consultant in numerous business law cases and has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights. He regularly provides expert commentary for national media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, 60 Minutes, the New York Times, Bloomberg News, NBC News, Law360, the Financial Times, and The Deal. 

A prolific scholar, Professor Parikh’s scholarship has been featured in The University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, The Yale Law Journal Forum and Duke Law Journal Online, among other publications. He is also the editor-in-chief and an original contributing author for Bloomberg Law Bankruptcy Treatise and a co-author of the seventh edition of the Examples & Explanations (Bankruptcy and Debtor/Creditor) study guide. He has served as a peer reviewer for various law reviews—most recently for the Yale Law Journal and the Harvard Law Review. He currently serves on the Peer Review Board for the Northwestern University Law Review.

In 2018, Professor Parikh was awarded a Fulbright Schuman Grant and was a visiting professor at various institutions, including Oxford University. He now serves on the Fulbright Commission’s Peer Review Selection Committee. 

Prior to joining the faculty at Lewis & Clark Law School, Professor Parikh practiced complex financial restructuring at Latham & Watkins and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in Los Angeles and Baker Botts in Houston. After graduating with a JD from the University of Michigan Law School, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Alan M. Ahart of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. 

Professor Nathan Bennett Fleming comes to Wake Forest Law from DePaul College of Law in Chicago where he was the law school’s inaugural Racial Justice Fellow—studying and advocating for vulnerable communities in Chicago. His most recent scholarship focuses on racial equity: He published an article in the Harvard Anti Racism Policy Review, “Strategies to Build Racial Equity into Land Use and Zoning” and has a forthcoming article in the Oklahoma Law Review, “After Affirmative Action: Contextual Admissions and the Future of Black Law School Enrollment.”

Prior to his fellowship, Professor Bennett Fleming served as shadow U.S. Representative for the District of Columbia, an elected advocate to Congress on issues related to DC statehood and other federal matters. His work was instrumental in the passage of the historic DC Statehood legislation in the House of Representatives in 2020 and 2021. He also served as a legislative and committee director at the DC Council where he authored several pieces of legislation to expand educational, housing, employment, and community equity throughout Washington DC. 

Professor Bennett Fleming taught appellate advocacy as an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and was awarded the Yale Entrepreneurship Fellowship in 2013. Currently, a doctoral candidate in higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, his research focuses on the intersection of law, race, public policy, and education. His dissertation explores the evolution of mission at Historically Black Law Schools and provides an up-to-date account of the history of African Americans in American law schools. 

A native of Washington, DC, Professor Bennett Fleming earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Morehouse College, his master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University, and his JD from the University of California, Berkeley.  

“I am extremely honored to join the faculty at Wake Forest Law,” says Professor Bennett Fleming. “I believe that Wake Law’s focus on leadership and character, its commitment to personalized attention in the classroom, and the collaborative spirit of its faculty makes Wake a standout amongst legal education institutions. I am excited about the opportunity to advance the Law School’s mission of preparing students to address the world’s legal needs with creativity, confidence, and character.”