Our Team.

James P. Pottorff, Jr.

Director, Higher Education Operations

Jim is our Higher Education Team Leader and a member of the BartlettJames Executive Committee.

Bruce Smith

Executive Director

Bruce is a co-founder and Executive Director of BartlettJames LLC. Bruce is a seasoned Title IX decision maker. He oversees the daily operations of the firm and chairs our Executive Committee. Bruce and co-founder Bert Nunley designed our nationally-regarded team with broad-based investigative capabilities, specifically tailored to address the increasing needs for transparent, in-depth and thorough investigations for institutions of higher learning. Bruce’s vision, enthusiasm and tireless work ethic shapes the strategic trajectory for the BartlettJames team in its engagements around the nation and the globe.

Laura Goecke Burns

Executive Committee Member

Laura serves a member of our Executive Committee. She has conducted numerous highly sensitive Title IX investigations. Her expertise in institutional risk management is a benefit to our higher education clients. Laura served as legal counsel in the insurance industry for more than thirty years, and she has held the coveted CPCU designation while an active practitioner of insurance risk management. Her seasoned insights and experience from the world of insurance and risk management routinely proves invaluable to the BartlettJames portfolio of clients. Laura is based in Iowa.

Robert (Bert) E. Nunley

Chief Financial Officer & Executive Committee Member

Bert is one of the two co-founding members of BartlettJames LLC. He serves on our Executive Committee. In addition to serving as an experienced Title IX investigator and administrative decision maker, Bert is also responsible for administration of the firm’s personnel and fiscal matters. He enjoys a national reputation as one of the preeminent trial attorneys in America, with vast courtroom and jury experiences that few can equal. He has served more than 35 years as a prosecutor, defense counsel or judge in administrative, civil and criminal matters involving the military, state and federal courts, and courts overseas. Bert is based in North Carolina.

K. Michele Allison-Davis

Executive Committee Member

Michele is a member of the BartlettJames Executive Committee and serves as a highly respected Title IX investigator. She provides a wealth of executive legal experience and seasoned judgment from her 24-year career in legal education and the myriad positions she held as a practicing attorney in other organizations. She has a distinguished background in diversity leadership and affirmative action matters. Michele is based in North Carolina.

Bruce Ambrose

Bruce serves our clientele as a highly experienced Title IX Decision Maker and informal resolution mediator. His talents as an investigator and analyst were honed over the course of his distinguished 38 year career as an Assistant United States Attorney, an Assistant State Attorney General in North Carolina, and as a highly-regarded Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force. Bruce is based in Florida.

Katherine L. Andrews

Kat serves as an investigator and white collar/financial analyst, whose skills are of particular value to college and university general counsel. She served this nation for more than 20 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where her expertise spanned the entire spectrum of specialties requisite for service to BartlettJames clients—from HUMINT (human intelligence), to surveillance, to technical programs, to TS/SCI national security programs. Kat is based both in Virginia and in France.

Rebecca L. Bartlett

Rebecca is a nationally-recognized expert on legal matters pertaining to veteran's educational rights and trauma-informed, sexual-misconduct investigations. She has conducted numerous highly sensitive Title IX investigations. Rebecca is based in Louisiana.

Donna Wright

Donna is regarded as one of the leading Title IX Decision Makers in America. Donna trains and oversees the BartlettJames team of retired judges who provide hearing assistance around the nation. Donna’s enviable 35-year career as an attorney and Military Judge marks her as one of the true leaders of our organization. She is superbly experienced in administrative, environmental, personnel, and contract law. Donna is based in Florida.

J. Terry Davis

Terry’s extensive and distinguished career in both private practice and government service is the bedrock of BartlettJames’ ability to serve our HBCU clients’ needs. He possesses exceptional training and experience at the highest level of government and he is routinely the bedrock of every investigation in the BartlettJames HBCU portfolio. Terry is based in Maryland.

Eugene Longo

Gene leads our background vetting team. His more than 36 years of federal investigative experience routinely proves invaluable to BartlettJames clients. Not only has he conducted background vettings for some the most prominent recent hires in collegiate sports, Gene has also performed a series of sexual assault investigations on behalf of a globally-prominent sports organization. Gene is based in Ohio.

Raymond S. Mey

Ray enjoys as global reputation for excellence due to his unequaled counter-terror and security law enforcement expertise. He has over 35 years of experience, including 23 years of federal law enforcement/counterterrorism duties. Ray has conducted security vulnerability assessments for numerous Fortune 500 companies and government organizations and he has developed strategic security plans and training programs designed to improve and enhance security and safety. Ray is based in both Utah and Rhode Island.

Chris Graham

Chris provides nationally recognized expertise from over 35 years in corporate security, and finance. His skills as a forensic accountant have proved invaluable to college and university general counsel in a variety of investigatory and assessment matters. In his 26 years at the FBI, Chris served in many high-profile positions and operational roles. A CPA by trade, Chris began his FBI career by successfully investigating complex white-collar crime and corruption. He was also the case agent for the Office Independent Counsel’s investigation of the U.S. Secretary of HUD. After serving in the Financial Crimes Section at FBIHQ, Chris was chosen as the white-collar crime squad supervisor in Jacksonville, Florida. Under his leadership, the squad uncovered the long-term, multi-million-dollar compromise of the McDonalds Corporation’s promotional games. A 2020 Emmy-nominated documentary series, HBO’s McMillions prominently features Chris in all episodes.

Dennis Montejano

Dennis specializes in campus police oversight and auditing. Dennis served the people of California for more than 39 years as a police officer and leader. He is possessed of extensive knowledge and experience in all phases of the science of forensic investigation, the California Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights, policy making, training, police operations, internal affairs investigations, supervision and management. Dennis is based in California.

Peter J. Paukstelis

Pete provides guidance on all matters pertaining to collegiate athletics. Pete has more than 25 years of diversified experience representing a wide array of corporate, institutional, and individual clients in a host of different litigation and transactional matters. Pete is based in North Carolina.

Margaret Person Currin

Margaret has conducted countless Title IX investigations. The wisdom and experienced she earned during her highly-distinguished career routinely proves invaluable to our higher education clients. She enjoyed more than 30 years of service as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, as a renown legal educator and law school administrator, and as a staff member for a United States Senator. She has also served on multiple boards of directors and engaged in a private law practice representing clients before state and federal administrative agencies. Margaret is based in North Carolina.

Richard Rasmussen

Rick is the Team Leader for the BartlettJames Campus Police and Security Oversight team. Throughout his distinguished career as a Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he amassed a wealth of investigatory experience, frequently in matters of national security and high-profile criminal investigations. Risk’s experience serves as the foundation for his oversight of all of our background investigations and police audit capabilities. Rick is a nationally-known expert on law enforcement policies, procedures and investigations. He has served for more than ten years in civilian police oversight/auditing roles around the nation. Rick is based in Utah.

Laurel Wilkerson

Laurel is a highly experienced Title IX investigator. She also serves as one of our most respected Title IX decision-makers. Laurel is an attorney by training. Her career spanned 21 years in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where she served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, a criminal prosecutor, and in various other positions in administrative law, family law, and on the Army staff in policy positions at the Pentagon. Laurel served as a legal advisor to Department of Defense School Boards and as the Chief of Recruiting for Army lawyers at law schools throughout the United States.

Jennifer Gee

Jennifer serves as a highly respected Title IX decision maker. She is a former Federal Administrative Law Judge who retired after 37 years as a judge. She began her legal career as a trial attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she litigated class action employment discrimination cases, reviewed proposed consent decrees, and monitored and enforced Title VII consent decrees.

Ralph Kohlmann

Ralph provides professional services as a Hearing Officer/Decision Maker, Investigator, Claimant/Respondent Representative and Mediator on matters including employee misconduct and/or performance, harassment complaints under the Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, and discrimination complaints under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Ralph served 29 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, first as a combat engineer officer and then as a judge advocate.

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