ANN ARBOR—A Michigan Law School alum will return here to direct the International Transactions Clinic, replacing Deborah Burand who will take a leave to become general counsel for the Overseas Private Investment Corp.

Rachel Deming, who received her J.D. in 1982, starts her new post as ITC director in August.

“I am very excited to return to the Law School,” said Deming, who also received her bachelor of arts degree from U-M in 1977. “Coming back as the director of the ITC brings me full circle back to my academic roots here.”

“We appreciate Deb’s tireless efforts to make ITC a key component among our clinics,” said Law School Dean Evan Caminker. “We welcome Rachel back to the Michigan Law community. It’s always rewarding to see one of our graduates return here to train and to inspire a new generation of bright legal minds in international business dealings.”

Deming focused on international legal studies when she attended the Law School, was a member of the Jessup moot court team for two years and served as president of the International Law Society in her final year at Michigan Law.

After graduation, she specialized in international banking and mergers and acquisition litigation, and then served as associate general counsel for a Swiss-based global corporation, where she developed an expertise in environmental matters. In recognition of her knowledge of both financial and environmental issues, she was appointed by the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to serve as a member of its Environmental Financial Advisory Board.

She currently is a partner in a New York firm and a mediator for commercial and environmental matters. In addition, she is an adjunct professor at Pace University School of Law and co-chair of the advisory group to the Kheel Center for the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes.

ITC serves as a training ground for highly qualified lawyers who graduate already experienced at representing their clients’ interests in an increasingly globalized world. Students represent socially responsible investors who want to see their international investments provide both a positive social as well as financial return, and providers of microfinance services and products that work at the base of the economic pyramid in emerging markets.

Under the supervision of faculty, students learn drafting and negotiating skills necessary for conducting cross-border transactions, analyze ethical issues that can arise in international business, build skills at structuring and documenting investments in enterprises that primarily work in emerging markets, and deepen their understanding of international economic and financial policy.

Deming said she has followed the clinic’s work since its inception in 2008, when Burand joined the Law School faculty. When the director’s post became open, Deming thought the timing was ideal to return to her Michigan roots.

“Deb has done such an amazing and wonderful job, that the first thing on my agenda is to preserve her accomplishments,” Deming said.

Burand brought more than 20 years’ experience in cross-border transactions and microfinance when she arrived at Michigan Law. She will join OPIC, which helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, and supports U.S. foreign policy.

“What OPIC does so successfully, and what it can do going forward, are a critical part of this administration’s goals,” said Elizabeth L. Littlefield, OPIC president and chief executive officer. “President Obama will be looking to OPIC to contribute to his foreign policy and international development agenda—that is, reaching out to other nations by investing in their prosperity.”