ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

A self-professed law nerd, Prof. Dawn Figueiras enjoys discussing the esoteric nuances of things like joinder and the differences between the classic per stirpes and UPC approaches to intestacy. She’s also a big kidder, has a sarcastic wit, and will do her best to provide comic relief whenever possible.  If you have a sense of humor, you will find her classes more enjoyable.

She practiced law for 18 years in Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee and Washington, D.C., before joining ASL as a full-time faculty member.  Prof. Figueiras is Director of the Honors Program and Chair of the Curriculum Committee.  She currently teaches Civil Procedure, Immigration Law & Policy, Employment Discrimination, and Law & Modern Literature.  She is currently writing in the areas of Professional Identity Formation for law students and the NextGen Bar Exam.

Prof. Figueiras has been married for 33 years to the love of her life, Jorge Figueiras, a Cuban immigrant who initially sparked her interest in immigration law.  She is descended from an immigrant herself.  Her great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Michael Gardner Glovier, was born in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France in 1756.  At age 12, he stowed away on a ship heading to Virginia and took an oath of allegiance to the newly-formed Commonwealth of Virginia in 1777.  His great-great grandson, Griffith Gardner Glovier, married a Native American woman, Sarah Agnes Martha Jane Letitia Beau Yankee Doodle Yea Hoo Aliff Glovier (who went by “Sallie” because apparently none of her 10 first names was to her liking), in 1870.  One of their 10 children was John Wesley Glovier, Professor Figueiras’ great-grandfather. Prof. Figueiras splits her time between Grundy and her family home in Castlewood, Virginia, a few miles from where her parents live in the house built by hand by that same great-grandfather.

She’s an avid reader and has been part of the same monthly book club (Not Yo Mama’s Book Club, aka Nacho Mamas Book Club) for over 10 years.  In her spare time, she enjoys crafting, collecting miniature dollhouses, going to Disney parks, spoiling her nieces and nephews, and proof-reading pre-publication drafts of novels by her friend, prolific author Franklin Horton.