Bonnie Stepleton

JD University of New Mexico, 1987
BS University of Oregon, 1984

Bonnie grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She attended the University of Oregon and obtained a BS in Political Science in 1984.  She graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1987.  She was a law clerk in the New Mexico Supreme Court.  Following her clerkship, Bonnie represented people with intellectual disabilities and then practiced law in insurance defense.  She served as a mediator with the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation administration and has also been a volunteer mediator for the Metropolitan Court. She was Assistant Dean for Student Services from 2004 until 2014 when she left to return to the Workers’ Comp Administration as Bureau Chief.   She served as Appellate Mediator with the New Mexico Court of Appeals in 2018 and early 2019 and then returned again to the law school as Director of Student and Career Services.

Patrick Lopez, Esq. JD, LLM

L.L.M., Biotechnology & Genomics
Juris Doctor
Bachelor of Science, Psychology

Patrick was born in Taos and grew up in northern New Mexico. After graduating from Peñasco High School, Patrick spent time pursuing university and graduate studies while living in Utah, Arizona, Alaska, Guatemala, and Peru. While in law school, Patrick worked in the law library and stayed on after graduation working his way up from Circulation Aid to Access Services Librarian. Patrick graduated from Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law and decided to return home to New Mexico to work as a felony trial attorney in the Albuquerque public defender’s office. Patrick represented indigent defendants facing a broad range of charges and litigated many jury trials as a public defender. Patrick then spent several years in civil practice focusing on plaintiff matters and foreclosure defense where he successfully litigated cased in all levels of New Mexico State Courts. Patrick previously served as Associate Director of Career Services from 2019-2023 and has served as Director of Bar Success since early 2024.

Beth Kaimowitz, JD

JD University of New Mexico
BA University of New Mexico

Beth Kaimowitz is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law. In law school, she worked as a legal analysis tutor, a law clerk for a civil litigation firm, and a research assistant for the Institute of Public Law. After law school, she worked for the United States Department of Labor in Los Angeles, CA, the New Mexico Human Services Department in Santa Fe, NM, and for the Albuquerque Branch Library of the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. She has over fifteen years of experience working at the University of New Mexico in academic support, health sciences, and library research and instruction. Ms. Kaimowitz worked for five years at the University of New Mexico Center for Academic Program Support, where her research interests focused on critical thinking, educational diversity, and collaborative learning.

As Director of Academic Success at the University of New Mexico School of Law, Ms. Kaimowitz is responsible for academic success programs aimed to improve students’ academic performance and success on the bar examination, in preparation for the practice of law. Ms. Kaimowitz’s experience with law practice, legal analysis, and academic support allow her to provide a range of academic success services tailored to diverse students’ needs.

Amber Johnson
BA University of New Mexico, 2009  

Amber Johnson grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a graduate of the University of New Mexico. She graduated with a BA in Signed Language Interpreting. She worked with the Deaf community for over ten years. Amber was out in the field as an interpreter then worked behind the scenes as an interpreting administrative coordinator. She has a heart for her community.