Three New Faculty Members Join the School of Law
August 22, 2025 - Emily Romero
The School of Law proudly welcomes three new faculty members this fall: Professor Matthew Murrell, Professor Paul Spruhan, and Professor Natalie Winters.
Matthew Murrell joins the School of Law as an assistant professor, teaching technology law, intellectual property law, and commercial law. His research focuses on the law of emerging digital technologies, including cyborgs and cybernetic medical devices, quantum computers, and artificial intelligence.
Before joining UNM, he served as a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, where he also introduced and taught the institution’s first course on the Law of Artificial Intelligence. He also practiced complex commercial litigation in Austin for eight years.
Professor Murrell earned his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. During law school, he interned for the Honorable Ellen Segal Huvelle on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. After law school, Professor Murrell clerked for the Honorable Catherine Easterly on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
Paul Spruhan first joined the School of Law last year as a visiting professor before accepting a permanent role as an assistant professor for this year. Prior to his faculty appointment, he served as Assistant Attorney General for the Navajo Nation Department of Justice in Window Rock, Arizona, where he litigated civil cases in federal, Navajo Nation, and state courts on matters ranging from tribal sovereignty to environmental regulation and labor law.
In addition to his litigation work, Professor Spruhan drafted and negotiated contracts and intergovernmental agreements with private parties and state and federal agencies. He earned his A.B. in 1995 and his A.M. in 1996 from the University of Chicago and his J.D. in 2000 from the UNM School of Law.
His research and writing focus on Federal Indian Law and Tribal law, with a focus on the law of the Navajo Nation, the legal history of definitions of “Indian,” and the treaty relationship between tribal nations and the United States government.
Natalie Winters joins the School of Law as an assistant professor after five years at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where she taught classes in criminal law and procedure and directed an advocacy program. Before that, she spent three years as a trial and appellate attorney with the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender.
Drawing on her experience in policymaking and criminal defense, Professor Winters’s research examines the widening gap between the foundational norms of evidence law and the realities of modern criminal litigation. Her future research will explore the application of mathematical models to strategic decision-making during pretrial litigation and examining the potential for a protected right to plea bargaining for criminal defendants litigating violations of their rights under the United States Constitution.
The School of Law welcomes Professors Murrell, Spruhan, and Winters, and looks forward to the expertise and dedication they will bring to students.
