Staff
Tess Davis, Executive Director
In 
March 2010, Tess Davis became the first Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, bringing with her eight years of relevant work experience and degrees in both archaeology and law. Hailing from Macon, Georgia, Davis grew up surrounded by a rich cultural heritage, including Native American burial mounds, Civil War battlefields, and more nationally registered historic districts than any other city in the state. This upbringing gave her a great appreciation for art and history, which in turn inspired her to pursue a career in a field that combined the two, archaeology.
She earned a scholarship to study archaeology at Boston University, where she became interested in the trafficking of art and antiquities, particularly in Southeast Asia. After graduating magna cum laude --- and working three years for the Archaeological Institute of America --- she moved to Cambodia to study the illicit trade in the region's cultural property. There, she became the Project Coordinator of Heritage Watch, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving Cambodia's cultural resources through research, education, and advocacy. At Heritage Watch, she conceptualized and implemented a number of exciting projects, including a two-month exhibition at Angkor Wat about the threats facing the site, a “Heritage Hotline” for the public to report looting or archaeological discoveries, and a children’s book on preservation entitled "If the Stones Could Speak." She also conducted extensive field research on the looting of Cambodia’s ancient sites and the resulting trade in its antiquities.
In the course of this work, she realized that the illicit trade in cultural property would continue to thrive until proper legislation was achieved and enforced, prompting her to return home to attend the University of Georgia School of Law. While undertaking a full academic course load, she demonstrated her commitment to cultural property protection by continuing to work in the field. After earning her Juris Doctor, as Assistant Director for Heritage Watch, she spearheaded the creation of a cultural property law database and international legal internship program in Cambodia. She has also worked in international development, monitoring the 2007 national elections in Papua New Guinea, developing the official database for that country’s case law, and interning for the Carter Center.
Davis brings these varied experiences to the Lawyers' Committee, where she hopes to continue the organization’s great work, while helping it to further achieve its important mission.
Torrey Hullum, Project Coordinator
Torrey Hullum is currently a third year student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. In law school Torrey focuses on international law, tax law, and employee benefits. She has researched issues related to the evolution of Nazi art repatriation litigation in the United States and abroad.
Last summer, Torrey was a part of the inaugural class of summer associates at Cultural Heritage Partners, LLC in Alexandria, Virginia. In that role she researched the impact of the partnership tax credit allocation model on historic preservation and rehabilitation development investing as well as Native American Community Development Financial Institutions (NCDFIs).
Prior to law school, Torrey worked as a paralegal at the United States Attorneys' Office in Boston, Massachusetts. She also served as a strategic consultant with Stax, Inc. Torrey has spent time in Italy working with the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA).
Torrey is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, completing her studies in three years without advanced standing. Torrey is fluent in French. She also speaks Arabic and Italian.
Monica Pham, Project Coordinator
Monica Pham received her B.S. from Cornell University and J.D. from the Hofstra University School of Law. In law school Ms. Pham concentrated on two primary areas: Corporate & Commercial Law under Prof. Ronald Colombo as well as Civil Litigation under Prof. Eric Freedman, particularly in labor and employment issues. She focused specifically on invoking the Uniform Commercial Code to protect both consumers and auction houses from fraudulent paintings with Prof. Norman Silber. Ms. Pham investigated Holocaust Restitution- specifically retrieving paintings by the Old Masters which were stolen by the Nazi’s under the tutelage of Prof. Leon Friedman and Prof. Roy Simon.
In law school Ms. Pham was the President and Founder of the Art Law and Culture Society. She created this organization her 2L year which presented programs featuring leading Art Litigation practitioners, in-house counsel to auction houses, galleries, museums, and private artists whose First Amendment rights necessitated protection. She conceptualized then organized conferences and Hofstra's first ever Art Law symposium which focused on various issues where art and law intersected touching on issues such as authentication and copyrights- particularly on Art as property.
During her tenure as a law student, Ms. Pham served as a Transformative Certified Mediator and Clinician at the Hofstra Mediation Clinic, in which she mediated actual cases involving family court matters including custody/ visitation and PINS cases. Ms. Pham was also a member of the Hofstra Labor and Employment Journal. Her student note was written on the topic of healthcare for artists based on the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 and President Obama's then-newly proposed healthcare plan. Her 1L summer she spent as a judicial intern for the Honorable Charles E. Ramos in the Commercial Division of the NY Supreme Court and her 2L summer she worked at the New Jersey Attorney General’s office tackling complex labor and employment issues as a public interest LSPIN Fellow.
Prior to law school, Ms. Pham graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development from the Human Ecology School of Cornell University. Her work focused on neurobiology and maternal nutrition and fetal development. After Cornell she began her career in Washington D.C. where she worked for the General Counsel of United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Ms. Pham worked to insure that veterans who fought and put themselves in harm's way received proper benefits and recognition for their service.
After her time in the public sector, Ms. Pham worked in the anti-trust division at Weil, Gotshal, & Manges LLP, and then as a legislative aid for the Cornell Federal Relations office and was responsible for working with Congressional Staff and government officials and attorneys on a variety of legal issues and problems. Ms. Pham combined her passion for law and art while working at Christie's Auction House in the Trusts, Estates and Appraisals department. It was here she began to fully appreciate the need for protection of cultural property and how art functions as both a reflection of society and as an industry. As a former researcher in psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University , Ms. Pham examined cultural perception and psychology to help bring more clarity to the human aspect of law, art and cultural heritage.
The daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Ms. Pham has a special appreciation for the effect of war on a society and the laws needed to protect not only human life but artifacts and rare treasured pieces that reflect a people's culture.
Currently, she is also the Managing Editor for the American Society for International Law’s Cultural Heritage Arts Review she helps promote scholarship in this field. Ms. Pham also volunteers at the Legal Services of New Jersey assisting residents who cannot afford or who have limited access to legal services. She has studied oil, acrylic, and watercolor painting and graphic design. She speaks Vietnamese and Spanish and is classically trained in piano, violin, and viola.
Former Staff
Jen Boger, Project Coordinator
Jennifer studied classical archaeology at Bowdoin, and spent her junior year abroad at College Year in Athens. She earned a Master's degree in Classical Archaeology from Tufts University in 2007. Jennifer has conducted extensive fieldwork throughout the Mediterranean, participating in excavations in Greece, Romania, Southern Italy and Sicily. Most recently, she has been a member of the Marsala Hinterland Survey in western Sicily. Through her studies and fieldwork, Jennifer grew to recognize the unique challenges presented in preserving and safeguarding archaeological sites and cultural artifacts. In 2009, Jennifer decided to pursue a law degree in an effort to better address these challenges. She is currently working on her J.D. at New England Law | Boston.
