Emily D. Kite, JD

Associate Dean

Office: 3221
Phone: 608-890-0115
Email: emily.kite@wisc.edu

Emily Kite is the Associate Dean of Career & Professional Development. Emily is a dedicated student services professional, and has been supporting students at UW Law School since 2013, first as an Associate Director and then Director in the Office of Career & Professional Development and, more recently, as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. Before joining the Law School, Emily spent five and a half years as a litigation associate in Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP's New York and London, UK offices. At Willkie, Emily worked on matters involving issues of copyright, antitrust, accounting regulation, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Emily also advocated pro bono in domestic violence and criminal appeals cases. In 2012, Emily worked as a field organizer in Western Pennsylvania as part of the 2012 U.S. Presidential Campaign.

Emily graduated from the Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Emily was a Managing Editor for the Columbia Journal of European Law, a board member of Columbia's Domestic Violence Project, a student advocate in the Prisoners & Families Clinic, and a Student Editor for Columbia's First Year Moot Court Program. Emily also interned at Legal Momentum (The Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund), as a Public Service Fellow, and at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Prior to law school, Emily attended Wake Forest University, where she graduated, cum laude, with a B.A. in Political Science. She minored in Journalism and German, and studied for a semester in Vienna, Austria. She will gladly talk with you about travel and cheese.

Megan K.S. Zurbriggen, Esq.

Director of Career Counseling

Office: 3221
Phone: 608-262-8554
Email: megan.zurbriggen@wisc.edu

Megan Zurbriggen joined the Office of Career and Professional Development in August 2017. Megan practiced state and federal law in Minnesota and nationwide primarily representing individuals injured as a result of negligence in complex tort and professional liability cases including product liability claims, medical malpractice injuries, long-term care injuries and wrongful death claims. Upon moving to Madison, Megan worked at the State Bar of Wisconsin in its Member Relations Department and served as the administrator for the Wisconsin Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. 

Megan is a 2012 graduate from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While in law school, she was a student attorney in the Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services as part of the Elder Law Practice Group and worked as a public policy intern for the Alzheimer’s Association. Prior to law school, Megan attended Iowa State University, graduating with B.A.s in Criminal Justice and Communications. When she finds time, Megan is an avid yogi and Chicago Cubs fan.

Adam J. Gratch, J.D.

Director of Employer Engagement

Office: 3221
Phone: 608-262-7780
Email: gratch@wisc.edu

Adam Gratch joined the Office of Career and Professional Development in August 2021. Prior to joining OCPD, Adam served as the Director of DePaul University College of Law’s Career Services Office for over six years. Before making the transition to career coaching Adam ran a successful law practice in the greater Chicago area focusing on plaintiff’s side labor and employment litigation.

Adam graduated from DePaul University’s College of Law with a Juris Doctor in 2008. While a student at DePaul, Adam interned with the Chicago Transit Authority’s in-house Law Department, where he learned first hand the value of gaining practical legal experience while still in school. Adam is also a graduate of Grinnell College, a distinguished liberal arts college located in the corn fields of Iowa. In addition to his work at UW, Adam teaches courses on Torts, Contracts, and Business Organizations for DePaul University’s College of Continuing and Professional Studies.​

Lindsay Slaker

Associate Director

Office: 3221
Phone: 608-890-3427
Email: lslaker@wisc.edu

Lindsay Slaker joined the Office of Career and Professional Development in October 2022. She came to OCPD from the Chicago Bar Association, where she worked as the Young Lawyers Section Director. Prior to that, Lindsay practiced law in Chicago for 8 years, focusing on the area of immigration. She represented individuals and families applying for legal status and represented clients during removal proceedings in immigration court. She served as a liaison with Customs and Border Protection through the American Immigration Lawyers Association, participated in the Dilley Pro Bono Project representing migrant families at the Texas border, and lobbied in Washington D.C. for immigration reform.

Lindsay is a 2010 graduate of Syracuse University College of Law in Syracuse, New York. While in law school, she interned with the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, and spent her summers in Chicago at the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Lindsay is a proud Badger, graduating with B.A.s in Journalism and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She loves jogging and her monthly Book Club meetings.

Elizabeth Ireland

Associate Director

Office: 3221
Phone: 608-262-1054
Email: eireland2@wisc.edu

Elizabeth Ireland joined the Office of Career and Professional Development in October 2022 as an associate director. Prior to starting her work at the UW Law School, Elizabeth Practiced tax law in the Large Business & International Division at the Internal Revenue Service. During her 8 years at the IRS, Elizabeth worked on large trial teams and even litigated a few lengthy trials before the U.S. Tax Court. She also advised IRS examination teams auditing large entity taxpayers, and represented exam teams as these advisory cases moved through the administrative appeals process.

Elizabeth earned both her B.A. in political science and J.D. at UW-Madison. She attended law school as a Wisconsin Idea Merit Scholar and graduated cum laude and Order of the Coif. While in law school, Elizabeth interned for a local state agency and a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, summered at a mid-sized law firm, externed at the IRS, and was a managing editor of the Tax Law Review. When not at work, Elizabeth can be found biking, running, or (most likely) in her ceramics studio, elbows deep in clay.

Jordan Smith

Employer Relations & Program Coordinator

Office: 3221B
Phone: 608-262-7856
Email: jksmith4@wisc.edu

Jordan Smith joined the Office of Career and Professional Development in April 2023 as the Employer Relations and Program Coordinator. He manages the logistics for hiring and networking events, coordinates on-campus interviews, and is the first point of contact for many students and employers. Before joining the Law School, Jordan worked in sports medicine as an athletic trainer for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams, providing injury rehabilitation and emergent care for student athletes.

As a Madison native and former hospitality professional, Jordan is always on the hunt for new restaurants in and around the city. He can also be found playing and coaching basketball, cooking, or in the garden with his wife and two dogs.