Olivia L. Southam

• Secured the dismissal of all claims against a national insurer through both cross-motions for summary judgment and appellate briefing.
• Defended a contractor from a multi-million dollar delay and additional cost claim relating to a public transit project in Singapore over the course of an arbitration in the International Court of Arbitration.
• Served as law clerk for the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Jacksonville, Florida.
• Served as law clerk for the Honorable Deborah L. Cook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Akron, Ohio.

Education

• Duke University School of Law, J.D., 2006
• Duke Divinity School, M.T.S., 2006
• Brown University, A.B., English, magna cum laude, 2001

Admissions

• State of Ohio
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio and Southern District of Ohio

Professional Affiliations

• Federal Bar Association—Member (2012-Present)
• Asian American Bar Association—Member (2013-Present)

Community Involvement

• Fieldstone Counseling— Board of Directors (2018-Present)

• Senior Research Editor, Duke Law Journal, Duke University School of Law (2006)
• Recipient of the Van Schaick Mordecai Scholarship, Duke University School of Law (full tuition)

• "Sixth Circuit Revives an Equitable Claim for Disgorgement Under ERISA Where an Insurer Obtained Reimbursement is Not Set Forth in the Plan," Frantz Ward Client Alert (May 2024)
• "Sixth Circuit Clarifies the Date on Which a Claim for Pension Benefits Under ERISA Accrues," Frantz Ward Client Alert (May 2023)
• “Sixth Circuit Holds That Employers Can Commit a Breach of Fiduciary Duty Under ERISA By Mishandling Insurance Premiums,” Frantz Ward Client Alert (May 2022)
   
• "Sixth Circuit Provides Guidance on Discretionary Authority Where the Plan Administrator Does Not Employ the Decisionmakers," Frantz Ward Client Alert (May 2021)
• "Sixth Circuit Provides Guidance on the Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies Where ERISA Plan Documents are Silent," Frantz Ward Website Article (September 2020)
• "The Reasonable Justification Standard for Bad Faith Claim," Frantz Ward Client Alert (April 2019) 
• “Bioethics and the Disposition of Cryopreserved Preembryos,” 34 Fam. Adv. 38 (Fall 2011)
• “Demythologizing Restorative Justice: South Africa’s TRC & Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts,” 12 ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law 41 (2005)
• “Rehabilitating Bioethics: Recontextualizing In Vitro Fertilization,” 54 Duke Law Journal 485 (2004)