(202) 274-6683
christina.paynetsoup@udc.edu

Chris Payne-Tsoupros
Academic Success Instructor

B.A., Cornell University; M.Ed., University of Houston; J.D., William & Mary School of Law

Chris Payne-Tsoupros is an Instructor in the Academic Success Program at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law.

Prior to joining UDC in 2018, Professor Payne-Tsoupros practiced in the employee benefits area at the global law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, where she advised plan sponsors on the design, governance, operation, and compliance of qualified and nonqualified retirement plans and welfare benefit plans. While at Morgan Lewis, she maintained an active pro bono practice and served on the pro bono committee.

Professor Payne-Tsoupros clerked for the Honorable John A. Gibney, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She received her J.D. from the William & Mary School of Law, where she served as managing editor of the William and Mary Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She holds a master’s degree in education and taught elementary school prior to attending law school.

Professor Payne-Tsoupros is involved with several organizations that seek to promote language access and literacy development for deaf and hard of hearing children, including the District of Columbia’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) learning community. She is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and Virginia.

Publications

• Improving Early Intervention Services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act: Lessons from the LEAD-K Campaign for Language Equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, 51 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. __ (forthcoming 2019).
• Recent IRS Guidance Provides a Degree of Certainty for 403(b) Plans, 25 Tax’n Exempts no. 1, 2013, at 12 (co-authored).
• Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings & Investment Plan: Anti-Alienation and Anti-Cutback Rules, 29 Quinnipiac L. Rev. 1073 (2011).
• Note, No Child Left Behind: Disincentives to Focus Instruction on Students Above the Passing Threshold, 39 J.L. & Educ. 471 (2010).