Education

JD, William & Mary School of Law

LLM, Admiralty, Tulane Law School

MPA, Old Dominion University

BS, Government, U.S. Coast Guard Academy

Biography

Brian McNamara joined the School of Professional Advancement in May 2021 after 25 years of active duty service as an officer and judge advocate with the U.S. Coast Guard. From 2019 to 2021 Brian served as the Logistics Department Head and Commanding Officer of Military Personnel for Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. In this “Chief Administrative Officer” role, he led the teams providing the personnel, budget, weapons, and engineering support for all operations in Southeast Louisiana. In his legal tours, Brian served as the chief of the service’s marine safety law practice group, deputy counsel for regional operations along the Gulf Coast and Western Rivers, and attorney for the Marine Casualty Investigations National Center of Expertise. Based on his experience as a prosecutor and defense counsel, the Judge Advocate General appointed Brian to the bench as a collateral duty court-martial judge from 2017-2020. Brian developed his passion for teaching as an instructor with the Coast Guard’s Maritime Law Enforcement School and began his career as a Deck Watch Officer for a medium endurance cutter conducting North Atlantic fisheries patrols and Caribbean counter-narcotics operations. He has served on the adjunct faculties of Tulane Law School and Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.