Our Team
Franceska Schroeder
Franceska Schroeder is the Managing Member of Schroeder Law PLLC, a Washington, D.C. firm that focuses on space and national security law. Clients turn to Ms. Schroeder for help with complex issues involving licensing and regulation of spacecraft and launch projects, compliance with U.S. export controls and economic sanctions, drafting and negotiating commercial and government contracts, liability and risk management, and legislative and policy matters.
Ms. Schroeder’s clients include aerospace and defense contractors, satellite manufacturers and operators, launch services providers, systems engineering firms, software companies, insurance brokers and underwriters, and investors in high-technology projects. She is Legal Counsel to the American Astronautical Society and has served as a Private Sector Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. In 2012, Ms. Schroeder was appointed to the NASA Advisory Council’s Commercial Space Committee and in 2014 was elected a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society. Ms. Schroeder also is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Nebraska School of Law, where she co-teaches a course on Space and Satellite Business Law.
Education
J.D., American University, Washington College of Law
Executive Editor, American University Journal of International Law and Policy
B.A., Tufts University, magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
District of Columbia
Memberships & Affiliations
American Astronautical Society
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
District of Columbia Bar Association
International Academy of Astronautics
National Defense Industrial Association
International Aviation Women's Association
International Institute of Space Law
Women in Aerospace
Women in Defense
Accolades
• Elected Fellow of the American Astronautical Society, March 2014
• Served on the NASA Advisory Council Commercial Space Committee, 2012-2014
• Selected “IP Star” by Managing Intellectual Property, 2013-2018
• Named to the Capital Pro Bono High Honor Roll, June 2012
• Elected Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, August 2003
Kelsey McBarron
Kelsey McBarron is an Associate based in Washington D.C., where she assists clients in the commercial space and national security fields with matters regarding regulatory compliance, risk management, insurance, export controls, contract drafting, administrative law and more.
Prior to joining Schroeder Law PLLC, Ms. McBarron worked as a staff attorney for the Regulatory Practice Group at Fish and Richardson, handling matters related to commercial space, telecommunications, data protection, and export controls. Ms. McBarron also worked on the regulatory team for a communications satellite owner and operator. During law school, she held an internship at the Federal Aviation Administration Office of General Counsel, Regulations Division addressing space issues, and worked as an extern at the U.S. Federal District Court for the Southern District of California. Ms. McBarron earned her J.D. from California Western School of Law, and dual undergraduate degrees in English and Criminal Justice from Indiana University.
Education
J.D., California Western School of Law
B.A., English, Indiana University
B.A., Criminal Justice, Indiana University
Bar Admissions
California
District of Columbia
Memberships & Affiliations
ABA Forum on Air and Space Law
International Space University - Space Studies Program 2016
Space Generation Advisory Council