“Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.” -Colleen Wilcox
One of the greatest benefits of my position as Dean is working with our outstanding faculty. They not only inspire our students, they inspire me.
Over the next year, I will highlight the work of each of our dedicated professors in my Monday Morning Message. This morning, I am pleased to highlight the work of four of our faculty -Professor Carolyn Broering-Jacobs, Professor Patti Falk, Professor Claire Robinson May, and Professor Milena Sterio.
Professor Carolyn Broering-Jacobs
From her impact on students when she taught first-year legal writing, to now, when she teaches students through live client representation in our clinics, our students and alumni regard Professor Carolyn Broering-Jacobs with great appreciation and affection. Her students know her as tough – always holding them to the highest standards – but fair.
Most remarkable is Professor Broering-Jacob’s willingness to do whatever it takes to help our students succeed. In recent years, she agreed to take on the LCOP (Legal Career Opportunities Program) Torts class on top of her regular teaching load. She worked nearly round the clock to make sure that those students got top-notch instruction and support, and she has succeeded.
The following comment from a student in her LCOP Torts class demonstrates the way she inspires students to do their best: “….Professor Broering-Jacobs has very high standards for her students. She is a wonderful professor. I love being in her class… She is my favorite professor… I started off this semester thinking that I would hate torts, but it's my favorite class! ….Her questions are very difficult and force you to think about the cases. I work the hardest in this class because I know I have to be extremely prepared for class…. It is extremely apparent how much she genuinely cares for her students. She really does want us to succeed….Her office hours are actually the highlight of my week (no, I don't have a life outside of this building. How could you tell?).”
Professor Broering-Jacobs leads the law school’s nationally award-winning Moot Court Program, which our graduates often point to as one of the highlights of their law school experience. In addition to winning competitions, Moot Court teaches our students important lawyering skills – not only appellate advocacy, but also confidence and professionalism which they carry with them into practice.
While Professor Broering-Jacobs devotes untold hours to her teaching, she does the same in her other efforts in service to the law school. This academic year, she co-chaired the most comprehensive strategic planning process that the law school has ever undertaken. The faculty achieved consensus on and passed the strategic plan framework at last week’s faculty meeting.
In addition, she agreed to chair the newly formed Enrollment and Recruitment Work Group. Thanks in large part to her leadership and the work of a number of her faculty colleagues, our enrollment numbers are significantly improving and, for the first time, our faculty, students, and alumni have become actively, strategically, and enthusiastically engaged in enrolling the incoming Fall 2018 class.
The Student Bar Association recently selected Professor Patti Falk as Professor of the Year, and as per tradition, Professor Falk will lead the processional at this coming Sunday’s 2018 Commencement Ceremony.
She developed the White Collar Crime Course specifically to prepare the many students we place in local, state and national prosecutors’ offices and who represent criminal defendants. She partnered with several colleagues to create the Women and the Criminal Justice System course to give students an important perspective on how seemingly disconnected areas of the law combine to systematically discriminate against women and the highlight the importance of recognizing those patterns as lawyers working within that broad system.
She is a nationally recognized scholar in criminal law, and her national reputation has helped attract a number of leading experts in the field to participate in our distinguished Criminal Justice Forum, which she co-founded in 1999 and organizes each year.
Professor Falk’s dedication to students does not end when they leave her classroom. Each semester, the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) selects one professor in each required topic to give a one-hour summary of the course in preparation for final examinations. BLSA unfailingly asks her to deliver the notoriously difficult Criminal Law lecture every spring semester.
She also was among the first faculty to volunteer to develop a review lecture for Criminal Law as part of our new comprehensive bar preparation effort. Professor Falk prepares students taking the bar exam each February and July, and they routinely thank her not only for her high-quality lecture but also for her commitment both before and after to assist them in passing that critical test.
Professor Claire May is an outstanding Legal Writing teacher. One of her former students recently wrote: “You worked with me… to help turn one of my bigger weaknesses into something I now consider a strength. Since then, you took a chance on me as your tutor, and I've been able to work on my writing instruction and attempt to give back to the students the same help and assistance that you provided me with. I know as writers that we can always improve, but you've helped lay the foundation for both my legal writing skills and my ability to teach the skill to others.”
A recent graduate, now working in the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office, recently wrote, “The way you taught allowed me to excel in class. …I really believe legal writing is the most important thing about being a lawyer.”
Professor May exemplifies creativity and innovation in her teaching. She recently proposed, developed, and co-taught an innovative new course, Estates and Trusts: Doctrine and Drafting with Professor April Cherry. Unlike most law courses that focus on either doctrine or skills, but do not seek to fully combine theory and practice, this integrated course brought the two together in a way that is unusual in traditional legal education. For example, in the course, students do not just learn the general requirements for a valid will - they research the requirements in Ohio, identify the wishes of a mock client, draft the client’s will, and receive extensive feedback from Professor May on their work product - all reinforcing the doctrinal subject matter of the course with practical experience.
She is the founder and Chair of the Women’s Committee at the College of Law. She has led the effort to increase the representation and recognition of women at the law school as leaders, speakers, and honorees, and to create a more supportive and inclusive environment for women students, faculty, staff, alumni, and prospective students.
Each year, at the invitation of the Black Law Students Association, Professor May presents a workshop on preparing for the timed writing test portion of the application for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Minority Clerkship Program.
Professor Milena Sterio serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Enrichment. She has built an outstanding reputation as an established scholar in the field of International Law. Her research focuses on international legal theory, international relations, statehood and secession issues, and international criminal law, with a focus on maritime piracy.
She has taught several courses including International Law, International War Crimes, Commercial Law, ADR, and Civil Procedure. In her International War Crimes course, Professor Sterio’s students work directly with some of the existing international criminal tribunals, such as the International Criminal Court, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the Cambodia Tribunal.
She is Chair of the International Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), Co-Chair of the International Criminal Law Interest Group at the American Society of International Law, and Co-Chair of the Women in International Law Interest Group at the American Society of International Law.
Professor Sterio has published three books and she has a fourth and fifth book under contract. Her articles have appeared in top-ranked international law journals, such as the Minnesota Journal of International Law, the Brooklyn Journal of International Law, the Fordham Journal of International Law, the Connecticut Journal of International Law, as well as in mainstream law reviews, such as the American University Law Review.
She also has kept an active profile on prestigious academic blogs – she serves as one of the main editors of Intlawgrrls, an academic blog devoted to a discussion of international law and policy issues, and she is editor of the maritime piracy blog, Communis Hostis Omnium. She has presented at the AALS Annual Meeting, the American Society of International Law Annual Meeting, the American Society of International Law Research Forum, and International Law Weekend.
Professor Sterio has been a panelist at several recent Cleveland City Club-sponsored events, and is a regular guest on the “Talking Foreign Policy” radio show, and “The Sound of Ideas” morning radio show, both on 90.3/WCPN. Recently she was honored with the “Smart Woman Award” by Smart Business Cleveland.
These outstanding faculty members are four more examples why C|M|LAW is a law school on the rise.
Have a great week.
For copies of past messages, please go to this link: Monday Morning Messages.
My best,
Lee
My views in all my Monday Morning Messages are my personal views alone and do not reflect the views of our Law School or our University.