Legal Educator-in-Residence Howard E. Katz made a presentation at the annual AALS Workshop for New Law Teachers held June 6-8 in Washington, D.C. He conducted a session on Course Design, and also facilitated two group discussions. Howard has made presentations on teaching to new professors at this conference the last seven times it was held. The book Strategies and Techniques of Law School Teaching, which he co-authored with Professor Kevin F. O’Neill, was given to attendees. Also available to attendees were books from the Strategies and Techniques series edited by Professor Katz (including one of the most recent additions to the series, Strategies and Techniques for Teaching Environmental Law, written by Professor Heidi Gorovitz Robertson). Those books provide subject-specific teaching advice.

On June 13-14, the College of Law hosted an MDL bench-bar leadership conference. The Rabiej Litigation Law Center brought to the School some of the best defense and plaintiffs’ attorneys in Multi-District Litigation, as well as special masters, vendors, and other stakeholders in this advanced civil procedure litigation mammoth. In particular, the Conference heard from federal Judges across the country – from Alabama to Illinois, from New Jersey to Kentucky, and, of course, our own Northern District of Ohio (Hon. Judge Polster) – who has managed, supervised, and ruled on Multi-District Litigations. Professors Michael Borden and Doron Kalir moderated the conference’s panels.

Professor Karin Mika was appointed as a member of the Association of Legal Writing Directors’ Feedback Circle. The purpose of the Feedback Circle is to mentor Legal Writing professors in their scholarship. The members of the Circle provide feedback, editing suggestions, and general support.

Her essay, “Courage in the Legal Writing Classroom Redefined” was published in the AALS Legal Writing Section newsletter. The essay describes how Legal Writing professors are able to discuss topics related to equity and inclusiveness in situations where state legislatures are banning various topics from being discussed in university classrooms. (The newsletter with the article is attached.)

Prof. Mika also presented at the Global Legal Skills Conference held in Bari, Italy from June 4-7th. My topic was, “Legal Education in the 21st Century: Establishing an Online JD Program with Global Outreach.” The presentation discussed how Legal Writing can be taught online, the potential international outreach of online JD programs, and how American law schools with online JD programs must be attuned to the needs (including shifting time zones) of any international students that may be entering an online program.