The John Marshall Law School Welcomes 13 New Faculty
The John Marshall Law School has added 13 new full-time faculty members to its ranks. The appointments, beginning with the fall 2007 semester, were announced by Dean John E. Corkery.
Adding such great new teachers and writers to our faculty is a very exciting development for the law school," he said. "These new faculty will enhance our already strong faculty. We will use their strengths to improve our J.D. and LL.M. programs in the future. I know our students will benefit from the broad range of experience our new faculty bring to the classroom."
Included in the new hires are Professor Richard Gruner, who takes on the post of director of the law school's Center for Intellectual Property Law and Assistant Professor June Liebert, who is the new director of the Louis L. Biro Law Library.
Professor Gruner was previously a member of the faculty at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif., teaching patent law, computers and the law, corporate law, and white collar crime. Prior to becoming a law professor, Gruner served as inside counsel to the IBM Corporation, and a consultant to the U.S. Sentencing Commission concerning corporate sentencing standards.
He is the co-author of Intellectual Property in Business Organizations: Cases and Materials, a 2006 edition that addresses the growing role of intellectual property in the founding, growth and disposition of businesses enterprises, and Intellectual Property: Private Rights, the Public Interest, and the Regulation of Creative Activity, which will be out later this year.
Gruner has his bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Technology, his J.D. degree from the University of Southern California Law School, and his LL.M. degree from Columbia University Law School.
June Liebert is the newly-appointed director of the Louis L. Biro Library. Liebert comes to the law school from The University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where she was chief information officer directing the Computer Information Center, media services, database services, web services and educational technology groups.
At the University of Texas she also taught an online advanced legal research course for lawyers, incorporating online tutorials and discussion boards and using web pages and web course management tools. As director of Internet Initiatives at the University of Texas, she oversaw administrative systems, database and web development and educational technology. She also served as electronic resources librarian for the Jamail Center for Legal Research, Tarlton Law Library, at the University of Texas and UCLA Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library.
Liebert has her bachelor's degree in management from Case Western Reserve University, her J.D. degree from Indiana University School of Law and her master of library science from Indiana University School of Library and Information Science.
Arthur Acevedo is an assistant professor of law teaching Contracts I and Corporations in the fall semester. He comes to The John Marshall Law School from the University of Baltimore School of Law where he was an assistant professor. He also was a guest lecturer at DePaul University and Chicago-Kent College of Law. He has written about the auditor's role under the Sarbannes-Oxley Act for the DePaul Business & Commerce Law Journal.
A certified public accountant who is fluent in Spanish, Acevedo was executive vice president and general counsel for Chicago-based Marbo, Inc., a licensor and manufacturer of Tampico-brand fruit drinks distributed nationally and internationally. Acevedo also was an international attorney and business counsel for McDonald's Corp. at its Oak Brook headquarters.
Acevedo received his bachelor's and master's degrees from DePaul University, and his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. Acevedo's specialty areas are business organizations, contracts, corporate governance and corporate tax.
William K. Ford is an assistant professor of law teaching Contracts I and Federal Courts in the fall semester. He was a visiting professor at The John Marshall Law School for the 2006-2007 academic year. Ford was a Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School.
He has presented at numerous workshops on his piece "The Phantom Philosophy? An Empirical Investigation of Legal Interpretation," published in the Maryland Law Review. A 2003 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, he was elected to the Order of the Coif. Ford was symposium editor of the University of Chicago Legal Forum. He received several honors as a law student and was editor for "Twenty-First Annual National Student Federalist Society Symposium on Law and Public Policy" of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.
Ford received his master's degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and is a doctoral candidate in political science there. His specialty areas include intellectual property, federal courts and unfair competition and trade regulation.
Samuel Jones is an assistant professor of law teaching Contracts I and Employment Law in the fall semester. He was an assistant professor at Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. He practiced with Hughes & Luce, LLP in Dallas before taking a position as senior counsel for AT&T Corp. in Dallas, and later corporate counsel for labor and employment for Blockbuster, Inc. in Dallas.
Jones has his bachelor's degree from Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawaii. He received his J.D. cum laude from Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and his LL.M. degree from Columbia University Law School. He is a major in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Corps. His scholarship and presentations have primarily focused on international humanitarian law and human rights, with particular emphasis on legal and moral philosophy.
Jason J. Kilborn is an assistant professor of law teaching Secured Transactions and Corporations in the fall semester. He taught for six years at Louisiana State University, and as visiting assistant professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law, Chapman University School of Law and the University of Texas at Austin, School of Law.
After receiving his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School and being elected Order of the Coif, Kilborn clerked for Judge Walter K. Stapleton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He then was an associate with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering.
He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Northern Iowa and participated in study abroad programs at Moscow State University, Russian State Pedagogical University and Centre International des Études Françaises. He has published numerous law review articles, and is an author of two books and co-editor of a third book. His specialty areas include bankruptcy, secured transactions, business associations and comparative law.
Colin Miller is an assistant professor of law teaching Evidence and Civil Procedure I in the fall semester. He joins the faculty after serving as an appellate court attorney reviewing cases and preparing reports for members of the New York Supreme Court-Appellate Division. He has written numerous law review articles on various legal topics.
A 1999 graduate of the University of Virginia, Miller received his J.D. degree from the William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 2003, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Miller was editor of the William and Mary Law Review, and senior articles editor of the William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal. While in law school, he taught classes on the use of courtroom technology for mock trials and was a teacher/mentor instructing students in legal research, writing and substantive law in preparation for mock trials. His specialty areas are civil and criminal procedure and constitutional law.
Justin K. Schwartz is an assistant professor of law teaching Civil Procedure II during the fall semester. He was a visiting professor at The John Marshall Law School during the 2006-2007 academic year. Schwartz was a professor of philosophy at The Ohio State University before earning his law degree from the university's Moritz School of Law in 1998, graduating summa cum laude and elected to the Order of the Coif. Schwartz served as articles editor for the Ohio State Law Journal.
He was a law clerk for Judge Elaine Bucklo of the U. S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, and for Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner and Judge Walter J. Cummings at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Schwartz also was a litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Schwartz has written articles for various law reviews and philosophical journals, including one that won the Berger Prize in Philosophy of Law of the American Philosophical Association.
He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University; his master of philosophy from Cambridge University; his master of arts and doctorate of philosophy degrees from the University of Michigan. His specialty areas include civil procedure, white collar crime and legal, political and moral philosophy.
Steven Schwinn is an associate professor of law teaching Lawyering Skills I and Constitutional Law II in the fall semester. He comes to John Marshall from the University of Maryland School of Law where he has been on faculty since 2001. In 2005, he received the Clinical Legal Education Association Award for Excellence for his work as a faculty co-supervisor on a post-conviction case involving a petitioner's claim of innocence, and has been recognized for his pro bono work.
He taught at George Washington University Law School for two years. Schwinn also was assistant general counsel for the Peace Corps from February 1996 to July 1999. A graduate of Michigan State University, he received his J.D. degree from The American University Washington College of Law in 1995, and was a member of the editorial board of The American University Journal of Gender & Law. He has written and lectured on a variety of legal topics. Schwinn's specialty areas include constitutional law, negotiation, client interviewing, appellate advocacy, legal analysis and writing.
Corey Yung is an assistant professor of law teaching Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure in the fall semester. He was a litigation associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York City, and previously was a law clerk for Judge Michael J. Melloy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Yung received his bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa and his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law where he served as executive editor of the law school's Journal of Law and Politics. Yung has written a number of law review articles and is the creator of the Internet blog "Sex Crimes," which is devoted to criminal laws regulating and punishing sex offenders. His specialty areas are criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, professional responsibility and feminist jurisprudence.
Mary Jean Dolan is a visiting professor in the Lawyering Skills Program for the 2007-2008 academic year. She most recently was a special counsel for the City of Chicago, advising and drafting laws and policies. She previously taught at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and the University of Florida Law School.
Her specialty area is First Amendment. She has written and given presentations on various first amendment issues, and on the new area of legal emergency preparedness. She most recently had her work “The Special Public Purpose and Endorsement Relationships—New Extensions of Government Speech” published in the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly.
Dolan received a J.D. cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law, and was notes editor for the Northwestern University Law Review. After graduation she clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Ilana Rovner.
Mary T. Nagel will be a visiting professor in the Lawyering Skills Program for the 2007-2008 academic year. She has been serving as a judicial law clerk for Judges Bill Taylor and Barbara J. Disko in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Nagel has been drafting court rulings for motions, evidentiary issues and trials. She previously was chief legal counsel for the Illinois Department of Labor.
Nagel is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and she received her J.D. degree from The John Marshall Law School. Since 1999, she has taught extensively in The John Marshall Law School's Lawyering Skills Program as an adjunct professor.
Clifford Scott-Rudnick will be a visiting professor teaching Professional Responsibility for the 2007-2008 academic year. As an adjunct professor, Scott-Rudnick previously taught in the law school's Lawyering Skills Program and taught Professional Responsibility, based on his broad experience in the area of estates and trusts, and in representing labor unions.
Scott-Rudnick received his bachelor's degree from Knox College and his J.D. degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
U.S. Treasury Department Externship Leads to New Insights for LL.M. Graduate
Benjamin Joseph's research work came in handy this summer when Eric Solomon of the U.S. Treasury Department went to Capitol Hill to testify before the Senate Finance Committee.
Joseph, who received his J.D. degree in May, 2007,was The John Marshall Law School extern in the Office of Tax Policy, Benefits Tax Counsel's Office at the Treasury Department for nine weeks. Joseph also received the $5,000 William F. Sweetnam Scholarship which he used to defray his expenses in Washington.
Working with seven staff attorneys and the office's director, Thomas Reeder, offered Joseph insights into legal issues that were making the headlines. "The work was great, and the projects were current. Every day I read about them in the pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times," he said.
"I spent a lot of time researching for the staff presentation on carried interest," Joseph said. "Knowing my information helped to formulate testimony before Congress was really exciting."
His other major project was helping attorneys prepare new Internal Revenue Service regulations on automatic enrollments for 401K plans.
The hours Joseph spent as an extern helped him accumulate the remaining four hours of credit he needed for his LL.M. degree in Employee Benefits. He is starting his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Chicago working as a legal consultant specializing in benefit plans.
Joseph is also preparing to take the CPA exam. He received a bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ben Joseph stands in the U.S. Treasury Department building where he worked for nine weeks this past summer.
Faculty Activity and Publications
Professor William Ford
Activities
He spoke at the IP Scholars Conference Aug. 9 and 10 at DePaul University: "The Use of Trademarks in Video Games: Focusing on the First Amendment."
Professor Richard Gruner
Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law
Activities
He spoke at the IP Scholars Conference Aug. 9 and 10 at DePaul University: "Where the Action Is: Using Patent Attorney Practice Locations to Identify Regional Centers of Commercially Significant Innovation."
Professor Doris Estelle Long
Activities
She presented two papers July 25 and 26, 2007, at the Law and Society Conference at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, which focused on "Law and Society in the 21st Century: Transformations, Resistances, Futures." She presented her paper "Outsourcing Culture: The Role of the Diaspora in the Commodification Marketplace," in which she explored the evolving role of the Diaspora in the commodification marketplace and what rights they should be afforded in any future legal regime to protect traditional knowledge. And, she presented her second paper "Repatriation, Recapture and Vanishing Cultural Rights in the Information Age," in which she explored the lessons learned from the repatriation of art and cultural property and recommended their application to current "repatriation" debates regarding access to knowledge and traditional knowledge.
Professor Long also organized a panel for the conference on "Cultural Rights in the Information Age."
Professor David Schwartz
Activities
He spoke at the IP Scholars Conference Aug. 9 and 10 at DePaul University: "An Empirical Evaluation of Whether Federal Trial Judges with More Experience in Patent Claim Construction Are More Accurate."
Professor Mark E. Wojcik
Activities
He spoke at the annual meeting of the American Bar Association on opportunities for law students and lawyers with the ABA section on International Law. The meeting was Aug. 9-14 in San Francisco.
Intellectual Property Issues Discussed by John Marshall Faculty, Staff
The Center for Intellectual Property Law at The John Marshall Law School was represented by faculty and staff at the IP Scholars Conference Aug. 9 and 10 at DePaul University.
The program brings together intellectual property scholars from more than 50 law schools to present their works-in-progress in order to benefit from the critique of colleagues. The format was designed to facilitate free-ranging discussion and to help people hone their ideas.
John Marshall presenters included: Professor Richard Gruner, director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law, who addressed "Where the Action Is: Using Patent Attorney Practice Locations to Identify Regional Centers of Commercially Significant Innovation;" Professor David Schwartz, who discussed "An Empirical Evaluation of Whether Federal Trial Judges with More Experience in Patent Claim Construction Are More Accurate;" Professor William Ford, whose topic was "The Use of Trademarks in Video Games: Focusing on the First Amendment;" and Raizel Liebler, of the Louis L. Biro Library staff, who discussed "Normative Cultural Contracts between Media Owners/Creators and Fan Communities."
Calendar of Events
August 21
- Welcome Program for Chinese Delegates, Room 1200, 9 a.m.
- Ice Cream Social, Room 3East, 3 p.m.
- Domestic & Foreign Patent, Trademark, Trade Secret & Copyright Documentation, Room 413, 6 p.m.
August 22
- Deans' Meeting, Courtroom, 10 a.m.
- Tenure Committee Meeting, Room 1101, 11:30 a.m.
- Phoenix Alumni Reception, McCormick & Schmick's, 5 p.m.
August 23
- Orientation Meeting for Human Rights Trip, Room 529, 12:30 p.m.
August 25
- Law Review Orientation, Room 200, 12 p.m.
August 27
- Welcome Back Reception for Employee Benefits Students, CBA 1625, 12 p.m.
- Library & Computer Policy Committee Meeting, Room 1101, 12:15 p.m.
- Welcome Back Reception for Employee Benefits Students, CBA 1625, 5:30 p.m.
August 28
- Welcome Back Reception for Tax Law Students, CBA 1625, 12 p.m.
- Welcome Back Reception for Tax Law Students, CBA 1625, 5:30 p.m.
August 29
- Deans' Meeting, Courtroom, 10 a.m.
- American Political Science Workshop, Room 503, 1 p.m.
August 30
- IP Adjunct Lunch, Room 3East, 12 p.m.
- CSO Speed Career Networking Event, Student Lounge, 4:30 p.m.
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