DRAKE UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL

2507 UNIVERSITY AVENUE

DES MOINES, IOWA 50311

Telephone: (515) 271-2824

Fax: (515) 271-4118

 

ABA Approved Since 1923

 

Drake University Law School, one of the twenty‑five oldest law schools in the nation, traces its history to 1865. It is a Charter Member of the Association of American Law Schools, has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1923, and is one of only eighty‑five ABA approved law schools to have a Chapter of Order of the Coif. Admission is selective, and the student body is diverse. For 2006‑07 the Law School included students from 147 undergraduate institutions, 35 states, Puerto Rico and two foreign countries. Women comprised 47 percent and persons of color 10 percent of the overall student body of approximately 430 full‑time students.

 

The size of the Law School facilitates the offering of a modern education of high quality in a personalized setting. Twenty‑nine full‑time faculty have extensive experience in private practice and government service, outstanding academic credentials, and a commitment to excellence in the classroom. They produce research and scholarly publications reflecting practical and theoretical orientations and have designed a curriculum that is diverse and national in scope. All students observe and discuss a real trial in the unique First Year Trial Practicum experience. A solid 1L curriculum is enhanced by advanced courses and instruction in an array of subjects, including constitutional, agricultural, corporate, taxation, children's rights, legislative, intellectual property, family and environmental law. Instruction in the use of computers is a central feature of legal education, and the Law School has been recognized as one of the top 16 law schools on National Jurist Magazine's Technology Honor Roll. The curriculum is planned to include not only basic and advanced substantive courses but also to emphasize preparation for practice and professional skills development through simulation courses, extensive internships, and nationally recognized clinical opportunities. Drake's Intellectual Property Law Center is directed by the Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law, a nationally‑known scholar. The Center offers students not only a foundation in IP law but provides opportunities to engage in matters of national and international significance, including biotechnology.

 

A widely varied curriculum on constitutional law enables students to earn a certificate in Constitutional Law and Civil Rights. Drake is home to the Constitutional Law Resource Center, which sponsors a lecture series and an annual symposium that attract nationally recognized constitutional scholars. A distinguished lectureship, the Dwight D. Opperman Lecture in Constitutional Law, has been delivered by nine United States Supreme Court justices.

 

Drake has one of the few programs in the nation addressing important issues in national and international agricultural law and policy, with curricular offerings that enable students to receive a Certificate in Food and Agricultural Law. The Agricultural Law Center offers students the opportunity to help conduct research, publish the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law, and write articles and monographs on a wide range of subjects. Further, capitalizing on its location near Iowa's state capitol, the Law School has developed a Legislative Practice Certificate Program, which combines a substantive course curriculum with hands‑on internship experiences.

 

Cartwright Hall, Opperman Hall, and the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center constitute the Law School's physical facilities. Built in 1976, Cartwright is the main law school classroom facility, and each of its six classrooms is equipped with computer and other technology to enhance teaching and learning. The Dwight D. Opperman Hall and Law Library, dedicated in April 1993, houses the Law Library, a computer classroom and other seminar rooms, more than 200 study carrels, 19 small study rooms and specialized centers devoted to Constitutional Law and Agricultural Law. All buildings have wireless network access.

 

Extensive clinical opportunities, including client representation, a prosecutor internship, and judicial clerkship programs, enable students to gain practical experience, develop good lawyering skills and render public service as a part of their legal education. As part of the clinical program, students serve clients in all phases of client representation, ranging from client interviewing to negotiations with opposing counsel to trial itself. Clients include children, low income persons, senior citizens, victims of domestic violence and defendants accused of serious misdemeanors. These programs are housed in the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center, a fully computerized law office and educational facility built in 1987. Drake's clinical programs are supported by federal endowment appropriations totaling $4.5 million. Drake was one of two law schools in the country to receive such awards. In 1994 a $1.8 million addition to the Center was completed and dedicated. It includes a spacious courtroom, five classrooms accommodating classes of 18‑20 students, the Center for Public Service Attorneys, and the Joan and Lyle Middleton Center for Children's Rights.

 

Students engage in a wide range of co‑curricular and extra‑curricular activities. These include the Drake Law Review, which is published four times a year and ranks number 31 out of more than 1300 legal periodicals in the frequency with which U.S. courts cited it in opinions they published between 1999 and 2006. Inclusion of Drake's Constitutional Law Symposium contributes to that top ranking. Drake students also edit and publish the Journal of Agricultural Law three times a year. Drake's nationally‑recognized moot court program offers students extensive opportunities to sharpen their skills in critical thinking, legal research, mock trials, negotiations, client counseling, brief writing, and oral advocacy through simulated litigation competitions. Students participate in nine national and three intramural moot court competitions. In 15 of the last 17 years a Drake National Moot Court Team has advanced to the National Tournament. In 2001 a Drake team won the National Championship, and in three of the past five years a Drake team placed in the "Final Four"  out of nearly 190 teams representing 140 law schools. In 2004 a Drake Mock Trial team advanced to the National Championship and placed 2nd in the Nation in the ATLA Student Trial Advocacy Competition. The climax of the moot court year comes on Supreme Court Day, an annual competition conducted for over sixty years in which students brief and argue an appellate case, with the final four advocates presenting oral arguments to a special session of the Iowa Supreme Court. Drake students have regularly occupied leadership positions in the Law School Division of the American Bar Association in the Eighth Circuit and served as liaisons to sections of the ABA. Drake faculty and students also participate with judges and practicing attorneys in two chapters of the American Inns of Court Foundation.

 

Affiliated with the Law School and the University is the nationally renowned American Judicature Society, an organization comprised of lawyers, judges, scholars and members of the public. AJS is dedicated to improvement of the administration of justice and promotion of public understanding of law. The Law School's affiliation with AJS has resulted in enrichment of the Law School curriculum, internships for law students, jointly sponsored conferences and symposia, and publishing opportunities.

 

Drake graduates are practicing in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the school's alumni include leaders of the Bar; state governors; United States Congressmen; state Supreme Court Justices; other state and federal judges; legal educators; and business leaders. For example, three of the seven Iowa Supreme Court Justices are Drake Law graduates, as are four of the five active Federal District Court Judges in Iowa.

 

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Dean:

David S. Walker (515) 271‑3985

Associate Dean:

Russell E. Lovell, II (515) 271‑1806

Associate Dean for Information Resources and Technology:

John D. Edwards (515) 271‑2141

Interim Admission and Financial Aid Director:

Michael Norris (515) 271‑2782

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FULL TIME FACULTY

 

DAVID S. WALKER, (Dean and Dwight D. Opperman Distinguished Professor of Law), born Akron, Ohio, July 9, 1944; admitted to bar, 1970, Ohio; 1972, Indiana; 1997, Iowa. Education: Yale University (B.A., 1966); University of Virginia (LL.B., 1969). COURSES: Business Associations, Advanced Problems in Corporate Law, Arbitration.

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JAMES ALBERT ADAMS, (Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor of Law), born Englewood, New Jersey, November 15, 1942; admitted to bar, 1967, New York; 1971, District of Columbia; 1977, Iowa. Education: Duke University (A.B., 1964; J.D., 1967). COURSES: Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Trial Advocacy.

 

JAMES A. ALBERT, (Professor of Law), born Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 2, 1947; admitted to bar, 1976, Iowa. Education: Drake University (B.F.A., 1971); University of Notre Dame (J.D., 1976). COURSES: Administrative Law, Torts, Media Law.

 

JERRY L. ANDERSON, (Richard M. and Anita Calkins Distinguished Professor of Law), born McPherson, Kansas, October 17, 1959; admitted to bar, 1984, Missouri. Education: University of Kansas (B.S., 1981); Stanford University (J.D., 1984). COURSES: Environmental Law, Environmental Litigation, Property, Natural Resources Law.

 

MARTIN D. BEGLEITER, (Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor of Law), born Middletown, Connecticut, October 31, 1945; admitted to bar, 1971, New York. Education: University of Rochester (B.A., 1967); Cornell University (J.D., 1970). COURSES: Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts, Federal Estate and Gift Taxation.

 

ANDREA S. CHARLOW, (Professor of Law), born New York, October 3, 1952; admitted to bar, 1979, New York. Education: Vassar College (A.B., 1973); Albany Law School of Union University (J.D., 1978); Columbia University (LL.M., 1982). COURSES: Family Law, Children and the Law, Comparative Law, Negotiations.

 

HUNTER R. CLARK, (Professor of Law), born Washington, D.C., September 1, 1955; admitted to bar, 1980, District of Columbia. Education: Harvard College (A.B., 1976); Harvard Law School (J.D., 1979). COURSES: Constitutional Law, Public International Law, International Trade, State and Local Government, U.S. Supreme Court Seminar.

 

LAURIE KRATKY DORE, (Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor of Law), born Carmel, California, November 8, 1958; admitted to bar, 1984, Texas; 1996 Iowa. Education: Creighton University (B.A., 1981); Southern Methodist University (J.D., 1984). COURSES: Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Complex Litigation, Pretrial Advocacy, Evidence.

 

MATTHEW G. DORE, (Richard M. and Anita Calkins Distinguished Professor of Law), born Port Arthur, Texas, November 4, 1958; admitted to bar, 1984, Texas. Education: Rice University (B.A., 1981); University of Texas (J.D., 1984). COURSES: Business Associations, Securities, Bankruptcy, Commercial Law.

 

JOHN D. EDWARDS, (Associate Dean for Information Resources and Technology and Professor of Law), born Louisiana, Missouri, September 15, 1953; admitted to bar, 1978, Missouri. Education: Southeast Missouri State University (B.A., 1975); University of Missouri at Columbia (M.A.L.S., 1979); University of Missouri at Kansas City (J.D., 1977). COURSES: Legal Research and Writing, Computers and the Law, Computer‑Assisted Legal Research.

 

JERRY R. FOXHOVEN, (Director, Middleton Children's Rights Center and Associate Professor of Law), born Yankton, South Dakota, July 24, 1952; admitted to bar, 1977, Iowa. Education: Morningside College (B.S., 1974); Drake University Law School (J.D., 1977). COURSES: Clinic.

 

SALLY BELINKOFF FRANK, (Professor of Law), born Jersey City, New Jersey, February 24, 1959; admitted to bar, 1983, New Jersey; 1984, New York; 1985, District of Columbia; 1990, Iowa. Education: Princeton University (A.B., 1980); Antioch University (M.A.T., 1988); New York University (J.D., 1983). COURSES: Clinic, Women and the Law.

 

NEIL D. HAMILTON, (Dwight D. Opperman Distinguished Professor and Director of the Agricultural Law Center), born Creston, Iowa, January 22, 1954; admitted to bar, 1979, Iowa. Education: Iowa State University (B.S., 1976); University of Iowa (J.D., 1979). COURSES: Agricultural Law, Legislation, Land Use, Environmental Law.

 

DAVID B. HANSON, (Associate Professor of Librarianship), born West Point, New York, October 6, 1969. Education: Luther College (B.A., 1992); University of Missouri at Columbia (M.A.L.S., 1993).

 

ROBERT C. HUNTER, (Professor of Law), born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 28, 1940; admitted to bar, 1967, Ohio. Education: University of Pittsburgh (B.A., 1963); Duke University (J.D., 1967). COURSES: Civil Procedure, Federal Jurisdiction, Constitutional Law, Education Law, First Amendment.

 

MARK S. KENDE, (James Madison Chair in Constitutional Law and Director of the Constitutional Law Center), born White Plains, New York, March 31, 1960; admitted to bar, 1988, Illinois; 1997, Michigan. Education: Yale University (B.A., 1982); University of Chicago (J.D., 1986). COURSES: Constitutional Law.

 

SUSAN N. LERDAL, (Associate Professor of Librarianship), born Lewiston, Montana, September 11, 1946. Education: University of Montana (B.A., 1968; MPA, 1980); University of Iowa (M.A., 1990).

 

SUZANNE J. LEVITT, (Executive Director of Clinical Programs and Professor of Law), born 1960; admitted to bar, 1986, New York, Illinois. Education: Barnard College (A.B.); New York Law School (J.D., 1985); Yale Law School (LL.M.). COURSES: Clinic.

 

RUSSELL E. LOVELL II, (Associate Dean and Professor of Law), born Springfield, Missouri, May 6, 1944; admitted to bar, 1969, Nebraska and Missouri; 1971, Indiana; 1977, Iowa. Education: University of Notre Dame (B.B.A., 1966); University of Nebraska (J.D., 1969); University of Missouri at Kansas City (LL.M., 1971). COURSES: Constitutional Law, Employment Discrimination, Civil Rights, Remedies, First‑Year Trial Practicum.

 

CATHY LESSER MANSFIELD, (Professor of Law), born Cleveland, Ohio, March 21, 1960; admitted to bar, 1987, Arizona. Education: New York University (B.A., 1982); University of Virginia (J.D., 1987). COURSES: Consumer Law, Contracts, Payment Systems.

 

J. KARNALE MANUEL, (Visiting Associate Professor of Law), born Des Moines, Iowa, April 2, 1950; admitted to bar, 1978, Iowa. Education: Drake University (B.S., B.A., 1973; J.D., 1978). COURSES: Judicial Internship Program, Pretrial Practice, and Academic Success Program.

 

DAVID MCCORD, (Professor of Law), born Vincennes, Indiana, November 23, 1953; admitted to bar, 1978, Arizona. Education: Illinois Wesleyan University (B.A., 1975); Harvard University (J.D., 1978). COURSES: Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Trial Advocacy, Post‑Convicition Remedies.

 

LUKE MEIER, (Assistant Professor of Law), born Newton, Kansas, June 24, 1975; admitted to bar, 2002, Texas. Education: Kansas State University (B.S., 1997); University of Texas (J.D., 2000). COURSES: American Legal History, Constitutional Law, Corporations, Federal Jurisdiction, Land Use Planning, Natural Resources, Property, Torts. Email: luke.meier@drake.edu

 

MICHELE L. MEKEL, (Visiting Associate Professor), born Danville, Illinois, December 8, 1970; admitted to bar, 2002, Missouri; 2003, Illinois. Education: University of Missouri (B.J., 1992; MHA, MBA, 2003; J.D., 2002). COURSES: Administrative Law, Healthcare Law, Bioethics, Insurance Law. Email: michele.mekel@drake.edu

 

KEITH C. MILLER, (Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor), born Des Moines, Iowa, June 14, 1951; admitted to bar, 1976, Missouri. Education: University of Missouri at Kansas City (B.A., 1973; J.D., 1976); University of Michigan (LL.M., 1979). COURSES: Torts, Products Liability, Workers' Compensation, AIDS and the Law.

 

JAMES R. MONROE, (Professor of Law), born Uvalde, Texas, May 19, 1943; admitted to bar, 1973, Iowa and Florida. Education: University of Northern Iowa (B.A., 1966); Denver University (M.B.A., 1967); University of Iowa (J.D., 1973); New York University (LL.M., 1977). COURSES: Federal Income Tax, Business Tax, Tax Procedure, State and Local Tax, Business Planning.

 

LISA A. PENLAND, (Associate Professor of Law), born Vincennes, Indiana, May 22, 1960; admitted to bar, 1985, Iowa; 1987, Nebraska; 1998, Indiana. Education: Southwest Missouri State University (B.A., 1981); Drake University (J.D., 1985). COURSES: Legal Research and Writing, Contract Drafting.

 

LAWRENCE E. POPE, (Director, Center for Legislative Practice and Professor of Law), born February 28, 1940; admitted to bar, 1967, Iowa. Education: Drake University (B.A., 1964; J.D., 1967); New York University (LL.M., 1969). COURSES: Constitutional Law, Labor Law.

 

ROBERT R. RIGG, (Director, Criminal Defense Program and Associate Professor of Law), born Springfield, Illinois, March 13, 1954; admitted to bar, 1978, Iowa. Education: Drake University (B.A., 1975; J.D., 1977). COURSES: Criminal Law and Procedure, Clinic‑Adv. Representation in Criminal Cases.

 

DANIELLE M. SHELTON, (Associate Professor of Law), born Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 21, 1970; admitted to bar, 1995, Iowa and Illinois. Education: Augustana College (B.A., 1992); Harvard University (J.D., 1995). COURSES: Legal Research and Writing.

 

MAURA IRENE STRASSBERG, (Professor of Law), born Grand Junction, Colorado, May 14, 1956; admitted to bar, 1985, Massachusetts; 1986, New York. Education: Swarthmore College (B.A., 1977); Boston University (M.A., 1981); Columbia University (J.D., 1984). COURSES: Ethics, Pretrial Advocacy, Sexuality and the Law, Contracts.

 

DEBORAH E. SULZBACH, (Associate Professor of Librarianship), born Burlington, Iowa, February 9, 1954. Education: Finch College (B.A., 1975); Indiana University (M.L.S., 1977).

 

JULIE A. THOMAS, (Associate Professor of Librarianship), born Ames, Iowa, June 7, 1957. Education: Iowa State University (B.A., 1979); University of Iowa (M.A., 1984); Drake University (J.D., 2005). COURSES: Computer‑Assisted Legal Research.

 

KAREN L. WALLACE, (Professor of Librarianship), born Omaha, Nebraska, February 02, 1971. Education: University of Iowa (B.A., 1993; M.A., 1994).

 

MELISSA HEAMES WERESH, (Professor of Law and Assistant Director of Legal Writing), born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1967; admitted to bar, 1992, Ohio. Education: Wake Forest University (B.A., 1989); University of Iowa (J.D., 1992). COURSES: Legal Research and Writing.

 

ELLEN LIANG YEE, (Assistant Professor of Law), born Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 26, 1968; admitted to bar, 1997, Minnesota; 1998, California. Education: Yale University (B.A., 1991); Minnesota (J.D., 1997). COURSES: Criminal Law, Psychiatry and the Law, Ethics.

 

PETER K. YU, (Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law and Director, Intellectual Property Law Center), born Hong Kong, China, December, 1971; admitted to bar, 2000, New York; 2005, United States Supreme Court. Education: University of Wisconsin ‑ Madison (B.A., 1996); Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D., 1999). COURSES: Communications Law, Copyright, Intellectual Property Law, International Intellectual Property Law, Trademark and Unfair Competition. Email: peter_yu@msn.com