Faculty News & Announcments 2002

December 2002

Professor Mike Distelhorst delivered a speech on video for the Ohio Judicial College, Judges Program on December 13, 2002. His address was entitled "Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Legal Profession."

Professor Mike Distelhorst delivered a speech entitled "Firm Ethics Program in Akron" at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLP on December 11, 2002.

Professor Mike Distelhorst spoke at the Ohio Judicial College, 2002 Magistrates Program on December 6, 2002. His address was entitled "Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Legal Profession."

Professor Daniel T. Kobil's editorial, "The History Behind Clemency," appeared in The Chicago Tribute on December 4, 2002, The Columbus Dispatch on December 5, 2002, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 23, 2002.

November 2002

November 22, Professor Susan Gilles lectured to Ohio judges for the Ohio Judicial College on "U.S. Constitutional Law."

Professor Mike Distelhorst delivered a speech on video for the Ohio Judicial College, 2002 Magistrate Practice Probate Seminar on November 15, 2002. His address was entitled "Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Legal Profession."

November 11, Professor Mike Distelhorst delivered a speech at the Kiwanis in downtown Columbus. His address was entitled "Five Themes of Modern Business Ethics."

November 8, Professor Susan Gilles lectured to Ohio judges for the Ohio Judicial College on "U.S. Constitutional Law."

November 3, Professor Mike Distelhorst appeared at Faith Lutheran Church in Whitehall, Ohio. His address was entitled "The Christian Life and Modern Business Ethics."

October 2002

October 17, Professor Mike Distelhorst appeared before Leadership Worthington and spoke on Business Ethics.

Professor Mike Distelhorst delivered a speech for the Ohio Judicial College, Ohio Association of Magistrates Fall Conference on October 10, 2002. His address was entitled "Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Legal Profession."

Professor Mike Distelhorst appeared before St. Stephen Martyr Lutheran Church in Canton, Ohio. His address was entitled "Faith-Based Business Ethics."

Associate Director for Public Services Jacqueline Orlando appeared on a panel discussion for the CBA on Library budget and retention issues, October 2002.

Associate Director for Public Services Jacqueline Orlando addressed Ohio Valley Area Libraries on Legal Reference, Sources, and Premises Liability, October 2002.

September 2002

Professor Daniel T. Kobil's editorial, "Only Congress has the power to authorize going to war," was printed in The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday, September 17, 2002, pg. A9.

September 13, Professor Mike Distelhorst appeared at the Ohio Judicial College, Annual Judicial Conference.

September 3, Professor Mike Distelhorst spoke at the Columbus Bar Association, Real Property Committee. His address was "Business Ethics Perspectives for Lawyers."

Professor Mike Distelhorst appeared at the Midwest Presbyterian Senior Services and Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services. His address was "The Ethical, Legal and Business-Base Duties of the Non-Profit Director/Trustee."

August 2002

August 28, Professor Mike Distelhorst appeared before the Columbus Metropolitan Club with Jerry Jurgenson, CEO of Nationwide, and Thomas Holden, a forensic accountant with Price Waterhouse Coopers, to discuss "Restoring Public Trust After Enron." Professor Distelhorst was interviewed about the program on Channel 34 Radio , Channel 10 TV and Ohio News Network TV.

August 27, Professor Mike Distelhorst spoke at the Central Ohio Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association (Co-ACCA). His address was "Commercial Law Update (with Leon McCorkle, Vice President and General Counsel, Wendy's International).

August 16, Professor Mike Distelhorst delivered the speech "Five Themes of Modern Business Ethics that Might Have Prevented Enron" at the Rotary International (Whitehall/Bexley Chapter).

August 15, Professor Mike Distelhorst appeared before the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Inc. Board of Trustees. His address was entitled, "Ethical Duties of Non-Profit Trustees in the Post-Enron Environment."

July 2002

On July 12, Dean Steven C. Bahls spoke at the American Agricultural Law Association's Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO. His keynote address was entitled,"The Impact of September 11 on Agricultural Law."

Effective July 1, 2002, Professor Michael Distelhorst is the new president of the Council for Ethics in Economics. In addition to teaching at the Law Schools Professor Distelhorst also teaches Business Ethics at Capital University's School of Management. He regularly publishes in the areas of business and professional ethics and is well known for his numerous addresses on ethics to corporate and professional audiences. He has long been active in the work of the Council for Ethics in Economics and served on the Board of Trustees in the mid 1990s.

David Mayer presented "Abraham Lincoln: Hero or Villain?" at "Objectivism: Theory and Practice," at the 13th annual Objectivist Center Summer Seminar, University of California at Los Angeles, July, 2002.

June 2002

On June 8, Dean Steven C. Bahls spoke at the American Bar Association New Dean's Workshop at Wake Forest, NC on Leading an Administrative Team and Managing Law School Finances.

Janet George Blocher, Director of Legal Research and Writing, spoke on "Skills Development" at the New Lawyers Training Seminar sponsored by the Ohio State Bar Association in June 2002.

David Mayer presented "History of Classical Liberal Thought" and "Origins of the Bill of Rights," at the Institute for Humane Studies' "Liberty and Society" Seminar, Pitzer College, Claremont, California, June 22-28, 2002.

May 2002

Professor of Law Max Kravitz is one of two first-time recipients of a new award from the Ohio State Bar Association's Legal Education Committee that recognizes law professors for outstanding contributions to Ohio law and to the Ohio bar. Professor Kravitz will be presented with the award at a Capital Law School alumni reception on May 16th.

Professor of Law Susan Looper-Friedman has been appointed by Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer as Chair of the Foreign Legal Education Committee of the Supreme Court of Ohio. The Committee assists the Court in determining whether lawyers and law students who attend foreign law schools have the equivalent of an American legal education, for purposes of admission to the bar.

Dean Steven Bahls has been appointed as Chair of the Law School Adminstration Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. The primary purpose of the Committee is to develop programs to improve the quality of law school administration.

April 2002

Janet George Blocher, director of the Legal Research and Writing Program at the Law School, is a member of the board of trustees of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Additionally, she serves as the Affiliated Organizations Subcommittee chair. In that role, she is responsible for coordinating the conference's relationships with its affiliate organizations, most notably, Ohio Health, Methodist ElderCare Services, and the United Methodist Children's Home.

March 2002

Professor of Law Mike Distelhorst has been named a Life Fellow in the Roster of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. The Fellows is an honorary organization of attorneys, judges and law professors whose professional, public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. Established in 1955, the Fellows encourage and support the research program of the American Bar Foundation - the improvement of the legal system through research concerning the law, the administration of justice, and the legal professions. Membership in the Fellows is limited to approximately one-third of one percent of all American lawyers.

On March 13th, Trustees' Professor of Law Mark Strasser appeared on Channel 6 news. Professor Strasser, a national scholar in the area of family law, was interviewed about the Ohio Supreme Court case dealing with same sex adoptions.

Professor of Law Mike Distelhorst will speak about Legal Ethics and Corporate Compliance issues to the Columbus Certified Property Casualty Underwriters Association on March 12, 2002. The title of his presentation is, Ethics, Compliance, and Enron -- What Should We Make of It All? Professor Distelhorst previously worked as a consultant in the installation of corporate compliance programs; he will be talking about the viability of such programs in light of Enron and similar situations.

On March 1, Dean Steven C. Bahls spoke on the subject of the Ohio Commission for Legal Education Opportunity at the Bench Bar Dean's Conference sponsored by the Ohio Supreme Court and the Ohio State Bar Association.

February 2002

Professor Dan Kobil's editorial, "Clemency also part of legal system" appeared in The Columbus Dispatch on February 19, 2002 on page A7.

Professor Floyd Weatherspoon delivered a presentation, Preventing Retaliation Discrimination in the Work Place, before the Ohio Department of Administrative Services EEO Officers' Retreat on February 13, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio.

On February 6, Professor Floyd Weatherspoon was recognized as a volunteer mediator for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The court conducted a special ceremony at the U.S. Courthouse in Columbus, to honor these volunteer mediators and to express the court's sincere appreciation for their extremely valuable service to the court.

Adjunct Professor Chris McNeil has been appointed to serve on the Educational Programs Committee of the National Conference of Administrative Law Judges of the American Bar Association for 2002-03.

January 2002

Professor of Law Mark Strasser has been named Trustees' Professor of Law. This appointment recognizes Professor Strasser's extraordinary and sustained commitment to outstanding legal scholarship. Professor Strasser is nationally recognized for his scholarship in family law. He has published extensively in this area and in the areas of bioethics and constitutional law.

Professor Emeritus Addison Dewey has been named to the Ohio Tax Hall of Fame. Only the second year for this award, the honor was bestowed on him on January 24th at the Ohio Tax Conference.

Dan Kobil, professor of law and expert on clemency, was quoted in the January, 2002 issue of Glamour Magazine. The article, "She killed her father. Should she go free?", investigates the story of Stacy Lannert who is serving a term of life in prison for killing her father because she was sexually abused. Professor Kobil is quoted on the role of Governors in granting clemency.

On January 5th, Dean Steve Bahls presented and moderated a session at the Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting titled, "What is Success and Who is Counting?" The program explored the constituents to whom law schools and deans may be accountable, measures of accountability and processes for addressing assessment and accountability.