A
Pioneer Law Student, Law Professor and Legal Clinic Director ~ Professor
of Law Roberta S. Mitchell, L’72
By Regan Greene, Fourth-year Evening Law Student
 As
a respected and accomplished law professor, attorney, and innovator
in clinical education and dispute resolution, Roberta S. Mitchell,
L’72, has had a unique opportunity to advance legal education
and serve as a role model for women in the field of law.
From Law Student to Law Professor
After graduating cum laude from West Virginia University
in 1965, Mitchell began graduate studies in Russian history at The
Ohio State University, which is when she decided to attend law school
instead.
“Being an attorney is sort of a family tradition,”
Mitchell said. “My grandfather was a prosecuting attorney
in Morgantown, West Virginia during the Prohibition Era. My father
and brother are both attorneys, and my nephew is now a fourth generation
attorney in my family. So attending law school made more sense to
me then getting a Master’s degree in Russian history.”
Mitchell enrolled in Capital’s first, full-time
day JD program in 1969; she was the only female student in an entering
class of 52 students. By the time she graduated in 1972, only 24
students remained, including Mitchell.
As a law student at Capital, Mitchell was an active
student leader. She founded the Capital University Law Review
and served as its first editor-in-chief. Mitchell jokes that
it was her work on the Law Review that landed her a teaching position
at Capital. “When I graduated, Capital needed someone to set
up a legal writing program. I guess they figured that if I could
start the Law Review, I could set up a legal writing program.
I think it was supposed to be a temporary job, but I’m still
here.”
Watching Capital Grow
Now a tenured law professor for 33 years, Mitchell has seen many
changes take place at Capital. “I have had the significant
pleasure of watching Capital grow from being housed at a former
used car dealer facility to where it is today. The faculty has more
than doubled since I joined it, and the number of women on the faculty
has increased dramatically, too. For years Jean Mortland, Carole
Berry, and I were the only women on the faculty. Today, including
the legal writing instructors, we have 15 women on the faculty.”
Mitchell enjoys the students at Capital the most. “Some students
in my first classes were Vietnam veterans who had had maturity and
life experiences thrust on them. Today, I think there’s still
something special about the students at Capital in that they bring
a breadth of experiences to the classroom.”
Innovator in Clinic Education
Mitchell has the opportunity to get to know many students on a more
personal level through her work in Capital’s Legal Clinic.
For more than two decades, she has directed the clinical education
program at Capital. In this capacity, Mitchell ensures that students,
who may apply for a certificate in their third year of law school
to practice under the supervision of an attorney, receive sound,
practical legal skills training. She also ensures that high-quality
legal services are provided to the clinic’s clients, who cannot
afford the legal services they need.
She established a working relationship between the
Clinic and the Columbus Aids Task Force to assist clients of the
task force in receiving free legal services from the Clinic. The
Legal Clinic won a Columbus Bar Association Pro Bono award for preparing
will-related documents for clients of the Columbus Aids Task Force.
Mitchell was personally sought out by the Columbus
Coalition Against Family Violence because of her reputation for
maximizing opportunities for the underserved to access the justice
system. With an initial $250,000 grant from the Coalition in 2000,
she and her Clinic team created the Family Advocacy Clinic. The
Clinic serves victims of domestic violence who may not meet eligibility
criteria to receive legal aid assistance, but who are nonetheless
unable to afford a private attorney.
Through her work as a professor and clinical director,
Mitchell thinks there is “no better job in the world”
than working in academia. “I am fortunate in that I get the
best of both worlds – close to ‘real world’ practice
and then escaping into the classroom.”
Pioneer in Dispute Resolution
Mitchell, with Scot Dewhirst L’78, created Capital’s
Center for Dispute Resolution and has served as one of its directors
since its inception in 1984. The activities of the Center have had
significant impact, both nationally and internationally, on changing
the way society views problem solving.
Mitchell was one of the country’s first professors
to create and teach courses in mediation, negotiation and alternative
dispute resolution. As part of her clinical education work in the
late 1970s, she developed a law school course on Client Interviewing,
Counseling & Negotiation. It was one of the first classes of
its kind in the nation. At the time, these “alternative”
courses were often considered “unlawyerly” and lacking
in rigor. However, Mitchell recognized the importance in teaching
law students the skills necessary to assist clients in resolving
legal problems in a timely, cost-effective and productive manner.
Today, law schools throughout the country make these dispute resolution
courses a regular part of their curriculums.
Her expertise has been sought by governments in Jamaica
and Nicaragua. She developed videos and materials to train their
country’s citizens on the use of dispute resolution skills.
Advice to Students
Because she teaches interviewing, counseling and problem solving,
Mitchell thinks of herself as more of a listener than a giver of
advice, since counseling is about letting people make their own
decisions. Mitchell would advise current students, however, to take
some course during their time in law school that has to do with
real legal practice to give them “the opportunity to engage
in anticipatory rehearsal.” Specifically, Mitchell encourages
students to take classes like trial advocacy, general practice or
litigation clinic to help prepare them better for the first couple
of years in practice.
“I also would advise graduating students to
think carefully about the decisions they make immediately out of
law school because you never know where those decisions will take
you. For example, I decided to join Capital’s faculty right
out of law school, and here I am today.”
Service
Mitchell is currently serving a three-year term on the Supreme Court
of Ohio Advisory Commission on Dispute Resolution. Additionally,
she is a member of the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence
Legal System Task Force, which focuses its efforts on reforming
the criminal justice system through providing legal assistance for
victims, judicial reform, and improved training of law enforcement
officers and prosecutors.
Over the years, Mitchell has served as a trainer for
a 40-hour Divorce Mediation Training, and she has given numerous
presentations on mediation and negotiation everywhere from Middletown,
Ohio to Kingston, Jamaica. She is co-author of the book Negotiation:
Reaching Y.E.S. (Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, 1996).
For Fun
Mitchell has one daughter and two grandchildren with whom she spends
a lot of time. “Grandchildren change your perspective on everything.
They are what I do for fun. In fact, I just recently sold my house
and moved to Hilliard to be closer to them.” Mitchell also
enjoys reading, gardening and needle pointing.
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Profiles in Success
Although
David Meyer, L’95, is still in his 30s, he has become a preeminent
securities attorney, representing defrauded investors across the
country. He has the distinction of serving as class counsel in what
was reported as the largest class action jury award in a securities
case in U.S. history: an award against Prudential Securities that
includes an astonishing $250 million in punitive damages.