DePaul University College of Law has announced that Pamela Bookman, Professor of Law at Fordham University, has been named the 2022 Clifford Scholar-in-Residence. A committee of leading civil justice faculty examined the work of professors nationwide who have contributed to the field of tort law and chose Bookman as the national “rising star” in civil justice and this year’s Scholar.
In her role as Scholar-in-Residence, Bookman will participate in classes and faculty activities within her areas of expertise, culminating in a presentation to the entire DePaul community that will feature a response from senior commentator Judith Resnick, Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale Law School. This presentation, “Procedure in Lawyered and Lawyerless Courts” will take place on November 7, 2022, from 3:00-4:15 p.m. at the DePaul Center in Room 8005. A reception will follow.
The program will discuss two types of cases: Lawyered courts are the federal and state courts that hear, for example, class actions and large-scale commercial disputes, and the kinds of cases where lawyers tend to be paid and plentiful. Lawyerless state courts, on the other hand, hear the vast majority of claims filed in this country, including debt collection and eviction cases.
Appreciating this divide reveals similarities and differences between these two types of civil justice in America and illustrates both the promise and limits of focusing on procedural reform as a way of improving the operation of justice. Professor Bookman contends that in some areas, such as ensuring that parties receive notice about lawsuits in which they are involved, be they class actions or eviction proceedings, reform efforts in lawyered and lawyerless courts should be aligned.
Professor Pamela Bookman is an expert in the fields of civil procedure, contracts, international litigation and arbitration, and conflict of laws. Her scholarship has appeared in the law reviews of Stanford, NYU, and Columbia, as well as in the American Journal of International Law and other leading law journals. Prior to entering academia, Professor Bookman was of counsel in the New York office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP, where she represented clients in complex commercial business disputes with a focus on transnational litigation and maintained an active pro bono practice.
Professor Bookman received her BA from Yale University and her JD from the University of Virginia, where she served as an articles editor for the Virginia Law Review and received the Rosenbloom Award for enhancing the academic experience of her fellow students. Following law school, she clerked for Judge Robert D. Sack of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, President Rosalyn Higgins and Judge Thomas Buergenthal of the International Court of Justice, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Attendance is free, but registration is required no later than November 4. To register, click here. The program offers 1.25 hours of CLE credit.
The visitorship complements the annual Clifford Symposium on Tort Law & Social Policy, which has brought together civil justice scholars for the past quarter century to share their ideas and publish their work, and it continues the tradition of developing up-and-coming civil justice scholars. Both programs are made possible through the generosity of alumnus Robert A. Clifford and the support of Clifford Law Offices.
For further information, contact Nicole Pinkey at npinkey@depaul.edu.