What the Best Law Teachers Do:
About the Project Investigators
Michael Hunter Schwartz
Professor Michael Hunter Schwartz is the Co-Director of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning and the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Development at Washburn University School of Law. Professor Schwartz is the author of three books addressing law teaching and learning topics: Teaching Law By Design: Engaging Students from Syllabus to Final Exam (2009), Expert Learning for Law Students (2d ed. 2008), and Pass the Bar! (2006). He also has published two law review articles and five shorter works addressing teaching and learning topics, and he is the designer and editor of a series of casebooks (for which he already has published Contracts: A Context and Practice Casebook (2009); the books implement instructional design principles and the recommendations of the recent Carnegie and Best Practices studies of legal education. Professor Schwartz was a member of the Steering Committee for and was a contributing author to Best Practice for Legal Education (CLEA 2007) (902 KB PDF) and is the co-editor of co-editor of The Law Teacher.
Professor Schwartz has presented on law teaching, learning and curriculum design topics on more than 80 occasions as a conference presenter and as an invited speaker at various law schools.
Sophie Sparrow
Professor Sparrow's speciality is teaching and learning. She is Professor of Law at Franklin Pierce Law Center. As one of the co-authors of Teaching Law By Design: Engaging Students from Syllabus to Final Exam (2009), she is particularly interested in active teaching strategies which help students develop the skills they need for a balanced life practicing law: working with others; writing well; navigating complex legal doctrine and facts; engaging in self-assessment; and practicing professionalism.
Professor Sparrow has conducted more than 50 workshops and presentations on teaching, professionalism, writing and assessment to professors, judges and lawyers, including the conferences hosted by the Institute for Law School Teaching, the American Association of Law Schools, the Legal Writing Institute and the New Hampshire Judicial College. In January, 2004, she won the Inaugural Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching Professionalism, sponsored by the American Bar Association and Conference of Chief Justices. In September 2008, she became an approved candidate on the Fulbright Specialists Roster.
Gerry Hess
Professor Hess has been a law teacher at Gonzaga University School of Law since 1988. He teaches courses in civil procedure, domestic and international environmental law, and litigation skills and professionalism.
Professor Hess is a co-author and co-editor of three books on teaching and learning in law school: Techniques for Teaching Law (1999), Teaching the Law School Curriculum (2003), and Teaching Law By Design: Engaging Students from Syllabus to Final Exam (2009). He co-produced two videotapes and accompanying faculty development materials: Principles for Enhancing Legal Education and Teach to the Whole Class: Barriers and Pathways to Learning. He has published twelve journal articles on faculty development, curriculum design, and teaching and learning in law school.
Professor Hess founded the Institute for Law School Teaching at Gonzaga University School of Law in 1991 and is currently a Co-Director of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning. He has served as a co-editor of The Law Teacher, as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Journal of Legal Education, and as an inaugural member of the editorial board of the Canadian Legal Education Annual Review. Professor Hess is a frequent speaker at national conferences about legal education. He conducts workshops on law teaching at law schools in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Professor Hess has been the chair of the AALS Teaching Methods Section and is a faculty member and educational consultant at the National Judicial College.
Project Investigators
Michael Hunter Schwartz
Washburn University School of Law
1700 SW College Ave., Room 309
Topeka, KS 66621
(785) 670-1666
michael.schwartz [at] washburn.edu
Sophie M. Sparrow
Franklin Pierce Law Center
2 White Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 513-5205
ssparrow [at] piercelaw.edu
Gerald Hess
Gonzaga University School of Law
PO Box 3528
Spokane, WA 99220-3528
(509) 313-3779
ghess [at] lawschool.gonzaga.edu
