Adjunct Professors
Thomas W. Adams
Thomas W. Adams teaches Patent Law and Practice. Visit website here.
Amy Blenkhorn
Amy Blenkhorn has been teaching Estates & Trusts at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law since 1999. She served as a visiting professor in the 2001-2002 school year and taught Property as well. Prior to joining Cleveland-Marshall, she was a Vice President in the Office of Consul at McDonald Trust Company. Other teaching experience includes appointment as an Ethics, Legal Research, and Probate instructor at Dyke College. Professor Blenkhorn also was an associate attorney with Squire Sanders & Dempsey in the Probate and Estate Planning Department. She began her legal career as an associate attorney with Rosenzweig, Schulz & Gillombardo. Professor Blenkhorn received her Juris Doctor from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She holds an undergraduate degree in Social Service from Cleveland State University where she received the President’s Award for Outstanding Senior of the Year. She has been published in the Cleveland State University Law Review and is a former estate planning lecturer for the Center for Health Affairs of Cleveland and Fairview General Hospital.
Maureen A. Brennan
Maureen Brennan is a partner at Baker Hostetler specializing in environmental litigation. Her work falls under all the major federal environmental statutes and includes cases involving coal mines, solid and hazardous waste landfills, public drinking water supplies and newspaper print operations. Previously she worked as an attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and as an in-house environmental lawyer at TRW, Inc. She taught Environmental Law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law for many years and has written and lectured extensively on environmental issues. She received her J.D. from Boston College, cum laude, in 1977. She teaches Environmental Law and Regulation.
Julia Brouhard
Julia Brouhard is a partner at Ray, Robinson, Carle, & Davies P.L.L. She received her law degree from the University of Houston and practiced in Texas before moving to Cleveland in 1989. She has served as a Trustee of the Cleveland Bar Association and in 2001-2002 chaired its Certified Grievance Committee. She taught Legal Profession in the evening in the Fall 2006.
George Buckingham
George Buckingham is an Assistant Professor in the Management and Labor Department at the C.S.U. School of Business Administration. He regularly teaches a course on Mediation that is open to law students. See Professor Buckingham's Faculty Profile here.
Matthew T. Fitzsimmons
Matthew T. Fitzsimmons is a partner at Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper, LLC in Cleveland. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1975 with an A.B. in Government, and the University of Dayton School of Law in 1980. From 1980 through 1982 he served as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Frank D. Celebrezze of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Since 1982, he has been engaged in the private practice of law, with a focus in general civil and business/commercial litigation at the trial and appellate levels. His principal practice areas include business, commercial, employment and product liability litigation; health care law; ad valorem property tax litigation; and non-profit organizations. He is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of Ohio, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He will teach Mediation in the spring of 2008 with Judge Daniel Polster, Federal District Court Judge for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio.
Charles E. Fleming
Charles E. Fleming is an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Federal Public Defender Office for the Northern District of Ohio. He has held that appointment since 1992. Fleming received his B.A. from Kent State and his law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. After law school he was an attorney with the Forbes, Forbes & Associates Law Firm where he had a general practice. He co-teaches Trial Advocacy with David Barnhizer and Carole Rendon.
Gordon Friedman
Gordon Friedman teaches Criminal Procedure. Visit website here, under partner profiles.
Ian N. Friedman
Ian Friedman is a solo practitioner who specializes in criminal defense at the municipal, state and federal levels. He has been lead counsel in over one hundred jury trials and represented clients in approximately twenty states. He is a nationally recognized expert on electronic evidence and lectures across the country on this and other issues that affect criminal defense and he has written several articles on current criminal topics. He graduated from Cleveland-Marshall in 1997. He is a member of the Cleveland-Marshall Criminal Justice Advisory Board. He teaches Computers and the Law: Criminal.
Michael P. Harvey
Michael P. Harvey is Managing Partner of Michael P. Harvey Co., L.P.A., established 1994 in Cleveland. Professor Harvey has been teaching legal writing courses at Cleveland-Marshall since 1988, and has been a Trustee of the Law Alumni Association since 2000. His practice areas are small business, employment, commercial litigation and trade secrets, labor and employment, business law, litigation, unfair competition, corporate, civil rights, commercial law, computers and software, contracts, disabilities, franchises and franchising, and trial and appellate. He received a B.S. from Worcester State College in 1980, the M.Ed. from University of Hartford in 1982, and his J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall in 1987, where he also served as Articles Editor 1986-87 of the Cleveland State Law Review. He is a frequent speaker on labor and business issues. Professor Harvey was Law Clerk to Chief Judge John F. Ray, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, N.E. Ohio, in 1987-88. He has been an Arbitrator for Aaa Commercial/Construction Panel, since 1995, and for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas since 1993. He served as Chair of the Cleveland Bar Association Employment Law Practice and Procedure Seminar in 1992-99 and the Practice and Procedure Clinic in 1992-95, and as Co-Chair of the Cleveland Bar Labor and Employment Seminar in 2000-02. He was a member of the Cose Leadership Council in 1994-97, and has been Chair of the Rocky River Planning Commission since 1996. He was Chair of Cleveland Bar Association Employment and Labor Law Section in 2001-02 and Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, and a Member of Ohio State Bar Association Business and Litigation Committee. Professor Harvey can be reached at mpharveyco@aol.com
Robert Glickman
Robert Glickman is a partner at McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal and Liffman Co., L.P.A.; he served as judge on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. He teaches Trial Advocacy.
Joseph N Gross
Joseph N. Gross is a Partner at Benesch Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, LLP. He is an OSBA Board Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law and a member of Benesch’s China Group, which assists clients with China-related transactions and business matters. He is also active in matters related to legal ethics. As a member of the Cleveland Bar Association, he is currently the Chair of the Certified Grievance Committee (which investigates alleged misconduct by lawyers and judges) and the Past Chair of the Committee on Ethics and Professionalism (which provides guidance about proper ethical conduct by lawyers and judges). He is a 1991 graduate of Cleveland-Marshall. He teaches Legal Profession.
Suzanne Hanselman
Suzanne Hansleman teaches Securities Regulation. Visit website here.
Daniel R. Karon
Daniel R. Karon teaches Class Actions. Visit website here.
Margaret Koesel
Margaret Koesel is an attorney with Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, where her practice focuses on employment, business and commercial litigation. She has significant trial experience and has argued appeals in various Ohio courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of Ohio. She teaches Ohio Civil Procedure. Visit website here.
Michael Krajcer
Michael Krajcer teaches Tax Practice and Procedures. Visit website here.
Jonathan B. Leiken
Jonathan Leiken is an associate at Jones Day where his practice focuses on defending businesses and individuals in white-collar criminal, regulatory, and complex civil proceedings. From 2001-2004 he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York where he worked on several terrorism related matters and represented the United States in criminal prosecutions and investigations in cases involving corporate fraud and embezzlement, securities fraud, tax fraud, public corruption, bank fraud, terrorism, organized crime, narcotics offenses, gang-related offenses, and threats against the president. He has taught Counterterrorism Law and Policy at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, participated in conferences on terrorism and published in the area. See Leaving Wonderland: Distinguishing Terrorism from Other Types of Crime, 37 CASE W. RES. J. INT’L L. 501 (2005). He received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1997. He is a member of the Cleveland-Marshall Criminal Justice Advisory Board. He teaches Legal Responses to Terrorism.
David W. Leopold
David W. Leopold is the principal of David Wolfe Leopold & Associates, Co. LPA, based in Cleveland, Ohio. He has earned Martindale-Hubble’s highest AV rating, is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and has been named an Ohio Super Lawyer. Mr. Leopold’s practice focus is removal defense, federal court litigation, business and family immigration and consular processing. His analysis of cutting edge immigration issues appear frequently in the national media including The New York Times, Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Financial News, CNN, Court TV, National Public Radio and ABC News Radio. Mr. Leopold is a national executive officer of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), currently serving as the association’s Vice President. He has served as AILA’s liaison to the Department of Homeland Security’s key enforcement bureaus and co-founded the American Immigration Law Foundation’s Litigation Institute, a hands-on continuing legal education program focused on federal immigration litigation. Mr. Leopold lectures on immigration law throughout the U.S., serves as a Senior Editor of the Immigration & Nationality Handbook; and is a contributing author to the Visa Processing Guide. His representative cases include: Mendieta-Robles v. Gonzales, 2007 FED App. 0387N (6th Cir.2007); Tilley v. Gonzales, 2007 FED App. 0295N (6th Cir.2007); Pak v. Reno, 196 F.3d 666 (6th Cir. 1999); Pulice v. INS, 218 F.3d 505 (6th Cir. 2000); Roman v. Ashcroft, 340 F.3d 314 (6th Cir. 2003); Rosales-Garcia v. Holland, 322 F.3d 386 (6th Cir. 2003)(en banc); Roman v. Ashcroft, 181 F. Supp. 2d 808 (N.D. Ohio 2002); Denko v. Ashcroft, 351 F.3d 717 (6th Cir. 2003); Cline v. Catholic Diocese, 206 F.3d 651 (6th Cir. 1999). He teaches Immigration Law, Asylum Law and Business Immigration Law.
Lisa K. Levine
Lisa K. Levine is Corporate Counsel to The Scott Fetzer Company, which is owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. As Corporate Counsel, Ms. Levine advises with respect to transactional, employment and litigation matters for the companies. Prior to joining The Scott Fetzer Company in 2005, Ms. Levine was associate counsel for IMG, a global sports marketing firm. At IMG, Ms. Levine’s focus was on drafting and reviewing sponsorship, endorsement, internet, site and license agreements for athletes and events. In addition, she advised the company’s human resources department and managed litigation. Prior to joining IMG, Ms. Levine spent two years in litigation practice with a medium-sized firm, focusing on intellectual property and employment issues. Ms. Levine is a graduate of Virginia Tech (B.A.) and the College of William and Mary (M.A.), with degrees in English. She earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence (magna cum laude) from Syracuse University College of Law. Ms. Levine teaches Sports Law.
Edward F. Marek
Edward Marek was the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Ohio from 1973 to 1994. Prior to becoming Federal Public Defender, he served in the Department of Justice and as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Professor Marek was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure from 1987 to 1993. He has taught evidence and criminal procedure as a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law since 1972. Professor Marek authored FEDERAL CRIMINAL RULES AND PRACTICE (1996-98) and coauthored FEDERAL CRIMINAL PRACTICE (2005-07); both books are published by James Publishing. Professor Marek may be reached at efmarek@cox.net or 440-457-2014. He teaches Criminal Procedure and Evidence.
Sarah Moore
Sarah Moore is a Partner at King & Moore Co., L.P.A. where she represents union and labor organizations, businesses and individuals in labor and employment matters in court and agency proceedings as well as negotiations, mediations, and arbitrations. Formerly she was Legal Counsel for Labor Relations for the Cleveland Municipal School District and an Associate at Chattman, Gaines & Stern, with a focus in labor and general civil litigation. She received her B.A. from Canisius College in 1992 and her J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University in 1995. She has taught Labor Law at the C.S.U. Nance College of Business Administration since 2004. She teaches Labor Law and Employment Law.
Thomas A. Moran
Thomas A. Moran obtained a professional license to practice canon law after completing the required course of studies at the School of Canon Law at The Catholic University of America. He remained at The Catholic University of America for further studies and research. Mr. Moran received his doctoral degree in canon law in 1988. Mr. Moran has practiced as a canon lawyer for over twenty years. In addition to his teaching duties at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, he provides consulting services in canon law to law firms and attorneys throughout the United States.
Benita Pearson
Benita Pearson is an Assistant United States Attorney, in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. She is assigned to the Organized Crime and Public Corruptions Strike Force where she specializes in investigating and prosecuting complex white collar corruption matters involving public officials. After graduating she was an associate at McDonald Hopkins Burke and Haber Co. L.P.A. and a law clerk for the Honorable John M. Manos, Federal Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office she was an associate at Jones Day. She graduated from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1995. She teaches Animal Law.
Carole Schwartz Rendon
Carole Schwartz Rendon is a partner at Giffen & Kaminski, LLC, a relatively new firm in Cleveland (begun in 2003 by two women, one of whom is the 2007-08 President of the Cleveland Bar Association). Rendon is an experienced trial lawyer with a practice that focuses on criminal defense in federal and state court. She clerked for Judge Joel M. Flaum, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and then was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Boston Massachusetts for nine years where she worked in the Organized Crime Strike Force Unit and was Chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. For the past ten years she has been in private practice. Rendon received her B.A. (summa cum laude 1984) and her J.D. (cum laude 1987) from Northwestern University. She co-teaches Trial Advocacy with David Barnhizer and Charles Fleming.
Patricia Ritzert
Patricia Ritzert is an attorney with Persky, Shapiro & Arnoff Co., L.P.A., where she concentrates on business and tax planning for non-publicly held companies; writing tax-qualified employee benefit plans; advising plan administrators; and resolving and litigating employment problems. Professor Ritzert received her J.D. from the University of Akron, where she also received a Master of Taxation from the University’s School of Business Administration. She earned her LL.M. in Taxation from Case Western Reserve University. Professor Ritzert teaches Tax II.
David Schweighoefer
David Schweighoefer received his J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall and has been employed by the Cleveland Clinic Health System since 1996. He is currently Regional Director for Behavioral Medicine and has designed, developed and implemented behavioral medicine services throughout the eastern region of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Health System, including new and renovated facilities for both inpatient and outpatient programs. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of Laurelwood Hospital, a psychiatric and sustance abuse treatment hospital that was part of the Mt. Sinai Health Care System. He teaches Psychiatry & Law and Health Care Law.
Stephen G. Sozio
Stephen G. Sozio taught Criminal Procedure for many years and now teaches White Collar Crime. He is a partner at Jones Day. Visit website here.
Michael Spielman
Michael Spielman, an attorney and certified public accountant, is Of Counsel to Kahn Kleinman, LPA in Cleveland, Ohio. He focuses his practice on domestic and international taxation, trusts and estates, and business matters for private clients and their related entities. He also has extensive U.S. and foreign transactional structuring experience for public and private business clients.
Mr. Spielman is currently updating RIA Thomson's U.S. International Estate Planning, a leading legal treatise on U.S. cross-border estate planning and taxation. He is an adjunct Lecturer at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University, where he teaches tax law, and in the Department of Accountancy at Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management, where he developed and teaches a new seminar on personal retirement planning. Mr. Spielman is a frequent speaker on tax, estate and asset protection planning at local and national professional seminars and conferences.
Within the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, Mr. Spielman is a Co-Vice Chair of the International Tax Planning Committee, and is a member of the Membership Committee. He also serves as an Acquisitions Editor for the Books and Media Committee and is a former Fellow. Mr. Spielman is a member of the board of directors of the American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants and co-chairs the Asset Protection Committee.
Mr. Spielman earned his undergraduate degree from Washington University, St. Louis. At Case Western Reserve University, he earned his M.B.A. Beta Gamma Sigma, and his J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif. Mr. Spielman received his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.
Prior to returning to Cleveland, Mr. Spielman was an attorney advisor to Judge Renato Beghe at the U.S. Tax Court, where he focused on litigated estate and gift tax cases, and in private practice at an international law firm in Washington, D.C. He is admitted to practice in Connecticut, New York, Ohio and the District of Columbia.
Further biographical information about Mr. Spielman can be found his law firm’s website at http://www.kahnkleinman.com
Ashoke Talukdar
Ashoke Talukdar teaches Corporations. Mr. Talukdar is a Staff Attorney at The MetroHealth System in Cleveland where he has primary responsibility for corporate information security, disaster recovery and business continuity planning, internal audits, and drafting and negotiating complex corporate agreements regarding technology infrastructure, telecommunications services, and enterprise software procurement. He received his B.S. (magna cum laude) from Davidson College, his M.S. from Case Western Reserve University, and his J.D. (magna cum laude) from Cleveland-Marshall. He has published both in the engineering filed and in law, most recently The Voice of Reason: The Corporate Compliance Office and the Regulated Corporate Environment, 6 U.C. Davis Bus. L. J. 3 (2005).
Thomas C. Wagner
Thomas Wagner is a co-managing member of Van Deusen & Wagner where he specializes in securities arbitration and civil litigation. Prior to that he was a Director of a general civil litigation firm where, in addition to representing parties before the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) he also served as a panelist and chairperson on NASD arbitration panels. He is an Arbitrator and Mediator for the NASD, the New York Stock Exchange and the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. He is a 1984 graduate of Cleveland-Marshall. He teaches Arbitration.
Michael Warrell
Professor Warrell received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Swarthmore College in 1976 and received his law degree from the Ohio State University College of Law in 1980. He has spent his entire legal career as a litigator with a major emphasis on the resolution of business disputes through alternative dispute resolution. He has often served as an arbitrator or mediator of business disputes and is a frequent lecturer at business seminars, particularly in the field of construction contract claims. Professor Warrell has taught Remedies at CSU nearly every year since 1985 and now also regularly teaches both Ohio Civil Procedure and the Mediation “short course.”