“Stirring the Mix: Using Literary Works to Explore the Elements of Judicial Decision-making” will be the next topic in the University of North Dakota (UND) Faculty Lecture Series. Patti Alleva, UND professor of law, will deliver the presentation Thursday, April 16, at the North Dakota Museum of Art. A reception starts at 4 p.m., followed by the lecture at 4:30 p.m.

Professor Alleva will talk about her work using the self-reflective power of literature as a platform for examining the decisional factors which may influence judges and the importance of broadening the traditional legal framework for understanding the nature of judicial judgment.

The UND University Faculty Lectures have been held regularly on campus since 1997, cultivating a stronger academic atmosphere by showcasing the scholarly lives of several faculty members, selected across the disciplines. The lectures present the scholarly questions and goals of individual faculty members. In presenting their scholarship, the lecturers share the enthusiasm and dedication that sustains their creative efforts.

The UND University Faculty Lecture Series is free and open to the public.

Patti Alleva

Alleva is the Rodney & Betty Webb Professor of Law at the UND School of Law.  Born and raised in New York City, she graduated summa cum laude from Hofstra University with a bachelor's degree in American history and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. She received her juris doctor from Hofstra Law School, where she was Articles Editor of the Hofstra Law Review. After graduation, she clerked for Chief Judge Clarkston Fisher of the U.S. District Court of New Jersey. She practiced law in New York City at Proskauer Rose in the firm's litigation department for six years before coming to North Dakota in 1987. 

Alleva teaches civil procedure, federal courts, and advanced civil litigation. She also teaches “Professional Visions: Law, Literature, and the Role of Lawyers in the Social Order,” an innovative capstone course that she designed to explore professional identity and judgment. She has taught in the Emory University School of Law’s Trial Techniques Program.

Alleva is a two-time recipient of UND’s Lydia & Arthur Saiki Prize for Graduate/Professional Teaching Excellence (1989, 2006). She also is a Bush Teaching Scholar and a three-time winner of UND’s outstanding student organization adviser award. She has presented regionally and nationally on the scholarship of teaching and learning as well as on legal education reform.

On the judicial side, Alleva has been a featured presenter at the National Workshop for U.S. Magistrate Judges, sponsored by the Federal Judicial Center (the Congressionally created education agency for the federal courts).  She also served as the reporter for the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group for the District of North Dakota, which is charged by Congress to improve the federal civil litigation process. 

Alleva also has been a member of the executive committee of the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Federal Courts and has published in the area of federal jurisdiction.  She was a member of the North Dakota Supreme Court’s Commission on Gender Fairness in the Courts and is now a Master of the Bench in the local chapter of the American Inns of Court, a national organization bringing together judges and lawyers in order to enhance the professionalism and skills of bench and bar.

Alleva has served UND on various committees and promoted interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue, including spearheading creation of the law school’s Northern Plains Indian Law Center; serving on the UND Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity; helping to improve the faculty advancement process campus-wide as a member of the Joint Provost/Senate Committee on Promotion and Tenure; coordinating the recent visit of psychologist Carol Gilligan as the law school’s Inaugural Distinguished-Scholar-in-Residence; serving on UND?s PEW Charitable Trusts Higher Education Roundtable; and moderating a Writers Conference panel which included author Louise Erdrich.

Contacts

Patti Alleva, professor

UND School of Law

(701) 777-2961/2239

alleva@law.und.edu

Rob Carolin, director of alumni and public relations

UND School of Law

(701) 777-2104/2856

rob.carolin@law.und.edu