New Dean at Pace Law School

I am pleased to share the news that Pace Law School has a new dean, the first dean to rise through the ranks of our faculty. The press release is reproduced below. The happy announcement came during our commencement ceremony yesterday morning. The day was lovely, and we were extremely fortunate that the rain held off until shortly after the ceremony ended. Another highlight of the event was a very moving address by our honorary degree recipient, Judge Theodore T. Jones, the newest member of the New York Court of Appeals. Judge Jones exhorted our new graduates to take seriously the legal profession's commitment to pro bono service, and discussed one pro bono case he took on where his client was acquitted despite all the odds being against him.

"Michelle Simon Named Dean of Pace Law School

We are proud to announce that Michelle S. Simon has been appointed dean of the school, effective May 18, 2008. She has served as interim dean since June 4, 2007 when she succeeded Stephen J. Friedman, who became president of Pace University.
Dean Simon has been a member of the Pace law faculty since 1985 and full professor since 2003. She is an expert in criminal law, civil procedure, and legal writing, all of which she teaches, and in which she has authored or co-authored 17 articles and book chapters on topics ranging from instructions to juries in criminal cases, guilty-plea negotiations, sex offenses, legal issues in AIDS, search and seizure procedures, and the legal autonomy of cities in urban planning.
Her extensive administrative experience at Pace Law School includes service as associate dean of academic affairs from 2001 to 2006 and work on 16 committees, including one on academic standards and another conducting a self-study, both of which she chaired. Until her new appointment, she directed the school’s programs in judicial studies and legal writing. She also has served for 10 years on the board of education of the Eastchester Union Free School district in Westchester County , which she now chairs.
Simon is a recipient of two top awards from Pace Law School, the Richard L. Ottinger Award for Teaching Excellence, 2000-2001, and the President’s Award for Excellence, 2003-2004.
A cum laude anthropology major at the State University of New York at Albany, she earned her JD, also cum laude, from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1981, having served for two years on the law review, the last one as the senior lead articles editor. After law school she clerked for Judge A. Simon Chrein, a United States Magistrate for the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and practiced for four years in the areas of products liability litigation and insurance defense as an associate at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker in New York City."