Teaching Law: A Framework for Instructional Mastery

While there are many good books to aid those seeking a career in teaching, Miller's work seeks to fill the vacuum that currently exists in law teaching specifically. The 14 chapters, which follow a typical 14-week law school term, include the following topics: Course Objectives, Syllabi, Lectures, Socratic Method, Differentiating Instruction, Integrating Instruction, Assessment, Multiple Choice Questions, Essay Questions, and Scoring and Grading. There is also a beginning chapter on Pedagogy to help law professors appreciate the various theoretical schools on education and the history of law teaching, and a concluding chapter on Teaching Vision.

The book also includes Reflections; short outtakes throughout the work which encourage the reader to pause and reflect on what he or she just read, as well as Exercises at the end of each chapter to help reinforce what one has just read.

Finally, but just as importantly, Vickie Eggers has created a CD that accompanies this book. In it, she uses a Powerpoint presentation to illustrate each chapter of the book in a way that further enhances the reader's comprehension of the overall work.

Whether a lawyer considering entry into the field of teaching law or a seasoned law professor, Miller's work provides exceptional guidance, advice, and tips to help one reach his or her potential as a legal instructor.

This multimedia collection includes a paperback book plus CD. Use of the CD requires Microsoft Powerpoint on the end-user's computer (Powerpoint is NOT included as a part of this CD). Contents of the CD are for individual use and may not be added to a network that allows simultaneous access to the CD's contents.

Nelson Miller is a Professor and Associate Dean at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Dean Miller practiced civil litigation for 16 years from 1987 to 2004 before joining the Cooley faculty. While in law practice, he argued cases before the Michigan Supreme Court, Michigan Court of Appeals, and United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, as well as writing briefs filed in the United States Supreme Court. He also won and defended multi-million dollar jury trials, and tried cases in products liability, personal injury, airliner and helicopter crashes, civil rights, securities, employment, real estate, and business disputes. Dean Miller's law practice was in both the state and federal courts, representing individuals, private corporations, non-profit corporations, government agencies, public schools, and public and private universities.

Dean Miller has served the State Bar of Michigan in several capacities including as an appointed and elected member of its Representative Assembly and an appointed member of its Law-Related Education Committee, Equal Access Initiative Committee, Criminal Issues Initiative, and Publications and Websites Advisory Committee. His other public service includes writing United States Supreme Court amicus briefs for public interest organizations, providing pro-bono legal services to individuals at several community centers in West Michigan, forming and advising charitable and religious non-profit organizations, and serving as president and treasurer of a public charter school academy. Dean Miller also serves as president of the Kent County Legal Assistance Center, a public-private partnership organization that provides legal forms and information to thousands of unrepresented litigants every year. He has also written a manual and rating system for charitable non-profit organizations, edited a manual for pro bono legal aid, and presented on pro se legal services at the ABA/NLADA annual conference and other conferences.

Dean Miller's scholarly publications have been in the areas of torts, civil procedure, international law, constitutional law, university law, professional responsibility, bioethics, and legal history, philosophy, and education. The Journal of Legal Education, Journal of the Legal Profession, Penn State Law Review, Louisiana Law Review, New England Law Review, Whittier Law Review, University of Detroit-Mercy Law Review, Regent Journal of International Law, Journal of College and University Law, Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, Southern Methodist University Science & Technology Law Review, Cooley Law Review, and Thomas M. Cooley Journal of Practical & Clinical Law have published or are currently publishing articles by Dean Miller, who also has book reviews published in the Michigan Law Review and Journal of Markets & Morality. Dean Miller is also the co-editor of and contributing author to the book Reflections of a Lawyer's Soul-The Institutional Experience of Professionalism at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Dean Miller has written practical materials on torts, civil procedure, damages, and government representation, in book chapters for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and articles for the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal and Michigan Bar Journal.

In February 2005, the State Bar of Michigan recognized Dean Miller as a Citizen Lawyer and in September 2005 gave him the John W. Cummiskey Award for pro-bono service. At Cooley, Dean Miller teaches Torts I and II, Professional Responsibility, No-Fault Insurance Law, Advanced Professional Ethics, Tax-Exempt Organizations, Health Law, and Employment and Workplace Discrimination Law. He is also the Associate Dean of Cooley's Grand Rapids campus.