Cincinnati Law
counselor

Dear Friends,

As I write this letter, our students, faculty, and staff are settling into our new space, having made a big move from the corner of Clifton and Calhoun to the heart of campus.   Steps away from Lindner College of Business and Langsam Library, the College has views of Campus Green on one side and Burnet Woods on the other.  The interior is bright and light-filled, with plenty of space for students to congregate, collaborate, and study.   In any given moment, a passerby might see students chatting on the social stairs, taking a course in the multi-purpose room, or getting ready for class in one of the many study rooms overlooking the atrium.  Simply put, the new building is brimming with activity and possibility, fitting attributes for this dynamic law school. 

While the College starts a new chapter, I also am turning a page, leaving Cincinnati Law to lead Equal Justice Works, a national nonprofit organization that provides public interest fellowships for junior attorneys.   Making this move means saying goodbye to the warm and welcoming community that has been my home for the past 21 years.  

Serving as dean these past five years has been the proverbial icing on the cake.  What a pleasure and privilege to work with dedicated staff and faculty to provide students the excellent education they deserve.  Together, we have advanced the College’s mission in important ways: 

• The academic profile of entering students, bar passage rate of graduating students, and post-graduation employment rate of students has increased.  
• We’ve added a new degree to our academic program – an online master’s in legal studies specializing in business law, which has grown each term.
• Motivated by the turbulent summer of 2020, we have focused on creating a more inclusive college by such means as the Bias-Related Incident Tool to track and address student complaints, modifying teaching evaluations to assess instructor success implementing inclusive practices, and training faculty and staff about best practices in equity in the context of race, sexual orientation, and disability.
• In partnership with the Hamilton County Court Clerk’s office, we established the Help Center bringing UC attorneys, law students, as well as College of Allied Health Sciences Master of Social Work student interns together to assist unrepresented litigants. Building on that successful program, we created the Legal Access Clinic, which launches this fall, to serve the many Cincinnatians lacking legal representation.  

These are only our most recent achievements, building upon such successes as developing post-graduate fellowships in corporations, naming the Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice for the late Sixth Circuit Judge Nathaniel R. Jones, providing scores of local businesses with free legal assistance through the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic, and exonerating 34 wrongly convicted persons through the Ohio Innocence Project.  

Looking back over our trajectory these past few years, some of which were the most difficult time in recent memory, I am extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished and grateful for the support of our community in making so much possible.  I look forward to seeing the progress the next few years will bring.  

Warmly,

Verna Williams
Dean and Nippert Professor of Law