Statement of Purpose
The Justice Institute for the Legal Profession is dedicated to a deeper understanding of the values and aspirations that drew all of us to the law. Too often, for all of us as judges, lawyers and teachers, the day-to-day obligations of our work deny us the opportunity to reflect on the majesty and power of the law. Through the humanities, particularly through readings in literature and philosophy, the Justice Institute offers programming and the opportunity for us to step back from our work day obligations and reflect upon the role of law in our society and our roles within it.
Programs and Services
The Justice Institute for the Legal Profession engages in a variety of activities including teaching, facilitating and publishing all for the deeper understanding of professional values for lawyers, judges, law teachers, and law students.
The Justice Institute offers flexible programming in a seminar setting, which is specifically tailored for its audience. The Justice Institute has facilitated seminars for as short a period as three hours to as long as three and one-half days. Each program has generated its own set of materials that can be used to help other organizations look at issues of law and justice through the humanities.
Inside Peek of Past Programs
Annual Ohio Seminar
Since 1999, The Justice Institute for the Legal Profession has offered an annual seminar for senior lawyers, judges and academics in a retreat setting. This three and a half day program has provided an opportunity for in-depth reading and conversation regarding the values and aspirations that brought us to the law.
Law & Literature Seminar
The inaugural seminar of the "Law & Literature" series kicked off in February 2006 and focused exclusively on American literature, exploring the concepts of law and justice in the United States from the early 19th century through the Great Depression. This two and a half day program included discussions of works by Mark Twain, Susan Glaspell, and John Steinbeck.
Law, Justice & Culture
This unique seminar began in June 2005 in a magnificent house in Tuscany, Italy, with a small and intimate group of senior attorneys and judges, and included 14 hours of CLE and a trip to Florence Italy. The tradition continued in July 2006 with three villas, and plans are in the works for 2007.
Tennessee Judicial Conference
This half-day program titled, “Law, Justice & Judicial Leadership,” was before an audience of Tennessee judges as part of their annual seminar in October 2003.
Toledo Bar Association
In the fall of 2003, our board presented a six hour program for the local bar association in Toledo, Ohio, discussing "Law, Justice & the Legal Profession."
American Judicature Society
In February 2003, this three hour seminar was presented to the Board of Directors of the American Judicature Society in Santa Fe, New Mexico in which our facilitators explored the topic of "Truth, Justice and the Law."
Conference of Chief Justices
In January 2003, we offered a three hour session titled "Law, Justice & Judicial Leadership" at the midyear meeting of the Conference of Chief Justices in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Cincinnati Bar Association Bench-Bar Conference
Before an audience of Cincinnati judges and senior lawyers, our board facilitated a two day session, focusing on "Law, Justice and the Legal Profession" in the winter of 2003.
Thompson Hine, LLP Seminar
In November 2002, our facilitators presented a two day seminar titled, "Law, Justice and the Legal Profession," to the Cincinnati, Ohio office of the international law firm of Thompson Hine, LLP.
Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College
In April 2001, we presented a three-hour program to Ohio judges discussing, "Ethics and Literature."
Sample Programs
- Truth, Justice & Law
- Law & Morality
- Law, Society & Culture
- Making and Thinking Law
- Language of the Law
- Law and the Legal Profession
- The Future of Justice and the Adversarial System
- The State and Future of the Legal Profession
For additional information or to learn more about the Justice Institute for the Legal Profession's programs, please contact:
Julie Palermo: jbpalermo@justiceinstitute.net
Law School Seminar
Offering an annual seminar titled, “Law in Literature & Philosophy,” at the University of Cincinnati College of Law since 2000, Dean Tomain and Michael Cioffi introduce issues of professionalism and values in the legal profession, but also challenge their students to discussions of social justice and the role of community service. The seminar covers centuries of stimulating literature from Sophocles’ Antigone to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities.
Publications and Presentations
Between Law and Virtue
71 Univ. of Cincinnati Law Review 585 (2002) (with Watts).
Augustine in Chicago
(Review essay of M. Lilla, The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Polities and R. Posner, Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline), 51 Journal of Legal Education 610 (2001).
A Code of One's Own
15 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy 153 (2001).
Presentation
Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, Legal Education Symposium, March 22, 2001.
Introduction, Robert S. Marx Lecture: The Art of Rhetoric
67 Univ. of Cincinnati Law Review 669 (1999).
The Ancient Quarrel
Eighth Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities, Austin, Texas, March 11-12, 2005.
The Legal Profession and the Humanities
Denison University Convocation, February 24, 2004.
Using the Humanities to Teach Legal Ethics and Professionalism
Teaching Ethics to the Public, Private and Professional Sectors: Conference, Brisbane, Australia, April 7-8, 2001
Introduction, Robert S. Marx Lecture: The Art of Rhetoric
67 Univ. of Cincinnati Law Review 669 (1999). |
