Faculty

Leslie Shaver is Deputy Title IX Coordinator for the University of Nebraska and a lecturer for the University of Nebraska College of Law. She teaches Civil and Criminal Litigation, an undergraduate course in the Business and Law minor/major program. 

I am an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Nebraska, where I teach Contracts, Unfair Competition, and Remedies, as well as a fellow with the Stanford Law School Program in Law, Science and Technology. I hold a JD from Harvard Law School (2010, cum laude). Before my current appointment, I practiced at Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston and at two Rochester firms, with a year in between as a law clerk for Judge Richard Wesley of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Elizabeth (Liz) Cole joined the faculty in 2024 as the Director of the Innocence Clinic. Prior to joining the College of Law, she was the Clinical Teaching Fellow at the University of Michigan Law School's Michigan Innocence Clinic. She previously worked in criminal defense, both as a public defender and private counsel in the Pittsburgh PA area. During law school, Liz also interned for public defender offices in Baltimore MD and the greater Boston MA area, as well as for the Michigan Innocence Clinic. 

Elana Zeide teaches, researches, and writes about privacy and the legal, policy, and ethical implications of data-driven systems and artificial intelligence. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and part of its new interdisciplinary Nebraska Governance and Technology Center. Her work focuses on the modern day permanent record and how new learning, hiring, and workplace technologies impact education and access to opportunity.

Professor Wilson joined the faculty in 1993. She received her bachelor's degree (summa cum laude) from Creighton University. She received her law degree from the University of Alabama, where she was selected to the Orders of the Coif and Barristers. After law school, Professor Wilson served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert S. Vance, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit. Prior to joining the Nebraska faculty, she was a litigation associate with the Atlanta law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan.

Professor Willborn joined the faculty in 1979. He received his B.A. degree in 1974 from Northland College and his M.S. and J.D. (cum laude, Order of the Coif) degrees in 1976 from the University of Wisconsin. While in law school, he served as a member and editor of the Wisconsin Law Review. Professor Willborn was in private practice from 1976 to 1979.

Professor Paul Weitzel joined the UNL faculty in 2022. Prior to that he worked in Silicon Valley and the Middle East conducting international transactions on six continents. His most notable deal was the initial public offering of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, the largest initial public offering to date. Professor Weitzel’s experience covers mergers and acquisitions, international and domestic capital markets, venture capital and infrastructure.

Prof. Von der Dunk was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in Vancouver, in October 2004, the Social Science Award of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) in Valencia, in October 2006, and the 2015 Social Science Book Award, International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), for the Handbook of Space Law, Jerusalem, October 2015.

Rachel Tomlinson Dick joined the College of Law in 2022 as a Housing Justice Fellow, helping to develop and institute the Housing Justice Clinic in its inaugural year. In 2023, Rachel was named Director of the Housing Justice Clinic, which focuses on serving vulnerable Nebraska families facing housing-related legal issues.

Professor Korey Taylor joined the College of Law faculty in 2023. Prior to entering academia, Professor Taylor spent thirteen years as an Assistant Public Defender in Omaha, Nebraska and Orlando, Florida where he practiced in criminal and juvenile parental rights law, including thirty-five jury trials. He has previous corporate experience with Sidley Austin LLP, a top 20 international law firm, and Fortune 500 companies J.P. Morgan Chase, Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson. Professor Taylor is licensed to practice law in Texas, New York, Florida and Nebraska.

Professor Sullivan joined the Law College faculty in August, 2013, as a supervising attorney in the Civil Clinical Law Program. He received his B.A. from Colorado State University-Pueblo while completing his enlistment in the U.S. Army, majoring in business administration. Thereafter he attended California University of Pennsylvania where he obtained his Master’s in Health Sciences. After a career in the fitness industry, he enrolled at UNL College of Law where he served as an editor of the Nebraska Law Review, the Chair of the Moot Court Board, and a member of the National Trial Team.

Professor Stohs joined the faculty in March 2012 to establish and direct a new in-house legal clinic that provides legal assistance to entrepreneurs and startup businesses. Since the Weibling Entrepreneurship Clinic opened in 2013, Professor Stohs has been pursuing research interests in the application of mind mapping software to clinical legal education. His particular interests relate to using mind mapping techniques to optimize client assignments to student participants in a live-client clinic. 

Jessica Shoemaker joined the law faculty in 2012 and is currently Professor of Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law. She has been recognized both nationally and internationally for her work on adaptive change in pluralistic land-tenure systems, as well as property law’s power to shape the contours of human communities and natural environments. Her work focuses specifically on issues of racial justice and agricultural sustainability in the American countryside and on systems of Indigenous land tenure and land governance in the United States and Canada.

Dr. Christal Sheppard was the first Director of the first United States Patent and Trademark Office located outside of the nation’s capital in 227 years. Prior to joining the Agency, she was assistant professor of law at the University of Nebraska where she co-founded a program of Concentrated Study in Intellectual Property law. In 2018, she joined IPwe, a patent based, startup company headquartered in Paris, France, as Executive Vice President for Strategy and Business Development.

Professor Schutz has been with the law school for nearly all of the last 20 years, beginning in 2000. During law school, he worked for Cline, Williams, Wright, Johnson, and Oldfather in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was editor-in-chief of the Nebraska Law Review. He graduated in 2003 with the highest distinction and clerked for the Honorable C. Arlen Beam of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit until 2005. During the 2004-2005 academic year he also taught Legal Research and Writing at the College of Law as an adjunct instructor.

Professor Schopp practiced clinical psychology before turning to the study of law and philosophy in an attempt to understand some perplexing issues that he encountered during ten years of clinical practice. So far, he remains perplexed, but he likes to think that he is perplexed in a deeper and more comprehensive manner. He joined the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1989 after completing the concurrent law/philosophy program at the University of Arizona. His primary areas of interest involve questions that lie at the intersection of law, psychology and philosophy.

Matthew Schaefer is the Clayton Yeutter Chair at the University of Nebraska College of Law and Yeutter Institute for International Trade and Finance.  Upon being name Yeutter Chair in January 2022, Professor Schaefer stated:  “I am very honored to be named the Yeutter Chair and continue to work with my remarkable colleagues to continue to grow the Yeutter Institute’s already significant reach in programming for students and stakeholders, and in research.  Clayton Yeutter’s outstanding government service was integral to the formation of the most important international trade agreements and i

Professor Ruser joined the Law College faculty in June, 1985, as a supervising attorney in the Civil Clinical Law Program. He received a B.A. from UNL in 1975, with an English major and a history minor. Professor Ruser attended UNL College of Law and received his J.D. in 1979. He worked for Western Nebraska Legal Services from 1979-1985; the first two years were spent in the Grand Island branch office, and the last four years were spent in the Scottsbluff office, where he was managing attorney.

Professor Potuto joined the faculty in 1974. She currently teaches Federal Jurisdiction, Constitutional Law, Sports Law, and Criminal Procedure. She also maintains a special interest in Conflict of Laws and Appellate Advocacy and, among other courses, has taught Mass Communications, Civil Procedure, Contract and Criminal Law. In 2003 Potuto received the Nebraska Alumni Outstanding Faculty Award.

Professor Placzek joined the Schmid Law Library faculty in October 1998 as an Assistant Professor and Reference Librarian. She received her B.A. in Art History from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1986, her J.D. from Creighton University School of Law in 1993, and a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Texas-Austin in 1995. Before coming to Nebraska, Professor Placzek worked as the Acquisitions/Reference Librarian at the Drake Law Library.

Professor Perlman received his B.A. in History in 1963 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his J.D.

Professor Pearlman is the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a professor of law library, and reference librarian. She teaches legal research in the First Year Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research course and serves as the faculty advisor to the Nebraska OUTLaw, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, Muslim Law Students Association and Disability Law Caucus student groups.  She also runs the Schmid Research Fellowship Program.

Michelle Paxton joined the College of Law in April, 2017 to create and lead the newest clinical program, the Children’s Justice Clinic. Ms. Paxton has served as the Director of Legal Training at University of Nebraska’s Center on Children, Families and the Law (CCFL). She develops curriculum and trains child welfare workers, probation officers, and mental health professionals on all aspects of juvenile court process and procedure in Nebraska. Ms. Paxton also receives Guardian ad Litem appointments from the Lancaster County Juvenile Court.

Matt Novak is a professor and reference librarian at the Marvin and Virginia Schmid Law Library of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law. Prior to joining the Schmid Law Library, he was an Assistant Public Defender with the Missouri Public Defender System. In addition to his reference duties, Professor Novak co-teaches the legal research component of the First Year Legal Research and Writing Course. He has lectured on legal research and legal information technology issues. Professor Novak received his B.A. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, his J.D.

Richard Moberly was appointed as the College of Law’s 17th Dean on April 1, 2017. Prior to this appointment, he served as the College’s Interim Dean in 2016 and as Associate Dean for Faculty from 2011 until 2016. He joined the law faculty in 2004 and has taught Evidence, Employment Law, a capstone course in Litigation, the Law of Secrecy, and in the Civil Clinic. In 2006 and 2011, he was voted the Professor of the Year by upperclass law students.

Professor Colleen Medill is nationally recognized as a scholar of Employee Benefits Law and as a teacher of Property and Legal Skills Development. Students who take one of her classes in Real Estate, Property, or Employee Benefits Law will have not only an award-winning teacher, but also a professor who is an elected member of the prestigious American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.

Elsbeth Magilton is the Director of Externships and a Lecturer at the University of Nebraska College of Law. From 2012-2024 Elsbeth served as the Executive Director of the Space, Cyber, and National Security Law Program, and she continues to teach U.S. Space Law and Policy and publish on space and security issues. Elsbeth was a 2023-2024 Scowcroft National Security Fellow at the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense in the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Mr. Lyons joined the faculty in 1981. He received his B.A. degree from Colby College in Waterville, Maine in 1969 and his J.D. degree (Cum Laude, Order of the Coif) from Boston College Law School in Newton, Massachusetts in 1973. Mr. Lyons was a member of the law review publications staff during his second year at Boston College Law School and served as Coordinating Casenote and Comment Editor of the Annual Survey of Massachusetts Law during his third year. Admitted in Maine, Massachusetts, and Nebraska and to the Bar of the United States Tax Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr.

Professor Lepard is a leading expert in the fields of international law, human rights law, comparative law, and tax law.  He joined the faculty in 1995. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1983. At Princeton, he was named a Scholar of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and concentrated on the study of international law and organization, receiving a prize from the Woodrow Wilson School for his thesis on the development of the idea of the League of Nations in France during the First World War.

Professor Lenich joined the faculty of the College of Law in 1984 and taught for 36 years before retiring in 2019.  Among the courses he taught were Antitrust, Appellate Advocacy, Federal Courts, Civil Procedure, and Remedies.  He also served as the Coach of the College’s National Moot Court Team from 1988 to 2007, as the Faculty Advisor to the Nebraska Moot Court Board from 1994 to 2002, and as a Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs from 2017 to 2018.

Richard Leiter is the Director of the Schmid Law Library and Marvin & Virginia Schmid Foundation Professor of Law. Although he assumed his current position in 2000, he had worked on the UNL law library staff years ago (1986-1988) as Public Services Librarian. He earned his undergraduate degree (with honors) in 1976 from the University of California, Santa Cruz, his J.D. in 1981 from Southwestern University School of Law, where he was an editor of the law review, and his MLIS in 1986 from the University of Texas at Austin.

Professor Kyle Langvardt joined the faculty in July 2020. He is a First Amendment scholar who focuses on the Internet’s implications for free expression both as a matter of constitutional doctrine and as a practical reality. His written work addresses new and confounding policy issues including tech addiction, the collapse of traditional gatekeepers in online media and 3D-printable weapons. 

Professor Kirst joined the faculty in 1974 and is a Professor of Law. In 1970 he received his J.D. degree from Stanford Law School where he served as a member of the Stanford Law Review. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1971 and the Nebraska Bar in 1974. He was employed as an associate by a New York City law firm from 1970-71 and served in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps from 1971-74. Professor Kirst teaches Civil Procedure, Evidence and Civil Rights Litigation.

Professor Johnson’s research sits at the intersection of administrative law, the separation of powers, and the law of democracy. His writing focuses on the ways democratic institutions, including Congress, the Presidency, and the Administrative State interact, and the ways in which the courts attempt to shape those interactions. Professor Johnson’s articles and essays have appeared in nationally recognized publications including Wake Forest Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, Boston University Law Review, and the Harvard Law Review Blog.

Professor Jefferis’s research focuses on theories of punishment and the law and policy governing prison and detention, with an emphasis on the for-profit prison industry and immigration-related confinement. She takes both critical and comparative approaches to her work, looking at carceral systems, practices, and theories around the world.

Professor Hoetger primarily researches how individuals make decisions regarding their legal rights, especially in the areas of criminal law and procedure. She is especially interested in applications of the Fourth Amendment, studying how expectations of privacy are evolving and how courts’ approaches to searches might need to change in response to new technological developments. Professor Hoetger uses her background in psychology to inform her research and utilizes empirical methods to help address the behavioral assumptions courts make. 

Sydney Hayes joined the faculty in 2023 as the Assistant Director of the First Amendment Clinic.  Prior to joining the University, she was a commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution associate at Husch Blackwell in Omaha, Nebraska.  She has experience in litigation involving complex constitutional issues and business disputes, among others.  In addition to her work with the University she continues to practice at the Law Office of Daniel Gutman.  Her practice focuses on civil rights, election, and ballot initiative issues.  

Professor Chelsi Hayden joined the law faculty in 2017. She is directing and teaching in the Legal Research and Writing program and teaching advanced legal writing courses. Her research focuses on Evidence, Legal Methods, Legal Writing, and Learning Theories. In addition, she often writes for the Kansas bar.

Prior to coming to Nebraska Law, Professor Hayden was a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Kansas, where she taught predominately litigation focused classes—Evidence, Lawyering Skills, Advanced Legal Writing, and legal-skills simulation workshops.  

Daniel joined the law school in 2023 as the Director of the First Amendment Clinic. He received his B.A. from American University and his J.D. from the University of Nebraska College of Law. After law school, Daniel served as a law clerk to the Honorable John M. Gerrard, U.S. District Judge for the District of Nebraska. He then spent several years in private practice litigating commercial disputes, constitutional claims, and election law matters. In addition to his work at the Law College, Daniel manages a small law firm specializing in civil rights and election law. 

Professor Emeritus Frank joined the faculty in 1972. He received his A.B. degree from Duke University in 1966 and a J.D. (cum laude, Order of the Coif) from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1972. From l966 to l968, he served in the Peace Corps in Libya. He was employed with the Legal Services Center for Dane County in Madison, Wisconsin, prior to coming to the University of Nebraska. Although now retired, Professor Frank still teaches Client Interviewing and Counseling and continues to help with the College's alumni magazine, The Nebraska Transcript, as editor emeritus.

Professor Duncan joined the faculty in 1979. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) in 1973. In 1976, he received his J.D. degree from the Cornell Law School, where he served on the Board of Editors of the Cornell Law Review. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1977. From 1976-79, he was associated with White & Case, a New York City law firm. Professor Duncan teaches Property, Constitutional Law, and First Amendment. He is a passionate and enthusiastic classroom teacher, whose style is not so much Socratic Dialogue as Socratic Performance Art.

Professor Denicola joined the Law College faculty in 1976. He received a B.S.E. degree from Princeton University in 197l and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1974. He also received an LL.M. degree from Harvard in 1976. Professor Denicola worked with a Boston law firm before coming to Nebraska. He has also been a visiting professor at Cornell University and the University of Alabama, and was Acting Dean of the Law College from 1994-96. Professor Denicola teaches courses in Contracts, Copyright, and Unfair Competition.

Professor Cooper joins the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Law after practicing law in the areas of family law, criminal defense, and juvenile justice for 14 years.  Cooper has extensive trial experience and has successfully argued cases before the Nebraska Supreme Court and Nebraska Court of Appeals.  Prior to joining the faculty, Cooper served as an adjunct professor for the College of Law, teaching Pretrial Litigation.  She holds a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and a B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Professor Centner joined the law faculty in 2019. His research focuses on the agricultural-environmental interface looking at current issues from a scientific and legal perspective. He has published more than 160 scientific papers and law review articles, and has lectured in 50 countries around the world. He has also published four books: Empty Pastures; Blame Culture; Environmental Law and the Protection of People; and Consumers, Meat and Animal Products.

Dr. Brank received her J.D. (2000) and Ph.D. (2001) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Law-Psychology Program. She joined the UNL faculty in 2008 and is part of the law/psychology and social programs. Prior to joining the Nebraska faculty, Dr. Brank was on the faculty in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of Florida. 

Professor Bradford joined the faculty in 1987. He received his B.S. degree (summa cum laude) from Utah State University in 1978; an M.P.P. from Harvard University in 1982; and a J.D. (magna cum laude) from Harvard Law School in 1982. From 1982 to 1986, he worked for the law firm of Jenkens & Gilchrist in Dallas, Texas and, during the 1986-87 academic year, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University.

Professor Bradford teaches Business Associations; Securities Regulation; and Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions. 

Professor Blankley is the Henry M. Grether, Jr., Professor of Law. She teaches and researches in the areas of alternative dispute resolution, legal ethics, and at the intersection of ethics and dispute resolution. She teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution, Advocacy in Mediation, Mediation, Family Mediation, Arbitration, Facilitation, and Legal Professions, and Sports Law Practice. She also coaches students in mediation competitions.

Professor Eric Berger joined the faculty in 2007. He received his B.A. with Honors in History from Brown University, and his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Kent Scholar and an Articles Editor on the Columbia Law Review. After law school, Professor Berger clerked for the Honorable Merrick B. Garland on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then practiced in Jenner & Block's Washington, D.C. office, where he worked on litigation in several state and federal trial and appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court.

Professor Jack Beard joined the law faculty in 2011. Before coming to Nebraska, he was a member of the faculty at the UCLA School of Law.

Genesis Agosto joined the Schmid Law Library faculty in August 2022 as an Assistant Professor of Law Library and Reference Librarian. She received her B.A. in History and Spanish from DePaul University. She was the first student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to complete the Joint J.D./M.A. in History through the College of Law and the Department of History within the College of Arts and Sciences. She received her M.A. in Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida, School of Library and Information Science.