Federal Jurisdiction

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.

Danielle C. Jefferis is the 2025-26 Schmid Professor for Excellence in Research and an Associate Professor of Law. Her scholarship examines constitutional and civil rights law, federal courts, and the law and policy of prison and detention. She has presented her research at institutions around the world, including Harvard Law School, UCLA School of Law, Hamburg Institute for Social Research, University of Strathclyde, Durham Law School, Queens University (Belfast), Duke University School of Law, Utrecht University, and others.

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.