Expert on criminal law, civil procedure and legal writing
also served as associate dean of academic affairs

WHITE PLAINS , June 7, 2007 – Pace Law School has appointed Michelle S. Simon interim dean of the school, effective June 4, 2007. She succeeds Stephen J. Friedman, who became president of Pace University on that day.

When Friedman accepted the presidency of Pace, his consideration of a successor included asking the law school faculty for its recommendation. The faculty named Simon, and Friedman accepted that recommendation.

“The faculty’s enthusiasm for Michelle Simon is a strong confirmation of her breadth in scholarship, teaching, and administration, all areas in which she sets high goals and earns the respect of colleagues, students, and the profession,” said Friedman.

Simon said, “I am honored to serve as interim dean of a school that places the highest priority on scholarship, teaching, and service to the community. I look forward to continuing Steve Friedman’s course of strengthening Pace Law School ’s national reputation.”

Criminal and civil. Simon has been a member of the Pace law faculty since 1985 and full professor since 2003. She is an expert in criminal law, civil procedure, and legal writing, all of which she teaches, and in which she has authored or co-authored 17 articles and book chapters on topics ranging from instructions to juries in criminal cases, guilty-plea negotiations, sex offenses, legal issues in AIDS, search and seizure procedures, and the legal autonomy of cities in urban planning.

Her extensive administrative experience at Pace law school includes service as associate dean of academic affairs from 2001 to 2006 and work on 16 committees, including one on academic standards and another conducting a self-study, both of which she chaired. Until her new appointment, she directed the school’s programs in judicial studies and legal writing. She also has served for 10 years on the board of education of the Eastchester Union Free School district in Westchester County , which she now chairs.

Simon is a recipient of two top awards from Pace Law School , the Richard L. Ottinger Award for Teaching Excellence, 2000-2001, and the President’s Award for Excellence, 2003-2004.

Double cum laude. A cum laude anthropology major at the State University of New York at Albany , she earned her JD, also cum laude, from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1981, having served for two years on the law review, the last one as the senior lead articles editor. After law school she clerked for Judge A. Simon Chrein, a United States Magistrate for the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and practiced for four years in the areas of products liability litigation and insurance defense as an associate at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker in New York City .

Founded in 1976, Pace University School of Law has nearly 6,500 alumni/ae throughout the country. It offers full- and part-time day and evening JD programs on its White Plains, NY campus. The School also offers the Master of Laws in Environmental Law and in Comparative Legal Studies. The School, which has one of the nation's top-rated environmental law programs, also offers the SJD program in that field. The School of Law is part of a comprehensive, independent, and diversified University with campuses in New York City and Westchester County. www.law.pace.edu. 

For more than 100 years Pace University has been preparing students to become leaders in their fields by providing an education that combines exceptional academics with professional experience and the New York advantage. Pace has three campuses, in New York City, Westchester, and White Plains. A private metropolitan university, Pace enrolls nearly 13,500 students in bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lienhard School of Nursing, Lubin School of Business, School of Education, School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.  www.pace.edu