Michelle S. Simon

  • Dean Emerita
  • Professor of Law
  • Director, Legal Skills
  • Ad Honorem Faculty Scholar
Preston Hall 324
Contact assistant to schedule an appointment
Assistant: Judy Jaeger
Preston Hall 317
(914) 422-4292

Education

BA, State University of New York at Albany
JD, Syracuse University College of Law

For media inquiries, contact:

Rachael Silva
Assistant Dean for External Affairs
(914) 422-4354

Professor Michelle Simon served as the dean of Pace Law School from 2008–2014, after serving as interim Dean during the 2007-2008 academic year.

She has been a member of the Pace Law faculty since 1985. Professor Simon is one of the primary architects of an innovative legal writing curriculum that integrates doctrinal law with skills training.  She currently teaches Civil Procedure.  Her other teaching areas include Criminal Law and Conflicts.

Prior to joining the Pace faculty, Professor Simon served a law clerk for United States Magistrate Judge Honorable A. Simon Chrein (EDNY) and practiced law for several years at Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP, where she specialized in products liability litigation. She is an honors graduate of Syracuse University College of Law, where she served as Senior Lead Articles Editor of the Syracuse Law Review.

Professor Simon’s substantive expertise lies in the areas of civil procedure, torts, conflict of laws, criminal law and matters concerning secondary and higher education.  She is the faculty director of the first year legal skills program, and specializes in studying how first year students learn.  Professor Simon has written numerous articles and book chapters on these topics.  

Publications

SSRN

Articles

"Law Faculty Experiences Teaching During the Pandemic," St. Louis U. L.J. (forthcoming 2020) (with Bridget J. Crawford)

"Walking Out:  Schools, Students and Civil Disobedience," 69 Syracuse L. Rev. 309 (2019)

The Supreme Court, Due Process and State Income Taxation of Trusts,” 67 UCLA L. Rev. Disc. 2 (2019) (with Bridget J. Crawford)

"Hogan vs Gawker II: A Statutory Solution to Fraudulent Joinder,"  70 Baylor L. Rev. 1 (2018)

Reliable Science: Overcoming Public Doubts in the Climate Change Debate,” 37 William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review 219 (2012) (co-authored with William Pentland)

"Celebrating Thirty Years of the Pace Law Review," 30 Pace L. Rev. 1146 (2010)

"Women and the Law: How Far We’ve Come and Where We Need to Go," 29 Pace L. Rev. 223 (2009)

“A Call for Clarity: Revising the Statutory Authority of Federal Magistrate Judges to Decide Pre-Trial Motions Without the Parties' Consent,” 2 Journal of Court Innovation (2008).

"Defining the Limits of Supplemental Jurisdiction Under 28 U.S.C. § 1367: A Hearty Welcome to Permissive Counterclaims," 9 Lewis & Clark Law Review 295 (2005).

"Offensive Issue Preclusion in the Criminal Context: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back," 34 University of Memphis Law Review 753 (2004).

"The Path to Tenure-Track: The Pace Experience," AALS Section Newsletter (Spring 2002). 

"Tribute to Barbara Salken," 17 Pace Law Review 17 (1997).

"Suspended Over the Abyss: A City's Quest for Local Autonomy in Institutional Reform Litigation," 23 Fordham Urban Law Journal 663 (1996).

"Whose Crime is it Anyway?: Liability for the Lethal Acts of Nonparticipants in the Felony," 71 University of Detroit Law Review 223 (1994).

Teaching Skills through Substantive Law: Integration of the Principles of the MacCrate Report. With L. Garfield. Institute for Law School Teaching, Gonzaga University School of Law,  1994.

"Felony Murder in New York," New York Law Journal, December 16, 1993, at 1.

"Teaching Writing Through Substance: The Integration of Legal Writing With All Deliberate Speed," 42 De Paul Law Review 619 (1992).

Chapters

"Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases," in Criminal Defense Techniques. Matthew Bender, 2000.

"Drug-Induced Intoxication as a Defense to Criminal Liability," in Defense of Narcotics Cases.  Matthew Bender, 2000.

"Guilty Plea Negotiations," in Criminal Defense Techniques. Matthew Bender, 2000.

"The Prosecution and Defense of Non-Forcible Heterosexual Sex Offenses," in The Prosecution and Defense of Sex Crimes. Matthew Bender, 1999.

"AIDS Legal Issues," in The Prosecution and Defense of Sex Crimes. Matthew Bender, 1999.

"Search and Seizure," in Criminal Law Advocacy. Matthew Bender, 1999.

"Motions Challenging the Indictment," in Criminal Law Advocacy. Matthew Bender, 1999.

"Defense of Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Cases," in Criminal Law Advocacy. Matthew Bender, 1998.

"Steps in the Criminal Process, Criminal Discovery," in Criminal Law Advocacy. Matthew Bender, 1998.