preLaw - Back To School 2008 - (Page 16) Reporting for duty New Temple Law dean, JoAnne Epps, is inspired by challenge JoAnne Epps is not spending her summer relaxing the time away, having recently taken over as dean at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia. Epps, who began her new role on July 1, has an extended background as a trial lawyer and teacher. She will use that background to take over the school’s law program at a time of strong growth in the school’s endowment. Strong is also a word to describe the school’s law program, which has acquired lofty numbers over the years. Those numbers notwithstanding, Epps has big shoes to fill after taking over for Dean Robert Reinstein, who retired on June 30 after 19 years of service. Reinstein was the longest serving dean in American law schools. During his time as dean, Temple’s Law School increased its endowment from $4 million to $57 million, increased the full-time faculty by 20 percent and created 13 endowed faculty chairs and more than 70 endowed student scholarship funds. 16 preLaw BY DAVE THOMAS photo by jared castaldi “This is an exciting time in the history of Temple’s Beasley School of Law,” said Epps, who joined the Temple faculty in 1985. “The credentials of its students, the quality of its faculty and achievements of its programs are at the highest levels ever.” Many of today’s students and lawyers have learned something from Epps, who is an authority on evidence, criminal procedure and litigation advocacy. She is the author or co-author of several articles, including The Winning Argument and 100 Vignettes for Improving Trial Evidence. “For me, what I love most about Temple is its authenticity as a place of opportunity for people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences,” she said. “No matter what field they choose to practice in, our students will touch the lives of their clients and they must do that with compassion, fairness and humility.” Temple’s strong faculty, a broad and well-rounded curriculum and innovative international programs also add to its achievements. “The School is a premier educator of trial lawyers and has a long-standing public interest tradition,” Epps said. “I envision an expansion of the faculty to enhance the curriculum with more interdisciplinary courses, and I anticipate that the third-year curriculum will be revised to provide additional opportunities for skills training.” Epps also envisions increasing Temple’s law program stature abroad. The school has programs in a number of foreign locales including Beijing, Tokyo and The Netherlands. Nevertheless, like every competitive institution, the law school faces the challenge of continuing to improve itself, and Epps said she is inspired by that challenge. “Preparing to practice law in our increasingly complex global society is a challenge,” Epps said. “But it is also a wonderful opportunity for our students. We have the most remarkable students who come to Temple and, with the help of our faculty and our programs, I know that they are up to the challenge.”
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