2022-2023 Clifford Scholar-in-Residence, Pamela Bookman

Registration must be completed no later than November 4, 2022.

There is a room cap of 108 in-person attendees, and online participants will receive a link to view the presentation just ahead of the event.

No proof of vaccination is required of guests, and masks are optional. However, DePaul is a mask-friendly university, and wearing a mask is highly recommended for all indoor spaces. These rules are subject to change in accordance with public health guidance.

DePaul College of Law is an accredited Illinois MCLE provider. This presentation is worth 1.25 hours of CLE credit.

Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law, Yale

Pamela Bookman

of Law, Fordham University

Pamela Bookman American Journal of International Law Virginia Law Review

Professor Pamela Bookman is an expert in the fields of civil procedure, contracts, international litigation and arbitration, and conflicts of laws. Her scholarship has appeared in the law reviews of Stanford, NYU, and Columbia, as well as in the

and other leading law journals. Prior to entering academia, Professor Bookman was a counsel in the New York office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP, where she represented clients in complex commercial business disputes with a focus on transnational litigation and maintained an active pro bono practice.

Professor Bookman received her BA from Yale University and her JD from the University of Virginia, where she served as an articles editor for the and received the Rosenbloom Award for enhancing the academic experience of her fellow students. Following law school, she clerked for Judge Robert D. Sack of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, President Rosalyn Higgins and Judge Thomas Buergenthal of the International Court of Justice, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Procedure in Lawyered and Lawyerless Courts

Courts in the United States may be either federal or state courts, but there is another division in the way that courts operate that is just as salient: those that routinely include lawyers, and those where lawyers are fundamentally absent.

The American justice system includes both “lawyered" and “lawyerless” courts. Lawyered courts are the federal and state courts that hear, for example, class actions and large scale commercial disputes, and the kinds of cases where lawyers tend to be paid and plentiful. Lawyerless state courts, on the other hand, hear the vast majority of claims filed in this country, including debt collection and eviction cases.

Appreciating this divide reveals similarities and differences between these two types of civil justice in America, and it illustrates both the promise and limits of focusing on procedural reform as a way of improving the operation of justice. Professor Bookman contends that in some areas, such as ensuring that parties receive notice about lawsuits in which they are involved, be they class actions or eviction proceedings, reform efforts in lawyered and lawyerless courts should be aligned. For instance, both types of courts can benefit from developing technology that notifies parties about legal proceedings Other examples, however, illuminate where and how lawyers are essential to procedural development and procedural protections Where lawyers are necessary to develop or reform procedures, injustice in lawyerless courts is a problem in need of a structural solution

Understanding the bulk of state civil courts as lawyerless, therefore, can reveal a need for deeper reform

Robert A. Clifford (JD '76) justice system in an intellectually rigorous fashion.

In 1994, Robert A Clifford (JD '76) endowed the Clifford Chair in Tort Law & Social Policy at DePaul College of Law The faculty chair gives meaningful expression to his belief that the civil justice system serves a number of vital interests in American society, and it provides a vehicle for exploration of the civil

In addition to providing support for faculty research and teaching, the endowment makes possible an annual symposium addressing a timely issue in the civil justice area. The purpose of the symposium is to bring the latest scholarship and advances in legal practice to academics and practicing lawyers who specialize in tort law, civil justice and related fields

The Clifford Scholar in Residence Program builds on Clifford's vision by promoting and furthering the discussion of civil justice issues that impact all Americans A cornerstone of the Program is a presentation to the entire legal community by a rising civil justice scholar, as well as a response from a senior commentator

The Clifford Scholar-in-Residence

The Clifford Scholar in Residence Program annually recognizes a talented rising star in the field of civil justice. The Program complements the annual Clifford Symposium on Tort Law & Social Policy For a quarter century, the Symposium has brought together civil justice scholars to share their ideas and publish their work The Clifford Scholar in Residence Program continues this proud tradition of developing up-and-coming leaders in the civil justice field

Professor Bookman was selected by a committee of leading civil justice law professors, including Stephan Landsman (DePaul, Brooklyn), David Hyman (Georgetown) and Shari Diamond (Northwestern).