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Dorothy Wright Nelson was a prominent federal judge on the level just below the U.S. Supreme Court for over 40 years. Although women had few opportunities in law when she graduated, she became one of the first female law professors and deans. The book offers an in-depth look at her life and her rise as a national expert in what is now the major field of alternative dispute resolution or conflict resolution. Featuring extensive interviews with judges, professors, and legal leaders, they offer first-hand accounts and multiple perspectives on how she was an extraordinary trailblazer in a traditional, male-dominated profession.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 First Family and Early Education
- Chapter 2 Starting the Adventure of a Lifetime
- Chapter 3 Finding Her Way in the Law
- Chapter 4 A Pioneering Dean
- Chapter 5 Life on the Bench
- Chapter 6 The Chambers Family and the Nelson Family
- Chapter 7 Bending the Arc toward Justice
- Chapter 8 Promoting Peace through Mediation
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
About the author
Lisa Kloppenberg serves as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Santa Clara University, a Jesuit and Catholic university in Silicon Valley. From 2013-19, she was Dean of its law school. Kloppenberg also served for a decade as Dean at the University of Dayton, a Catholic and Marianist university in Ohio. Kloppenberg earned tenure at the University of Oregon and is a national expert in conflict resolution and constitutional law. She has written several books and numerous articles and essays; she co-authored a textbook on negotiation, mediation and arbitration. She has engaged in extensive service to the legal academy and profession relating to access to justice issues, curricular reform, and access, equity and affordability issues in legal education. She and her husband, Mark Zunich, have three children.
Summary
Dorothy Wright Nelson was a prominent federal judge on the level just below the U.S. Supreme Court for over 40 years. One of the early tenured female law professors and one of the rare female deans in the U.S. legal academy in the 1960s and '70s, her expertise was in reforming courts to make them more just and accessible for all people. When she became a federal judge in 1980, she helped to make the federal courts more efficient and provide litigants with alternatives - including mediation and arbitration - to resolve cases without greater expense and delay. An ardent believer in more peaceful resolution of conflicts, Judge Nelson educated judges around the world on conflict resolution and the rule of law, often while engaging quietly in human rights advocacy for persecuted Bahá'ís around the globe. Her Bahá'í faith also inspired her judicial opinions providing more equality and due process for the marginalized, including the poor, racial minorities, immigrants, mentally ill and the powerless. Dorothy and her husband, a state court judge, balanced their professional achievements with their personal commitments in a manner unusual for their time. They devoted considerable energy to raising their two children, spending time with their extended family, and engaging in Bahá'í activities (including world travel, youth camps, weekly Sunday School and "firesides" in their home). This book captures the life story of an extraordinary female leader and trailblazer in a highly traditional, male-dominated profession, unafraid to challenge the status quo in her pleasant, optimistic, determined and collegial manner.
