Login | April 23, 2024
Akron Law makes changes to faculty roster
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: December 30, 2022
The University of Akron School of Law makes changes to its faculty roster.
Julie Cortes joins the staff as director of the Small Entrepreneur and Economic Development (SEED) clinic and C. Blake McDowell Jr. Professor of Law Willa Gibson has been appointed associate dean of academic excellence.
Cortes devoted her entire legal career to helping low-income individuals and those involved with the criminal justice system secure employment and resolve work-related claims, now in her new role she is focusing on providing support to minority and female entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Cortes started on July 6 after working for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland for more than 14 years, where she most recently served as a supervising attorney in the Economic Justice Unit.
She succeeded Gary Spring, who retired after 12 years as director. Prior to Cortes taking on the role, Doug Moseley was the interim director.
“During the last four or five years at legal aid, I developed an interest in working with entrepreneurs and small business owners from low-income communities,” said Cortes, an assistant clinical professor. “I was also looking to make a change professionally after spending my whole career at legal aid.
“So when I learned about the opportunity at Akron Law, it seemed like a great fit,” Cortes said. “The SEED clinic plays a unique role in meeting the needs of entrepreneurs and small business owners, who often do not have the financial resources to access legal services for even the most basic needs, thereby helping to close the access to justice gap.
“As director of the clinic, I oversee law students as they get real-world experience working with clients,” said Cortes. “It allows me to use my experience as a practicing attorney to help the next generation of lawyers develop best practices in managing clients and caseloads, which are important practical skills, but also areas where bad habits can develop quickly and easily.”
Akron Law Dean Emily Janoski-Haehlen said Cortes brings a wealth of experience to the faculty.
“I am excited to see how her leadership of the SEED clinic evolves,” said Janoski-Haehlen. “Her vision to train students to help current and prospective business owners and entrepreneurs in the greater Akron area is exactly what our community needs right now.”
Cortes grew up in Shaker Heights and obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cleveland State University.
She held several jobs over the next seven years, including one that ultimately sparked her interest in going to law school.
“I was a department assistant at Case Western Reserve University and because I worked for the school I had the chance to take some classes on social policy,” said Cortes. “I became very passionate about social issues which put me on the path to law school.”
While attending Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, she started working for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, initially as a summer associate and later as a law clerk.
After passing the bar in February 2008, she was offered a staff attorney position at the organization. She was promoted to senior attorney in 2017 and became a supervising attorney in 2019.
“I loved my job at legal aid,” said Cortes. “I spent most of my time helping low-wage workers with pay-related issues and I also helped clients with criminal histories to get their records sealed and obtain CQEs (certificates of qualification for employment).”
In 2017, she was selected as one of five fellows in the inaugural cohort of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland’s Innovation Mission, which seeks to fight poverty with “big ideas.”
All five fellows spent 18 months undergoing training to develop programs designed to “disrupt the cycle of poverty.”
In Cortes’ case, she helped launch legal aid’s Legal Center for Low-Income Entrepreneurs in November 2019.
“Initially legal aid partnered with community organizations within the northeast Ohio entrepreneurship and small business ecosystem for direct client referrals,” said Cortes. “As the program expanded, legal aid opened its general intake and now any business in legal aid’s service area can request free legal services.”
Cortes is now hoping to expand the SEED clinic’s footprint.
“The clinic currently provides assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners who’ve been operating for five years or less and have no more than $100,000 in annual gross receipts,” said Cortes. “Most of what we do involves providing advice to owners about what type of legal entity they should form, drafting contracts such as operating and nondisclosure agreements and liability waivers, employee handbooks and providing advice and counsel on a variety of business-related topics.
“The students work under my supervision and get school credit for the services they perform,” said Cortes. “At the moment, clients are primarily located in the Akron area. I would like to see the clinic expand its footprint in Akron as well as in all of northeast Ohio and I’m hoping to develop partnerships that will enable us to do that.”
In addition to Cortes joining the faculty, longtime professor Gibson moves into a associate dean position.
Gibson initially started as an assistant professor of law in 1995.
“I’m very excited about this position,” said Gibson. “It’s a challenging job, as I am charged with overseeing our Office of Academic Success, which involves managing our academic success and bar exam prep programs.
“These include instructor-led bar classes, academic skills workshops, instructor-led one-on-one tutoring, professional development skills, test-taking skills courses, bar test-taking skills courses, issue-spotting skills workshops, fundamental legal skills courses for first-year students and many more workshops and tutoring opportunities.
“All are designed to ensure our students perform well throughout law school and on the bar exam so they can become successful and productive members of the legal profession,” said Gibson.
She is also responsible for supervising Office of Academic Success Director Allesan Armstrong and assistant directors Julie King and Zach Lindesmith.
“I view my role as more of a coordinator working with Allesan, Julie and Zach to assist our students in achieving the analytical and legal skills necessary to excel in law school, on the bar exam and in developing the professional and social skills necessary to navigate the demands of the legal profession.
“We are all very committed to the professional and academic development of our students,” said Gibson.
Akron Law Dean Emily Janoski-Haehlen said she was “delighted” that Gibson agreed to take on the role.
“Throughout her career at Akron Law, Professor Gibson has worked tirelessly to help our students succeed in law school and beyond,” said Janoski-Haehlen. “Her commitment to our students and graduates made her the perfect choice for a role in the Akron Law administration focused on student engagement and academic success.”
Gibson graduated from Newcomb-Tulane College at Tulane University in New Orleans, where she majored in economics.
She spent the next six years working in the commercial and consumer lending business. She was initially employed as a loan officer in the Office of Personnel Management at the Federal Credit Union in Washington, D.C.
Gibson said law school was always part of her career plan so after gaining some experience, she obtained her juris doctorate from Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa in 1991.
She then returned to Washington D.C., where she started working as a finance attorney in the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In 1995, she left the SEC to become a faculty member at Akron Law. At the time, she served as senior counsel in the enforcement division.
“I became a tenured professor in January 2001 and a Dean’s Club Professor of Law in 2010,” said Gibson, who teaches Constitutional Law: Government Authority, Constitutional Law: Individual Rights and Secured Transactions.
In 2020, she was appointed associate dean of student engagement and was one of three faculty members awarded C. Blake McDowell Jr. Professorships.
“In my role as the associate dean of student engagement, I provided individual, group academic, professional and social support to first-, second- and third-year students.”
In her new position, she continues to carry out the duties she performed as associate dean of student engagement.
In addition, Gibson is a Title IX hearing officer for The University of Akron, chair of the university’s diversity, equity & inclusion advisory council and a current member of the Ohio Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
“I am in my 28th year at Akron Law and I really enjoy it tremendously,” said Gibson. “I especially like interacting with the students, supporting them and assisting them in becoming good attorneys.
“I also enjoy writing papers on securities and commodities and on secured transactions and working with junior colleagues,” said Gibson. “Working in legal academia has been a blessing.”