Wilmington University introduced the eight faculty members that will help build its new law school.
Jefferey Zavrotny, associate dean for law admissions, said the school has had about 40 applicants thus far for the first classes, which begin this fall.
Dean Phillip Closius said they expect about 100 students to enroll in its first year.Â
Closius was the dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law for four years and also taught at the University of Toledo School of Law for 28 years before joining WilmU.
The school is not yet accredited by the American Bar Association, but Closius said it should be by March 2025, a year before its first class takes the bar exam.
WilmUâs website now lists the required courses, which include 29 first-year credits, 38 upper-level credits and 19 elective credits.Â
Originally, WilmU planned on making the night sections exclusively online, but the ABA forbids the online-only option until the school has earned provisional accreditation.
MORE ON LAW SCHOOL: WilmU law school to start with 100 students, be accredited by 2025
MORE ON LAW SCHOOL: WilmU to start its own law school
All night courses, except the contracts class, will be in-person.Â
All eight professors said that they share the passion for the accessibility and affordability that the university has been promoting.
The cost for full-time students will be $24,000 per year and $18,000 for part-time students, which the Closius said is the cheapest tuition of any law school in the region.Â
To compare, Widener Universityâs Delaware Law School (the only other law school in the state) costs a first-year, full-time student $57,376 per year and part-time students $43,032.
Edson Bostic
âHe has probably the most trial experience in criminal law, certainly in the state, and maybe in the country,â said Closius. âHe has spent a lifetime devoting himself to representing indigent criminal defendants.â
Growing up in Barbados, Bosticâs mom always pushed him to be a lawyer. Bostic graduated from Rutgers University School of Law and has taught at the Temple, Widener and Rutgers law schools.
He said that the inclusivity and opportunity that WilmUâs law school promises attracted him to join the faculty.Â
Veronica Finkelstein
âI don’t complain about long hours. I have the best job you could possibly have, and I know the reason that I love the law is because I had a great professor in law school, who showed me how to really unlock the power of the law.â
She hopes to show her students that power, and highlight how the law makes a difference for individuals and collectively as a functional society.Â
âI love to teach, and I want to be that teacher,â she said. âI want to be that person who makes the difference for the students at our law school.â
Before this role, she worked for the U.S. Department of Justice office in Philadelphia, where she was an assistant U.S. attorney who helped train up-and-coming attorneys at the office.Â
Along with teaching at Rutgers, she was an adjunct professor at Drexel Universityâs law school.Â
âGoing from one dream job truly to another dream job and getting to do what I love to do full time,â she said, âI’m very appreciative and thrilled to join.â
Sheâll help create the trial advocacy program, which the school expects to receive national recognition for âfairly soon.â
Michael Hornzell
He said heâs prioritizing making deeply rooted, long-lasting connections with his students.Â
Mentorship and community service is rooted in his career and personal life.
Since this is the First Stateâs second law school, Hornzell compared WilmUâs law school to a startup company.Â
âYou have more flexibility, more opportunities to shape what the future is going to look like,â he said. âThere’s no tradition to break or adhere to.â
Itâs exhilarating that they have a blank slate to start their own traditions and build their own culture, he said.Â
Heâll teach property law and legal writing in the fall.Â
Alisa Klein
Like Hornzell, she liked the flexibility of a new school to be able to tailor the curriculum and requirements to its student body, who often work multiple jobs or have children.
âWe will be calling upon lots and lots of practitioners in Delaware and beyond to take placements for our students, and they will emerge with the skills they need and the professional relationships already in place,â she said.Â
Klein previously was a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Closius called that experience âthe gold standard in legal education resumes.â
A graduate of Harvard Law School, she currently teaches political science at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.
Sheâll join in the fall of 2024 and will teach constitutional law.
Nicole Mozee
âI just adore teaching and I’m very passionate about students getting not only the doctrinal understanding of the curriculum, but also the practical experience of what it means to take this outside of the classroom,â she said.Â
Sheâs a first-generation college graduate, earning a law degree from New York Law School in 2016.Â
Along with her time as a legal counsel for Gov. John Carney, Mozee works in advocacy and outreach efforts, including hate crimes education, criminal justice reform, voting rights and discrimination.
The Delaware Business Times named her a âTop 40 under 40 Professionalâ in 2019.Â
Lawrence Ponoroff
He previously served as a professor at Tulane University School of Law, University of Arizona College of Law and Michigan State University School of Law.
He earned his degree from Stanford Law School.Â
Thereâs been a disturbance in law education, he said.
âThat trend has been a de-emphasis on the core educational missions of the institution,â he said.Â
The first question with any decision thatâs been made in forming the WilmU law school has always been, âhow will this impact or help out students,â he said.
âWhat we’re in the business of doing is training bright, young and sometimes just young at heart, people to be leaders in their profession,â he said.Â
Alex Smalls
The first Black person to become a chief judge of a state court, Smalls was appointed in 1997 as the chief judge of the Delaware Court of Common Pleas.
His degree is from Rutgers University School of Law.Â
Smalls has previously served on the Governorâs Justice Reinvestment Task Force, the Delaware Racial Justice Improvement Project Task Force and the Delaware Criminal Justice Council.
Heâs hoping to prepare young lawyers for a lifelong service to their communities.Â
In the fall, Smalls will teach civil procedure.Â
Patricia Wise
She has trained thousands in civil rights and employment law.
The school of law aligns with her belief of serving both traditional and nontraditional students.Â
âThere are so many aspiring attorneys who want to serve your communities, who want to work in the field of social justice,â she said.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNNâs Michael Smerconishâs YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz
Share this Post