Fall 2007 Speakers

September 12 – Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas A. Karol, “The Prosecution of Saddam Hussein’s Regime”

 Thomas Karol spent six months in Iraq as a member of the Regime Crimes Liaison's Office (RCLO), a Department of Justice organization. The RCLO assists the Iraqi High Tribunal in investigating and trying Saddam Hussein and members of the former regime for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Karol was in Iraq from September 2006 to March 2007, during which time Hussein was on trial for the Kurdish genocide and was executed for his role in the Dujayl killings. Karol participated in the investigation of the former regime's response to the 1991 Shi'a uprising.

Karol has spent 21 years with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Toledo, the last 18 of which have focused on criminal prosecution. He previously worked in private practice in D.C. and as a legal aid attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) in Toledo. Karol received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, and J.D. from George Washington University.

September 20 – Professor Doug Branson, Pitt Law School, author of No Seat at the Table: How Corporate Governance and the Law Keep Women Out of the Boardroom (NYU Press)

Douglas W. Branson, W. Edward Sell Professor of Business Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, is a nationally known expert in corporate law. In No Seat at the Table: How Corporate Governance and the Law Keep Women Out of the Boardroom (NYU Press 2006), he examines why more women than ever are earning MBA degrees, yet continue to struggle to attain to high-level positions in corporate America. Branson’s book analyzes real-life cases and relies heavily on empirical evidence.

Branson earned a BA from the University of Notre Dame, a JD from Northwestern University, and a Master of Laws (LL.M) from the University of Virginia. Branson was formerly a professor at the Seattle University School of Law for over 20 years. He is also the author of Forensic Social Work: Legal Aspects of Professional Practice (Haworth Press, 2000) and Understanding Corporate Law (LexisNexis 1999.) In September 2006, Branson published an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette entitled ‘Private Sector: Hewlett Packard’s problems teach lessons about corporate governance.’

September 27 – Jay Heinrichs, author of Thank you for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln and Homer Simpson can teach us about the Art of Persuasion (Three Rivers Press 2007)

“Combine Cicero with David Letterman and you get Jay Heinrichs,” says noted historian Joseph Ellis. Heinrichs’ most recent book, Thank you for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion, reveals the techniques of classical rhetoric using sources as diverse as Daniel Webster and Eminem, with humorous modern applications.

Heinrichs is a commentator for NPR’s “All Things Considered” as well as a frequent contributor to national magazines ranging from More to The New York Times Sunday Magazine. One of his rhetoric articles was nominated for a prestigious National Magazine Award.

During his 30-year career in publishing, Heinrichs supervised the creation or redesign of nine magazines. He has been deputy editor of Outside Magazine and editor of Dartmouth College’s alumni magazine, which twice won Newsweek’s Robert Sibley Award as the nation’s outstanding education magazine. Heinrichs also worked as editorial director with Pace Communications, where he was responsible for creating new magazines and marketing them to clients. He currently travels the country speaking about rhetoric, and is writing his second book on the ancient art of persuasion.

October 1 – John Lott, economist and author,"What I Told the Grand Jury"
Co-Sponsored by the Federalist Society

In Freedomnomics, Lott argues that the free market truly works to bring prosperity and economic justice, shunning many of the ideas found in the popular book, Freakonomics. Other books written by Lott include More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws and The Bias Against Guns: Why Almost Everything You’ve Heard About Gun Control is Wrong.

October 3 – Matthew Cooper, former reporter for Time, will talk about his experience as a journalist who played a key role in the Valerie Plame CIA leak case.
Co-sponsored by the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, with funding from the "We the People" program.

Matthew Cooper, former reporter for Time Magazine, faced jail time when a federal judge upheld a subpoena commanding Cooper to give up confidential sources in the investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame’s CIA identity. Cooper eventually agreed to testify in the trial and wrote a piece for Time Magazine, “What I Told the Grand Jury,” to explain his testimony. Cooper’s case underscores important First Amendment issues surrounding the investigation and subsequent trial of I. “Scooter” Libby.

The Ohio Humanities Council is an independent, nonprofit organization funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and private contributions. The OHC awards grants and presents its own cultural programs across the state, in an effort to encourage all Ohioans to explore the human story, using history, philosophy, and the other humanities as the means to arrive at new insights.

October 15 – Fall Stranahan Speaker: Regina Herzlinger, Professor, Harvard Business School.

Regina Herzlinger is the author of Who Killed Health Care? America’s $2 Trillion Medical Problem And The Consumer-Driven Cure (McGraw-Hill 2007).

November 16 – Seventh Annual Great Lakes Water Conference
More information.

November 19 – Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series: Danny Bogden

The featured speaker in the Distinguished Alumni Speakers Series was former U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden, a 1981 UT Law alumnus. He spoke about his distinguished career path in public service after graduating from UT Law. He also offered insights about his recent experience as one of the eight U.S. Attorneys dismissed, in a highly controversial decision, by former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.

Daniel G. Bogden is a partner in the law firm of McDonald Carano Wilson, LLP, practicing primarily in the areas of litigation, administrative agencies, appeals, government relations and criminal law. He began his law career in 1982, while serving as a member of the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Office. From 2001 to 2007, he served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada. A long-time prosecutor and dedicated government employee, Mr. Bogden has tried more than 100 state and federal jury trials and argued numerous cases before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Under the direction of the U.S. Attorney General, Mr. Bogden was the chief federal law enforcement officer for the District of Nevada, responsible for prosecuting individuals who violated federal law, coordinating multiple-agency investigations, and prosecuting or defending all civil lawsuits or proceedings in which the U.S. was concerned.

The talk was part of the UT Law Speaker Series, dedicated to providing the College of Law and the general public with timely discussion of legal and policy issues. For more information on this or other speakers, contact the Law Communications Office at 419.530.2712. For directions to The University of Toledo College of Law and a campus map, click here.