A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, Donald F. Melhorn, Jr. is of counsel with the Toledo firm of Marshall and Melhorn, where he devotes full time to client work and pursuit of interests in American legal history.

His practice background extends to a variety of commercial matters, many the subjects of litigation.  Formerly he taught courses at the Law School in Complex Litigation and the History of the American Legal Profession.

He currently teaches a seminar course in American Constitutional History.  The teaching approach is based on class discussion for which regular reading preparation is essential, and emphasizes critical use of source materials.  Students electing the "seminar" option will write papers, an exercise which focuses on development of legal research and writing skills.  Students choosing the "course" option will write a final examination, a "twenty four hour take home" affair, with one question given out in advance. 

Mr. Melhorn's publications include: Lest We Be Marshall'd: Judicial Powers and Politics in Ohio, 1806-1812 (Akron: Akron Univ. Press, 2003), "A Moot Court Exercise: Debating Judicial Review Prior to Marbury v. Madison, 12 Const. Commentary 327 (1995), and a chapter, "Jupiter's Sons: Greene County's Citizen Judges and the Sweeping Resolution, 1810-1814," in Benedict and Winkler, eds., History of Ohio Law, Vol. I ( Athens, Ohio:  Ohio University Press, 2004).  His current research interest relates to the 19th century feminist movement.