DICKINSON LAW ANNOUNCES NEW ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF LAWYERING SKILLS

June 2020 — Michael A. Blasie, Esq. has joined the Dickinson Law resident faculty as assistant professor of lawyering skills. He will teach Legal Writing and Analysis, which focuses on building legal writing, reasoning, analysis, and critical thinking—all essential lawyering skills used in today’s law practice.

Michael A. Blasie“This recent appointment allows Dickinson Law to build on the leadership work that our professors of lawyering skills have done to deliver a phenomenal writing curriculum to future legal scholars,” said Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway.

Prior to joining the resident faculty, Blasie served as staff counsel for Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP, where he drafted over 150 motions, briefs and research memos as the research and writing arm of trial and appellate teams in insurance, professional liability, class action, products liability, and mass tort cases.

Blasie began his legal career as a commercial litigator and criminal defense attorney in the New York City office of Cooley LLP, where he practiced in state and federal trial and appellate courts for five years. During this time, he also served as a volunteer attorney for the Legal Aid Society in New York, New York. He worked for two firms in Denver, Colorado, prior to becoming a law clerk to The Honorable David J. Richman of the Colorado Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado.

“I was drawn to Dickinson Law by its unique practice-focused approach to both its curriculum and staff,” said Blasie. “The tight-knit community and opportunity to work with faculty who are transforming their fields made the opportunity irresistible. I look forward to introducing Dickinson Law students to skills and ways of thinking they will use for the rest of their lives.”

Blasie has taught several continuing legal education courses on legal writing. His teaching and research interests include legal research and writing, appellate advocacy, professionalism, legislative drafting, and state constitutional law.

Blasie has authored several publications, including a seventeen-part legal writing series for the Colorado Bar Association and co-authored the treatise on Colorado Appellate Law and Practice.

Blasie earned his juris doctor from New York University School of Law, where he served as Editor of Development of the New York University Annual Survey of American Law, earned the David Friedman Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Evidence, and was a semi-finalist in the Marden Moot Court Competition.