Thomas Place
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Professor of Law, Emeritus Education: |
About Place
Professor Tom Place joined the Law School faculty in 1974 after serving for five years as a public interest lawyer in eastern Kentucky, where he co-founded Mountain Legal Rights — the first legal service program in that region of the country to provide free legal assistance to needy clients in a wide range of civil matters. He also spent a few years in private practice focusing on environmental matters and criminal law.
Place also worked as a pro bono lawyer and served as a frequent continuing education speaker as part of a long tradition of professors at the Law School representing those without access to counsel and contributing to the legal profession. He served as a federal court mediator, regularly spoke to lawyers and judges on criminal procedure and constitutional law issues, and provided pro bono assistance to clients in a wide range of civil and criminal matters.
Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State Law are reunifying to operate as Penn State University’s single law school, which will be known as Penn State Dickinson Law. While ABA approval for the reunification is pending, both schools are currently fully accredited. We submitted an application for acquiescence to operate as a single law school in July 2024 and plan to enroll a unified class in Fall 2025. Once reunification is complete, the separate faculties of each school will be members of the reunified Penn State Dickinson Law faculty.