The Denison University Lilly Endowment Lecture Series will host law school professors Joseph Tomain and Michael Cioffi to discuss "The Legal Profession and the Humanities." Set for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Feb. 24) in Slayter Auditorium, this convocation is free and open to the public.

Tomain is dean of the University of Cincinnati School of Law and Nippert Professor of Law. Cioffi is an adjunct professor of law at University of Cincinnati School of Law and partner in the Philadelphia law firm of Black, Rome, Comisky and McCauley. They have long been interested in the connections between studies in the humanities and the practice of law. Together they founded the Justice Institute for the Legal Profession, which nationally sponsors extended seminars on the importance of humanities in understanding and practicing law.

Tomain is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the George Washington University National Law Center and practiced law in New Jersey before starting his career in legal education. He has taught at Drake University School of Law (Iowa) and served as a visiting professor at the University of Texas School of Law. His publications includeEnergy Law and Policy for the 21st Century, Regulatory Law and Policy, Energy Law and Policy, Nuclear Power TransformationandEnergy Decision Making. Tomain has also written several articles and papers on energy law and government regulation.

Chairman of the Board at the Knowledge Works Foundation, Tomain also serves on the American Bar Association's Commission on State Judicial Selection Standard which was created by the ABA's Standing Committee of Judicial Independence. He also is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Center for Chemical Addictions Treatment, Black Lawyers Association Round Table and the Cincinnati Bar Association. He is the delegate to the Ohio State Bar Association Joint Commission on Education for the Legal Profession and served as a commissioner on the Ohio Supreme Court Futures Commission. Tomain's primary teaching interests include energy law, land use, government regulation and contract law.

Cioffi earned a bachelor's degreemagna cum laudefrom the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He served as a partner in the Cincinnati law firm Frost and Jacobs, litigation counsel at American Financial Group and assistant attorney general of the state of Ohio. Cioffi has taught at the University of Cincinnati College of Law for more than 20 years and his areas of expertise include general litigation with an emphasis on commercial products liability, environmental law and methods of alternative dispute.

A member of numerous professional organizations including the Ohio Bar Association, Cincinnati Bar Association and American Bar Association, Cioffi served as a past president for the Federal Bar Association. He received the University of Cincinnati Goldman Prize for Teaching Excellence and both the Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award and Nicholas Longworth Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Law. Cioffi has publishedOhio Pre-Trial Litigation, Sixth Circuit Federal Practice Manualand delivered several professional presentations around the United States.

Cioffi is also the father of Gina Cioffi '06, who will be introducing him at the lecture.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575