M.H. "Sam" Jacobson

Legal Research & Writing Instructor

• J.D. University of Iowa, with distinction
• B.S. University of Oregon

Curriculum Vitae

sjacobso@willamette.edu

503-370-6080

Sam Jacobson joined the Willamette University College of Law faculty in 1989. She teaches Legal Research and Writing and Administrative Law, and she provides academic support to law students. Professor Jacobson has written and lectured extensively on legal education, including learning styles and teaching methods. She has taught law courses in Bulgaria and China since 1991. In May 2003, she spoke to the Bulgarian Parliament on how to use administrative structure to combat corruption.

In the spring of 2006, Professor Jacobson taught as a Fulbright Scholar in the Law Department of the University of Sofia in Sofia, Bulgaria. While there, she taught Constitutional and Administrative Processes, which explores constitutional and administrative law processes from comparative and institutional perspectives. In 2009, she was appointed a foreign expert to the Department of Education in Bulgaria.

During law school, Professor Jacobson served as editor of two governmental and legislative monitoring services, as an assistant for government affairs and coordination of central information services for the Johnson County Regional Planning Commission, and as consultant to the Iowa Association of Regional Councils in Des Moines, Iowa. From 1976 to 1981, she practiced law with Dreher, Wilson, Adams, Jensen, Sayre and Gribble in Des Moines, specializing in legislative and administrative law. From 1981 to 1989, she was an attorney and assistant counsel for Standard Insurance Company in Portland, Ore.

SSRN Author Page

Publications

• "Using Learning Theory to Organize Thinking and Writing,” 2 J. A.L.W.D. (2004)
• "Who Are Our Students? An Overview,” 18 The Second Draft: Bulletin of the Legal Writing Institute 1 (December 2003).
• Legal Analysis and Communication, self-published, 2003.
• “Determining the Scope of a Court’s Holding,” 11 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing 120 (2003).
• 'How Students Absorb Information: Determining Modality,' 8 J. Legal Writing 175 (2002).
• “A Primer on Learning Styles: Reaching Every Student,” 25 Seattle U. L Rev. 139 (2001).
• “The ALWD Citation Manual: A Clear Improvement Over the Bluebook,” 3 J. Appell. Practice and Process 139 (2001).
• “Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to Assess Learning Style: Type or Stereotype?,” 33 Willamette L. Rev. (1997).
• “Providing Academic Support Without an Academic Support Program,” 2 J. of Legal Writing (1997).
• “Six Steps to Drafting Good Contracts,” 1 New Bulgarian L. Rev. 33 (1996) (Sofia, Bulgaria).
• "RAFADC, Not IRAC,” The Second Draft: Bulletin of the Legal Writing Institute (November 1995).
• "Humor in the Classroom,” The Second Draft: Bulletin of the Legal Writing Institute (October 1990).