Ellen E. Deason

• BA, Carleton College, Biology, 1972 (cum laude)
• MS, Oregon State University School of Oceanography, Biological Oceanography, 1975
• JD, University of Michigan Law School, 1985 (magna cum laude)

Ellen E. Deason is the Joanne Wharton Murphy/Classes of 1965 and 1973 Professor in Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Deason’s recent scholarly work focuses on judicial mediation, combinations of mediation and arbitration, and enforcement of mediated settlement agreements. She has also written extensively on the topic of confidentiality in mediation. She is the co-author of a book on Global Issues in Mediation, and casebooks for Civil Procedure and Alternative Dispute Resolution courses. Deason served on the advisory committee for the drafting of the Uniform Mediation Act and participated in training mediators after it was enacted in Ohio. She is a co-author of a Civil Procedure casebook, an Alternative Dispute Resolution casebook, and a book on Global Issues in Mediation.

She is the reporter for the Uniform Law Commission’s Committee to Monitor Developments in Civil Procedure and Dispute Resolution. Earlier she served as the reporter for a drafting committee for a Uniform Act on Protection of Genetic Information in Employment and Insurance and participated on the advisory committee during the drafting of the Uniform Mediation Act.

Deason served as the faculty director of the Moritz LL.M. program from 2006-2010. She is a past-Chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section of Alternative Dispute Resolution. Before joining the faculty at Moritz in 2003, Deason taught at the University of Illinois College of Law. Earlier, she practiced litigation and settlement as an associate with Morrison & Foerster in Washington, D.C.

Deason served as a law clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court. She also was a legal assistant to Arbitrator Howard M. Holtzmann, Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. She was editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review. Prior to attending law school, Deason worked as a research scientist in biological oceanography, and she is widely published in scientific journals.

Deason currently teaches Civil Procedure, International Commercial Arbitration, Mediation, Dispute Resolution Processes: Theory and Practice, and Exploring the Lawyer-Client Relationship.

• Association of American Law Schools Section of Alternative Dispute Resolution Award for “Best Article of 2017” (2018)
• Ohio State University Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching (2016)
• Morgan E. Shipman Professor of the Year (2015)
• Student Bar Association “One-L Professor of the Year” (2010)
• Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution “Award for Outstanding Service” (2010)
• Order of the Coif
• Editor-in-chief, Michigan Law Review Volume 84