Ellen E. Deason, B.A., M.S., J.D.

Education

• 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)

Biography

Ellen Deason is the Joanne Wharton Murphy/Classes of 1965 and 1973 Professor Emerita in Law. She developed and taught Seminar and Colloquium: Dispute Resolution, Equity, and Social Justice. Deason has also taught Civil Procedure, Mediation Clinic, International Commercial Arbitration and Mediation, Dispute Resolution Processes: Theory and Practice, and Exploring the Lawyer-Client Relationship. She is active in law reform projects through the Uniform Law Commission and currently serves as the Reporter for the Committee to Monitor Developments in Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution and the Study Committee on the U.N. Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation.  

Deason’s scholarly work has centered on confidentiality in mediation, enforcement of mediated agreements, judicial mediation, combinations of mediation and arbitration, and anti-racism in mediation. She has co-authored several works, including Global Issues in Mediation and casebooks for Civil Procedure and Alternative Dispute Resolution courses. 

Prior to joining the faculty at Ohio State, Deason was a professor at the University Illinois College of Law. Before that, she was an associate at Morrison & Foerster in Washington D.C., practicing litigation and settlement. Deason previously clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court and worked as a legal assistant to Arbitrator Howard M. Holtzmann, Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. 

Deason has served in various leadership roles within and outside the university. At Ohio State, some of her roles included faculty director of the Moritz LL.M. Program, member of the Decision Sciences Collaborative Steering Committee, and member of the Alumni Distinguished Teaching Awards Selection Committee. She also has worked with the Ohio Supreme Court Committee on Dispute Resolution and was a member of the Executive Committee and Section Chair of the Association of American Law Schools ADR Section. 

Awards and Achievements

• 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