Director of Legal Writing
Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
Thomas Cobb is a visiting assistant professor and director of Mitchell Hamline’s legal writing program. He clerked for Justice Susan M. Leeson at the Oregon Supreme Court and was an Assistant Attorney General in the Appellate Division at the Oregon Department of Justice. He taught at University of Washington School of Law for 15 years before joining Mitchell Hamline.
Professor Cobb’s graduate studies include literature, rhetoric, and translation theory. He taught and studied in France under an IIE-Fulbright Grant, then received a fellowship to study literature and art history at the University of Chicago.
Professor Cobb’s current research interests include legal rhetoric, statutory interpretation, immigration law, and evidence.
Education
J.D., University of Minnesota
M.A., University of Chicago
M.A., Reed College
B.A., University of Alabama
Experience
University of Washington School of Law
Senior Lecturer, 2008–19 (currently on leave)
Lecturer, 2004–08
Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Institut de Droit Comparée, Lyon, France
Visiting Professor, Spring 2010
The Evergreen State College
Adjunct Member of the Faculty, Winter 2006
Oregon Department of Justice
Assistant Attorney General (Honors Program), Appellate Division, 2003–04
Oregon Supreme Court
Judicial Law Clerk, Justice Susan M. Leeson, 2001–03
Federal Public Defender’s Office, Portland, Oregon
Law Clerk, 2000
Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners (LAMP), University of Minnesota Law School
Student Attorney/Student Clinic Director, 1999–2000
Sprenger & Lang
Law Clerk, 1999
Legal Assistant/Network Administrator, 1997–98
Legal Aid Society, Minneapolis
Volunteer Law Clerk, 1997–98
Assistant Editor, Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors
Assistant Editor, Journal of Legal Education
Memberships
Oregon State Bar (inactive)
Washington State Bar (active)
