Well-known Minneapolis attorney Clifford Greene will bring four decades of courtroom experience to the classroom when he joins the Mitchell Hamline faculty as a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence.
Greene, who co-founded the Minneapolis law firm Greene Espel PLLP 25 years ago, will teach civil procedure when the fall semester begins in August.
“I always dreamed that someday I would return to the classroom and share what I’ve learned in the practice of law,” Greene said.
Mitchell Hamline President and Dean Mark C. Gordon is looking forward to what the well-regarded litigator will bring to the school.
“We are delighted and honored that someone of Cliff Greene’s incredible stature in the Twin Cities legal community has agreed to join us and share his years of wisdom and experience with our students,” Gordon said.
This isn’t Greene’s first time in the classroom. He took two sabbaticals from practicing law in the 1980s and ‘90s to teach at Mitchell Hamline predecessor William Mitchell College of Law.
“Cliff Greene is the best teacher I ever had,” said Martha M. Simonett ’84, a judge in Minnesota’s First Judicial District who took a number of classes from Greene in the early 1980s. “That education has never left me. I address a problem as I learned it in Cliff Greene’s torts class.”
Greene has built a successful career focusing on civil litigation, public sector representation, and alternative dispute resolution.
A graduate of Harvard College and Cornell Law School, Greene will continue to be a member of Greene Espel but plans to leave the day-to-day oversight of most client matters and firm administration to his colleagues to focus on teaching.
Greene said he’s excited to join Mitchell Hamline’s faculty and is looking forward to sharing “a whole lifetime of courtroom anecdotes and litigation experience” with students.