John Sonsteng

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Professor John Sonsteng received his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota.  He joined the William Mitchell faculty in 1979 and developed the college’s lawyering, advocacy and practicum classes.  

 

His commitment to educating law students and lawyers was recognized by NITA with the 2007 Honorable Prentice H. Marshall Faculty Award. He was the first recipient of the “Advocate” Award from the Minnesota State Bar Association for Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to the bar.  The National College of Trial Lawyers honored Sonsteng with the Emil Gumpert Award for excellence in Teaching Trial Advocacy.  

 

He co-created William Mitchell’s hands-on General Practice Legal Practicum course and has taught Advanced Advocacy, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure during his more than 40 years at Mitchell Hamline School of Law  

 

Sonsteng was a Fulbright Lecturer in Aberdeen, Scotland and a City Solicitors Education Trust Visiting Professor in Litigation Advocacy at England’s Nottingham Law School.  He has taught advocacy skills throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Singapore and Turkey.

 

He has authored or co-authored dozens of books, articles, videos and manuals on advocacy, juvenile law and practice and criminal procedure.  His book, A Legal Education Renaissance: A Practical Approach for the Twenty-First Century, proposes a 17-year plan for revamping how U.S. law schools prepare students for practice. 

 

In 2010, Sonsteng was named the recipient of the John J. McAulay Legal Educator Award, by the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International.  The prestigious annual award recognizes an educator whose contribution to legal education epitomizes the fraternity’s ideal of a lifetime of dedication to the principles of integrity, compassion, courage, and professional service.

 

In addition to having taught and lectured  in many cities in the U.S., he has taught in England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Turkey , Qatar, Singapore, Columbia, and Hong Kong

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CONTACT INFORMATION: 

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john.sonsteng@mitchellhamline.edu

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Dr. Feridun Yenisey 

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Professor Dr. Feridun Yenisey studied Law at the University of Istanbul where he received his Ph.D., with a thesis on 'Appeals in Criminal Law’. He became a professor at Marmara University, Faculty of Law, and founded the Research and Learning Centre for Criminal Law and Criminology at the university. Dr. Yenisey was the Dean of the Faculty of Communication of Marmara University. He received a call from Bahçeşehir University School of Law, where he served as Dean in 2009 and is now serving as Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law.

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Dr. Yenisey has established the Institute for Global Understanding of the Rule of Law (IGUL). He has conducted research in Austria and in Germany, taught courses on comparative criminal law in Würzburg University and in the USA (Syracuse University, College of Law; South Texas College of Law; William Mitchell College of Law; University of Kansas School of Law; Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School; Georgia State University Law School).

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He is co-organizer of the Study Abroad Program of STCL, WMCL, and KU in Turkey. This study abroad program is now under the leadership of the University of Kansas School of Law. He convened the “Legal Education in the 21st Century” international conferences in 2014 and 2019. He was deemed worthy of the best active jurist award by Türkiye Hukuk in 2015 and received the Best Legal Educator Award and the Honor Award of BAU Respect for Science Awards in 2018.

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CONTACT INFORMATION:

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igul@law.bau.edu.tr

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Willow Najjar Anderson 

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Willow Najjar Anderson is a co-founder of the Center For Law and Business – An Open Resource.  She is a practicing lawyer and brings more than twenty years of legal teaching experience to the program nationally and internationally.  She has taught lawyers and law students from across the United States and world.  Her forte is teaching trial advocacy, law firm management, business practicum, and how to support entrepreneurs and small to mid-size businesses. 

 

Her experience has taken her from the classroom in Saint Paul, Minnesota to Russia, the Republic of Georgia, and online learning-by-doing in Istanbul, Turkey.  She is a facilitator bringing together very real courtroom experience with practical skills training for students and lawyers.

 

Willow served as an Assistant Attorney General where she tried cases in almost every Minnesota County and successfully argued before the Minnesota Court of Appeals more than a dozen times.   She is admitted to practice law in State and Federal Court and has successfully tried jury trials from criminal sexual conduct, murder, to civil actions resulting in multi-million-dollar settlements. 

 

Willow’s passion for alternative dispute resolution led to her 2021 nomination as Attorney of the Year for her work helping to bring restorative justice to our indigenous and non-dominant cultures. 

 

Member Affiliations:​

National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Faculty

Expert Witness Training Program, Faculty 

Institute for the Global Understanding of the Rule of Law, Board Member

American Swedish Institute, Board Member

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Pro Bono Attorney

Minnesota Bar Association, Presenter 

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CONTACT INFORMATION: ​

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willow@willowandersonlaw.com