Meet OU Law’s Newest Faculty Members

August 20, 2018 | By Rachel Egli, Communications and Events Coordinator
New professors Eric Johnson, Kit Johnson, Christopher Odinet, and Erin Sheley

The OU College of Law recently welcomed Eric Johnson, Kit Johnson, Christopher Odinet and Erin Sheley as the newest members of the OU Law faculty. As a way to familiarize students with their background, teaching style and passion for law, we asked each professor to answer the following questions:

  • Where did you receive your J.D.?

E. Johnson

Harvard Law School.

K. Johnson

University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

Odinet

The Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Geaux Tigers!

Sheley

Harvard Law School.

 

  • What brought you to the OU College of Law?

E. Johnson

This is my dream job! The University of Oklahoma is an ideal place to be a professor. One of the things I love most is OU’s abundance of school spirit. I’m not so much talking about the excitement around OU athletics – that’s only a small part of it. Mostly, I mean that students, faculty and staff are deeply happy to be here, and they all care about each other and are invested in OU’s continuing excellence. Being at OU Law means being swept up in that. Also, on the personal side, I’m very happy to be just a few hours from my mom and sister in Dallas.

K. Johnson

I had the pleasure of teaching at OU Law from 2012-2016. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to return to a job, school and community that I deeply love.  

Odinet

I really connected with the faculty and students. Plus, I love college towns. It’s also not too far from my husband’s and my family.

Sheley

Great colleagues and students.

 

  • What courses will you be teaching this school year?

E. Johnson

I will be teaching Torts, Science and Law, Antitrust, and Intellectual Property.

K. Johnson

Civil Procedure I and II, Crimmigration, and Trial Techniques. Next fall, I’ll be teaching Immigration Law in lieu of Trial Techniques.

Odinet

In the fall, I’ll be teaching Payment Systems – seriously, it’s more exciting than it sounds – and Secured Transactions. In the spring, I’ll be teaching Real Estate Transactions and Consumer Law and Finance.

Sheley

I will be teaching Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure: Adjudication, and White-Collar Crime.

 

  • What can students expect from your classes?

E. Johnson

Enthusiasm, energy, and variety. I hope students will see I’ve put in a huge amount of work to create a great learning experience that will get them excited about the law. 

K. Johnson

Music. In the minutes before class officially begins, I will always play a song that is in some way relevant to the reading for the day. For example, when I taught Federal Courts, I began discussion of the 11th Amendment with Extreme’s “More Than Words.” A perfect musical pairing!

Odinet

Prior students tell me that although I’m pretty rigorous in terms of what I expect, I have a very linear and organized lecturing style. I also practiced in many of the areas that I teach, so I really enjoy bringing in practical exercises such as document drafting, looking over competing contract provisions, transactional strategies, etc.

Sheley

Students can expect lively, and hopefully multi-sided, discussion of deeply important questions of justice, interspersed with pictures of my Welsh Corgi, Thumper.

 

  • Any classroom pet peeves?

E. Johnson

I worry less about my annoyances and more about what can annoy and distract students in class. So, there’s no eating in my classes. And while I allow laptops, I don’t allow eyeball-pulling content like videos or animated GIFs. 

K. Johnson

Lateness. Students need to arrive in class and get settled in their seats before the official start of class. Lawyers always arrive in court well before any scheduled hearing. So, it makes sense for students to adopt a practice of showing up on time in law school.

Odinet

Students packing up before class is actually over. Also, playing on cell phones during class. It kills me...

Sheley

My biggest classroom pet peeve is remorseless tardiness – as distinct from remorseful tardiness, and I swear I can tell the difference.

 

  • Why do you teach/practice law?

E. Johnson

I think the reason I’m drawn to law is I love constructing arguments, investigating facts, looking for flaws in reasoning and trying to make sense of things. Also, the law directly affects people’s lives and has tremendous power to create positive change. With regard to teaching law, it’s funny, I never pictured myself as a law professor until I taught a class as an adjunct. But after the very first class session, I knew this is what I wanted to do full time for the rest of my life.

K. Johnson

I love introducing students to the law. It’s an ever-evolving field of study that is never boring.

Odinet

I was a transactional lawyer. I really enjoyed the energy around putting together and closing “the deal.” And since I did real estate work, I got to see the “deal” in action as the project came together. Also, because I focus on finance and the law as a professor, I feel like I’m teaching students how the economy works “under the hood.” Watching students untangle that complexity and understand it for themselves is the best.

Sheley

I became a lawyer because the high moral stakes on both sides of the criminal justice system have appealed to me ever since I was in elementary school and Law and Order was in its first season. 

 

  • If a student were to hypothetically bring you a drink from Starbucks – what should they get?

E. Johnson

They should get a “Charbucks” – a coffee blend that Starbucks unsuccessfully fought a trademark battle against – and the student should just parade that “Charbucks” around their local Starbucks, since obviously you can’t buy it there. As for my preferred drink? It’s Diet Mountain Dew. But don’t actually buy me one, because my office fridge is always stocked, and I already consume as much as is medically safe.

K. Johnson

I’ll confess I don’t drink caffeine except on the occasional long-distance road trip. Students should just bring their caffeinated – or non-caffeinated-but-awake – selves to class ready to learn!

Odinet

Tall dark roast. Nothing added. Like a boss.

Sheley

My Starbucks beverage of choice is usually a skim chai, unless I am particularly sleep deprived, in which case it’s an Americano.

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