After graduation from Harvard Law School, Dean Dessem served as law clerk for Judge William K. Thomas of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He then served as Assistant General Counsel for the National Education Association (1978-1980) and trial attorney (1980-1984) and senior trial counsel (1984-1985) with the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice.
In 1985 Dean Dessem joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee College of Law, serving as associate professor, professor, and, from 1993 to 1995, associate dean for academic affairs. From 1995 to 2002, Dean Dessem served as professor and dean of the Mercer University School of Law, becoming dean and professor at the University of Missouri in July 2002.
Dean Dessem is the author of Pretrial Litigation: Law, Policy and Practice (West, 4th ed. 2007) and Pretrial Litigation in a Nutshell (West, 4th ed. 2008), as well as articles in various law journals. He has been elected as a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, as well as to membership in the American Law Institute.
Dean Dessem has served on and chaired the faculty for the ABA New Deans' Seminar, has chaired the AALS New Teachers' Workshop, he is a member of the AALS Executive Committee, and he has served on and chaired the AALS Membership Review Committee. He also has served as co-chair of the ABA Annual Deans' Workshop, on the Executive Committee of the AALS Civil Procedure Section, and on the Search Committee for the ABA Consultant on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. He serves on the Advisory Committee of the Institute for Law School Teaching and on the Federal Advisory Committee of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and he is a trustee of Macalester College.
Since 1996 Dean Dessem has served on and chaired ABA law school site inspection teams. Here at the University of Missouri, Dean Dessem teaches Pretrial Litigation and Civil Procedure.
Recent Publications
Books
Pretrial Litigation in a Nutshell 4th ed., (West 2008).
