Other than the venue, I have never really believed there was a meaningful difference between practicing law and teaching.  Good lawyers must be good teachers - of clients, judges and juries.  Although most of my 21 years of law practice was in either Environmental, Construction, or Indian law litigation, much of that time I was also involved in teaching in a classroom.  In 1984 I taught the Legal Research and Writing course at Cardozo Law School in New York City (where I was practicing law at the time).  The following summer, I taught a six-week intensive course in Jurisprudence. 

Lawyering Process
Most of my teaching experience, however, has been in teaching the Lawyering Process course at the University of Denver College of Law.  From 1991 to 1997, I taught the course as a member of the Adjunct faculty, while still practicing law in downtown Denver.  In those days, the course had a different format than it has now, but the similarities outweighed the differences.  Two of those years I also taught another course here at DU Law.

I have also been involved in legal education issues from the perspective of the Bar.  For six years I served on the Legal Education and Admissions Committee of the Colorado Bar Association, and was Chairman of that committee from 1993-1996.

I left a firm where I was a name partner in mid-2003 to join the full time faculty at DU Law, and teach the Lawyering Process course again.  I teach that course in the fall and spring semesters.   I also teach a course called Discovery Practicum, which is a about the discovery process in litigation, with a practical focus.  Occasionally, I also teach Administrative Law.  Finally, I teach a course in Knowledge Management in the MSLA program. You will find more information on the courses I teach on this page.

In 2008, I was appointed the Director of the LP Program, which means that I get to work more closely with my wonderful colleagues who also teach the LP course.

I am married to my best friend Kathy, and we have two beautiful daughters, Angelina and Sarah-Jane.  In my spare time (what little there is of it!) I enjoy travel photography.  If you are interested in viewing my online portfolio, you will find it here.

If you need a copy of my CV, you'll find a link in the right hand column on this page.

L.P. Professor David Thomson
Click here to view my CV
Read my Philosophy of Teaching
Click here to read my student evaluations
Visit my page on SSRN
Visit my DU Portfolio site
Visit the Lawyering Process home page
Go to the Online Classroom on Blackboard