Curriculum Vitae - Arizona State University

CURRICULUM VITAE
August 2011
MICHAEL A. BERCH
Emeritus Alan A. Matheson Distinguished Professor of Law
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Arizona State University
P.O. Box 877906
Tempe, AZ 85287-7906
480-965-6419
E-mail: michael.berch@law.asu.edu
EDUCATION: Columbia Law School
J.D., 1959
Honors: Editor, Columbia Law Review
Moot Court Honor Argument
LAW SCHOOL POSITIONS:
Columbia College
B.A., 1956
Horace Mann/Barnard School for Boys
1952
1969-present Professor of Law, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law,
Arizona State University
2003-2005 Dean of Admissions (in conjunction with activities as full-time
Professor of Law)
1988-89 Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Sandra Day O’Connor College
of Law
OTHER TEACHING POSITIONS:
1998 - 2011 Professor, Barrett Honors College, Arizona State University
COURSES:
Continuing Interest: Civil Procedure
Federal Courts
Law and the Regulatory State
Legal Method & Process
Professional Responsibility
Remedies
Other Courses Taught: Appellate Advocacy
Business Associations
Civil Rights
Civil Clinic

MICHAEL A. BERCH CURRICULUM VITAE
VISITING POSITIONS:
Complex Litigation
Law of Presidential Powers
Practice Court
Fall 2001 Visiting Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law
Fall,1996 - Fall, 2000 &
2002, Spring 2005, Fall and Spring 2009 -10 Part-time Visiting Professor, McGeorge
School of Law
Fall, 1995 and Spring 1996 Visiting Professor, University of California-Davis School of Law
Spring, 1992 Visiting Professor, Southern Methodist University School of Law
Fall, 1988 and Spring, 1989 Visiting Professor, Southern Methodist University School of Law
Fall, 1982 Visiting Professor, University of San Diego School of Law
Summers, 1990-93;
1995-97 Visiting Professor, McGeorge School of Law
Summers, 1978-89; 2000;
2004; 2006-2011 Visiting Professor, University of San Diego School of
Law
Summer 1977 and
Spring 1998 Visiting Professor, University of Tennessee School of Law
1965-68 Adjunct, New York University School of Law
HONORS AND AWARDS, Partial listing)
ASU Parents Association 12 th Annual Professor of the Year, 2008 Distinguished Nominee.
State Bar of Arizona - President’s Award - 6/29/2007.
Arizona State University Memorial Union Programs and Activities 12 th Annual Last Lecture
Series Award - “A Defense Plea for Leniency at the Mitigation Hearing - State v.
Raskolnikov” - 2007.
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Council of 100 Distinguished Service Award - 2007.
McGeorge School of Law, Distinguished Teacher of the Year, 2003
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MICHAEL A. BERCH CURRICULUM VITAE
Maricopa County Bar Association Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, 1992-93, 2001-02.
Arizona State University Alumni Association Distinguished Teacher Award, 1990 (Selected
from among 1500 faculty members).
Appointed by Chief Judge Robert Browning of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to
seven-member national task force: Appellate Courts in the Twenty-First Century, 1987-89.
Arizona State University Outstanding Service Award to the College of Law, 1986.
Arizona State University College of Law Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Award,
1986.
Coach of the Arizona State University National Moot Court teams,
1970 - 2007.
Highest student evaluations, Arizona State University College of Law, and at all visiting
institutions.
Faculty Achievement Teaching Award Nominee, Burlington-Northern Foundation, 1985,
1986 (finalist).
College of Law nominee, Regential Distinguished Professor Award (Teaching) 1987.
NON-TEACHING POSITIONS:
1990-91 Osborn & Maledon, (formerly Meyer, Hendricks, Victor Osborn U& Maledon)
Phoenix, Arizona, of Counsel.
1966-69 Private Practice, New York City.
1963-66 Townsend & Lewis, Esqs., Wall Street, New York City.
1959-63 Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Organized
Crime and Appeals Sections.
OTHER POSITIONS:
Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Civil
Division.
Judge Pro Tempore, Maricopa County Superior Court
Scholar in Residence, Meyer, Hendricks, Victor, Osborn & Maledon, P.A.,
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
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MICHAEL A. BERCH CURRICULUM VITAE
BOOKS:
American Bar Association.
Bar of the United States Supreme Court.
Bar of the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits.
Bar of the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York, Eastern
District of New York, and District of Arizona.
Member of the New York State Bar (admitted, 1959) and Arizona State Bar (admitted, 1972.
Inn of Court, Lorna Lockwood Chapter.
Reporter, Jury Instructions, State Bar of Arizona.
Berch, Berch Spritzer and Berch, Introduction to Legal Method and Process (5 th edition West
Publishing Co.); Teacher’s Manual
Worst of the Worst: Which, If Any, Circle of Hell: Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment,
chapter in a book (1983), Screening Justice -The Cinema of Law: Significant Films of Law,
Order and Social Justice, William S. Hein & Co., 2006.
The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel and Its Implications for Adoption of Specialist Panels in the
Courts of Appeals, in Restructuring Justice 165 (Arthur Hellman, ed.,1990).
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Handling Complex Litigation in Arizona (CES, Inc. 1986).
The Courts in Action, in The Adequacy of Arizona’s Court System (1973).
ARTICLES AND ESSAYS including:
Reflections on the Role of State Courts in the Vindication of State Constitutional Rights: A
Plea for State Appellate Courts to Consider Unraised Issues of State Constitutional Law in
Criminal Cases, 59 University of Kansas Law Review, No. 4 833 ( 2011)
“Removal Act of 1789", in Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States, ( 2008).
“Res Judicata”, in Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States (2008).
“Sentencing Prosecutorial Discretion, and the Criminal Injustice System,” The Defender, A
Quarterly Publication of the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Spring, 2008.
“A Defense Plea for Leniency at the Mitigation Hearing - State v. Raskolnikov”, Ariz. State
L.J. (Spring 2006).
“Law Professors’ Professionalism Creed,” The Professional Lawyer, Vol. 16, No.4, 2005.

MICHAEL A. BERCH CURRICULUM VITAE
“We’ve Only Just Begun: The Impact of Remand Orders from Higher to Lower Courts on
American Jurisprudence,” Ariz. State L. J. (Spring, 2004).
Crime and Punishment (Essay accepted for publication in an anthology 2002).
Analysis of Arizona’s Depublication Rule and Practice, 32 Ariz. St. L.J. 175 (2000).
An Essay Regarding Gasperini v. Center for Humanities, Inc. and the Demise of the Uniform
Application of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 69 Miss. L.J. 715 (1999) (with R. Berch)
Proposals to Amend the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 29 McGeorge Law Review 825
(1998) (with R. Berch).
The Power of the Judiciary to Dismiss Criminal Charges After Several Hung Juries: A
Proposed Rule to Control Judicial Discretion, 30 Loyola L.A. L. Rev. 535 (1997) (with R.
Berch)
Insurer, Insurer-Retained Counsel, Insured: A Rexamination of Conflicts of Interest in the
Tripartite Relationship, 55 Journal of Air Law and Commerce 689 (1989 (w. R. Berch).
Will the Real Counsel for the Insured Please Rise?, 19 Ariz. St. L.J. 27 (1987 (with R. Berch).
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An Essay on the Role of the Supreme Court in the Adjudication of Constitutional Rights, 1984
Ariz. St. L.J. 283.
An Examination of Owen Equipment and Erection Co. V. Kroger, 1979 Ariz. St. L.J. 253.
A Proposal to Permit Collateral Estoppel of Nonparties Seeking Affirmative Relief, 1979 Ariz.
St. L.J. 511.
Unchain the Courts – An Essay on the Role of the Federal Courts in the Vindication of Social
Rights, 1976 Ariz. St. L.J. 437 (1976).
Money Damages for Fourth Amendment Violations by Federal Officials: an Explanation of
Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal, 1971 Law & Soc. Order 43 (1971).
The Riddle of Harmless Error, 1970 Law & Soc.Order 509 (1970) (book review).
Michael Berch & Lester I. Tenney, Vesting and Portability of Pension Plans, 17 No. 2 Ariz.
Bus. Bulletin 3 (1970).
PAPERS AND OTHER PRESENTATIONS:
(Upon Request)

MICHAEL A. BERCH CURRICULUM VITAE
OTHER SERVICE TO THE COLLEGE OF LAW AND UNIVERSITY AT LARGE (Exclusive
of Committee Assignments):
Dean of Admissions, College of Law 2003-05.
Academic Associate Dean, College of Law, 1987-88.
Originated and directed summer law school programs at Northern Arizona University, 1987,
1988.
Founded the Pre-law preparation course for students interested in law school, 1985-1993 and
2005-2006.
OTHER LEGAL WRITINGS:
Numerous briefs to the Courts of Appeals, District Courts and state courts; prepared and
submitted petitions in opposition to certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.
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