Summer Term Faculty Biographies

Stephen Cribari

Stephen J. Cribari is a Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. Professor Cribari brings a diversity of interests to the law school. A former Federal Public Defender who has twice argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, he teaches constitutional law, evidence, physical evidence/expert testimony, and criminal law. He is the Reporter for the Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction Committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, is on the faculty of ATF's National Firearms Examiner Academy, and is a member of NIJ's Technical Working Group on Digital Evidence in the courtroom. Professor Cribari designed, and has conducted, the moot court component of the FBI Computer Analysis Response Team's examiner qualification training program. In 2003, he was recognized by the FBI for outstanding public service. In addition to his years at the University of Connecticut School of Law where he has continued to teach most summers, Professor Cribari has taught at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver, the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University, and in the Department of Forensic Sciences at George Washington University. Professor Cribari received his J.D. from Catholic University (1980), and is the first American layman to have received a Pontifical degree in Canon Law (J.C.L., 1977). He has taught Canon Law at Catholic University and is a former tribunal judge for the Military Archdiocese. He received his B.A. from St. Lawrence University.

Eric J. Gouvin

Eric J. Gouvin is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at Western New England College of Law. Dean Gouvin received is B.A., from Cornell University; his J.D., LL.M., Boston University, and an M.P.A., Harvard University. Prior to joining the faculty at Western New England College of Law, Dean Gouvin practiced corporate, banking, and commercial law in a large firm. He handled matters for corporate clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small, closely held concerns. His areas of scholarly interest include the law of corporate groups and banking law. He is a co-author of the treatise Blumberg on Corporate Groups. In addition, he has published numerous law review articles and several lessons on corporate law for the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) library. This will be Dean Gouvin's eighth engagement as a visiting professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Katharine Van Tassel

Katharine Van Tassel is a Professor of Law at Western New England College of Law. She received her R.N., and B.S.N. degrees from Case Western Reserve University and a J.D from Case Western University School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Professor Van Tassel practiced as an Advanced Clinical Nurse in the area of pediatric hematology-oncology. After graduation from law school, she clerked for U.S. District Court Judge William K. Thomas. She then became associated with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey before becoming the Managing Partner of Van Tassel & Associates, a law firm which specialized in products liability and federal multi-district court litigation. She was an Assistant Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University and a visiting assistant professor of law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Professor Van Tassel teaches health law, bioethics, food & drug law, torts and products liability. She is currently completing an M.P.H. at the Harvard School of Public Health. Professor Van Tassel also serves as Special Commissioner on the Cervical Cancer Special Commission of House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is a Hearing Officer for medical staff peer review proceedings. Recently, Professor Van Tassel has served as a member of both the Clinical Ethics Review Team and the Institutional Review Board for Experimental Drugs and Devices of the largest hospital system in Western Massachusetts.