Robert Ahdieh
Emory University School of Law
Professor Ahdieh attended Yale Law School where he was a student director of the Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic, and worked on a class action suit against Radovan Karadzic for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Bosnia. He serves on the board of the Tahirih Justice Center, a nonprofit organization in Washington, DC that provides legal, medical, and social services to immigrant and refugee women. The Center is particularly known for its gender-based asylum work. He is also working to revive Emory's loan repayment assistance program. Additionally, Professor Ahdieh is involved with human rights work in the former Soviet Union.
Robert Ahdieh On Law Preview . . .
Why do you teach for Law Preview?
Too much of the energy that students bring to law school gets spent on stress about whether the other guy knows more than I do, has briefed more cases than I have, etc. I think the Law Preview course has to potential to take some of that edge off, so that students can expend their energy on learning, and not stressing.
Why is Law Preview better than other modes of preparing for law school?
I'd suggest three reasons: First, it is systematic, in a way that is hard to recreate on your own. Second, it offers not only the body of information relevant to a given subject, but also a sense of the relative importance of different issues and pieces of information, which is hard to get from a source besides an actual law professor. Finally, and related to the last response, its psychic benefits - in terms of being more relaxed in the initial months of your law school education - are likely to be greater than other approaches.
Robert Ahdieh On Law School . . .
What is the most important skill law students lack when they begin law school that Law Preview teaches?
It's hard to identify one, MOST important one. I'd probably say the ability to think in problems, and the ability to engage with problems in dialectical terms.
What are your favorite study aids for the subject-matter you teach at Law Preview?
Concepts & Case Analysis in the Law of Contracts, by Marvin Chirelstein
What is your favorite fiction/non-fiction book for the subject-matter you teach at Law Preview?
Contract, Guanxi, and Dispute Resolution in China, by Tahirih Lee.
What is your favorite casebook for the subject-matter you teach at Law Preview?
Problems in Contract Law: Cases & Materials, by Knapp, Crystal & Prince
What's your favorite thing about teaching the law?
When my students begin to teach it to themselves - When we're in the middle of a Socratic dialogue, and a student's face suddenly lights up, because he's worked through the problem, and figured it out.
Robert Ahdieh On Life . . .
What is your greatest accomplishment, professional or personal?
My two sons (and the ten years of marriage behind them!)
What organization are you most proud to have been a part of in law school?
The Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic.
What person in the legal profession do you most admire?
Harold Koh, for his combination of excellence as a scholar, teacher, activist, government official, administrator, and husband/father.
If you weren't teaching at your school, what would your "other dream job" be?
Newspaper columnist.
What are your 3 favorite websites?
http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/ www.nytimes.com http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml
What are your 3 favorite movies?
The Red Violin The Final Countdown The Blues Brothers
