Office #403
Assistant:

Education

• M.I.T. Whitworth College, 1999
• J.D. University of Iowa, 1992
• B.A. University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, 1989

Biography

Sandra Simpson joined the law faculty as an Assistant Professor of Legal Research and Writing in August 2007 and was promoted to Associate Professor in August of 2012. Prior to joining the law faculty at Gonzaga Law School, she spent three years teaching at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. Before entering the teaching field, Professor Simpson spent two years in general practice in Iowa City, Iowa, and five years as an employment defense litigator for Workland and Witherspoon, P.L.L.C., in Spokane, Washington.

In addition to teaching, Professor Simpson is actively pursuing her passion and commitment to respecting all human life from conception to natural death. To this end, she has published articles in the area of the death penalty and protecting caregivers in the workplace. As a contributing faculty member to the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, Professor Simpson also researches, publishes, and speaks in the area of assessment and teaching

Presentations

• Everyone Else is Doing it; Why Can’t We, Texas Wesleyan School of Law Justice Conference, March 2012
• Co presenter of the plenary session at the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning Annual Conference, Spokane, WA. June, 2012
• Better Ways to Teach Synthesis by Using the Thread Method, Las Vegas, NV., March 2011
• Taught a one-day seminar on teaching, Institute for Law Teaching and Learning Conference, Topeka, Kansas, June 2010
• There Must be a Better Way to Grade; The Key to Creating Effective Rubrics, Annual Rocky Mountain Legal Research and Writing Conference, Tucson, Arizona, March 2010
• Implementing Best Practices and Educating Lawyers: Teaching Skills and Professionalism Across the Curriculum, Gonzaga University, June 2009
• Thinking Critically About Teaching Goals Through Designing Effective Assessment Rubrics, Institute for Law Teaching and Learning conference, June 23, 2009
• Everyone Else is Doing it; Why Can’t We?, 2009 Law and Society Annual Conference in Denver, May 30, 2009
• Family Feud: The Bluebook Edition, Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, March 13-14, 2009
• Presentation on applying educational theories on classroom management and student engagement to the law school classroom, Annual Rocky Mountain Legal Research and Writing Conference, March 21-22, 2008

Publications

• The Elusive Quest for Equality: Women, Work, and the Next Wave of Humanism, Gonzaga Law Review, Volume 48, No. 2, 2012/13
• Everyone Else is Doing It, Why Can’t We? A New Look at the Use of Statistical Data in Death Penalty Cases, Iowa Journal of Gender, Race, & Justice, 2008
• Riding the Carousel: Making Assessment a Learning Loop Through the Continuous Use of Grading Rubrics, 2011 Canadian Legal Education Annual Review. (Peer-edited journal).

Positions

• Institute for Law Teaching and Learning: Contributing faculty, Presenter, Workshop Presenter, and Annual Conference Coordinator.

Teaching Areas