Julie St. John
Julie听St. John
Assistant Professor, Comparative Legal Writing and Research
Degrees
- LL.M. Wayne State University
- LL.B. University of Windsor
- B.A. University of Windsor
Biography
Julie St. John joined the Detroit Mercy Law faculty in 2004. She teaches Comparative Legal Research and Writing in the Canadian & American Dual JD Program, Advanced Advocacy, and Introduction to Canadian Law. In addition to teaching, she is the faculty advisor for the Moot Court Board of Advocates and is the longest-serving member of Dual JD program committees with the University of Windsor Faculty of Law (Ontario, Canada).
Professor St. John earned her B.A. and LL.B. from University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada) and her LL.M. from Wayne State University (Michigan). After graduating from law school, she articled at a prestigious, large, full-service firm in Windsor before opening her own practice focusing primarily on family law, civil litigation, real estate, and wills & estates. She later joined a boutique firm in Windsor where she continued her litigation practice, focusing primarily on insurance defense litigation. Finally, she worked in-house in the corporate legal department of SBC/AT&T in Troy, Michigan.
Professor St. John lives with her husband and teen-aged children in Walkerville (a neighborhood in Windsor, Ontario, Canada) and enjoys yoga, travel, and time with her family.
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Courses Taught
Advanced Advocacy
Applied Legal Theory and Analysis
Comparative Legal Writing and Research
Introduction to Canadian Law
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Selected Presentations
“Pursuing Dialogue to Promote Justice and Wellbeing” Legal Writing One-Day Workshop, Widener University Delaware Law School, Wilmington Delaware, December 13, 2025.
“Social Justice and Dialogue in Our 21st Century Classrooms” Legal Writing One-Day Workshop, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts, December 5, 2025.
“Synchronous vs Asynchronous: Research into Online Legal Education” ALWD Scholars Forum, Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, Washington, DC, May 30, 2025.
“Best Practices for the Future of Online Education” Carolinas Colloquium, Duke University School of Law, Durham, NC, May 21, 2025.
“Best Practices for the Future of Online Education” Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 14, 2025.
“Identifying Implicit Reasoning” Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, Florida International University College of Law, Miami, Florida, December 6, 2024.
“Prompt Engineering: How to Get What You Want from GenAI” Empire State Legal Writing Conference, Fordham Law, NYC, New York, May 23, 2024.
“Warrantless Cellphone Searches at the Border” ALWD Scholars Forum, Fordham Law, NYC, New York, May 22, 2024.
“How Having Law Faculty that Teach Both Writing and Doctrinal Classes Can Improve Student Learning,” Co-Presenter with Professor Catherine Archibald, Legal Writing Institute Virtual One-Day Workshop, Vermont Law & Graduate School, December 8, 2023.
“Tackling Challenges of the Writing Process” Legal Writing Institute Virtual One-Day Workshop, Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University, December 8, 2023.
“The Importance of Culture When Teaching to the Multitudes” Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, December 6, 2019.
“Empowering Your Students to Become Excellent Oral Advocates,” Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, University of Akron School of Law, Akron, Ohio, November 30, 2018.
“A View from the Trenches – What Students Think about Formative Assessment,” University of Detroit Mercy Law Review Symposium, Detroit, Michigan, March 3, 2017
“Biggest Bang for your Buck: Using Real-life Problems to Enhance Learning,” poster presentation, Legal Writing Institute Biennial Conference, Portland, Oregon, July 2016
“Canadian Law in the United States: Rethinking Legal Education in North America” Association of Canadian Studies in the United States 23rd Biennial Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 16, 2015
“A Tale of Two Countries: Warrantless Searches – Using Cognitive Psychology to Reconcile Inconsistent Decisions” Psychology of Persuasion Conference, University of Wyoming College of Law, Laramie, Wyoming, September 19, 2015
“A Tale of Two Countries: Warrantless Searches – Nothing to Wurie 黑料社 and Much to Fearon” Global Legal Skills Conference, John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, May 20, 2015
“The Missing Link: Teaching Students to ‘Connect the Dots’ from Rule to Facts to Conclusion” Carolinas Research & Writing Colloquium, Duke University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina, May 15, 2015
“What Can You Do with a Dual JD?” Webinar, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, Michigan, September 24, 2014.
“Fact is Stranger (and More Interesting) Than Fiction: Using Real-Life Problems to Enhance Student Engagement and Learning” Western Regional Legal Writing Conference, Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, California, September 19, 2014.
“Harnessing Neuroscience to Maximize Performance” New England Consortium of Legal Writing Teachers Conference, Vermont Law School, South Royalton, Vermont, September 12, 2014.
“The ‘Sport’ of Lawyering: Using Visualization to Improve Performance” Psychology and Lawyering Conference, University of Nevada Las Vegas Boyd School of Law, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 21, 2014.