SIU School of Law

Suzanne J. Schmitz
Assistant Professor of Law
Coordinator of Academic Success Program

Biography

Professor Suzanne J. Schmitz believes that being a lawyer is an honor, and so she wants to challenge future lawyers to meet the standard of being competent, diligent, ethical, skilled, and committed to public service. These are the abilities needed if lawyers are entrusted with the great responsibility they have for people’s lives, liberties, and properties.

She wants to see students succeed in law school and then in practice. She coordinates the law school’s academic success program, designed to help students learn the tools of “thinking like a lawyer.” Through 1L study groups led by Taylor Mattis Fellows, students work on the skills of legal analysis so critical for success.

Additionally, Professor Schmitz assists with bar admission and bar preparation and offers individual and small group work to students especially challenged by law school.

Professor Schmitz is in legal education because she can enjoy two professions she loves: teaching and law. She is a 1969 graduate of St. Xavier College in Chicago, with a B.A. in Philosophy. She also earned an M.S. Ed. from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville in 1976, and a J.D. (Magna cum Laude) from St. Louis University School of Law in 1981. She is admitted to practice in Illinois, Missouri, and the Central and Southern United States District Courts in Illinois.

Prior to her duties with the Academic Success Program, Professor Schmitz worked for twelve years in the ADR Clinic at SIU where her particular area of interest was mediation. She has written extensively on mediation and other ADR topics and has served on several committees regarding ADR.