“This is a remarkable Christmas present for OCU. Judge Couch will be an exceptional dean. She has been involved with our law school as an adjunct faculty member for a decade and her rapport with students and faculty is sterling, as is her reputation within the legal community,” asserts OCU President Robert Henry.
Couch, who says she accepted the job both out love for OCU and out of admiration of the school's “aspirations to grow and develop as a law school”, is ready to hit the ground running. She is scheduled to take on the position of dean on July 1, 2012 but has already developed a number of ideas, which she intends to bring before the faculty and students. In addition to placing a greater focus on the clinical experience, she notes that “there are also opportunities to create centers of excellence like in natural resources and energy law.” Regardless of which ideas the law school chooses to move forward with, Couch is well aware of the fact that collaboration with faculty and students is essential.
Couch holds a JD from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, a MA in English Literature from the University of Oklahoma, and a BA in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles. From 1983 to 1988, she was an associate with Hartzog Conger & Cason, P.C., where she was a director and shareholder from 1988 to 1999. She has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma since 1999. She joined OCU in 2001 as an adjunct faculty member, teaching trial practice to upper division students.
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