Paul J. Cain
Clinical Associate Professor

B.A., Colorado State University
J.D., Franklin Pierce Law Center

Email: pcain@niu.edu
Phone: (815) 752-8200
Off-Campus Phone: (815) 962-9980

Biography

Paul Cain is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Zeke Giorgi Legal Clinic and is currently supervising the Mediation Clinic. For the past five years, he has taught in the clinical programs at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law and the University of Denver College of Law. His clinical teaching experience includes political asylum, federal housing, family law, and criminal defense. In addition, he has been involved with the Innocence Project.

Prior to teaching, he practiced law for 18 years in central Ohio. He began his career as a legal services attorney and subsequently had a general civil and criminal defense practice. His areas of practice included criminal defense, family law, juvenile law, bankruptcy, and administrative law (social security disability, worker compensation, unemployment compensation). He has been actively involved with numerous community and bar association committees throughout his career, including the boards of several legal services organizations.

Recent Activities

• Appeared on the "Rockford Raps!" radio show on WNTA 1330 AM on October 17, 2009 as part of a panel to talk about expungement and sealing of criminal records. Paul participated in a workshop immediately following the program to assist people in filling out the forms to expunge or seal their records, or advise them about what they need to do.
• Appeared on the "Rockford Raps!" radio show on WNTA 1330 AM on August 29, 2009 to talk about the legal issues and proceedings in the Barmore shooting case in Rockford in which two white policemen shot an African-American suspect.  WTVO Ch. 17 covered the radio show and interviewed Paul.  
• Co-presented (with Wendy Vaughn) "Emotional Intelligence: Collaboration and Constructive Discontent," AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education, Cleveland, OH (May 2009).

Publications

• Doing the ‘Right’ Thing: An Analytical Model Examining the Interplay between Ethical Professional Conduct, Morality, and Justice, 10 T.M. Cooley J. Prac. & Clinical L. 149 (2008).
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• A First Step Toward Introducing Emotional Intelligence Into The Law School Curriculum: The ‘Emotional Intelligence and the Clinic Student’ Class, 14 Legal Educ. Rev. 1 (2004).
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