Podcast: Hannah Honeycutt
Hannah Honeycutt, Executive Director of the South Carolina Access to Justice Commission, discusses the justice gap in SC
September 22, 2023
Faculty Profile: Jean Steadman
Since he arrived in June 2020, Charleston School of Law Dean and Provost Larry Cunningham has made student success his mission.
“I am relentlessly focused on student success,” said Cunningham. “We want to ensure students learn the law, pass the bar, get a job, and become successful members of our profession.”
Student success begins in the classroom, and Professor of Law Jean Steadman loves teaching law and helping students find their passion to serve the greater good.
“Professor Steadman is one of the most inspiring professors I’ve ever had,” wrote Ariana Patsaros on Instagram. “I truly cannot say enough great things about Prof Steadman … she also prided herself on being accessible to students.”
Patsoras continued with a story that exemplifies the Charleston Law “Open Doors” philosophy. “When my computer literally burst into flames mid-semester during Fall 1L year, she reached out to the student body on my behalf and helped me re-assemble my notes and outlines.”
Who does that?
Well, Professor Jean Steadman, and dozens more full-time and adjunct law professors at Charleston School of Law.
“We (faculty) don’t pretend that we are teaching to some cardboard cutout,” said Professor Steadman. “We take the time to get to know students. We recognize that even though they’re the student and it’s their job to learn from us, we can always learn from them. When we start understanding and listening to one another, that opens the possibility to have these more informed discussions and a greater understanding and respect for one another.”
“She helped me so much to succeed in contracts, a subject which did NOT come naturally to me,” Patsaros wrote. “More importantly, she helped me regain my confidence with public speaking and reawakened my ability to think on my feet, a skill invaluable in the courtroom.”
“If a student is truly inspired by what you’re teaching them, by what you’re demonstrating, and if you’re getting them to participate and getting them to be inspired, the grades will come,” noted Steadman. “I excited every day to go into a classroom. I love being with students. I love the interaction. I love teaching something to students and seeing their eyes kind of widen when they get it, and they get inspired. I love seeing that.”
“I highly recommend taking her (class) if you have the opportunity,” added Patsaros. “I couldn’t get enough that I spent several Saturdays tuning into her contract-writing boot camps through the business law society, and now I’m currently pursuing an internship for an in-house publishing company doing work that is primarily contracts-based, something I never considered doing before that class.”
Steadman joined the Charleston School of Law as a Visiting Professor in 2018. One year later, in 2019, she was promoted to an Assistant Professor. She teaches Contracts I and II, Sales, Business Associations, Drafting Preliminary Agreements, Litigating a Transaction, and Practical International Business Transactions.
“Many of us (faculty) come from a practical background and our teaching is informed by practical needs, practical concerns,” said Professor Steadman. “We know what these students will be facing. We know the challenges. We know the issues. We try to infuse our practical experience and practical tips to create well-rounded students and practitioners from Day One.”
Prior to joining Charleston School of Law, Steadman worked and lived in Italy for 20 years. She served at the law firm C-Lex Studio Legale and specialized in cross-border commercial transactions and collaborated with many important Italian law firms, banks, energy, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing companies on all aspects of international commercial contracts throughout her career.
Steadman received her Juris Doctor from Mississippi College School of Law and her Bachelors of Science in Political Science and Sociology from James Madison University. Prior to law school, Steadman worked as a social worker.
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CHARLESTON SCHOOL OF LAW QUICK FACTS
The Charleston School of Law is an ABA-accredited law school nationally recognized for its student-centric culture. Our faculty and staff are committed to preparing you for success both in the classroom and in the legal profession.
- The Princeton Review ranks Charleston School of Law professors second in the country for faculty accessibility (2021)
- Charleston School of Law faculty ranked among the top of The Princeton Review’s list of Best Professors in the nation (2016-2018)
- Experiential Learning: Charleston School of Law students have access to externship sites, creating opportunities for experiential learning in the legal field.
- Community Service: Charleston School of Law students have performed more than 241,000 community service hours (2004-current).
- Students won the National Tax Moot Court Championship for seven consecutive years (2012-2018)
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