Cooley Law School begins fifth term at Tampa Bay Campus

In May 2012, Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Tampa Bay campus welcomed its first class of students. With Cooley Law School offering three terms per calendar year, its fifth class of students will begin their law school careers in Sept. Beginning next month, Cooley’s Tampa Bay campus will have approximately 370 students, 16 full-time faculty, 13 part-time faculty and 20 support staff personnel, including three appointments announced today.

 “As we establish ourselves here in the Tampa Bay region, each of us, our students, faculty and staff are committed to becoming good partners in the community,” said Jeff Martlew, associate dean. “We are excited to bring leading practitioners from many areas of the U.S. here to teach.”

Martlew’s latest appointments to the school’s administrative and teaching ranks include Ronald Sutton who will serve as the school’s assistant dean, and new adjunct faculty members Fla. 13th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Christopher Sabella and Marshall Deason Jr., a partner with Tampa Bay Business Law.

Before joining Cooley’s full-time faculty in 2012, Sutton served as the Deputy Circuit/Probate Court Administrator-Attorney Referee for the 56th Judicial Circuit Court in Eaton County, Mich. Previously, he was president of Sutton Sports Management Co, 1998-2010, where he was involved with worldwide representation of professional basketball players, coaches and broadcasters. Before that, he was an attorney-shareholder with Fraser, Trebilcock, Davis & Dunlap, PD, 1979-1998. His areas of practice included commercial litigation, insurance law, family law, and sports law.

Sabella will teach Trial Skills at Cooley. Since 2006, Sabella has served in the family law, juvenile delinquency and general civil divisions of the 13th Circuit Court. He has served as special assistant attorney in the State’s Attorney’s Office, legal counsel for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Fla. Sabella has taught various courses for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Hillsborough Community College and St. Petersburg College.

Deason will join Cooley teaching Fla. Real Estate Transactions. He has twenty years experience as a lecturer in real estate law, business law and ethics at continuing legal education seminars presented by the Florida Bar Association, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and the National Business Institute. Deason is president of the Bay Area Real Estate Council and is a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Sections of the Florida Bar and the American Bar Association.

About Cooley Law School: Celebrating 40 years of excellence, the Thomas M. Cooley Law School is a private, nonprofit, independent law school accredited by the American Bar Association and the Higher Learning Commission. Cooley has provided its more than 17,000 graduates with the practical skills necessary for a seamless transition from academia to the real world. Cooley offers its Juris Doctor program, Joint Degree programs, and Master of Laws programs three times a year with enrollment in January, May and September. Cooley Law School has campuses across Michigan in Lansing, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, and in Tampa Bay, Florida.