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Professor Sisk joined the University of St. Thomas law faculty in 2003,
after teaching for twelve years at the Drake University Law School, where
he had also been named as the Richard M. & Anita Calkins Distinguished
Professor. He teaches Professional Responsibility and Civil Procedure,
as well as a new course with original materials on Litigation with the
Federal Government. His casebook, "Litigation
With the Federal Government: Cases and Materials," was
originally published by Foundation
Press in 2000 and is now in its second edition (2008). It has been adopted at several law schools,
including Georgetown University, George Washington University, Catholic
University, New York University, the University of Pittsburgh,
and McGeorge School of Law.
Professor Sisk also is author of the leading treatise on the subject, "Litigation
With the Federal Government," published as the fourth edition by
ALI-ABA in 2006. He has published nearly three dozen
articles on litigation with the federal government, judicial decisionmaking, awards of attorney's fees, professional responsibility,
constitutional interpretation, law and religion, and tort reform. His articles have been cited by
the United States Supreme Court, several federal courts of appeals,
and the supreme courts of several states. His empirical study
of judicial decisionmaking and the influence of judicial background,
co-authored with Professors Michael Heise and Andrew Morriss, was published
in the New York University Law Review and received the
1999 Article Prize from the Law and Society Association.
Professor Sisk has remained active as a member of the legal
profession. He served as reporter for the Iowa
Rules of Professional Conduct Drafting Committee appointed by
the Iowa Supreme Court to draft the new set of ethics rules to
govern lawyers in Iowa. He is a member of the American Law Institute,
the nation's premier law reform organization. He maintains a
limited practice, primarily as an appellate attorney and as an
expert witness on professional ethics and conduct. For example,
he briefed a leading environmental/federal-common-law case as
counsel for amicus curiae and then was invited to argue the central
issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
More important than success on the merits, however, was the testament
that the court gave to the attorneys in the case: "Litigation
often produces criticism for its participants. This case, however,
was extraordinarily well briefed and argued by consummate professionals
on both sides and we are grateful for that." Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Brown & Bryant, Inc.,
132 F.3d 1295, 1303 n.5 (9th Cir. 1997), amended, 159
F.3d 358, 365 n.6 (9th Cir. 1998). Professor Sisk is also active with
the Conference on Catholic Legal Thought, writing and speaking about
religion and public life and the role of faith in professional life.
He occasionally participates as a member of the
Mirror of Justice blog,
which present a diverse array of Catholic perspectives on the law,
public life, and social justice. |
