J.D., Case Western Reserve University
M.P.H., Harvard School of Public Health
Katharine Van Tassel clerked for U.S. District Court Judge William K. Thomas before becoming an associate with the international law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. In 1991, she became the Owner and Managing Partner of Van Tassel & Associates, a 13 lawyer, national law firm specializing in the defense of products liability, medical malpractice and federal multi-district court litigation. In 1997, Professor Van Tassel became an Assistant Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University. In 2001, she joined Western New England College School of Law where she was a tenured Professor of Law.
Professor Van Tassel is a Hearing Officer for medical staff peer review proceedings and is a consultant for matters involving the abuse and neglect of nursing home residents. She has served as a Special Commissioner on the Cervical Cancer Special Commission of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and as a member of both the Clinical Ethics Review Team and the Institutional Review Board for Experimental Drugs and Devices of the largest hospital system in Western Massachusetts.
Professor Van Tassel currently serves on the Executive Board of the Law, Medicine and Healthcare Section of the American Association of Law Schools (2012 – present), on the Executive Board of the Law and Mental Disability Section of the American Association of Law Schools (2012 – present) and as the Vice Chair of the Food & Drug Law Section of the American Bar Association.
Professor Van Tassel’s scholarship has appeared in such journals as the Cardozo Law Review, the Connecticut Law Review, the University of Cincinnati Law Review and the Seton Hall Law Review.
Professor Van Tassel teaches several classes in the area of Health Law, Food & Drug Law and Civil Procedure. She is the Editor of the
Health Law Prof Blog and her various writings and class materials can be found at
www.katharinevantassel.com.