Ira Steven Nathenson
Professor of Law &
Director, Intellectual Property Certificate Program
Email: inathenson@stu.edu
Phone: 305.474.2454
Mail:
St. Thomas University College of Law
Faculty Suite (209)
16401 NW 37th Ave
Miami Gardens, FL 33054
Education:
B.A., University of Pittsburgh College of Arts & Sciences, cum laude
J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law, summa cum laude
Expertise:
Civil Procedure
Copyright
Cyberlaw
Intellectual Property
Legal Education
Online Teaching
Patents
Trademarks
Ira Steven Nathenson
Professor Ira Steven Nathenson teaches courses in Civil Procedure and Intellectual Property. He also serves as the founding Director of St. Thomas Law’s Certificate in Intellectual Property, and has taught courses in Copyright, Patents, Trademarks, Intellectual Property, and Cyberlaw.
An experienced and innovative educator, Professor Nathenson uses inventive teaching methods, such as individualized learning simulations rooted in comedy improv techniques, which require students to take on the role of attorneys who represent pretend clients against fictional opponents. Professor Nathenson is also an expert in technology and has used a combination of live and asynchronous learning techniques for many years. He runs a popular website and YouTube channel, which together boast hundreds of pages of study materials and over 90 videos. Altogether, Professor Nathenson’s website has had nearly three-quarter of a million pageviews, and his YouTube videos have been watched for a combined total of nearly 50,000 hours. Professor Nathenson also writes interactive civil procedure lessons for CALI.
Professor Nathenson is also a creative scholar, whose published writings synthesize topics as seemingly disparate as internet law, procedural justice, intellectual property, legal education, civil procedure, human rights, philosophy, and comedy improv. His most recent writings address topics such as: the role of online teaching before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic; the insights that 18th through 20th century philosophers can provide for Cyberlaw; and the deep connections between intellectual property and procedures. His articles appear in respected journals such as Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, University of Pittsburgh Law Review, University of Louisville Law Review, St. Louis University Law Journal, Lewis & Clark Law Review, Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal, and others. Professor Nathenson has twice won national awards for his writings, and in 2020, his article on informational procedure was selected by Thomson Reuters for republication as one of the best articles on intellectual property of the year.
Professor Nathenson is also active in the College of Law community and beyond. He is currently the Chair of the Curriculum Committee and is also the long-standing Faculty Advisor to the St. Thomas IP and Cyberlaw Society. In addition to extensive law school service, Professor Nathenson has served or chaired in several national committees for the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), including chairing the AALS Committee on Civil Procedure, a subject that Professor Nathenson has taught extensively for over 15 years.
Prior to teaching, Professor Nathenson earned his law degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, graduating summa cum laude and serving as Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He also worked at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP (now K&L Gates LLP), where he focused on copyright, trademark, and internet law.
Professor Nathenson also plays electric guitar and has a dog and a turtle.
Scholarship
View Professor Nathenson’s page at SSRN
Teaching Law Online: Yesterday and Today, But Tomorrow Never Knows, ___ St. Louis U. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2021) (invited submission) SSRN
Cyberlaw Will Die, and We Will Kill It, in RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON INFORMATION LAW AND GOVERNANCE ___ (Sharon Sandeen & Christopher Rademacher eds) (forthcoming Edgar Elders 2021) SSRN
The Procedural Foundations of Information Regulation, 24 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 109 (2020), reprinted in 2020 Int. Prop. L. Rev. 681 (chosen for reprint by Thomson Reuters as one of the best intellectual property law review articles of the year) SSRN HeinOnline
Aereo’s Errors, 2 J. Int’l & Comparative L. 171 (2014). SSRN HeinOnline
Super-Intermediaries, Code, Human Rights, 8 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 19 (2013). SSRN HeinOnline
Navigating the Uncharted Waters of Teaching Law through Online Simulations, 38 Ohio N.U.L. Rev. 535 (2012). SSRN HeinOnline
Best Practices for the Law of the Horse: Teaching Cyberlaw and Illuminating Law through Online Simulations, 28 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 657 (2012). SSRN HeinOnline
Civil Procedures for a World of Shared and User-Generated Content, 48 U. Louisville L. Rev. 911 (2010). SSRN HeinOnline
Looking for Fair Use in the DMCA’s Safety Dance, 3 Akron Intell. Prop. J. 121 (2009). SSRN HeinOnline
Tribute, Dean W. Edward Sell – Our Dedicated Law Review Advisor and Unwavering Supporter, 66 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 5-6 (2004). SSRN HeinOnline
Internet Infoglut and Invisible Ink: Spamdexing Search Engines with Meta Tags, 12 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 43 (1998). SSRN HeinOnline
Comment, Showdown at the Domain Name Corral: Property Rights and Personal Jurisdiction over Squatters, Poachers, and other Parasites, 58 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 911 (1997). SSRN HeinOnline
Research Interests
Internet and Information Law
Intellectual Property
Procedural Justice
Legal Education
IP certificate
Professor Nathenson is the founding Director of St. Thomas Law’s Intellectual Property (IP) certificate program. Many of the core courses for the IP certificate program incorporate Professor Nathenson’s skills-and-simulations methodologies, such as casting students into the role of “lawyer” to work on realistic lawyering projects, such as applications for patents, copyrights, and trademarks, IP searching, and IP enforcement.
Recent courses