Favorite all-time law school course (Modern American legal history). Professor was genuinely nice. I would advise all law students to take this course.
Great guy, super nice, and Modern American Legal History was thoroughly interesting. Turns out I’m bad at history, but I learned a ton listening to his lectures and everyone else’s thoughts. The structure of the course is broader topic lectures Mon/Tues and a class discussion regarding the week’s reading on Wed.
I have modern american legal history with Novak, and am really liking it! He couldn’t be a nicer man. He’s great at explaining things, and is good at answering questions. He’s also good at stoking class discussion. I expect my grade not to turn out so great, because the class is full of gunners, but oh well–I’m learning a lot of interesting context to American culture and law. Novak makes class very engaging by adding lots of small anecdotes and specific examples of the broader concepts we’re discussing. Highly recommend!
I took Early American Legal History with Novak in Winter 2023. I loved everything about the class. Professor Novak assigns interesting readings and always highlights the key parts. He is a really engaging lecturer and leads excellent discussions. I genuinely was interested in what my fellow students thought and Novak was great at teasing out disagreements and pushing the envelope in a respectful way. Novak is very accessible and seems really invested in students. This class was one of my highlights of my entire law school journey.
Professor Novak is extremely affable, engaging, and knowledgable. He is a good lecturer, creates an inviting environment for discussion, and his areas of scholarship are fascinating. I feel compelled to note that his Early American Legal History course has a heavy focus on historical interpretation, rather than more traditional “great men”/”great events” chronology or survey courses. This means that some of the readings could be dense and abstract, and the final paper was daunting, though Professor Novak made himself available to help students find their footing. So while he doesn’t hide the ball, at the same time the subjects can be hard to grasp. Luckily he seems to really respect enthusiasm and effort rather than expecting perfection.
I ended up joining his class at the last minute because my schedule changed during add/drop. I won’t lie, I wasn’t interested in the material at all (which is a me problem—I’m just simply not interested in the topic), but he was a really great professor. Everyone in that class actively participated, contributed to interesting discussions, and respected him. He’s super chill, understanding, and an overall great professor. If you are even slightly interested in legal history, you will really love MALH.
MLaw Prof Reviews
Favorite all-time law school course (Modern American legal history). Professor was genuinely nice. I would advise all law students to take this course.
Great guy, super nice, and Modern American Legal History was thoroughly interesting. Turns out I’m bad at history, but I learned a ton listening to his lectures and everyone else’s thoughts. The structure of the course is broader topic lectures Mon/Tues and a class discussion regarding the week’s reading on Wed.
I have modern american legal history with Novak, and am really liking it! He couldn’t be a nicer man. He’s great at explaining things, and is good at answering questions. He’s also good at stoking class discussion. I expect my grade not to turn out so great, because the class is full of gunners, but oh well–I’m learning a lot of interesting context to American culture and law. Novak makes class very engaging by adding lots of small anecdotes and specific examples of the broader concepts we’re discussing. Highly recommend!
I took Early American Legal History with Novak in Winter 2023. I loved everything about the class. Professor Novak assigns interesting readings and always highlights the key parts. He is a really engaging lecturer and leads excellent discussions. I genuinely was interested in what my fellow students thought and Novak was great at teasing out disagreements and pushing the envelope in a respectful way. Novak is very accessible and seems really invested in students. This class was one of my highlights of my entire law school journey.
Professor Novak is extremely affable, engaging, and knowledgable. He is a good lecturer, creates an inviting environment for discussion, and his areas of scholarship are fascinating. I feel compelled to note that his Early American Legal History course has a heavy focus on historical interpretation, rather than more traditional “great men”/”great events” chronology or survey courses. This means that some of the readings could be dense and abstract, and the final paper was daunting, though Professor Novak made himself available to help students find their footing. So while he doesn’t hide the ball, at the same time the subjects can be hard to grasp. Luckily he seems to really respect enthusiasm and effort rather than expecting perfection.
I ended up joining his class at the last minute because my schedule changed during add/drop. I won’t lie, I wasn’t interested in the material at all (which is a me problem—I’m just simply not interested in the topic), but he was a really great professor. Everyone in that class actively participated, contributed to interesting discussions, and respected him. He’s super chill, understanding, and an overall great professor. If you are even slightly interested in legal history, you will really love MALH.