Teaching is a noble profession necessary for helping students acquire essential knowledge, expertise, and skills for excelling and growing in a particular career. Teachers play a primary role in shaping society by training and nurturing future leaders and imparting valuable wisdom, knowledge, and skills. Teachers are also essential for improving a discipline or field by motivating and inspiring students to discover and develop new theories, concepts, and frameworks through experimentation and research. Pedagogy is also vital for giving growth opportunities to students in various fields and disciplines. However, teachers should also have good command over their subjects and areas to provide students with the necessary expertise and skills.
Teaching is beneficial for helping students in all disciplines, and the legal field is no exception. Law students need ample training and knowledge before stepping into the professional arena to understand the concepts and elements related to legal practice. Law teachers help students understand the concepts and knowledge required for practicing law according to various contexts and cases. Teachers also play a primary role in assisting students in understanding the legal jargon while identifying the processes of case proceedings. Law school enables students to utilize an array of concepts in the legal field while representing clients in litigation matters, and teachers are beneficial for the teaching and learning process. Douglas Noll is also among the prominent teachers making a mark in legal pedagogy by helping students achieve their learning and growth objectives.
Douglas E. Noll is a prominent lawyer, peacemaker, and teacher from the central California Sierra Nevada who set an example by beating all odds and excelling in several professions. Born nearly deaf, blind, and crippled with two club feet, Noll completed his education and became a successful lawyer, teacher, and peacemaker. Noll also authored four books and is a prominent public speaker, speaking and lecturing at several notable events and forums. He co-founded the Prison of Peace non-government organization that trains convicts in maximum-security prisons to become mediators and peacemakers in prison communities. Noll also teaches business and thought leaders how to use and regulate emotions while communicating and interacting with others.
Education plays a prominent role in transforming people into leaders and successful individuals who can make a difference with their knowledge and wisdom. Education also played a significant role in transforming Douglas Noll into an influential and successful leader. Born in Pasadena, CA, on October 12, 1950, Noll received his early education from the San Marino Unified School District while graduating from San Marino High School in 1969. He later attended Dartmouth College and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in English literature in 1973. Noll completed his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law in 1977 while becoming a member of the Traynor Honor Society. He also served as the associate editor and author of the Pacific Law Journal.
Noll started his professional career as a clerk for the Honorable George Hopper in 1977 before being admitted to the California Bar in December of the same year. He joined Fullerton, Lang, Richert, & Patch, a Fresno law firm based in Fullerton, in 1978 as an associate. He tried his first legal case in 1978 and practiced law for the new 22 years of his life as a civil trial lawyer, working on over 75 trials. Noll also completed martial arts training and received a black belt in 1991. He later started studying Tai Chi which compelled him to reevaluate his professional priorities and career. As a result, he completed the Peacemaking and Conflict Management Master’s program at Fresno Pacific University. He graduated in 2001 while receiving the Graduate Dean’s Award. He embarked on a peacemaking and mediation journey in 2000 while mediating hundreds of complex and challenging conflicts.
Douglas Noll contributed to the legal field by helping students achieve success through education and pedagogy. He served as an educator in various capacities in several institutes throughout his career. Noll was a core faculty member at the American Institute of Mediation and a summer faculty member at the Straus Institute Professional Skills Development program. He worked as an adjunct professor of law at the San Joaquin College of Law from 1987 to 2003 and an adjunct professor of forensic psychology at Alliant International University from 2001 to 2004. He has been teaching at the Straus Institute, School of Law at Pepperdine University as an adjunct law professor since 2010. Noll acknowledges the significance of education and contributes to the legal field by helping students understand the professional complexities and challenges in legal practice.