Law School Dean, Professors Receive Highest Professional Rating

Six law professors have received the highest rating for ethical standards and professional ability based on peer review evaluations from Martindale-Hubbell, one of the nation’s leading legal publishers and reference companies.

Law Dean Ken Gormley, along with Professors Nicholas P. Cafardi, Joseph Sabino Mistick, Jane Campbell Moriarty, Alfred S. Peláez and S. Michael Streib, all received the AV Preeminent (4.5-5.0) rating, which the company describes as a significant rating accomplishment and “a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.”

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by fellow members of the legal profession in this prestigious publication,” said Gormley. “It is rare that a law school has multiple faculty members who are recognized not just for their excellence in teaching, but for their excellence as practicing lawyers.”

The ratings are generated from evaluations of lawyers by members of the bar and the judiciary in the United States and Canada, and are viewed as an objective indicator of an attorney’s high ethical standards and professional ability. Only a small percentage of practicing lawyers in the United States achieve this elite ranking.

As a result, Gormley, Cafardi, Mistick, Moriarty, Peláez and Streib will be included in Pittsburgh’s Top Rated Lawyers, a publication that will appear in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Wall Street Journal and The Legal Intelligencer in February.

Gormley, an expert in constitutional law and former president of the Allegheny County Bar Association, has written features and opinion pieces for newspapers across the nation; testified before the United States Senate; served as a legal commentator for TV and radio; and has lectured at prestigious venues including the Chautauqua Institution, Harvard and the John F. Kennedy Library.

Cafardi, who previously served as general counsel for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Duquesne, is dean emeritus of law and teaches courses in legal process and procedure, family law, tax-exempt organizations, and is an expert in canon law.

Mistick has been admitted to practice before all Pennsylvania and federal courts. He created the law school’s award-winning Economic and Community Development Law Clinic. Prior to joining Duquesne, where he teaches criminal law, administrative law and other subjects, Mistick spent three years as executive secretary to Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff.

The Inaugural holder of the Carol Los Mansmann Chair in Faculty Scholarship and associate dean for scholarship, Moriarty teaches classes on evidence, professional responsibility, and scientific and expert evidence. She works to encourage faculty scholarship and increase the exchange of scholarly ideas through faculty colloquia and symposia.

An expert in admiralty and maritime law, contracts, federal jurisdiction and criminal sentencing, Peláez is the co-director of the joint Duquesne University-China University Summer Legal Study Program held annually in Beijing, P.R.C. The summer program attracts lawyers and law students from throughout the world.

Streib, an expert in torts and litigation, served as a law clerk to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and engaged in private practice before joining the law school faculty. He serves as co-director of the law school’s Trial Advocacy program and as coach and advisor to the award-winning trial moot court teams.