Rate My Professor Betsy Lenhart

Betsy Lenhart is a Professor of Practice at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she has taught since 2009. With over twenty years of combined experience in teaching and legal practice related to civil litigation, she brings practical expertise to her courses. Lenhart earned her BA in History and Political Science from Miami University in 1987 with highest departmental honors, an MA in History from Indiana University in 1993, advanced to ABD status in History at Indiana University in 1996, and obtained her JD from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2004, serving as Notes and Comments Editor of the Cincinnati Law Review. Prior to her legal career, she taught history courses at Indiana University and as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the University of Cincinnati's Department of History, covering topics such as colonial Latin American history, pre-Columbian American history, and 20th-century world history. She also worked as a Project Manager in the National Geographic Society's Book Division, researching and editing travel and history books.

From 2004 to 2009, Lenhart practiced as a senior associate at Frost Brown Todd LLC in Cincinnati, handling complex business litigation matters including antitrust, business torts, unfair competition, shareholder derivative suits, and class actions in federal and state courts across Ohio, Kentucky, California, Florida, Oregon, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, and South Carolina. During this period, she was recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer Rising Star in Commercial Litigation in 2009. At the College of Law, she teaches Civil Procedure I and II, Pre-trial Litigation, Remedies, and Advocacy, emphasizing oral arguments, motion practice, and professional skills. Her research interests focus on Civil Procedure, Pre-trial Litigation, and the intersections between historical research methodologies and legal research, as evidenced by her publication “The 17th Century Meets the Internet: Using a Historian’s Approach to Evaluating Documents as a Guide to 21st Century Online Legal Research” in Legal Communication & Rhetoric: JALWD (Volume 9, 2012). Lenhart has been honored with the Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2023, as well as the 2018 College of Law Award for Faculty Excellence. She has served on the Ohio Supreme Court Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure from 2017 to 2021, including the Civil and Appellate Rules Sub-Committees, regularly presents at the Ohio Judicial College, and speaks on various topics at the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Ohio’s Federal Judge’s Annual Retreat.