Selene Mize
Associate Professor University of Otago
Selene Mize practised law in the United States before taking up a teaching position at the Law Faculty at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Selene has a BSc (double major in social psychology and communication studies) from Northwestern University, and a JD from Stanford Law School.
Selene started practising law in the United States, clerking for the US Court of Appeals and working in the media litigation department of a New York City law firm. Selene's legal practise in the United States focused on litigation for media defendants. One particularly memorable case involved working on a team defending 60 Minutes in a defamation action brought by an American army lieutenant colonel who was portrayed unfavourably in a segment covering whistleblowing for war crimes.
Selene moved to New Zealand in 1985 to take up a teaching position at the Law Faculty at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Her areas of expertise include legal ethics, negotiation and civil liberties. Recent publications have covered the duty to disclose material information to one's client, the code for the portrayal of people in advertising, effective negotiating, indirect discrimination and handling conflicting rights under the NZ Bill of Rights Act.
Selene has coached winners of the International Client Counselling Competition. She has been a fellow of the National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism in the US and received the Prime Minister's Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching Excellence in 2009.
