The Academic Counselor Program has two basic features -- group workshops and individual counseling sessions.

Group Workshops: The Academic Affairs Office offer a series of workshops to first-year students designed to assist them in adjusting to law school. Fall workshops include the following:

• a presentation on preparing for class and the Socratic method (orientation)
• a general question and answer session for new students (early fall)
• a presentation on outlining and exam preparation (mid/late fall)
• a faculty panel discussion on preparing for and taking law school exams (late fall)

Dates and times for these programs will be announced in The Briefs.

Individual counseling sessions: The Academic Counselors are available to meet individually with students to discuss academic issues, including study methods, class preparation, outlining, and exam writing skills.

Each Academic Counselor holds a few office hours per week for individual counseling sessions (appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are accommodated whenever possible). Their office is Room 506.

Scheduling appointments: Please email the counselor (click on link below) and indicate your preferred time for an appointment (appointments are generally done in 20-minute blocks). If you have a specific question or issue to discuss, please note that in the email as well.

Monday:  4:00-6:00 -- John Han
Tuesday: 4:00-6:00-- Kathleen Hill
Wednesday: 4:00-6:00 -- Christina Gibson
Thursday: 9:00-11:00 -- Ryan Dahl

Academic counselors:

Ryan Dahl

rpdahl@uchicago.edu
Ryan Dahl was born and raised in Winnetka, IL, before attending the University of North Carolina.  He worked in New York and Chicago prior to law school.  Ryan spent his first summer with Schiff Hardin in Chicago and his second summer at Kirkland & Ellis, also in Chicago.  Interests include food, wine, running, and rugby.

Christina Gibson

cgibson@uchicago.edu
Originally from the Atlanta area, Christina attended Georgetown University and earned a degree in Finance.  Before coming to U of C, Christina was a high school teacher in the Georgia Public School System.  In law school, Christina is a member of the Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic, the Neighbors Project, former president of the Black Law Students Association, and a member of the Cook County Bar Association.  Her 1L summer, she was an intern at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.  Following her second year, she split between the Atlanta office of King & Spalding and the Georgia Justice Project where she argued motions in a capital case.

John Han

johnhan@uchicago.edu
John Han grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  He attended college in his hometown at Kalamazoo College before completing graduate work at the University of California at Berkeley and eventually ending up at the Law School.  He has worked at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and Williams and Connolly, both in Washington, D.C.  Postgraduation, he will complete a clerkship in the 8th Circuit.

Katie Hill

kahill@uchicago.edu
Katie Hill graduated from Stanford University in 2001.  She spent a year working at a boarding school and two years teaching fifth grade before coming to law school.  At the Law School, she has been involved in the Public Interest Law Society, Streetlaw, the Chicago Law Foundation, and was a Moot Court semifinalist.  She has spent her summers interning with BPI, a housing law organization; Goldberg Kohn, a law firm in Chicago; and Children's Rights, a foster care litigation group in New York.