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Ohio Northern University Law Review 
Volume 46 Issue 3 Article 5 
In Memoriam: Nancy Paine Sabol 
Stephen C. Veltri 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/onu_law_review 
 Part of the Law Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Veltri, Stephen C. () "In Memoriam: Nancy Paine Sabol," Ohio Northern University Law Review: Vol. 46: Iss. 
3, Article 5. 
Available at: https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/onu_law_review/vol46/iss3/5 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the ONU Journals and Publications at 
DigitalCommons@ONU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ohio Northern University Law Review by an 
authorized editor of DigitalCommons@ONU. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@onu.edu. 
Ohio Northern University  
Law Review 
Tributes to Professor Nancy P. Sabol 
In Memoriam: Nancy Paine Sabol 
For nineteen years, I had the privilege of working with Nancy Sabol. She 
was the best colleague and friend one could have, and I will always cherish 
her memory. She was also an extraordinary law teacher. The primary 
mission of any law school is to prepare men and women to practice law with 
skill and ethical discernment. Nancy did more to advance that mission than 
any law teacher I have ever known, and I would like to explain why she was 
so good at what she did. 
First, Nancy was brilliant. She received her bachelor’s and law degrees 
summa cum laude. She served as articles editor of the Ohio State Law Journal 
and was named to the Order of the Coif. She also practiced law at the highest 
level of the profession. For fourteen years, Nancy was a lawyer for Jones 
Day primarily engaged in labor and employment law matters. She knew from 
experience what practice demands of a professional. She handled challenging 
issues and counseled difficult clients. She developed the good judgment that 
only be learned through experience and she brought all that to her classroom. 
Second, Nancy was always extraordinarily well prepared for every class 
session she ever held. During her last illness, I took over Nancy’s Remedies 
course. She kindly shared her teaching notes with me. I was astonished at 
the breadth and detail in those notes. Nancy had a rare capacity for steady 
productive work, and she did not leave anything to chance. She knew exactly 
what she wanted to accomplish in every class. She put hours of work into 
making the session the best it could be. 
Third, Nancy was as demanding of her students as she was of herself. 
She built most of her courses around challenging exercises. I taught a section 
of a course she designed for our January term one year and I never graded so 
many papers in my life. Understand that Nancy really graded every exercise 
and test she ever assigned. She was not one for grade inflation. She thought 
531 
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Veltri: In Memoriam: Nancy Paine Sabol
Published by DigitalCommons@ONU,
532 OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 46 
a student’s grade should reflect the student’s accomplishments. If a student’s 
performance did not attain a level of minimum competence, she was not 
reticent about grading the performance accordingly. 
For the most part, Nancy’s students never resented the work or the tough 
grades. The reason for that lies in the greatest gift brought to her teaching. 
The enterprise was never about her. She cared first, foremost, and only about 
the students’ success and the students knew that. Nancy was “other-directed” 
in her teaching and everything else she did. 
This trait made her a wonderful colleague. Nancy wanted to celebrate 
every birthday, particularly her own. She congratulated everyone on their 
accomplishments and never touted her own, a rare trait in most people, nearly 
unknown among law professors. She was excited by the birth of every child, 
every wedding, every promotion, and she wanted to have a party for each 
one. Nancy cared for everyone who worked with her and showed it in so 
many ways. When Nancy traveled, for example, she brought back trinkets 
for her friends. Those things are treasures to me now. 
In the end, the connection between a student and a teacher is like most 
other human relationships. We remember and honor the people in our lives 
who gave all of themselves. Nancy always did. She will never be forgotten 
by those lucky enough to have worked or studied with her. 
Stephen C. Veltri 
Ella and Ernest Fisher Professor of Law 
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Ohio Northern University Law Review, Vol. 46 [], Iss. 3, Art. 5
https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/onu_law_review/vol46/iss3/5


In Memoriam: Nancy Paine Sabol

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