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This August, Professor Zachary Schmook will join Colorado Law as an Associate Teaching Professor. Schmook has been with the University of Oklahoma College of Law faculty since Fall 2017 as an Assistant Professor in the Legal Research & Writing Program.Ìý

Prior to joining the College of Law, Professor Schmook worked for a nonprofit dedicated to ending housing discrimination in St. Louis, Missouri. His work included representation of the organization and individual clients before state and federal trial and appellate courts, as well as in administrative actions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and state administrative agencies.Ìý

Professor Schmook has previously worked with the Washington University College of Law as an Adjunct Professor—teaching courses in Legal Writing and Mediation—and a Clinical Supervisor for the Civil Rights and Community Justice Clinic.Ìý

Professor Schmook received his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis and is admitted to practice law in Oklahoma, Missouri (inactive), Illinois (inactive). In addition to his work at OU, Professor Schmook serves in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Civil Affairs Officer. ÌýLearn more about Professor Schmook in the Q&A below!ÌýÌý

What excites you most about life in Colorado?Ìý

ZS: I'm most excited about the chance to spend time outdoors. My family and I love hiking, skiing, biking, and climbing, and Colorado offers so many opportunities to incorporate those activities into everyday life. My oldest child is a nationally ranked competitive boulderer and speed climber, so we have already spent a lot of time in the Boulder area over the last few years for competitions and training events. It is exciting to move to a place where the activities we love are such a natural part of the community.Ìý

What inspired you to pursue a career in the legal field?Ìý

ZS: I started college at the University of Maryland as a chemical engineering major, but even before finishing my freshman year, I realized that wasn’t the right fit. I changed majors, eventually graduating with a degree in agricultural and resource economics. From there, I went straight to law school at Washington University in St. Louis, thinking I might pursue environmental or land use law. After my first year of law school, though, I interned with a land use clinic in South Africa, and I discovered that I really valued helping people navigate difficult problems in their lives. That led me to a civil rights organization in St. Louis, where I represented people facing housing discrimination and landlord-tenant issues. Over time, that same interest in helping people understand and use the law led me to teaching legal writing.Ìý

What is your proudest career accomplishment so far?Ìý

ZS: One of my proudest accomplishments is preserving the right to jury trials in eviction proceedings in a case I argued before the Missouri Supreme Court. The case began when I was practicing in St. Louis, and I lost at the trial level after the court denied my client's request for a jury trial. After I started teaching in Oklahoma, I continued to participate in the appeals process. I returned to present oral argument before the Missouri Supreme Court, where a unanimous court remanded with instructions to allow trial by jury.Ìý

It was an important win because eviction proceedings can have life-changing consequences. The right to a jury trial gives people a meaningful opportunity to be heard before losing their home.ÌýÌý

Can you share more about your work as an Army Reserve officer?Ìý

ZS: I serve in the Army Reserve as a Civil Affairs officer, which means working at the intersection of military operations and civilian communities. In practical terms, Civil Affairs helps military leaders understand the civilian environment around them: local governments, public institutions, infrastructure, community needs, and the relationships that shape whether a mission succeeds. Some of that work is about connecting military operations with civilian communities and institutions. My work has often drawn on my civilian professional experience to analyze how legal systems affect stability and civilian life.Ìý

That experience has influenced how I think about legal education. Civil Affairs work often requires making sense of unfamiliar systems by listening carefully to people with very different perspectives. It also requires translating complicated information into something useful for decision-makers. Those habits carry over directly into legal writing. Lawyers also have to understand systems and work across institutional and cultural boundaries to communicate clearly about complicated situations.Ìý

How has the widespread uptake of AI in the legal profession impacted your work teaching legal writing?Ìý

ZS: Generative AI has made legal writing more important, not less. It can generate text quickly, summarize information, and help with certain parts of the drafting process. But it can't replace a lawyer's professional responsibility. Â鶹ÒùÔº still need to read carefully and verify that the work is legally grounded and useful to the client.ÌýÌý

Storytelling may become even more important in the AI age. As more technical tasks become easier to automate, human skills like communication and empathy become more valuable. Storytelling matters because it is how we make information meaningful to other people.Ìý

That connects directly to legal writing. Lawyers don't just produce documents. They explain what happened, why it matters, and what should happen next. Whether students are writing a memo or a motion, they still have to make careful choices based on the reader’s needs. So I teach AI as a tool. The goal is to communicate with purpose rather than simply to produce more words faster.Ìý

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