Associate Professor
B.A. University of Notre Dame, 1983
J.D. University of Illinois College of Law, 1988

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Professor Plate came to Cooley in 2005 from his work as a legal research and writing instructor at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio.

Before his teaching career, Professor Plate served in several capacities with the Ohio Attorney General’s office. He began with the office in 1999 as an Assistant Solicitor with the Major Appeals Group and an Assistant Attorney General in the Health and Human Services Section, Human Services Unit. From there, he served as the Deputy Attorney General/Assistant Chief of the Capital Crimes Section; the Senior Deputy Attorney General/Chief of the Corrections Litigation Section; and then a Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Corrections Litigation Section.

Before going to Ohio, Professor Plate served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Utah Attorney General’s Office for four years. His career there included practicing in the Litigation Division, Civil Appeals Section; the Public Affairs Division, Law Enforcement Section; and the Criminal Appeals Division.

From 1991 to 1995, Professor Plate served as a law clerk to the Hon. Leonard H. Russon, first at the Utah Court of Appeals, and then at the Utah Supreme Court. He also served as a law clerk to the Hon. William D. Stiehl, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, in 1988 and 1989.