Jim Fleissner

Professor of Law   Contact fleissner_jp@law.mercer.edu (478) 301-2637 Other Links  HeinOnline Author Profile Expertise Constitutional Law Criminal Appellate Practice Criminal Law Criminal Justice Criminal Procedure Evidence Federal Criminal Investigation Federal Criminal Practice and Procedure First Amendment

Jim Fleissner is Professor of Law at the Mercer University School of Law. His teaching and scholarly interests focus on constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, the law of evidence, trial and appellate practice, and legal history. His current courses include American Constitutional System, Survey of the First Amendment, Criminal Procedure: Constitutional Dimensions, Criminal Procedure: The Litigation Process, and the Great Trials Seminar.

Upon graduating from the University of Chicago Law School in 1986, Fleissner was appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago. In that position, he gained experience investigating and prosecuting a variety of federal crimes in trial and appellate courts. He also held several supervisory positions, last serving as Chief of the 45-lawyer General Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Since joining the Mercer law faculty in 1994, Fleissner has complemented his academic activities with engagement in practice. His part-time practice experience includes accepting periodic appointments under the Criminal Justice Act to represent indigent defendants in federal court; service as Senior Associate Independent Counsel (1998-2000); and service as Deputy Special Counsel (2004-2009). From January 2003 to July 2005, during a leave of absence from the law school, Fleissner worked full-time as Chief of Criminal Appeals for U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald in Chicago, supervising the office’s appellate litigation and serving as legal advisor for prosecutors handling cases in all stages of investigation and litigation.

Fleissner is an eighteen-time recipient of the Reynold J. Kosek, Jr. Excellence in Teaching Award, which is awarded each year by a vote of the law school’s graduating class. He most recently was voted that award by the Class of 2023. In 2021, received the Mercer Law School Board of Visitors’ Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2021 and 2022, he was named as a finalist for the Joe and Jean Hendricks Excellence in Teaching Award, Mercer University's premier teaching award.