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Robert Schapiro appointed Dean
summer 2012
Emory Law Class of 2012 Graduation Ceremonies Held May 14 mory Law honored 295 graduates on the south lawn of Gambrell Hall during its annual Hooding and Diploma ceremony on May 14, following Emory University’s 167th Commencement. Remarks by Della Wager Wells 86l, president of the Emory Law Alumni Board, and Dean Robert A. Schapiro opened and closed the ceremony. In addition to the conferral of degrees, select students and faculty were honored. Professor A. James Elliott 63c 66l received the Emory Williams Award for Distinguished Teaching, presented to exceptional faculty members throughout the University. Natalie A. Dana 12l was chosen by her classmates as the Most Outstanding Third-Year Student. A ti:ger Program graduate, Mock Trial Society competitor and San Francisco Giants fan, Dana encouraged her fellow students to thank those who helped them get to graduation day. Graduating law student Oscar Francisco de Armas 12l received the Minister Gloria Jean Fowler Angel Award, which recognizes a student who embodies the kindness of Gloria Jean Fowler, who worked at Emory Law for 42 years prior to her death in 1997. The Most Outstanding Professor Award went to John Witte Jr., Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law and Ethics, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished Professor and director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. During the ceremony, the 3l Class Gift Committee presented a check for $40,620, the class donation to Emory Law, which will help support the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, or lrap, which assists with student loan payments for graduates who pursue public interest jobs.
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Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Timothy L. Hussey, APR Editor Wendy R. Cromwell Associate Director of Publications Contributors Lisa Ashmore Holly Cline Wendy R. Cromwell Ilan Grapel 13L Timothy R. Holbrook, Professor of Law Timothy L. Hussey Maria M. Lameiras Alison Law Jennifer Bryon Owen Eric Rangus Patti Styles John Witte Jr., Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law Art Direction/Design Winnie Hulme Photographers Flip Chalfant, Wendy R. Cromwell, Corky Gallo, Caroline Joe, Gary Meek About the Cover The cover portrait was created by Caroline Joe. About Emory Lawyer Emory Lawyer is published biannually by Emory University School of Law and is distributed free to alumni and friends. Produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications. Contact Us Send letters to the editor, news, story ideas and class notes to Timothy L. Hussey, Emory University School of Law, 1301 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322; communications@emory. edu or 404.712.8404. © 2012 Emory University School of Law. All rights reserved. Articles may be reprinted in full or in part if source is acknowledged. Change of address: Send address changes by mail to Office of Development and Alumni Records, Emory University, 1762 Clifton Road, Plaza 1000, Atlanta, GA 30322. Email: Communications@law.emory.edu Website: www.law.emory.edu
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FEATURES
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Schapiro Appointed Dean of Emory Law BY TIMOTHY L. HUSSEY
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The Rule of Law
BY ERIC RANGUS
Emory lawyers defend the principle around the world
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Henriksons Advance Diversity Initiative BY LISA ASHMORE AND WENDY R. CROMWELL
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A Family Matter
BY MARIA M. LAMEIRAS
Bacardi 96l learns more than the rum business from his ancestors
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In Memory of David J. Bederman
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Gozansky Makes a Difference
BY JOHN WITTE JR.
BY LISA ASHMORE
Professor retires after 45 years at Emory Law
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Mullis 75l, Buchsbaum 54l and Bedford 73l Honored by Emory Law BY LISA ASHMORE
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Rethinking the Law Student Experience
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A Global ‘Uncomfortable’ Conversation
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BY PATTI STYLES
BY HOLLY CLINE
Professor Martha A. Fineman develops paradigm
PERSPECTIVE
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Students Gain Global Legal Experience
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Scholarship for Social Change
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Reflections on Egypt
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Raising the Bar
BY ALISON LAW
BY ILAN GRAPEL 13L
BY JENNIFER BRYON OWEN
BY LISA ASHMORE
DEPARTMENTS 2
Dean’s View
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In Brief
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Class Notes
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In Memoriam
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Faculty Voices
Dean’s View
Defending the Rule of Law
W
e often hear about the importance of the rule of law. But how do we deďŹ ne the term? There is no universally accepted deďŹ nition. Key elements certainly include the protection of human rights and a commitment to ensuring equal administration of justice. The implications of the rule of law can be seen more clearly, however, in recent and ongoing world events.
Last year when there were fears that famine in Somalia might kill as many as 500,000 people, the problem was not a lack of food, but a lack of law — and the rule of law — speciďŹ cally, the absence of a stable political system. Looking more generally around the world, the rule of law saves lives, promotes human rights and facilitates economic growth. One of the greatest barriers to the kind of economic development that lifts people out of dire poverty is the absence of the rule of law. So many of our advances in public health and well-being involve challenges that are primarily legal and political, not scientiďŹ c or medical. The law is — at its heart — interdisciplinary and global in its reach. There is no better example than the work of our students and alumni. Daniel Hougendobler 12l 12ph spent a summer in Haiti working to ďŹ ght cholera outbreaks through improved systems for delivering clean drinking water. Justin Wiseman 10l and Carlissa Carson 08l vindicated the rights of politically unpopular defendants in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, through our International Humanitarian Law Clinic. Professor Paul Zwier and Reuben Guttman 85l worked with attorneys in Mexico to advance the rule of law through an extension of Emory Law’s Kessler-Eidson Program for Trial Techniques. And these instances are merely suggestive. There are countless other examples of our students and alumni advancing the rule of law at home and abroad. At Emory Law, we teach students to understand and embrace the importance of the rule of law, whether their career goals include ďŹ ghting to protect a patent or defending a human life. We ensure that our students are prepared for practice, while we instill in them a deeper understanding of their roles in upholding and defending 2
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the legal system and the rights of all. To promote these principles, Emory Law will continue to push the boundaries of knowledge through the scholarship in which our faculty members engage, through the signature programs we offer to our students, and through the professional development opportunities we provide to our students and alumni. Our role as one of the nation’s top law schools is one of service — to our students, to our alumni and to society. I am honored to have been chosen your dean. In the last 10 months, I have met with alumni across the country and have come to appreciate more fully the incredible enthusiasm and level of support you have for Emory Law and for the important work we do. In accepting the deanship, I thank the leadership of Emory Law’s Advisory and Alumni boards, particularly Gardner Courson 74l, Allan Diamond 79l, Phil Reese 76l 76b, Chilton Varner 76l and Della Wager Wells 86l, for their advice and support during this transition. As we look toward the future of the legal profession and legal education, I am conďŹ dent that working together, we will continue to ensure Emory Law’s success and in so doing, continue to advance the rule of law.
Robert A. Schapiro Dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law
Key Accomplishments 2011 – 2012 s , AUNCH OF THE #ENTER FOR 0ROFESSIONAL $EVELOPMENT AND #AREER 3TRATEGY s !LUMNI LEADERSHIP RETREAT ON TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION s #REATION OF A *URIS -ASTERS PROGRAM FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS s %XPANSION OF INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS s (IRING THREE FACULTY MEMBERS IN BANKRUPTCY TRANSACTIONAL LAW AND NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS LAW s ! DVANCING #AMPAIGN %MORY INCLUDING THE MILLION GIFT OF &ACUNDO "ACARDI ,
Schapiro Appointed Dean of Emory Law by Timothy L. Hussey
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n the beginning, he wanted to be a history professor. For the son of two attorneys, however, the law eventually won out. “I wanted to do my part in building a more just society,” says Robert Schapiro, newly appointed dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law. “I saw going to law school and being a law school professor as the best way for me to promote those goals.” It was a lesson he learned early on from his parents. Grandparents on both sides of his family immigrated to the United States. His parents were both attorneys, and they emphasized to Schapiro the importance of law and the legal profession. “They both knew how important it was to support and promote the law,” Schapiro says. “They had tremendous respect for the legal profession and its role in society.” Schapiro served as a judicial clerk and worked in private
practice before joining the Emory faculty in 1995. He looks forward to crafting the future of the school he has come to love. “What’s exciting now is being able to help shape an institution so that it can have a positive impact on society through the ideas it produces and the students it educates,” he says. “More generally, to be part of an educational institution like Emory is very important to me. I am so pleased to be part of a large research university committed to bringing about positive social transformation in the world.” Schapiro was interim dean during the 2011– 2012 academic year. He previously served as associate vice provost for academic affairs of Emory University and co-director of Emory Law’s Center on Federalism and Intersystemic Governance. An expert on federalism and state constitutional law, he teaches Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, Civil Procedure and Legislation and Regulation. Schapiro
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“The ability of the law to effect transformation in people’s lives, making the world a more just place, is what makes this work so important and so exciting.� also is the recipient of numerous teaching and scholarly awards, including the Emory Williams Teaching Award and Ben F. Johnson Faculty Excellence Award. “Robert brings to the role superb academic and legal credentials as well as strong administrative experience,� Emory Provost Earl Lewis says. “He has been sought after by law schools across the country for both academic
and leadership roles. He is recognized for his innovative thinking and his ability to integrate cutting-edge academic research with teaching so that students develop practical skills in the law.â€? Schapiro says educational institutions, and particularly schools of law, have a signiďŹ cant responsibility. “The ability of the law to effect transformation in people’s lives, making the world a more just place, is what makes this work so important and so exciting,â€? Schapiro says. “Lawyers and law schools are central to promoting the rule of law and human rights around the world. In the years ahead, their role will only grow, as we engage some of the most complex social, political and economic challenges we have ever faced.â€? Timothy L. Hussey is senior director of marketing and communications at Emory Law.
New deanship brings fresh priorities
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S 2OBERT 3CHAPIRO TAKES THE HELM OF %MORY ,AW HE BRINGS A FRESH PERSPECTIVE AND NEW SET OF PRIORITIES TO THE LAW SCHOOL +EY AMONG THESE ARE ENHANCING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE AND PREPARING STUDENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN A GLOBAL LEGAL ENVIRONMENT EXPANDING %MORY ,AW S INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND IMPACT FURTHER DEVELOPING ITS STRENGTHS IN HEALTH LAW AND POLICY TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION DISCRIMINATION AND VULNERABILITY AND RELIGION AND SOCIETY INCREASING THE DIVERSITY OF THE %MORY ,AW COMMUNITY AND CONTINUING TO ENGAGE THE INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE AND PERSPECTIVES OF THE ALUMNI COMMUNITY h5NDER 2OBERT S LEADERSHIP WE ARE POISED TO CHANGE %MORY ,AW IN UNPRECEDENTED WAYS v SAYS !LLAN $IAMOND , CHAIR OF THE %MORY ,AW !DVISORY "OARD AND PARTNER WITH $IAMOND -C#ARTHY 4AYLOR &INLEY h2OBERT HAS THE VISION ENERGY AND SKILLS TO BE AN OUTSTANDING DEAN FOR THE SCHOOL AND LEAD US TO THE NEXT LEVEL v $URING HIS YEAR AS INTERIM DEAN 3CHAPIRO LED AN ALUMNI RETREAT FOCUSING ON THE DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION AND SPEARHEADED MAJOR INITIATIVES INCLUDING
s THE DEVELOPMENT AND LAUNCH OF %MORY ,AW S #ENTER FOR 0ROFESSIONAL $EVELOPMENT AND #AREER 3TRATEGY WHICH PROVIDES A BRIDGE TO PRACTICE BY HELPING LAW STUDENTS SYSTEMATICALLY EXPLORE AND DElNE THEIR CAREER PATHS s THE CREATION OF A *URIS -ASTER S PROGRAM FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS SEEKING TARGETED LEGAL TRAINING AND s THE EXPANSION OF INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS h%MORY ,AW IS UNUSUAL AMONG OUR PEER GROUP OF LAW SCHOOLS IN THAT OUR MILLION ENDOWMENT IS MUCH SMALLER THAN THOSE OF OUR PEER SCHOOLS v SAYS 3CHAPIRO h7HILE %MORY 5NIVERSITY HAS BENElTED FROM GENEROUS PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS THOSE GIFTS HAVE BEEN RESTRICTED BY THE DONOR FOR SPECIlC PURPOSES AND ARE GENERALLY DESIGNATED TO OTHER SCHOOLS AND UNITS WITHIN THE 5NIVERSITY v 3CHAPIRO HOPES TO INCREASE %MORY ,AW S ENDOWMENT DRAMATICALLY IN THE YEARS AHEAD
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h) COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT THE ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT OF OUR ALUMNI AND THEIR COMMITMENT TO CONTINUING TO ENHANCE THE EXCELLENCE OF THE %MORY ,AW EDUCATION v 3CHAPIRO SAYS h.OW IS THE TIME TO TAKE OUR LAW SCHOOL TO THE NEXT LEVEL SO THAT WE CAN BETTER COMPETE WITH OUR PEER INSTITUTIONS FOR TOP FACULTY AND STUDENTS v 7ITH 3CHAPIRO S APPOINTMENT THE 5NIVERSITY ANNOUNCED AN INVESTMENT OF MILLION IN THE LAW SCHOOL 4HE RESOURCES WILL BE USED TOWARD A NUMBER OF CRITICAL PRIORITIES TO ADVANCE %MORY ,AW INCLUDING s STRENGTHENED RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF FACULTY ESPECIALLY IN AREAS OF KEY CURRICULAR AND SCHOLARLY INTEREST s ENHANCED lNANCIAL AID TO ENSURE A DIVERSE AND TALENTED COMMUNITY OF STUDENTS s IMPROVED SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVES TO POSITION GRADUATES BETTER FOR SUCCESS IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE MARKETPLACE AND TO FACILITATE THEIR TRANSITION TO PRACTICE s INCREASED SUPPORT FOR SIGNATURE THEORY PRACTICE PROGRAMS WITH TARGETED FUNDING FOR %MORY ,AW S CLINICAL PROGRAM 3CHAPIRO HAS SET AGGRESSIVE FUNDRAISING GOALS FOR HIS lRST lVE YEARS PLANNING TO RAISE MILLION (E SEEKS TO MATCH THE 5NIVERSITY S MILLION CONTRIBUTION FOR CURRENT EXPENDITURES WHILE SECURING AN ADDITIONAL MILLION TO PROVIDE LONG TERM ENDOWMENT SUPPORT (E ALREADY HAS RECEIVED COMMITMENTS THROUGH GENEROUS DONATIONS FROM # 2OBERT (ENRIKSON , AND &ACUNDO "ACARDI , SEE PAGES AND 3CHAPIRO RECEIVED HIS "! SUMMA CUM LAUDE FROM 9ALE #OLLEGE IN AND AN -! IN HISTORY FROM 3TANFORD 5NIVERSITY IN (E EARNED HIS *$ IN FROM 9ALE ,AW 3CHOOL WHERE HE WAS EDITOR IN CHIEF OF THE Yale Law Journal !FTER LAW SCHOOL HE CLERKED FOR *UDGE 0IERRE . ,EVAL THEN OF THE 5 3 $ISTRICT #OURT FOR THE 3OUTHERN $ISTRICT OF .EW 9ORK AND FOR *USTICE *OHN 0AUL 3TEVENS OF THE 5 3 3UPREME #OURT BEFORE JOINING 3IDLEY !USTIN IN 7ASHINGTON $ # WHERE HE PRACTICED GENERAL AND APPELLATE LITIGATION
The Rule of Law Emory lawyers defend the principle around the world by Eric Rangus
summer 2012
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T
he Rule of Law saves lives, promotes human rights and facilitates economic growth,” says Robert A. Schapiro, dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law. “One of the greatest barriers to the kind of economic development that would lift people out of dire economic circumstances is the absence of the Rule of Law.” The Rule of Law is the foundation of American social, economic, moral and, especially, legal society. That’s one definition of it, but far from the only one. The Rule of Law is what drives the Emory Law community — alumni, faculty students and staff — but rarely does it drive them in the same direction in the same manner or the same speed. A doctor uses his tools — a scalpel, the lab—to save lives. An attorney uses her tool — the Rule of Law — to defend her client, or prosecute someone else’s; to make businesses pay for their negligence; or to help create a climate that promotes business growth. The Rule of Law creates an environment that makes all other advancement possible. A lawyer’s every action and reaction is driven by the Rule of Law. Exactly which route a lawyer follows, though, is an individual story as varied as the thousands of Emory Law alumni practicing today. Triumph against long odds Eugene McCarthy and Walter Koczur died of lung cancer in 1998. They didn’t know one another, but their names are forever linked by a judgment that found the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. partially responsible for the disease that killed them. The case languished in the courts for more than a decade before finally reaching a jury in mid–2011. It was no easy win, either. Both men were longtime smokers, and an army of Goodyear attorneys and experts lined up to testify that the cigarettes were the true killers, not the Goodyearmade gaskets laced with asbestos the two factory workers encountered on the job. 6
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Danny Kraft Jr. 01L, an attorney for the New York firm of Weitz & Luxenberg PC, representing the plaintiffs, says most cases like this are settled, but the defendant wanted its day in court, so that’s what Goodyear got. What the plaintiffs got — following a six-week trial and 12 years of waiting — was a $22 million award; Goodyear appealed, and the case was recently settled for a confidential sum. “Just because sometimes justice is delayed,” Kraft told the jury in his summation, “there is no reason for justice to ever be denied.” Kraft says the threat of jury trial drives many settlements and that without it plaintiffs would have no avenue of redress to right the wrongs they Kraft Jr. 01L suffered. In the Goodyear case, the company did not acknowledge responsibility, so a pretrial settlement was not an option. It’s a perfect example of how the court system offers the balance of the Rule of Law. “My general understanding of the Rule of Law is that no one is above it,” Kraft says. “This case showed that two people who are from relatively humble, blue-collar backgrounds can take on an enormous U.S. corporation and be successful in convincing a jury that that corporation was negligent and irresponsible and then have a jury award them damages based upon that negligence and irresponsibility.”
‘Give me your tired, your poor …’ Few subjects raise the country’s temperature faster than immigration. At least that’s how the game is played in the political arena. For lawyers, the subject of immigration and immigration law carries considerably more nuance. Larry Katzman 76L knows about immigration from a variety of angles. In the 1990s, he worked as legal director and pro bono coordinator for a Washington state nonprofit legal organization representing foreign nationals who sought asylum and other forms of protection in the United States. He then moved on to the legal department of the U.S. office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, D.C. “Pro bono is about access to justice,” says Katzman, who serves as deputy public service counsel for the Washington, D.C., office of Steptoe & Johnson llp. “The Rule of Law is vital, and obviously it’s a bedrock of Western society and of the United States, but a lot of people don’t have the means to access the legal system in a way that enables them to be on an equal footing with others,” he continues. “The idea of pro bono is to expand or ensure Katzman 76L access to justice for people who might not otherwise have it, usually because they cannot afford private legal representation.” In his role at Steptoe & Johnson, Katzman connects his firm’s attorneys with a wide array of pro bono opportunities that match their skills and interests. It’s the other side of the work Katzman did in Seattle when he would reach out to the city’s law firms seeking their pro bono assistance. Public service law is a relatively new area, but one where Emory boasts considerable strength with the student-run Emory Public Interest Committee and a wide range of courses, clinics and field placements available. Katzman freely admits that public interest law is not always the most lucrative way to earn a living, but other benefits exist beyond the bank account — the personal reward that stems from helping those in need, in particular. “Asylum seekers may not speak English and are very often traumatized,” Katzman says, “There is a real sense of assisting people who are in great need and quite vulnerable. If I can prevent them from being deported to a country
“The Rule of Law is vital, and obviously it’s a bedrock of Western society and of the United States, but a lot of people don’t have the means to access the legal system in a way that enables them to be on an equal footing with others.” — LARRY KATZMAN 76L
where they face danger and help them get legal status in the U.S. so they can begin to heal and move on with their lives, then that is empowering for them and satisfying for me.” The terror of Guantanamo In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the military commission used to try Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver, was illegal and lacked the protections required under the Geneva Conventions and U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice. The implications of the landmark Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision changed the way the United States prosecuted terrorism and opened the door for Emory Law’s entry into one of the most controversial — and important — legal arenas of our time. “It was exciting,” says Justin Wiseman 10L, one of the more than 20 Emory Law alumni who worked on cases involving Guantanamo Bay prisoners between 2007 and 2010. “I don’t want to say it was scary, but it did give me pause. This was not a popular thing to be doing at the time.” In the wake of the decision, Wiseman 10L Hamdan’s attorney, Charles Swift, joined the Emory Law faculty on a visiting professorship. For a year, he served as acting director of the International Humanitarian Law Clinic. The clinic recruited students to assist local Atlanta attorneys representing men held in Guantanamo. Six of those men, all Yemeni, are represented by Atlanta attorney John Chandler. “None of our clients in Guantanamo has even been accused of a crime. And now, they are entering their 11th year in jail,” Chandler says. “To me, that violates the essence of the Rule of Law. It doesn’t make any difference if you have freedom of speech or freedom of religion or freedom of assembly, if I can pick you up and put you in jail and keep you there without charge, none of the other freedoms matter.” Matthew Olinzock 10L was one of the students assigned to work with Chandler. In addition to doing research, he wrote the firm’s clients letters each week updating them on their cases as well as what was going outside Guantanamo Bay. The letters were their connection to the outside world. “In law school, you don’t always Olinzock 10L get practical experience,” Olinzock says. “So if you are working with a practicing attorney in the field, it’s eye opening.” It’s also great experience for the future. Now an intellectual property attorney, Olinzock credits the international angle of his Guantanamo Bay work with helping him win a recent case that gained asylum for a Russian national. Carlissa Carson 08L was one of the first Emory Law students to do Guantanamo work. She traveled to Cuba summer 2012
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twice in 2007 – 2008 to work with Swift directly on Hamdan’s defense. Before coming to Emory, Carson was a first lieutenant assigned to the U.S. Army’s 345th Military Intelligence Battalion. After graduation, she was promoted to captain and assigned to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in the Army Reserve and later served one year of active duty as chief of international and operational law with the U.S. Army 335th Signal Command, so her experience was ideal for the research. “I think one of the most significant Carson 08L things I became aware of is that, during times of war, certain administrations may erroneously believe that it is in our nation’s interest to evade the Rule of Law,” says Carson, who is in private practice. “In other words, the Constitution is the foundation upon which this country stands, and that is where the current Rule of Law stands.” In August 2008, following Carson’s work, Hamdan was convicted of “providing material support to terrorism” and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. Since he had already spent five years there, six months after the verdict, he was released and is reportedly back in Yemen. A new kind of banking It’s one thing to research public policy. Making it? That’s something else entirely. Not long after she graduated Emory Law, Leslie Powell 09L began work in the Washington, D.C., office of the Center for Community Progress, a nonprofit cofounded by Emory Law Professor Frank S. Alexander. Her assignment was to draft legislation enabling the creation of land banks in New York state. Land banks are public entities that can acquire, maintain and convey vacant, abandoned and tax-foreclosed properties. The rules regarding their creation and existence vary depending on state and local statutes. Powell, who had worked as a staffer in the Florida legislature, understood the hurdles. When drafting the legislation, she tied it to New York’s tax foreclosure law. She submitted her final product, and the legislation passed in July 2011. To Powell’s Powell 09L surprise the final law went into effect almost exactly the way she wrote it. “Some people might say that I wasn’t practicing law in the sense that I wasn’t billing clients for work. That’s true,” says Powell, now an associate with Kutak Rock llp in Atlanta. “But I did have a client — the legislative staff who needed our help. That may not be your private practice definition of the Rule of Law, but at the end of the day we’re making law, and that’s pretty cool to do in your first 8
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“I think one of the most significant things I became aware of is that, during times of war, certain administrations may erroneously believe that it is in our nation’s interest to evade the Rule of Law.” — CARLISSA CARSON 08L job out of law school.” Land banks are a relatively new tool to battle blight. In the mid–2000s, the land bank concept was introduced to several economically downtrodden parts of Michigan and experienced great success. For instance, land banks helped property values in Flint rise more than $100 million. With property values across the country continuing to spiral downward and neighborhoods everywhere struggling to emerge from the recession, land banks could be part of the solution. “You’ve got a bunch of dead property not performing in the market and wreaking havoc in the community,” says Sara Toering 06T, counsel to the Center for Community Progress. “Land banks are responsible entities that can come in and eliminate those liabilities, make it safe and get it functioning again.” Not only are land banks responToering 06L 06T sible entities, they’re open ones, too. Since they are public, land banks are subject to open meeting and records laws. The center’s advice to local and state governments is transparent. No backroom dealing here. “When it’s done, you’ll have a property that could be used for a great public purpose like a park or a community garden,” Toering says. “Or it could be conveyed to developers for affordable housing or simply returned to the market.” Legislation similar to that completed in New York passed in Georgia in March, this time with Toering serving as principal drafter, and additional work is ongoing in more than a half dozen states. Kristen Tullos 12L worked on a Missouri project where she researched the viability of land banks in Joplin, which took a direct hit from a 2011 tornado that laid waste to much of the city. Her work was central to a report Tullos 12L that was sent to the Joplin stakeholders just before the holidays, outlining their options and offering analysis. It was Tullos’ first foray into the working of state and local governments and she liked it so much that she is taking a class on the subject this spring. “The work was so much more than research,” she says.
“It’s great to have an opportunity in law school to do something that might have an impact on people’s lives.” Exporting the Rule of Law At Emory Law, the Rule of Law is perhaps most prominent in the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution. The center houses the Rule of Law Reform Project, which studies the challenges related to the implementation of rule-oflaw reform in post-conflict and developing nations.
Matt McCoyd 93L, Reuben Guttman 85L, Mexican judge, Alex Barney 08L and Georgina Sanchez Guadarrama in Mexico City.
“When I graduated from Emory Law, you defined the law between the boundaries of California and New York; we were all domestic lawyers,” says Reuben Guttman 85L senior fellow at the center and adjunct professor of law. “In the last 30 years, with the Internet and the global economy, it’s virtually impossible to practice law without touching on laws that are outside our geographic boundaries.” In China, where center director Paul Zwier spent some time before the holidays, Emory Law partners with Nanjing University to explore the differences in fact patterns as defined by the U.S. and Chinese courts. In Mexico, Emory Law — in collaboration with the Department of State — helps train lawyers and judges on how to try cases in their domestic courts, which have just allowed oral advocacy. In Liberia, the center assists with the basics of the country’s postconflict legal reform. Courtney O’Donnell 03C 10L spent her summer in 2009 working in the sexual and gender-based violent crime unit of Liberia’s Ministry of O’Donnell 03C 10L Justice. The unit had been in operation just three weeks prior to O’Donnell’s arrival. Among her responsibilities were meeting with victims, helping lawyers prepare for trial and fostering coordination among law enforcement, prosecutors and health care workers. “I had worked on sexual violence issues before, and that’s why I wanted to go to Liberia,” says O’Donnell, who now works as a public defender in DeKalb County. “As post-conflict nation, that’s a time when people can have
an impact, and because Liberia follows our legal system, American-trained lawyers can offer help.” While the Rule of Law Reform Project introduces American legal concepts and practices to its international partners, imposing them onto those partners is not necessarily the final goal. “The Rule of Law is a process,” Guttman says. “Different cultures and different countries look at things differently. When we teach trial practice to foreign lawyers, we’re not telling them to do it this way because that’s the way we do it in the United States. We dig down to the foundations of the law. Don’t do things this way because we do it. Do them in a way that makes sense to you.” Both sides of the Rule of Law One of the most divisive criminal cases of the last 20 years reached its conclusion Sept. 21, and — depending on one’s viewpoint — justice was served or a tragic wrong committed. Emory Law alumni played significant roles on both sides. The state of Georgia executed Troy Davis, convicted in 1991 of murdering off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah. The debate over Davis’ guilt, however, raged until his death and beyond. Convicted in large part on the testimony of eyewitnesses — several of whom later recanted — Davis was at the center of a case that pulled the Rule of Law in every direction. Jay Ewart 03L joined the Davis defense team in 2004, more than a decade into his stay on death row. From day one, Ewart worked the sysEwart 03L tem for his client, frequently pointing out that the state’s case was less than ironclad. “There was no physical evidence. They never found a murder weapon,” says Ewart, who was profiled in the Winter 2012 Emory Magazine. “That became our mantra. We started repeating it, over and over, thousands of times. And people started listening and saying, ‘you know, that gives me pause.’” One of those listening was Leah Ward Sears 80L, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. One of Ewart’s appeals reached Georgia’s highest court, and while Ewart occasionally found success, he was unable in 2008 to convince the justices that Davis should receive a new trial. Sears, however, wrote a dissenting opinion in the decision. Ewart exhausted every avenue, including the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied a final stay four hours after Davis’ scheduled execution hour. The sentence was carried out a short Ward Sears 80L time later. Closure hasn’t been easy for a case that brought worldwide attention to Georgia. A few months after Davis’ death, Georgia’s attorney general, Sam Olens 83L, offered some. summer 2012
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“When the death sentence is imposed in Georgia, it has been shown time and again that courts ensure the claims such as Davis’ are thoroughly reviewed,” Olens wrote in the Dec. 16 edition of the Fulton County Daily Report. “In Davis’ case, he claimed he could prove his innocence and was given the extraordinary opportunity to do so. The fact that he failed in that effort should not undermine the sentence that was ultimately imposed. Our judicial system worked the way it was supposed to work, and justice was served for Officer MacPhail and Mr. Davis.” Olens 83L The system — the Rule of Law — worked as it should, Olens says. For many, that’s enough. For others, how the system should work is something that could be changed. Constant evolution From the time she began her studies at Emory Law in 2009, Kate Thompson 12L observed the Troy Davis case with a scholar’s — and a prospective attorney’s — eye. Execution dates would pass, but despite the case’s visible flaws, new ones would be scheduled. Still, she figured that the system would correct itself. “It seemed like a clear case where someone would step in and re-evaluate the situation, but that never really happened,” Thompson says. And when Davis was executed, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a stay, Thompson stepped in herself, and while it was too late for Davis, she thought, maybe it wouldn’t be for someone else. Thompson gathered her thoughts, eloquently composed them and submitted an op-ed piece to The Augusta Chronicle, where it ran three days after Davis’ death. “Some of the problems that took place in the Davis case were not necessarily unique to him,” Thompson says. “They may be present in cases that get less attention, so I thought that was the perspective I could offer as a law student.” Thompson opened her column stating that she soon would pledge allegiance to a justice system that may have allowed the execution of an innocent man. But rather than vilify the entire legal enterprise, she instead used the Davis case as an example of how legal professionals must take active Thompson 12L roles in continuing to reform a system that, after all, once denied women the right to vote. “Part of the duty of every lawyer and every participant in the legal system is to constantly re-evaluate every situation and make sure that the results we achieve actually represent real justice and are good for our society,” Thompson says. “The system has been evolving since the beginning.”
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Still a long way to go “There is growing recognition around the world of the importance of the Rule of Law,” Schapiro says. And Emory plays a significant role in advancing knowledge through its work in Liberia, Mexico, the Republic of Georgia and China. While the governmental, economic and social philosophies of nations such as the United States and China may differ greatly, the two can still respect and learn from one another’s legal systems through the Rule of Law.
“Part of the duty of every lawyer and every participant in the legal system is to constantly re-evaluate every situation and make sure that the results we achieve actually represent real justice and are good for our society.” — KATE THOMPSON 12L The interpretations are broad. Parties may not agree and often advance their cases in direct opposition to one another. But across the country and increasingly around the world, the importance of the Rule of Law and adherence to it form the foundations of modern society. “Many advances in public health and well-being are related to issues that are primarily legal and political — not scientific or medical,” Schapiro says. “So while vaccines can prevent disease and farmers can feed the hungry, the Rule of Law is necessary for delivering those vaccines and that food to those who need it.” Eric Rangus is a freelancer based in Atlanta.
)N "RIEF Faculty Appointments for Fall 2012 Emory Law has hired three full-time faculty members this fall. UÊÊÊMary Dudziak will be a named chair and director of the Project on War and Security in Law, Culture and Society. Her research focuses on international approaches to legal history and the impact of war on democracy. She was the Judge Edward J. and Ruey Guirado Professor of Law, History and Political Science at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. 2011 Bar Passage Rate According to the 2011 State Bar of Georgia results, Emory Law had a 93.8 percent bar pass rate, which was the highest of all Georgia law schools. The school’s average MBR score was 152.2, also highest of any Georgia school. Of the 97 first-timers who took the test, 91 passed and six failed.
Emory Law Receives 2011 Big Voice for Children Award
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n November, Emory Law’s Barton Child Law and Policy Center received the 2011 Big Voice for Children Award from the Voices for Georgia’s Children for its role in assisting children needing legal representation. An example of the clinic’s work includes representing a 15-year-old South Georgia girl. Two Appeal for Youth Clinic students, Vanessa Lee 13L and Laura Schwartz 12L, along with Steve Reba, clinic attorney and instructor, represented the girl. The 15-year-old had been sentenced to a juvenile detention center for striking a middle school resource officer. “I learned as a teacher that an emotional disability can get in the way of learning,” says Lee, who was a first- and second-grade special education teacher prior to law school. “You can’t do things that will provoke their anger.” Represented by a public defender, the girl received a two-year sentence in a juvenile detention center, where she was in physical confrontations. The warden recommended her sentence be increased a month. “We went out of our way to let her know she was important to us,” Schwartz says. Soon thereafter, they received a call from the warden that the girl’s behavior had improved substantially. When the girl was released as scheduled in December, her school system refused to re-enroll her and threatened to expel her based on the incident two years ago. Lee, Schwartz and Reba readied a complaint seeking preliminary injunctive relief. In the end, the school system permitted the girl to enroll in her normal high school. “That was a wonderful outcome,” Reba says. “Often the school system will try to place the child in an alternative school where there’s no actual instruction, only a couple of hours in front of a computer. It doesn’t work well.”
UÊÊÊRafael Pardo will help further develop Emory Law’s bankruptcy program. Pardo was a professor of law at the University of Washington in Seattle. UÊÊÊSue Payne is the new executive director of the Center for Transactional Law and Practice and professor of practice. Payne was a clinical assistant professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law.
Former Emory Law Professor McGough 66L Named Dean at Appalachian Law Lucy McGough 66L has been named the dean and president at Appalachian Law School in Grundy, Va. She is scheduled to begin this summer. McGough graduated from Agnes Scott College in 1962. After earning her JD at Emory Law in 1966, she completed her LLM at Harvard University in 1971. McGough has served as professor of law at LSU since 1984 and was named Vinson & Elkins Professor of Law in 1989. She began her teaching career at Emory Law in 1970 as an assistant professor and was named Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law in 1980. Emory Law honored her as a distinguished alumna in 1991. summer 2012
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)N "RIEF
Justice Breyer Cites Students’ Brief in Dissenting Opinion n a 5–4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that those arrested for even minor offenses may be subjected to strip searches before being admitted to jail. Justice Stephen Breyer cited an amicus curiae brief by the Emory Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Project in his dissenting opinion ďŹ led April 2. Emory Law students represented the Medical Society of New Jersey, the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, and other medical professionals. Counsel of record was the late David Bederman, K. H. Gyr Professor in Private International Law. Team leaders were Audrey Patten 12L and Michael Burshteyn 13L. The New Jersey case, Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington, concerned whether prisons and jails should be allowed a blanket policy of strip searches to prevent contraband, weapons and diseases from entering the prison population. The students argued the justiďŹ cation was awed because to prevent the spread of disease, screening should be performed by medical professionals, not corrections ofďŹ cers. In other words, the average jail intake employee isn’t qualiďŹ ed to recognize the symptoms of staph infection and skin diseases.
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Oscar Party ON THE NIGHT AFTER the 2012 Academy Awards, Harvey Weinstein threw a small party to thank the team who had helped the Weinstein Co. win an unprecedented eight Oscars. Laine Kline 87C 90L, his executive vice president of business and legal affairs for the past six years, holds two of the Weinstein Co.’s Academy Awards for The Artist and Meryl Streep’s role in The Iron Lady. Recently, Kline left the Weinstein Co. for 20th Century Fox International Productions, where he oversees business affairs for the movies this division produces worldwide, including China, Russia, Japan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Washington 13L Earns Fellowship ARIANA WASHINGTON 13L HAS BEEN AWARDED A WEEK 0EGGY "ROWNING &ELLOWSHIP WHICH SHE HAS SPENT WORKING WITH THE !MERICAN &EDERATION OF 'OVERNMENT %MPLOYEES IN 7ASHINGTON $ # THIS SUMMER 3HE WAS ONE OF ROUGHLY STUDENTS CHOSEN FROM A NATIONWIDE POOL OF MORE THAN APPLICANTS FROM LAW SCHOOLS h!RIANA IS NOT ONLY A VERY ABLE LAW STUDENT BUT A TIRELESS AND COMMITTED ADVOCATE FOR THE RIGHTS OF WORKING PEOPLE v %MORY ,AW 0ROFESSOR #HARLES 3HANOR SAYS h3HE IS THE SORT OF PERSON WHO WAKES EACH MORNING THINKING OF WHAT SHE MIGHT DO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD 3HE AND THE "ROWNING FELLOWSHIP ARE A PERFECT lT FOR EACH OTHER v 12
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Emanuel 75L Among Best Authors Of 2011 in The Atlantic ANNE EMANUEL 75L WAS AMONG A HANDFUL OF AUTHORS NAMED BY CBS News’ LEGAL ANALYST AND EDITOR !NDREW #OHEN WHOSE WRITING hHELPED IMPROVE MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS v
In his 2011 review of books published on The Atlantic site, Cohen lauds Emanuel’s book, Elbert Parr Tuttle: Chief Jurist of the Civil Rights Revolution, which examines the life of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals judge and his landmark work on civil rights cases. Emanuel is a professor at Georgia State University School of Law.
Turner Clinic Wins foia Litigation THE TURNER ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC and its client
received a favorable decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 29, when the court ordered the U.S. Department of Energy to immediately release its credit subsidy fee estimates for the $8.3 billion taxpayer loan guarantee committed to Southern Co. based on a brief prepared by students in the clinic. “Three students, Nicolas Chandler 13L, Patrick Polenz 12L and Anne Herold 13L, worked on the brief together,� said Mindy Goldstein, acting director of Turner Clinic. “The court adopted Nicholas’ language regarding the credit subsidy fee wholesale. His arguments were well reasoned and convincing.� At least 15 students from the clinic have worked on the foia litigation in the last two years, Goldstein said.
Nanwani 12L Wins Burton Award
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MORY ,AW S Shaira Nanwani 12L HAS BEEN NAMED ONE OF NATIONAL WINNERS IN THE LAW SCHOOL DIVISION OF THE "URTON !WARDS FOR ,EGAL !CHIEVEMENT .ANWANI RECEIVED THE $ISTINGUISHED ,EGAL 7RITING !WARD FOR HER PAPER h4HE "URQA "AN !N 5NREASONABLE ,IMITATION ON 2ELIGIOUS &REEDOM OR A *USTIlABLE 2ESTRICTION v (ER COMMENT WAS PUBLISHED IN A ISSUE OF Emory International Law Review .ANWANI IS THE NINTH %MORY ,AW STUDENT TO WIN THE "URTON AWARD 0AST RECIPIENTS INCLUDE Adam McDonell Moline 11L, Alex J. Whitman 10L, James McDonough III 07L, Jason D. Medinger 04L, Jason R. Edgecombe 99C 03L, Rachel D. King 02L, Gordon L. Hamrick 96OX 98C 01L and James R. Robinson 00L
Henriksons Advance Diversity Initiative
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$2.5 million gift from Mary E. and C. Robert Henrikson 72l will double the reach of the Henriksons’ endowed scholarship, which has promoted diversity in the student body at Emory Law since its inception a decade ago. The donation is the largest individual gift in the law school’s history. Of the total amount, $1.5 million will go to the Henriksons’ endowed scholarship fund. The remaining $1 million will be allocated for additional financial aid, and will serve as a challenge grant for matching gifts that will go to Emory Law’s annual fund. Increasing the diversity of the student body is a key priority of new Dean Robert A. Schapiro. Historically, Emory Law has had one of the most diverse student bodies among the nation’s law schools. “The Henrikson scholarship has been very important to our efforts to build a diverse class of talented students each year,” Schapiro says. “This new gift will greatly extend the endowment’s current reach. “Henrikson’s commitment to emphasizing the rich diversity of our student body is an inspiration to the entire Emory Law community — faculty, alumni, students and staff,” Schapiro says. Henrikson is former chair of the board, president and ceo of MetLife Inc., and serves on the Board of Trustees of Emory University. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus by Emory Law in 2006. “We established this scholarship fund at my alma mater so that, in addition to receiving an outstanding education, Emory Law students will benefit from an
inclusive environment that values diversity and leverages differences,” Henrikson says. The C. Robert Henrikson Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in 2002 and has been an important resource supporting the recruitment of minority students. “Many of these students have been the first members of their families to graduate from college and pursue a legal education,” says Joella Hricik, Emory Law’s associate dean for development and alumni relations. Typically, about one third of Emory Law’s students come from ethnic backgrounds that are underrepresented in legal education. The Henriksons’ gift continues Emory’s commitment to a diverse student body begun 50 years ago by Emory Law Dean Ben F. Johnson Jr. 36c 40l 05h and Chair of the Emory Board of Trustees Henry L. Bowden Sr. 32c 34l, who led the university’s successful court challenge to racial segregation in Georgia’s private colleges and universities. After overcoming that hurdle, Johnson worked with the faculty to recruit African American students. Those efforts included the formation of Emory Law’s Pre-Start program, a precursor of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, a national program that has recruited and helped prepare more than 8,000 students for success in law school since its inception in 1968. — Lisa Ashmore and Wendy R. Cromwell
summer 2012
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A Family Matter
Bacardi 96L learns more than the rum business from his ancestors by Maria M. Lameiras
hen he thinks about it, Facundo Bacardi 96l can trace to his childhood the lessons he learned about caring for the community. “I really think that is where you capture a lifelong interest in helping others, by teaching children early,” says Bacardi, chair of Bacardi Limited, which was founded by his great-great grandfather, Facundo Bacardí Massó, in Cuba in 1862. The third-largest distilled spirits company in the world, Bacardi Limited owns and distributes brands including Bacardi rum, Grey Goose vodka, Dewar’s scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin and Martini & Rossi vermouth. “My father taught my brother, sister and me at an early age that if you are successful at what you do and your family is fortunate, it feels good to share that with others,” he says. At Emory Law, “My father taught my Bacardi found a culture brother, sister and me at and atmosphere that an early age that if you were an ideal fit for the are successful at what philosophy of commuyou do and your family is nity service and philanfortunate, it feels good to thropy that has been a strong current in his share that with others.” family from its earliest — Facundo Bacardi 96L ancestry. By his final year at Emory Law, he wanted to make a gift that would help current and future law students share the positive experiences he had. Bacardi admits that — as the head of a family business built on rum — Emory’s connection to Coca-Cola through the Woodruff Foundation appealed to him. “After they renamed Goizueta Business School, I had a running joke with Dean Woody Hunter, who would say to me, ‘See that school over there? We need a splash of rum to go with the Coca-Cola,’” Bacardi says. In his third year of law school, Bacardi gave $200,000 to name Bacardi Plaza, which serves as a meeting place for students to study and relax and a venue for law school social events. His initial gift also helped with the construction of the Hugh F. MacMillan Law Library. Recently, Bacardi pledged $1.5 million to Emory Law for scholarships and the dean’s discretionary fund in honor of his two favorite professors: Nathaniel Gozansky and
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the late David Bederman. In 2010, he provided a $150,000 lead gift to endow a scholarship in honor of Gozansky. “You take a little bit away from everyone you meet. There were a lot of professors who I learned so much from,” he says. “Dean Gozansky and Professor Bederman were great, and there were many other outstanding professors — Andrew Cole, Gary Smith — who I learned so much from. I know I am not finished recognizing that.” His recent gifts to scholarships fulfilled his desire to help students who want the quality and experience of an Emory Law education but are unable to attend without financial aid. “I am fortunate that I was able to come to Emory Law and not have the concern of how to pay for it. I wanted to create scholarships for the school so outstanding students could come in and not worry about how to pay,” he says. Upholding family tradition This dedication to philanthropy is a cherished part of his family’s history. In 1852, family patriarch Facundo Bacardí Massó helped organize food relief for the citizens of Santiago de Cuba after devastating earthquakes. In 1879, Bacardí Massó’s eldest son, Emilio Bacardi, became a city councilor and a school board member. In 1898, he was appointed as mayor and greatly improved the city’s infrastructure and sanitation. The Bacardi family also established clinics, orphanages, homes for the elderly and libraries during that time. Bacardi believes it is his family’s responsibility to continue this tradition of philanthropy. In 2005, he founded the Facundo and Amalia Bacardi Foundation — named for his great-great grandparents. The foundation’s mission is to provide for the general well-being of south Floridians by supporting educational, health, food and housing and environmental programs. “Our family is large and has many divergent interests, but we are all here because of the efforts of two people — Facundo and Amalia,” Bacardi says. “I filed the paperwork to start this foundation on August 5 because that is the anniversary of their wedding and that is what this really is about. We are taking what others have built up and in return sharing it to both reflect for us what they have done and to spread the good works of our ancestry.” It was a similar desire to honor those who have made an
impact on his life that led Bacardi to make gifts to Emory Law. He says he owes his path to law school to the influence of a business mentor and close friend. Discovering the law After graduating with a degree in finance in 1989, Bacardi worked at his family’s company until enrolling in the MBA
program at the University of Florida in 1991. Just three days before classes were to begin, Bacardi’s father, Luis, died of heart failure. “I toughed it out for about a month, but I just couldn’t be there,” Bacardi says. “I joined our acquisitions team, and I spent the next year traveling and helping put deals together.” During that time, the company’s external counsel, George “Chip” Reid — who went on to become president and ceo of Bacardi International in 1996 — advised the young businessman that law school would be a far better choice than an mba. “Chip had a Yale undergrad degree, a degree from Harvard Law and a Harvard mba. He said to me ‘I don’t want you to get an mba. I have them both, and you are getting a far better education with a law degree,’” Bacardi recalls. When he protested that he wasn’t sure about the idea, Reid told him, “‘How about this? For the next year, you look at what we’re doing here and, at the very end, you are going to law school.’” Although he had never considered a law degree, Bacardi agreed to finish the year before making a decision. “About halfway through that year, I realized law school was a good idea,” he says, adding that the legal complexities of business acquisitions and contractual issues and a constantly changing legal landscape helped him realize how a law degree would give him a better grasp of business. “Many business decisions are based upon what you can and can’t do under the law. When you get involved in many careers, you do a lot of planning and you work hard to get a handle on what other people are doing in respect to your business,” he says. “A lot of it is about relationships — for me that is marketing and sales people, distributors, retail partners — and my background in law has educated me in a way that has helped me pick up the missing pieces and think of things in a different way. That has been a tremendous experience for me.” Maria M. Lameiras is a senior editor for Emory University’s Development Communications.
summer 2012
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In Memory of David J. Bederman by John Witte Jr.
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avid J. Bederman, K. H. Gyr Professor in his record as an advocate and litigator. He shared these Private International Law, died Dec. 4 after a gifts and opportunities with his law students, too, drawseven-year battle with cancer. ing them into his research and brief writing, and helping Emory University School of Law has lost a establish the new Supreme Court Advocacy Project at the true gentleman and a truly gentle man. David law school. was consummately elegant and polite, modest and meaAnd David loved to write — 12 books and 125 articles sured, loyal and faithful, bold and brave. With David there all told. In a slow year, he wrote four or five articles, in a were no empty words or wasted motion, no self-glory or good year, seven or eight articles along with a new book. self-pity, no bathos or pathos. Even in the face of the ample His books on international law, admiralty and international adversity he faced in his later years, he was always kind claims are standard sources in classrooms and courtrooms and concerned for others; he was always steady, sure, deter- across the country. His monograph on Classical Canons is mined and fearless. a tour de force in legal reasoning, legal rhetoric and legal We have lost a brilliant scholar, teacher and advocate. hermeneutics. Armed with degrees from Paideia, Princeton, the London His trio of Cambridge University Press monographs — School of Economics, the University of Virginia and The Custom as a Source of Law (2010), The Classical Hague Academy of International Law, David burst onto the Foundations of the American Constitution (2008) and Emory Law scene two decades ago. He already had gained International Law in Antiquity (2001) — have transformed ample momentum from practicing law at Covington & our scholarly understanding of the historical and theoretiBurling in Washington, D.C., and at the Iran/United States cal foundations of international and constitutional law. His Claims Tribunal in The Hague. When he got to Emory, he set off on a blistering pace that rapidly won him promotion, tenure and then a prestigious endowed chair. David loved to teach, and more than 4,000 students over the years flocked to his 15 courses and seminars. He had exquisite gifts at the lectern and as a mentor and faculty advisor to the Emory International Law Review. He won both the Ben F. Johnson Faculty Excellence Award from the law school and the Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award from the University. Such was his love of the classroom that he insisted on teaching even through his last semester, somehow summoning the strength to teach despite enormous pain and growing fragility. David loved to litigate, which he did brilliantly, especially in admiralty and constitutional law cases, where his work was path-breaking. He was counsel of record in 52 David J. Bederman died Dec. 4. He was 50. Bederman is survived by his wife, federal cases, and argued four cases before the Lorre Cuzze, and their daughter, Annelise Bederman, as well as by his parents, Sanford and Jolayne Bederman. U.S. Supreme Court — Smith (1993), Lapides (2002), Syngenta (2002) and Elahi (2009). He served as legal counsel to several ngos and admiralty and sterling academic reputation also won him coveted editorial salvage companies and helped win stunningly large damage seats on various leading law journals, notably the American awards for his clients. Journal of International Law, the Journal of Maritime Particularly notable was his innovative legal work with Law and Commerce and the Journal of the History of Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc., which conducts extenInternational Law. sive search and archaeological recovery operations on deepTo honor their distinguished colleague, the faculty at ocean shipwrecks around the world, including the Titanic. Emory Law recently established the David J. Bederman No professor in the history of Emory Law comes close to Fund with generous contributions from David’s family, 16
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To make an online gift to the David J. Bederman Fund, visit emory.edu/give. For more details, contact Joella Hricik at joella.hricik@emory.edu. colleagues, students and alumni/ae. The fund will support a distinguished lectureship and student fellowship program. As it grows, the fund will eventually also support a David J. Berman Professorship in International Law. On Sept. 26, David delivered the inaugural David J. Bederman Lecture at the law school to a standing-roomonly audience. He set out the most improbable thesis: that custom — that inchoate, messy, indeterminate gaggle of practices called custom — is still a vital source of law today, and can trump even American constitutional law at certain points. Before he launched into his argument, he delivered my favorite line in his whole lecture: “Doubt me, and let me convince you.â€? And, of course, by the end, even the greatest skeptics in the audience were nodding. In many ways, this one choice line —“Doubt me, and let me convince youâ€?— was a maxim for all of David’s life. He did not deal in pride or pretension. He did not push to the front of the line nor ask often for the oor. He rarely showed angst or exertion, pain or exhaustion. He treated everyone as his peer, no matter what their station or vocation in life. It was thus easy to overlook him, to underestimate him, to think him an easy match. That was just how David liked it. Not only was this the becoming modesty of the Southern gentleman he was. It was also, conveniently, the brilliant strategy of a man whose mind and pen were his most powerful gifts. The moment he opened his mouth or set pen to paper, those who doubted him soon repented of their folly. “Young brother Bedermanâ€? was my name for David. This was in part because we shared a common intellectual father in the late Harold J. Berman, Emory’s ďŹ rst Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, who taught both of us a deep love for legal history. It was Berman who had spotted this brilliant young scholar, and persuaded the Emory faculty to hire him. And it was Berman, who, a few years later, persuaded this precocious young professor on the rise to stay at Emory and resist the blandishments of various prestigious schools courting him in earnest. Appropriately, David dedicated his last book to Berman. I also called him “young brother Bedermanâ€? because we shared a natural friendship and easy rapport usually reserved for family. David was not the kind of guy to join you for a day of ďŹ shing, though he played a mean game of table tennis and loved golďŹ ng and time at the beach with his family. Our friendship was more cerebral and culinary. David loved to sit together with a good glass of wine or over a nice meal, rehearsing a piece of literature, or discussing his favorite Dutchman, Hugo Grotius, or dissecting the latest Supreme Court case. The son of a distinguished geographer, he loved to travel, and to share stories and to trade pictures from the road. A
distinguished comparativist, he knew the best way to learn more about our law, culture and beliefs was to see them through the eyes of another culture or civilization wholly different from our own. We sorely miss this bold and brave young man at Emory Law. We will honor his memory best if we carry on with the great work that he so ably undertook in his brilliant but brief career, particularly in the ďŹ elds of international law, admiralty law and legal history, where he made monumental contributions. John Witte Jr. is Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Alonzo L. McDonald Family Distinguished Professor, and director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion.
Honoring Her Mentor DONNA YIP 04L NEVER SAT IN ONE OF 0ROFESSOR $AVID * "EDERMAN S CLASSROOMS BUT HE TAUGHT HER A GREAT DEAL 4O HONOR HIS MEMORY AND CONTINUE HIS LEGACY SHE HAS PLEDGED TO SUPPORT THE $AVID * "EDERMAN &UND h(E MADE AN INVESTMENT IN ME v SHE SAYS h(E WAS SUCH A GREAT MENTOR v 4HE "EDERMAN &UND WILL SUPPORT A LECTURE SERIES A STUDENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM AND ONCE FULLY FUNDED A PROFESSORSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL LAW )N THE lRST WEEK AFTER THE FUND WAS ESTABLISHED IN FALL A GROUP OF FACULTY MEMBERS PLEDGED GIFTS TOTALING h$AVID WAS %MORY AND %MORY Donna Yip 04L WAS $AVID v 9IP SAYS h(E SPENT HIS LIFE DEDICATED TO FURTHERING INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLICIES AND DEDICATED TO HIS STUDENTS (E TOUCHED A LOT OF LIVES 7E SHOULD DO ALL WE CAN TO KEEP HIS LEGACY ALIVE v 3HE MET "EDERMAN DURING HER lRST YEAR AT A SUMMER LUNCH SERIES EVENT )T WAS HIS BIRTHDAY AND HE WAS WITH HIS YOUNG DAUGHTER WHO ENLISTED 9IP S HELP TO BUY HIM A CAKE 3HE BECAME CLOSE FRIENDS WITH THE PROFESSOR AND HIS FAMILY AND HE BECAME AN INVALUABLE ALLY GIVING CAREER ADVICE AND HELPING HER lND A SUMMER ASSOCIATE S POSITION h(ERE WAS A MAN WHO HAD ARGUED 3UPREME #OURT CASES AND HIS DOOR WAS ALWAYS OPEN )T S A GREAT FEELING WHEN YOU KNOW THAT SOMEONE LIKE THIS TAKES AN INTEREST IN YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER (E HAD A REAL HEART FOR STUDENTS v SAYS 9IP ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL AND COMPLIANCE OFlCER FOR /AK (ILL !DVISORS IN .EW 9ORK #ITY /AK (ILL IS AN INDEPENDENT INVESTMENT lRM WITH OFlCES IN THE 5NITED 3TATES %NGLAND AND !USTRALIA 4O REACH THE FULL ENDOWMENT LEVEL THE "EDERMAN &UND MUST ATTRACT MILLION IN DONATIONS !LL MEMBERS OF THE %MORY ,AW COMMUNITY ˆ ALUMNI STUDENTS FACULTY STAFF AND FRIENDS ˆ ARE INVITED TO CONTRIBUTE )NVESTING IN THE FUND HONORS "EDERMAN 9IP SAYS h)NVESTMENTS IN THE SCHOOL S PROGRAMS AND STUDENTS DRIVE THE RANKINGS UPWARD v SHE EXPLAINS h4HE NAME %MORY IS ALWAYS ON YOUR RESUME SO HELPING THE SCHOOL HELPS ALUMNI v
summer 2012
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Gozansky Makes a Difference
Professor Retires after 45 Years at Emory Law by Lisa Ashmore
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n Professor Nathaniel Gozansky’s office, there’s a photograph of a group shooting the rapids of the Gauley River in West Virginia. He’s the one falling out of the boat. The photo is a metaphor for Gozansky’s 45-year career at Emory Law. Although a serious scholar and administrator who is unafraid to take risks, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Gozansky retires in August. Emory Law hired the 27-year-old Gozansky from Vanderbilt University. In 1966, Emory Professor George King took him to Hardee’s to discuss the deal. “They recruited me with some zeal, if not with lavish meals,” Gozansky says. “Emory Law and I grew up together,” he says. “I was the twelfth person hired, there were 14 of us on the faculty in 1967.” At the time, Emory Law had no international students and offered a part-time program. “In a lot of ways, I think arguably what kept me here was, I was growing, so was everything around me,” Gozansky says. “The school was growing. The University was growing — the city was growing.” His wife, Libby Johnson 82l, made her career at the
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Coca-Cola Co.; so Atlanta is where they stayed. Beyond teaching, Gozansky will be remembered for his contribution to Pre-Start, a program begun in 1966 to help integrate the school after Emory v. Nash paved the way for the integration of private schools in Georgia. “It was for minority applicants who were not, on paper, readily admissible to law school,” Gozansky says. Soon after, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity launched a similar national summer institute modeled on Pre-Start. Gozansky says Pre-Start and cleo changed the world, not just the profession. “Lawyers are social engineers,” he says. “Both programs were based on the idea that, ‘If we’re ever going to see social change, we need to move quickly to create a community of lawyers who have a sensitivity to the issues that are at stake here.’ And we ultimately succeeded.” In the 1970s, Gozansky helped cleo during the Nixon administration’s push to dismantle the Office of Economic Opportunity, which provided funding. He and others successfully moved cleo under the Department of Education. Otherwise, “cleo would have been over,” Gozansky says. In 1968, as the Office of Economic Opportunity’s interim regional director of legal services, Gozansky riled Mississippi’s governor by moving “the very effective Mississippi Legal Rural Services,” from the University of Mississippi to Mary Holmes Junior College, a small predominantly black institution. The move prevented the governor from killing the program. “I thus became persona non grata to the governor,” Gozansky recalls. To many students, though, he was a professor out of central casting. “Nat’s a mensch,” says Carolyn Bregman 82l, who knew Gozansky as a student and as a boss. Now director of Emory University’s Alumni Career Services, Bregman describes a workday near the end of term years ago.
She and a colleague visited Gozansky and announced, “We are exhausted, we are tired, we are cranky, and we’re not having any fun.â€? Within a few hours, Gozansky sent an email to senior staff declaring the ďŹ rst-ever “Mandatory Fun Dayâ€? detailing where, when and how they were going to have fun as a team and celebrate what they’d done that year. David Soloway 82l recalls a conversation from the early ’90s when he and Gozansky were volunteering at a couples night shelter in Atlanta. Soloway told his former professor he had a case with a good shot at being granted certiorari. “He was kind of excited about this, and he said if the Supremes — and I thought that was kind of entertaining that he called them the Supremes — granted cert, that he would arrange for a practice bench for me with the law school faculty.â€? The case, Ardestani v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, did reach the U.S. Supreme Court. “The two practice benches that Nat arranged made a difference, and I’ll always be grateful,â€? Soloway says.
While he did not prevail, “We were part of a very wellinformed dissent.â€? Since 2002, Gozansky has directed Emory Law’s international programs. He began the LLM program with Central European University in Budapest and established several exchange and study-abroad programs for students. Although an adopted Southerner, Gozansky is a ďŹ rstgeneration American on his paternal side. His father’s family immigrated from Russia to Montreal and later Chicago, where Gozansky was born. While he says he’s proud of what he accomplished at Emory Law, Gozansky says his proudest accomplishments are his three children. Eldest Michelle is a Douglas County juvenile judge. Elliott 89ox 91c 91g, “my rocket scientist,â€? earned a PhD at Purdue University and his MD from the University of Michigan. Shana, the baby, earned her MFA in theater direction from Brown University this summer. Gozansky and Johnson have three grandsons. Lisa Ashmore is a freelance writer based in Atlanta.
Professor Carney Retiring SINCE 1978 WILLIAM CARNEY, #HARLES (OWARD #ANDLER 0ROFESSOR OF ,AW HAS TAUGHT STUDENTS CORPORATE lNANCE A SECTION OF LAW THAT ARGUABLY EXERTS AS MUCH INmUENCE OVER !MERICA AS ITS GOVERNMENT (E RETIRES JUST SHY OF YEARS AFTER HIS PROFESSORIAL CAREER BEGAN (E DESCRIBES HIS PRIVATE PRACTICE FOLLOWING GRADUATION FROM 9ALE ,AW 3CHOOL IN AS A hUTILITY INlELDER v SHAGGING WHATEVER CASE CAME THROUGH THE DOOR (E WAS OFFERED HIS lRST TEACHING JOB AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF 7YOMING IN 7HILE AT %MORY #ARNEY HAS WRITTEN TWO CASEBOOKS BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL LECTURER AND HELPED CREATE THE #ENTER FOR 4RANSACTIONAL ,AW AND 0RACTICE -ORE RECENTLY HE AND FELLOW PROFESSORS *OANNA 3HEPHERD "AILEY ' AND 'EORGE 3HEPHERD HAVE TAKEN TO CALLING THE STATE OF $ELAWARE A CORPORATE EMPEROR WITH NO CLOTHES !LTHOUGH HE LAUGHS AND CONCEDES THEIR POSITION hIS NOT WIDELY HELD IN ACADEMIA v HE S CONVINCED #ARNEY INVITED $ELAWARE #OURT OF #HANCERY #HANCELLOR 7ILLIAM #HANDLER ))) TO DEBATE THE COURT S BODY OF LAW AT %MORY IN $ELAWARE IS LEGALLY HOME FOR ABOUT HALF OF THE COUNTRY S PUBLICLY TRADED 5 3 COMPANIES INCLUDING ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF THE Fortune
William Carney h4HE $ELAWARE COURTS HAVE BEEN TOO INTERVENTIONIST AND TOO AD HOC IN THEIR INTERVENTIONS IN CORPORATE DECISION MAKING v IS HOW #ARNEY DESCRIBED IT IN A !"# NEWS STORY ON #HANDLER S RETIREMENT ,AST FALL "AILEY #ARNEY AND 3HEPHERD S PAPER h,AWYERS )GNORANCE AND THE $OMINANCE OF $ELAWARE #ORPORATE ,AW v HIT THE TOP MOST DOWNLOADED CORPORATE LAW PAPERS ON THE 3OCIAL 3CIENCE 2ESEARCH .ETWORK !SKED ABOUT THE RELATIVE CURRENT POWER OF GOVERNMENT VERSUS BUSINESS IN THE 5 3 #ARNEY SAID h#ORPORATIONS x HAVE MORE POWER TO DO GOOD )T S CORPORATIONS
THAT CREATE JOBS IT S NOT GOVERNMENT v .OTWITHSTANDING RECENT /CCUPY OBJECTIONS #ARNEY SAYS RUNNING COMPANIES WITH AN EYE TO SERVING STOCKHOLDERS IS THE BEST COURSE FOR ANY #%/ h4HE STOCKHOLDERS ONLY DO WELL WHEN THE COMPANY IS SUCCESSFUL AT MAKING AND SELLING ITS PRODUCTS AT PRICES THAT PEOPLE WANT TO PAY v HE SAID ! GOOD EXAMPLE OF CORPORATE GOOD #ARNEY SAID IS 0HARMASETT )NC WHERE HE SERVED ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS THROUGH *ANUARY 4HE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY BEGAN IN ()6 TREATMENT STUDIES AND WAS SOLD TO 'ILEAD 3CIENTIlC )NC EARLY THIS YEAR 0HARMASETT DEVELOPED AN ORAL TREATMENT FOR (EPATITIS # THAT IN TESTS HAS SHOWED A CURE RATE OF PERCENT OR BETTER )T S EXPECTED TO BE IN PRODUCTION WITHIN TWO YEARS #ARNEY SAID 4HE POTENTIAL MARKET IS AN ESTIMATED MILLION DIAGNOSED WITH (EPATITIS # WORLDWIDE #ARNEY SAID HE S ALSO PROUD OF A QUIET ROLE THAT WILL OUTLAST HIS TENURE LONG SERVICE ON THE FACULTY APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE h) M PLEASED ABOUT THE CORE OF REALLY SMART HARD WORKING PEOPLE THAT WE VE ADDED TO THIS FACULTY v HE SAID h4HE CORE OF ANY GREAT UNIVERSITY IS ITS FACULTY )F YOU DON T HAVE THAT YOU DON T HAVE MUCH OF A UNIVERSITY v
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Mullis 75l, Buchsbaum 54l and Bedford 73l Honored by Emory Law by Lisa Ashmore
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he 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award winners represent and excelled in three major roles in law — public defenders, prosecution and the bench. Carl Mullis 75l made his name prosecuting white-collar crime after seriously considering divinity school. At 81, Aaron Buchsbaum 54l’s abiding sense of justice led him to fight discrimination in his native Savannah throughout his career. After 23 years in practice, T. Jackson Bedford 73l ran successfully for Fulton County Superior Court judge. That was after his first career in the U.S. Navy, flying missions over Vietnam, where he flew the last combat sortie by a Navy single-engine propeller airplane. Beyond their Emory Law fraternity, another common thread is each has consuming interests beyond the courtroom.
Carl Mullis 75L 20
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Carl Mullis 75L For Mullis, it is self-taught art. Visitors at his dinner table are inches from a life-size Howard Finster, something that doesn’t happen often outside a museum. “Most of those people that we have collected created that art because they had to create that art,” Mullis says. “They were driven to do that. It wasn’t because they wanted to make money, it was because they wanted to get those visions out there.” Mullis has a long relationship with the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens; he’s loaned art there and to the Carlos Museum, and he’s curated an exhibit at the High Museum. His interest in art began during his two years working at Yale’s Art and Architecture Gallery as an undergraduate. He remembers a Yale alumnus who regularly gave symphony tickets to students at Yale. Mullis now does the same for Emory Law students. Mullis believes in developing the whole person and sees art as an avenue for that. He reveals an inherent sympathy for the human condition through his sharp sense of humor and booming laugh. While human struggle and desire often yield great art, those same conflicts can land folks on the wrong side of the law. As an antitrust lawyer, Mullis’ efforts led to a lot of bright people going to prison. “Everyone who I sent to jail, I would have enjoyed being friends with,” he says philosophically. After leaving the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Mullis was involved in cases including representing Cingular in its 2004 acquisition of at&t Wireless. When approved by the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department’s antitrust division, the merger resulted in a $41 billion sale, the largest cash deal up to that time. Mullis says his decision to continue at Emory Law rather than heading to divinity school was aided by then Dean Ben Johnson Jr. 36c 40l 05h. “He said, ‘There’s a great nexus between theology and the law,’” Mullis recalls. Mullis says in his view, the purpose of law school should be “to nurture and create leaders who just happen to be great lawyers.” T. Jackson Bedford 73L Bedford had a charitable impulse about 20 years ago that now reaches about 2,500 children and mentally challenged adults each Christmas. Beginning in August, he starts to look a little bushy, as he grows out his silvery-white beard
and equally silver hair for his role as Santa Claus. In 1998, Bedford and his wife Patty lost a beloved grandson to cancer. Partly in response to their loss, the Bedfords established Brandon’s Foundation, Inc., which works T. Jackson Bedford 73L with children struck by cancer and their families, and the Atlanta Santa Project which provides Santa visits to sick and underprivileged children and the mentally challenged. In 2011, the Santa Project involved eight Santas and a score of volunteer elves from the Atlanta Bar Association. For the past four years, Bedford has also visited Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport uso on Christmas Day to greet traveling servicemen and women and their families. This stands in contrast to Bedford’s day job, which involves presiding over serious criminal cases, as well as some civil trials that have put him under the microscope — including the 2006 Georgia Voter id case. Bedford refers to it as a “Why me, Lord?” case. On appeal, he was reversed on standing — an issue not raised by the attorneys involved, but by the Georgia Supreme Court justices themselves, Bedford said. The fact that he wasn’t faulted on a substantive issue wasn’t noted as prominently as the reversal. Nuances often are what decide a case, and sometimes those subtleties don’t make it into news coverage, he added. While in private practice, Bedford says nearly 60 percent of his work centered on domestic cases. So, he and four other judges worked to form Fulton County’s Family Division, in order to speed the process and encourage early settlement. Parents are required to meet with court officers early on in a process more like mediation, he said. They also must attend parenting classes designed to educate parents on the damage divorce can cause for the children involved. “The break-up of a family, is like splitting an atom,” he says. The goal for the new system was early intervention and education to defuse the brunt of negative energy directed at children who are emotionally affected by divorce. Aaron Buchsbaum 54L While Alzheimer’s has affected Buchsbaum’s memory, case law stands as a testament to his crusading work for civil rights during decades fraught with hate and intolerance. He is remembered for his successful challenge to Georgia’s then discriminatory method of selecting juries, effectively
denying blacks a panel of their peers. His wife, Esther, pulls out clippings that show her husband’s zeal for hard battles. In 1967, Buchsbaum was court-appointed counsel for a 19-year-old accused of rape, kidnapping and robbery. In the death penalty trial, Buchsbaum doggedly continued his objections to a nearly all-white jury pool. The case eventually changed the way Georgia’s petit and grand juries were selected. Buchsbaum argued there was systematic discrimination when selecting jurors in trials of black defendants accused in cases involving whites. While blacks made up 35 to 40 percent of eligible jurors, he said, only about 7 percent made it to the jury list. “My father comes from a long line of very stubborn people. When he knew he was in the right, he knew he was in the right,” his daughter, Susan, said. “He did not tend to back down from a challenge. In fact, I think it got his adrenalin pumping.” Esther Buchsbaum says her husband’s intellect and social ease used to make her think he might consider elected office. But in retrospect, she said his temperament probably would have made him a poor politician. “I realized later he was not political material because he believed what he believed and he wouldn’t compromise,” she said. “He couldn’t compromise his ideals.” Buchsbaum served as president of both Georgia Legal Services and Legal Aid of Savannah and was instrumental in desegregating the Savannah Bar Association. In 1980, he resigned over its habit of holding functions at private clubs with discriminatory membership policies. He later rejoined, after the practice stopped. In 2011, the Chatham County Economic Aaron Buchsbaum 54L Opportunity Authority named its new Head Start building the Aaron L. Buchsbaum Learning Center, to honor his 40 years of working with the eoa. Buchsbaum also loved music and worked tirelessly to bring it to Savannah. He co-founded the Savannah Concert Association and the classical music and arts radio station wsvh, now part of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Despite his fading memory of legal battles past, music remains a vital part of his life. “Now, his days are regulated by the radio music,” Esther Buchsbaum said. “We go out for a morning walk, we must be back at 9 o’clock, because that’s when the music starts.”
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The Center for Professional Development and Career Strategy:
Rethinking the Law Student Experience
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n September, Emory Law launched the Center for Professional Development and Career Strategy to work in tandem with the OfďŹ ce of Career Services to help students meet lawyers, explore different practice areas, identify their interests and passions and plan their law school experience thoughtfully and strategically. “Our students’ legal careers begin on their ďŹ rst day of law school,â€? says Greg Riggs 79l, associate dean for student services and community engagement. “Traditionally, the law school experience has been viewed as an academic exercise, as the last three years of a student’s formal education. We are empowering our students to engage the profession actively in their ďŹ rst year.â€? The new center provides a web portal where students can access tools and resources needed for their professional development while building their career and job search strategies. “The center provides our students with the ready-forpractice knowledge and skills that employers are looking for,â€? says Robert B. Ahdieh, vice dean for Emory Law. Center Components Practice Areas: The center’s framework incorporates 23 practice areas for guided exploration. As students begin to identify their professional interests and passions, the center’s resources highlight relevant courses, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities so students may more effectively plan their law school path. Practice Societies: The “action wingâ€? of the practice areas, practice societies bring together faculty advisors, student leaders, key alumni and practice or legal experts and career strategy advisors to plan substantive events and create opportunities for students to “window shopâ€? and build bridges between the school and the real world. Professional Development: Students complete a professional development plan to help them to think about their professional and personal growth. The information provides a framework to create a customized plan for professional development inside and outside the classroom. Career Strategy: The center’s staff works to develop and enhance its relationships with community members whose knowledge, when combined with the counseling and training of the career strategy advisors, will create a powerful partnership that leads students to align their law school path with their career objectives. 22
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“The Center for Professional Development and Career Strategy extends what we learn in the classroom to places well beyond the law school walls — to ďŹ rms, courtrooms and local bar associations — by connecting us with practitioners in various legal disciplines,â€? says Molly Parmer 12l, president of the Criminal Law Practice Society. “This center provides an opportunity to better understand what it is actually like to be a lawyer and to discover an area of legal practice that students ďŹ nd inspiring.â€? &OR EXAMPLES OF %MORY ,AW S EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT BODY SEE THE PROlLES OF -ARC 'ROSS , +RISTIN 4RAINA , +EDAR "HATIA , -ARK 'OLDFEDER , AND *O #HITLIK , ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES
Employer and Alumni Outreach “While Emory Law continues to offer strong faculty and innovative programs to help prepare students to become outstanding lawyers, our alumni now play a critical role in the professional development of our students,â€? says Robert Schapiro, dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law. The center is asking alumni, faculty, staff and practitioners to partner with Emory Law in the professional development of students to help them learn more about the practice of law and to build greater networking opportunities so students can make an immediate impact in their ďŹ eld of choice. Through the center, Emory Law connects with alumni and the legal community to identify potential job opportunities. Using the information collected through the Professional Development Assessment Plan, Emory Law can assist ďŹ rms by better identifying candidates who match their particular needs. “Through this unique matching process, Emory Law is able to help employers efďŹ ciently recruit the most suitable candidates to ďŹ ll their needs,â€? Ahdieh says. To learn more about the Center for Professional Development and Career Strategy, visit https://cpd.law. emory.edu. For more information about hiring Emory Law graduates, contact the OfďŹ ce of Career Services at 404.727.6512 or visit https://cpd.law.emory.edu.
%MBRACING THE NONTRADITIONAL
Marc Gross 12L 3TATEN )SLAND .EW 9ORK "! (UNTER #OLLEGEn#5.9 2ECIPIENT OF THE -EYER 7 4ENENBAUM AND %MORY !LUMNI "OARD ,EADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIPS 7HEN IT COMES TO UNDERSTANDING HOW THE WORLD WORKS .EW 9ORK NATIVE -ARC 'ROSS ENJOYS IDENTIFYING THE COMPLEXITIES AND INTERCONNECTEDNESS THAT OFTEN EXIST WITH ANY GIVEN SUBJECT MATTER 3O WHEN THE NONTRADITIONAL STUDENT DECIDED TO PURSUE LAW SCHOOL AFTER HAVING WORKED IN hTHE REAL WORLDv FOR SEVEN YEARS HE SOUGHT A UNIVERSITY THAT EMBRACED THIS TYPE OF THINKING h)T S INTERESTING TO SEE HOW ONE DECISION OR CASE lTS INTO THE BIGGER PICTURE AND HOW THEY BUILD UPON EACH OTHER v 'ROSS SAYS h3IMILARLY ) lND IT INTERESTING TO SEE HOW PEOPLE VIEW DIFFERENT RULES AND REGULATIONS DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE OF THEIR BACKGROUNDS v $URING HIS THREE YEARS AT %MORY ,AW 'ROSS HAS PARTICIPATED IN NUMEROUS STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES SUCH AS THE STUDENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAM THE Emory International Law Review FOR WHICH HE SERVED AS MANAGING EDITOR AND THE %PIC 0UBLIC )NTEREST #OMMITTEE FOR WHICH HE WAS TREASURER LAST YEAR (E ALSO HELPED RESURRECT THE SCHOOL S 3TUDENT !LUMNI !SSOCIATION WHICH HADN T BEEN ACTIVE FOR YEARS AND IS AGAIN CONNECTING GRADUATES AND STUDENTS h4HESE EXPERIENCES ARE REWARDING FOR THE REASONS ) EXPECTED BUT ALSO SOME THAT ) DIDN T &OR EXAMPLE THE 3TUDENT !LUMNI !SSOCIATION HAS HAD SUCH A COMEBACK THAT THE 3TUDENT "AR !SSOCIATION JUST MADE IT A PERMANENT ROLE IN STUDENT GOVERNMENT )N ADDITION ) SOMETIMES MEET lRST AND SECOND YEAR LAW STUDENTS WHO TELL ME ) WAS THEIR AMBASSADOR WHEN THEY VISITED CAMPUS AND ) M ONE OF THE REASONS THEY CHOSE %MORY ,AW 4O HEAR A COMPLIMENT LIKE THAT IS A REALLY GREAT FEELING v 3O WHAT ELSE DOES 'ROSS HAVE PLANNED FOR BESIDES GRADUATING h) PLAN TO HEAD BACK TO .EW 9ORK TO SET UP SHOP AND ) M GETTING MARRIED IN 3EPTEMBER v
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/PTIMIZING OPPORTUNITIES
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Kristin Traina 14L 0EORIA )LL "3 #ORNELL 5NIVERSITY KRISTIN TRAINA ISN’T RULING OUT ANY CAREER POSSIBILITIES (OWEVER THE lRST YEAR LAW STUDENT HAS SOME PRETTY STRONG IDEAS ABOUT THE DIRECTION SHE S PLANNING TO PURSUE h-Y UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE WAS IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND INFORMATION ENGINEERING 7ITHIN MY MAJOR ) CHOSE A TRACK FOCUSED ON OPTIMIZATION IN THE REAL WORLD ) M PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN HELPING COMPANIES MAXIMIZE THEIR EFlCIENCY AND OPTIMIZE THEIR PERFORMANCE (OWEVER AT THE SAME TIME ) M STILL LEARNING OF OPPORTUNITIES IN LAW AND NO PLANS ARE SET IN STONE v 4RAINA SAYS %MORY ,AW S *$ -"! PROGRAM IS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO HER h4HE LAW PERMEATES EVERY CRITICAL BUSINESS DECISION "USINESS SCHOOL COURSES TEACH CONCEPTS NOT TAUGHT IN LAW SCHOOL SUCH AS LEADERSHIP STRATEGY lNANCE OPERATIONS AND ACCOUNTING -ANY LAWYERS ) VE SPOKEN WITH IF GIVEN A CHANCE TO GO BACK WOULD TAKE COURSES IN BOTH lNANCE AND BUSINESS 4HEY THINK THESE SKILLS ARE VALUABLE TO TODAY S LAWYER v 4RAINA ALSO VIEWS THE 4ECHNOLOGICAL )NNOVATION 'ENERATING %CONOMIC 2ESULTS 4) '%2 PROGRAM AS AN INVALUABLE HANDS ON EXPERIENCE COMBINING BUSINESS LAW AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 3HE SAYS THE INTERACTION WITH STUDENTS FROM ENTIRELY DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES AND BACKGROUNDS WOULD HELP HER DEVELOP THE TYPES OF TEAMWORK COLLABORATION AND NEGOTIATION SKILLS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL IN TODAY S WORLD h3UCCESS IN TODAY S WORLD IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON CROSS FUNCTIONALITY 4HERE ARE FEW LAWYERS WHO ARE JUST LAWYERS EVERY lELD IS MUCH MORE INTERCONNECTED v
$RIVEN TO EXCEL
Kedar Bhatia 13L 0LANO 4EXAS ""! 5NIVERSITY OF 4EXAS KEDAR BHATIA IS THE KIND OF PERSON WHO JUMPS INTO EVERY ENDEAVOR WITH BOTH FEET (E JOINED THE 3OUTH !SIAN ,AW 3TUDENTS !SSOCIATION HIS lRST SEMESTER AT %MORY ,AW AND FOUNDED A STUDENT ORGANIZATION CALLED THE 3UPREME #OURT !DVOCACY 0ROJECT JUST A FEW WEEKS AFTER ARRIVING ON CAMPUS (E ALSO PARTICIPATES IN the Emory International Law Review h%ACH GROUP HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT WAY TO MEET PRACTICING LAWYERS IN A WIDE VARIETY OF LEGAL lELDS v SAYS "HATIA h) VE BEEN ABLE TO WORK WITH FACULTY MEMBERS AND ALUMNI AT LENGTH THROUGH THE %MORY ,AW 3CHOOL 3UPREME #OURT !DVOCACY 0ROJECT )N ADDITION THE Emory International Law Review HAS BEEN A FUN COLLABORATIVE EXPERIENCE THAT HAS HONED MY RESEARCH AND WRITING SKILLS WHILE ENABLING ME TO WORK ON CUTTING EDGE LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP !ND THE 3OUTH !SIAN ,AW 3TUDENTS !SSOCIATION HAS BEEN A POWERFUL TOOL FOR HELPING 3OUTH !SIAN LAW STUDENTS CONNECT WITH THE %MORY 3OUTH !SIAN COMMUNITY AND THE LARGER 3OUTH !SIAN COMMUNITY OF !TLANTA v "HATIA ALSO WORKS ON 3#/453BLOG COM A BLOG ABOUT THE 5 3 3UPREME #OURT WHICH HE S BEEN CONTRIBUTING TO SINCE HE WAS AN UNDERGRADUATE AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF 4EXAS h7ORKING FOR THE WEBSITE HAS BEEN A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE BECAUSE ) VE WORKED WITH SEVERAL LAWYERS AT THE TOP OF THEIR PROFESSIONS AND BEEN ABLE TO GIVE BACK TO A COMMUNITY THAT PROVIDES AN IMPORTANT SERVICE FOR LAWYERS EVERYWHERE v "HATIA FEELS GROUPS LIKE THESE PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN SUPPLEMENTING STUDENTS CURRICULUM WITH NEWS AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRACTICE OF LAW 7HEN PAIRED WITH THE UNIVERSITY S DIVERSE STUDENT BODY HE SAYS IT REALLY NURTURES THE BREADTH OF OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE WITH AN %MORY ,AW DEGREE h"ECAUSE %MORY ATTRACTS STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHO ARE INTERESTED IN A WIDE SPECTRUM OF LEGAL lELDS STUDENTS ALWAYS HAVE BRILLIANT PEERS WITHIN THE LAW SCHOOL OR VALUABLE MENTORS WITHIN THE ALUMNI NETWORK TO SEEK OUT FOR GUIDANCE WITH THEIR CAREER SEARCH )T ALSO GIVES %MORY ,AW A NATIONAL FEEL WHICH IN TURN FEEDS THE SCHOOL S DRIVE TO PROVIDE AN INCREASINGLY IMPRESSIVE LAW SCHOOL EXPERIENCE v
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0AYING IT FORWARD
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Mark Goldfeder 12L, SJD 3PRING 6ALLEY .EW 9ORK "! 9ESHIVA 5NIVERSITY *$ .EW 9ORK 5NIVERSITY 3CHOOL OF ,AW MARK GOLDFEDER BELIEVES IN GIVING BACK 3O MUCH SO THAT HE S EARNING HIS 3*$ TO PURSUE AN ACADEMIC CAREER h%DUCATION IS NOT ONLY ABOUT AMASSING INFORMATION BUT ALSO INTERNALIZING IT APPLYING IT TO NEW SITUATIONS AND TEACHING OTHERS WHAT YOU KNOW ) D LIKE TO MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN AS MANY PEOPLE S LIVES AS ) CAN AND THEN SEE THAT SUCCESS MULTIPLY AND REFRACT IN THE PRACTICES OF MY STUDENTS v HE SAYS "EFORE ATTENDING LAW SCHOOL 'OLDFEDER COMPLETED 2ABBINICAL STUDIES IN .EW 9ORK AND SPENT A YEAR WORKING AT THE "ETH $IN OF !MERICA THE LARGEST 2ABBINIC #OURT IN THE COUNTRY (E D ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN THE INTERSECTIONS OF LAW AND RELIGION AND WHILE WORKING THERE HE MET WITH 0ROFESSOR -ICHAEL * "ROYDE A FORMER DIRECTOR OF THAT COURT RABBI LAW PROFESSOR AT %MORY AND SENIOR FELLOW AT THE #ENTER FOR THE 3TUDY OF ,AW AND 2ELIGION 3O WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR 'OLDFEDER TO LOOK AT GRADUATE PROGRAMS %MORY WAS A NATURAL CHOICE 'OLDFEDER SAYS HE HAS FOUND THE ,,- 3*$ PROGRAM TO BE SUPERB h4HE FACULTY AND STAFF ARE ONE OF A KIND -Y ADVISORS PROFESSORS $IRECTOR !NNE $RIES AND THE STAFF AT THE CENTER ARE ALWAYS MORE THAN WILLING TO HELP ADVISE AND SUPPORT 4HE TAILORED FOCUS THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE NEW PATHS THE IMMENSE DEPTH AND WISDOM AVAILABLE TO CALL UPON AND DRAW FROM AND THE CONVERSATIONS BOTH IN THE CLASSROOM AND THE HALLS ALL ADD UP TO A TRULY UNIQUE AND PRICELESS EXPERIENCE FOR WHICH ) AM EXCEEDINGLY GRATEFUL v 'OLDFEDER ADDS THAT AS A GROUP HIS COHORTS AT %MORY ESPOUSE THE SAME IDEALS AND COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE THAT HE HAS ALWAYS VALUED h4HEY RE IDEALS THAT WILL INFUSE MY CAREER WITH A SENSE OF HIGHER PURPOSE -Y DREAM IS TO BE THE VERY BEST PROFESSOR OF LAW ) CAN BE AND ) BELIEVE THE PATH TO THAT DREAM S FULlLLMENT RUNS THROUGH %MORY S HALLS v
! LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCE
Jo Chitlik 12L, LLM 'ENERAL )NTERNATIONAL #OMMERCIAL !RBITRATION "ORN IN THE 5 3 BUT RAISED ABROAD "! 5NIVERSIDAD !UTONOMA DE #ENTRO !MERICA #OSTA 2ICA WALKING A MILE IN JO CHITLIK’S shoes would BE A LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR ANYONE !FTER PRACTICING LAW IN #OSTA 2ICA AND %UROPE FOR YEARS SHE SUFFERED A PERSONAL LOSS AND DECIDED TO TAKE A SABBATICAL FROM HER PRACTICE AND TRAVEL TO THE 5NITED 3TATES 4O HER SURPRISE SHE CHOSE TO STAY AND RESUME A LEGAL PRACTICE HERE h4HERE HAD BEEN GROWING INSTABILITY IN #ENTRAL AND ,ATIN !MERICA #ITIZENS WERE BEING EXPOSED TO NEW CRIMES LIKE MONEY LAUNDERING AND DRUG TRAFlCKING WHICH WERE BRINGING A WAVE OF CORRUPTION AT EVERY LEVEL $ESPITE RESIDING IN A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD THE INCREASING CRIME BEGAN TO REQUIRE LIVING BEHIND FOOT CEMENT WALLS AND INSTALLING BARBWIRE h-Y FAMILY AND ) SPENT MORE ON PROTECTING WHAT WE HAD THAN ENJOYING IT )T WASN T UNTIL WE CAME TO THE 5 3 THAT ) REALIZED SETTLING FOR THAT WAY OF LIFE WAS VIRTUAL MADNESS v (OWEVER AS A FOREIGN ATTORNEY SETTING UP A PRACTICE IN 'EORGIA PROVED TO BE MUCH MORE DIFlCULT THAN SHE ANTICIPATED EVEN WITH HER PREVIOUS SUCCESS !FTER CONSIDERABLE REmECTION SHE DECIDED TO CHANGE THE CAREER DIRECTION A BIT &OR SIX YEARS #HITLIK WORKED INDIRECTLY WITH THE LEGAL lELD NEGOTIATING BUSINESS CONTRACTS STRUCTURING DEALS AND DRAFTING AGREEMENTS h%MORY SELLS ITSELF v SHE SAYS h9OU WALK INTO ANY SCHOOL ON CAMPUS AND IT S LIKE STEPPING INTO THE 5NITED .ATIONS !S ,,-S WE FEEL LIKE THE FACE OF WHAT INTERNATIONAL LAW LOOKS LIKE VARIED BACKGROUNDS ETHNIC GROUPS AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ALL COMING TOGETHER UNDER ONE COMMON EXPERIENCE !MERICAN LAW v #HITLIK PLANS TO FOCUS HER STUDIES ON INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION TO COMPLEMENT HER INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS BACKGROUND 'EORGIA IS LOOKING TO REFORM ITS INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION LAWS TO BECOME A STATE WHERE SUCH DISPUTES ARE HELD h4HERE S ALREADY A LEGISLATIVE PROJECT TO THIS EFFECT v SHE SAYS h/NE OF MY PROFESSORS IS PART OF THE COMMITTEE AND ) LL BE WORKING ON IT IN THE SPRING !DDITIONALLY ) VE ACCEPTED AN INTERNSHIP AT THE ,EGISLATIVE #AUCUS ) BELIEVE THE EXPOSURE WILL HELP DIRECT MY NEXT STEPS AND BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ALL THAT ) CAN v
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A Global ‘Uncomfortable’ Conversation 0ROFESSOR -ARTHA ! &INEMAN DEVELOPS PARADIGM by Holly Cline
“Society has a responsibility to structure its institutions for the beneďŹ t of all. Recognizing this claim would allow us to be a nation of laws in which the same rules apply for all, unaffected and uninuenced by our station or status in life.â€? — Professor Martha Albertson Fineman
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obert W. Woodruff Professor of Law Martha Albertson Fineman started the Feminism and Legal Theory Project at the University of Wisconsin in 1984 to create a forum for interdisciplinary feminist scholarship, addressing legal and societal issues. “In the beginning, my colleagues and I were feeling our way — using feminist theory to take a critical stance that went beyond just adding women,â€? Fineman says. “We started to look at gender and the role it played in structuring institutions and relationships in society, particularly in regard to the family and workplace.â€? Now at Emory, the t Project holds four workshops and “uncomfortable conversationsâ€? each year, as well as hosting visiting scholars from around the world. In recent years, scholars from China have discovered the project, and several are translating Fineman’s work into Mandarin. Visiting scholars participate in workshops, give presentations and work with students and faculty. They are attracted to Emory Law because of Fineman’s reputation as an innovative and important scholar and teacher. A feminist journey Fineman’s recent scholarship has expanded beyond gender to focus more broadly on the concepts of dependency and vulnerability in challenging the narrowness of a sameness-of-treatment or an antidiscrimination approach to inequality. Her work might be labeled “post-identity,â€? and she believes “the promise of equality cannot be conditioned
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upon belonging to any identity category, nor can it be conďŹ ned to only certain spaces and institutions‌ equality must be a universal resource, a radical guarantee that is a beneďŹ t for all.â€? As she wrote in “Evolving Images of Gender and Equality: A Feminist Journey,â€? published in the New England Law Review in 2009, “gender increasingly has become the door through which I enter the discussion about equality, not the entire focus of my inquiry, but merely the beginning.â€? Under the theory she is developing as part of Emory University’s Vulnerability and the Human Condition Initiative, Fineman would replace the autonomous, independent liberal legal subject with the “vulnerable subjectâ€? as the referent for making law and policy. “Both dependency and vulnerability are inherent in the human condition, but this reality and its implications are too often ignored or concealed in the theories developed by legal, political, economic and social policy scholars,â€? she says. “While dependency is episodic — mostly found in the very young, very old and those incapacitated, vulnerability is universal and constant, fundamental in our shared humanity. While vulnerability is a universal reality, it is individually experienced as we are located within different material and social realities, as well as speciďŹ c institutional contexts,â€? Fineman says.
Professor Fineman’s work has led to connections throughout the world.
Recognizing societal institutions play a role in providing the “resilience” that mediates, compensates or relieves vulnerability, Fineman calls for a more responsive state under the current law; one that pursues reforms to address systemic and structural privilege and disadvantage. According to Fineman, the current dominant idea of an autonomous, self-sufficient liberal subject in U.S. law ignores structural inequalities and blames individuals for failure.
“I think her deployment of the term ‘the vulnerable subject’ and her combination of that with her deployment of universal human vulnerability as a replacement for the foundations of general legal and political subjectivity, currently based on liberal autonomy, is particularly useful — especially linked with her emphasis on institutional vulnerability.” — Anna Grear, senior lecturer in law, Bristol University
“The Vulnerable Subject reflects a realistic legal subject — one who is perceived as constantly vulnerable to biological, institutional and environmental challenges throughout life. One that experiences periods of profound
dependency on others and institutions,” Fineman says. Applying Fineman’s idea of a vulnerable subject to the legal system would mandate greater attention to structural disadvantages and the need to remedy entrenched systems of disparity currently present in our institutions. “It’s exciting to be developing a new paradigm — one that provokes students and scholars to engage in new ways to think about law, society and state responsibility,” Fineman says. Perpetuating thought When the Barnard Center for Research on Women dedicated its 37th Annual Conference this year to vulnerability, organizers acknowledged Fineman’s “pioneering work on vulnerability, including [her] leadership at Emory’s Vulnerability and the Human Condition Initiative” was one of their inspirations for the conference. Martha T. McCluskey, professor of law at suny Buffalo Law School, was inspired by Fineman’s work and is applying the vulnerability theory to her project on economic inequality and the law, specifically critiquing the free-market focus of law and economics. “Fineman’s work on vulnerability has been formative in this project, especially because its shift in the foundational premises of law from an autonomous subject to a vulnerable subject also shifts our premises about the role of government in economic policy.” JaeWon Kim, Sungkyunkwan University’s first professor of disability law, came to the United States to study summer 2012
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international and human rights law. Ten years into teaching, he met Fineman, who was extremely influential upon his research on women and society. “Martha’s books are widely circulated in the Korean law school, and I was familiar with her theories and ideas,” Kim says. “Under her supervision, I had the opportunity to learn more about flt, jurisprudence and vulnerability theory, which has helped shape my work today.”
“Throughout our relationship, Martha has always been willing to mentor my development. She has given of her time and ideas to selflessly help me develop as a scholar and person, and I have the greatest respect not only for her scholarship but for her humanity.” — Haesook Kim, associate professor of sociology and chair of Asian studies, Long Island University
Through incorporating vulnerability theory into his courses in Seoul, South Korea, Kim seeks to help others understand the need for more substantive equality under Korean law. Anna Grear, senior lecturer in law at Bristol University in the United Kingdom, also considers Fineman a mentor. She discovered Fineman’s work on vulnerability while writing a book, which deploys “embodied vulnerability” in the context of building a critique of corporate human rights discourse. “Martha’s coinage of the term ‘the vulnerable subject,’ in particular, produces a trope, or a way of speaking about the subject of law and politics that has immense heuristic, critical and transformative power,” Grear says. Grear is developing a theory of legal subjectivity and reformulating the relationship between human rights and the environment. She plans to bring these concerns together with reflection upon indigenous epistemologies when she joins the University of Waikato, New Zealand, as associate professor. “Martha, more than any one other scholar, is behind the genesis of a ‘field’ of engagement that we can call ‘the vulnerability thesis,’” Grear says. “She has generously created a space at Emory where scholars working on this idea can come together and continue to build an important global conversation concerning the role of vulnerability in re-imagining human futures.” Haesook Kim, associate professor of sociology and chair of Asian studies at Long Island University, has benefited from the “global conversation” started by Fineman’s work. Kim is writing a book, Winds of Change, which examines the entry of women into the exclusive male profession of law in Korea from 1952 to 2009. Kim met Fineman at Columbia University while working on her PhD dissertation. flt Workshops and Fineman’s 30
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mentoring provided Kim with a strong feminist theoretical background, which she credits with helping develop her last 20 years of work. “Starting from At the Boundaries of Law to the development of the dependency theory, Martha’s journey to demystify the myth of autonomy was pivotal in my development as a scholar,” Kim says. “She expanded the concept of vulnerability into the larger framework of a universal and constant human condition.” Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin is the Dorsey & Whitney Chair in Law at the University of Minnesota Law School and a professor of law at the University of Ulster’s Transitional Justice Institute in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She describes Fineman as “a bedrock of support,” who helped her transition through various stages of her career and research. “Martha is deeply wise and extraordinarily generous with her wisdom,” Ní Aoláin says. Ní Aoláin commends Fineman for creating a network for women scholars through the flt Project and conferences focused on vulnerability theory, and it is “a model that has proved to be as influential on scholars as her theories.” “Martha’s generosity as a networker and as a facilitator, her constant provision of visiting scholarships, symposia,
“Martha has an extraordinary capacity for mentoring. She’s an embracive mentor — deeply entwined in our academic and scholarly careers. She goes beyond the traditional role of mentor, reading work and inviting us to present at conferences. Martha’s core is intellectual influence. She’s a towering intellectual figure. She lives through the ideas and the way she’s reshaped the way we think about law.” — Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin, Dorsey & Whitney Chair in Law, University of Minnesota Law School; professor of law, University of Ulster’s Transitional Justice Institute
conferences and the like, is a truly outstanding contribution — as is her willingness to think broadly, generously and creatively about this important concept,” Grear says. Holly Cline is a freelance writer based in Atlanta.
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3TUDENTS 'AIN 'LOBAL ,EGAL %XPERIENCE by Lisa Ashmore
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s the legal profession becomes more global, Emory Law is building upon its foundation of international scholarship to offer students opportunities to combine theory with practice in global settings. Last year, Emory Law students attended U.N. hearings on torture, drafted memos on whether present-day pirates should be treated as terrorists and analyzed the United States’ policy on drone missile strikes in Yemen and Somalia. Other students worked on noncriminal issues, such as the availability and distribution of pharmaceuticals that can mean life or death for patients HIV/AIDS medicines Dan Hougendobler 12l 12ph was a legal intern at the Medicines Patent Pool in Geneva during summer 2011. Previously he worked on global health issues in South Africa, Rwanda and Haiti, “but I’d never had the chance to work on large-scale policy change,” he says. “I was able to spend the summer working at the global level to shape policy that could potentially impact millions of hiv/aids patients,” Hougendobler says. His job was Hougendobler 12L funded by an epic summer grant. Drone attacks Rachel Echemendia 13l studied terrorism and international law at The Hague. Her most challenging work was on a memo for Human Rights First in which she analyzed drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia, based on an assignment from Laurie Blank, director of the International Humanitarian Law Clinic. It’s an area where facts are difficult to come by because military leaders are reluctant to release complete information as it occurs, or even much later. Sources are often “third and fourth, very down-the-line information from newspapers — they’re all saying different numbers … so when Echemendia 13L we do the analysis we’re having to make an assumption based on a lack of information,” Echemendia says. International piracy Katie Skeehan 13l and Laura Brockelman 13l worked for the Public International Law and Policy Group’s High Level
Working Group on Piracy, examining whether piracy triggers international humanitarian law and whether pirates should be treated as criminals, combatants or a hybrid. To determine noninternational armed conflict, courts consider three factors: the organization of the parties to the conflict, the intensity of violence and the response of any state involved. Skeehan 13L Although there is some confederacy, pirates’ loose code does not rise to that level, Skeehan and Brockelman say. Brockelman found a high level of international cooperation in prosecuting pirates, perhaps because of their long history of attack and evasion through multiple jurisdictions. “As the law stands today, it does not appear that the hybrid combination of combatant and criminal offers a workable compromise. At this point, pirates should remain criminals unless and until they meet the requirements for combatants, members of militias, or direct participants in hostilities,” Skeehan and Brockelman wrote in their paper.
“I spent the summer working at the global level to shape policy that could potentially impact millions of patients.” —DANIEL HOUGENDOBLER 12L 12PH
Torture in Sri Lanka Through Emory Law’s International Humanitarian Law Clinic, Afeef Nessouli 13l was assigned to research torture in Sri Lanka. He attended a related U.N. hearing in Geneva in November to work with Felice Gaer, the first American to serve as an independent expert on the U.N. committee monitoring 16 countries’ compliance with the U.N. Convention against Torture. Nessouli distilled his 180-page paper to support Gaer’s 45-minute argument, to which the Sri Lankan government had a 90-minute rebuttal. It took “two months of straight-up immersion,” Nessouli says, to create the report, and even then, participating at that level was intimidating “The level of experience I got that week will likely be something that doesn’t happen again for another 10 or 15 years,” Nessouli says. “It’s probably going to be the most important thing I do at Emory Law.” summer 2012
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3CHOLARSHIP FOR 3OCIAL #HANGE by Alison Law
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mory Law’s Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im was honored by two organizations for his contributions to law and religion and human rights this fall. In September, the Journal of Law and Religion presented An-Na’im with its Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring those who have devoted a significant part of their life’s work to scholarship or professional practice in law and religion.
“I believe in scholarship for social change, not scholarship for scholarship’s sake.” — ABDULLAHI AHMED AN-NA’IM, CHARLES HOWARD CANDLER PROFESSOR OF LAW, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW
In November, An-Na’im received the Johnson Medal for his contributions to human rights from Emory’s James Weldon Johnson Institute, which honors individuals who excel in areas in which Johnson distinguished himself— civil rights, diplomacy, education, journalism, law, music and literature. Other 2011 medalists include Hank Aaron, Xernona Clayton, Christine King Farris and Akinwinde Oluwole Soyinka. “For my remarks about Abduh [at the Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony], I took as my passage Proverbs 29:18 ‘Where there is no vision, the people 32
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perish,’” says Frank S. Alexander, the Sam Nunn Chair for Ethics and Professionalism and founding director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. “Abduh is a person of vision, bold and a risk-taker.” Alexander cited the fact that An-Na’im insisted on making his book, Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a, available for free download in Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, French, Indonesian, Russian, Turkish, Swahili and Urdu. An-Na’im’s goal is to create a platform for global debate on his argument that Muslims and non-Muslims need a secular state to follow their personal convictions. It was this argument that resonated with the Journal of Law and Religion. In its citation presented to An-Na’im, the selection committee said, “You came to understand that true religious piety can only be a matter of free choice and conviction and not imposed by the power of nations.” “No scholar has done more to develop an authentic Islamic theory of human rights, in and on Islamic terms,” said John Witte Jr., Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished Professor and director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. “Particularly his method of returning to the Qur’an and Hadith for insights into our universal human rights, duties and capacities as human beings, is a striking innovation that holds great promise.” An-Na’im’s views have evolved. In the early 1990s, he openly opposed secularism because he believed it threatened religion. By the end of the decade, he realized that a secular state was essential to people practicing their religious beliefs, the position he is well-known for today. “My students at Emory inspire me by their passion for human rights and social justice at the very local as well as global scale,” An-Na’im said. “They challenge me by their insightful, original questions, which have been extremely helpful in developing my scholarship. In particular, trying to explain and ‘justify’ Islamic law principles to so many American law students has been most instructive for my understanding of the field and developing my critical thinking about it.” “Students not only get an incredible amount of substance, but also the importance of the style and manner in which Abduh can simultaneously hold incredibly deep convictions and affirm those who disagree with him,” Alexander said. “That’s not something that most of us can do. He does it in a way that invites conversation and affirmation.” Alison Law is a freelance writer based in Atlanta.
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2EmECTIONS ON %GYPT
Ilan Grapel 13l on his five-month imprisonment on spy charges
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ive months in an Egyptian jail gives a person time to think. When you are not pacing or trying to catch an hour of afternoon sun through the barred window, there are thoughts of home, family, the freedoms Westerners take for granted, what exactly got you into the mess and even why you came to the country that locked you up. When I went to Egypt to spend the summer working at a nongovernmental organization providing legal assistance to asylum seekers from Sudan and Iraq, I was no stranger to the Middle East. I had studied Arabic in Cairo and spent more than two years in the Israel Defense Forces. I hoped that my summer would prove that my Zionist ideals could coexist with support for the right of human migration and sanctuary. I also hoped to convince the Arabs I met that my Zionism did not have to be antithetical to their interests and that we could work together for peace. But in post-revolutionary Egypt, my attempts to educate and interact with the local population led to my arrest, to solitary confinement and to the threat of five simultaneous life imprisonments for “espionage” and “incitement.” On previous visits, the friendships I developed overpowered the omnipresent anti-Israel propaganda of the Arab world. Most Egyptians I met ended our conversations by admitting to holding misconceptions about Israelis. This reinforced my hopes for common ground. So I emphasized my Israeli background. I identified as a Zionist Israeli to all of my Egyptian friends, taught them Hebrew and showed them Israeli movies. In return, I received lessons in Arabic, Islam and Egyptian culture. On June 12, two dozen state security officials barged
into my hostel room, handcuffed and blindfolded me and transported me to their general prosecutor. People ask, “Were you scared?” I was terrified and confused. Over time I also became angry and lonely. The initial 14 days were the “best” part of my imprisonment because there was human interaction. The prosecutor and I bantered about politics, religion and the Middle East conflict. The conversations were jovial, mostly innocuous, save for some random accusations: “Security reports inform us that you were smuggling weapons from Libyan revolutionaries into Egypt,” or my favorite — but perhaps irrelevant —charge: “Ilan, you used your seductive powers to recruit Egyptian women and that is a crime.” After two weeks, the interrogations ended. Thus began my solitary confinement, which became the true ordeal —near-complete isolation, interrupted just twice a month by consular visits that lasted 40 minutes. But thanks to the work of so many U.S. and Israeli government officials, I was not lost in the system. People ask, “Were you tortured?” I was not beaten — but consider what it’s like to spend nearly 150 days (3,600 hours) alone in a 10-by-10 room with a bed and chair, a small barred window and no idea what would come next. People ask, “So what do you think of Egypt and your mission now?” My answer is evolving. As my detention and recent events and repressions in Egypt make clear, the revolution brought superficial change. The junta’s focus on external actors represents a desperate attempt to avoid culpability and abdication of power. Was my trip reckless or “wrong?” No. Despite the peril, the U.S. government sends Peace Corps volunteers to volatile regions because of the benefit of grass-roots diplomacy. Hasbara, the Hebrew term that refers to efforts to explain the Israeli viewpoint, has much to gain from such a strategy, given the pernicious myths about Israel and Jews prevalent in much of the Arab world. My hasbara provided a viewpoint that changed the mentalities of former Muslim Brotherhood members, the prosecutor and my guards, whose last words were “Shalom, we hope you forgive us.” Israelis and Arabs can continue to maintain the status quo of mutual avoidance or they can dare to coexist. To those who wrongly held me, I say simply, I forgive you. Ilan Grapel is a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen and third-year student at Emory University School of Law. He was held in Egypt from June to late October 2011 on charges of spying. His column originally appeared in The Washington Post. summer 2012
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2AISING THE "AR Emory Law Graduates Take Leadership Positions
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erving others and their profession guides three alumnae, Robin Frazer Clark 88l, Patrise Perkins-Hooker 84l 84b and Julie I. Fershtman 83c 86l, as they help lead their state bar associations. “The leadership of the State Bar of Georgia should be representative of the composition of the bar membership,â€? says Clark, a personal injury lawyer in private practice and the second woman to be president of the State Bar of Georgia. “We have approximately 44,000 members of the state bar now, and a large percentage of those members is women. Diversity is a good thing. It brings a richness and depth to issues that before perhaps weren’t taken into account.â€? Perkins-Hooker, vice president and general counsel for the Atlanta Clark 88L Beltline and treasurer of the State Bar of Georgia, is the third female and the ďŹ rst AfricanAmerican to serve as an ofďŹ cer. “Part of our professional responsibilities is to be interested in and to undertake leadership roles for our profession,â€? Perkins-Hooker says. For Fershtman, shareholder in Foster Swift Collins & Smith in Farmington Hills, Mich., involvement with her state bar began soon after graduation from Emory Law. “I was elected chair of the State Bar’s Young Lawyer’s Section and later chair of the Representative Assembly. Soon after, I was elected to the bar’s governing body and moved up the ranks from there. “I’ve seen the impact the bar can have on our profession and the public we serve,â€? says Fershtman, the ďŹ rst equine law attorney to hold the Michigan state bar presidency. “We help improve the administration of justice, promote advancements in the law and help lawyers serve clients better. I want to continue working with others to accomplish these goals.â€? Each sees communicating with their members and involving them in the associations as priorities. Perkins-Hooker is trying to affect issues with electronic ďŹ ling and Perkins-Hooker 84L automation. For starters, as secretary 84B last year she placed the board and executive committee minutes on the website. “Before, you couldn’t get them anywhere.â€? Fershtman instituted a blog, www.sbmpres2012.com, a ďŹ rst for a Michigan bar president and, perhaps, the second nationwide. “We need to listen to our members carefully,â€? Fershtman says. “We’ve completed two member surveys, 34
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by Jennifer Bryon Owen
which helped us learn more about member concerns and the economics of their practices.â€? Improving and expanding the bar’s practice management services to help lawyers master technology is another of Fershtman’s goals. As president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, Clark was often at the Georgia Capitol. This gave her wisdom and relationships in Georgia’s political world that should beneďŹ t the state bar. “It’s important for the state bar to have a strong political presence at the capitol.â€? The women readily acknowledge Fershtman 83C 86L Emory Law’s inuence on building conďŹ dence and encouraging community involvement. “Their top notch trial advocacy program made me a more conďŹ dent lawyer and a better public speaker,â€? Fershtman says. With only seven African-Americans in her class of 270, Perkins-Hooker says Emory Law provided a fantastic opportunity in dealing with all types of people. “Emory Law encourages you to go out and use your skills for the good of the community,â€? Perkins-Hooker says. Clark, a native of rural Kentucky, says Emory and her background shaped her ability to relate to lawyers from all walks of life and all types of practices. “It informed my ability to listen and gain an understanding of the other person’s position before I seek to have my position understood.â€? Jennifer Bryon Owen is a freelancer based in Atlanta.
Georgia State Bar Leadership 0RESIDENT 2OBIN &RAZER #LARK , 0RESIDENT %LECT #HARLES , h"UCKv 2UFlN , 4REASURER 0ATRISE - 0ERKINS (OOKER , " 0AST 0RESIDENT +EN 3HIGLEY ,
#LASS .OTES
A Letter from the Alumni President Dear Fellow Alumni: The rigors of law school leave a lasting impression, and so do the friendships we make while at Emory Law. Earlier this year, 100 friends from the classes of 2006 through 2011 reunited in a neighborhood tavern on Atlanta’s Westside for drinks, games and great conversation. These alumni have remarkable energy, and not just because they’re young (although that does help). Instead, their enthusiasm is fueled by an enduring connection, both with one another and with the school that has prepared them so well for careers in all types of legal practice. The Emory Law Alumnae Association, for instance, inaugurated the ElĂŠonore Raoul Greene 20l Trailblazer Award earlier this year and celebrated all alumnae at a reception in the Hunter Atrium. Chilton Varner 76l, a partner in the Atlanta ďŹ rm of King & Spalding llp, was the ďŹ rst recipient of the Trailblazer Award, named for the ďŹ rst woman admitted to Emory University. Varner, identiďŹ ed by the National Law Journal as one of the top 10 women litigators in the
Editor’s Note: #LASS .OTES ARE SUBMITTED BY ALUMNI AND ARE NOT VERIlED BY THE EDITOR 7HILE WE WELCOME ALUMNI NEWS Emory Lawyer IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INFORMATION CONTAINED IN #LASS .OTES
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Paul McLarty 63C 66L RECEIVED !LPHA 4AU /MEGA S .ATIONAL 0RESIDENT S !WARD FOR HIS SERVICE AS ALUMNI ADVISOR FOR THE ORGANIZATION WHICH CELEBRATED YEARS AT %MORY THIS YEAR Donald B. Harden 66C 67L SENIOR PARTNER AT &ISHER 0HILLIPS ,,0 IN !TLANTA WAS SELECTED FOR INCLUSION IN The Best Lawyers in America 2012
4HE 2INZLER 3TUDENT 3PORTS #OMPLEX AT 7RIGHT 3TATE 5NIVERSITY IN /HIO WAS DEDICATED IN HONOR OF Allan Rinzler 64C 65L FORMER CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AT 7RIGHT 3TATE IN 3EPTEMBER
United States, has a long-standing commitment to opening doors for women in law. Late last year Emory Law held the annual Distinguished Alumni Award event in Tull Auditorium, honoring 2011 recipients T. Jackson Bedford Jr. 73l, Aaron L. Buchsbaum 54l, and Carl W. Mullis 75l (see page 20). These alumni were chosen for their distinction in the ďŹ eld and outstanding service to Emory Law and the Emory Law Alumni Association. These kinds of events and connections make serving as the president of your Emory Law Alumni Board a great pleasure. Each time I meet an accomplished Emory Law graduate who is making a difference at work and in the community, my network grows, as does my pride in Emory Law. Our new dean, Robert Schapiro, considers the perspectives of alumni to be vital to Emory Law, so we can expect even more opportunities for alumni engagement in the future. I hope to see you at the next Emory Law alumni event.
Della Wager Wells 86l President, Emory Law Alumni Board Partner, Alston & Bird LLP, Atlanta
H. Grady Thrasher 68L RECEIVED THE 'EORGIA !UTHOR OF THE 9EAR !WARD IN THE CATEGORY OF PICTURE BOOKS FOR CHILDREN FOR Tim and Sally’s Year in Poems 4HIS IS HIS SECOND TIME WINNING THE 'EORGIA 7RITERS !SSOCIATION S STATEWIDE AWARD Michael A. Stoner 69L RECEIVED THE #OLLECTOR S 3HOWCASE OF !MERICA ,IFETIME !CHIEVEMENT !WARD GIVEN TO SPORTS MEMORABILIA DEALERS WHO DEMONSTRATE A HIGH DEGREE OF HONESTY RELIABILITY EXPERIENCE AND LOYALTY
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Tommy Hill 66C 70L RETIRED IN /CTOBER AFTER EIGHT YEARS AS THE CHIEF lNANCIAL OFlCER AND STATE TREASURER FOR 'EORGIA Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore 71L WAS ONE OF HONOREES INDUCTED INTO THE .ATIONAL "AR !SSOCIATION S (ALL OF &AME DURING THE ASSOCIATION S ANNUAL MEETING IN "ALTIMORE *ULY n !UG
C. Robert Henrikson 72L WAS ELECTED TO THE )NVESCO ,4$ "OARD OF $IRECTORS AT ITS .OVEMBER MEETING (E JOINED THE BOARD IN *ANUARY (IS TERM AS CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR -ET,IFE )NC ENDED $EC Steven J. Labovitz 74L JOINED THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE #OUNCIL FOR 1UALITY 'ROWTH AND WAS NAMED CHAIR OF THE #ENTRAL !TLANTA 0ROGRESS 0UBLIC 0OLICY AND %CONOMIC $EVELOPMENT #OMMITTEE James Arthur III 75L was INCLUDED IN The Best Lawyers in America 2012 !RTHUR PRACTICES AT 'LANKLER "ROWN 0,,# IN -EMPHIS 4ENN
Oscar N. Persons 67L has BEEN RANKED AS A LEADING PRACTITIONER AMONG 'EORGIA ATTORNEYS IN GENERAL COMM ERCIAL LITIGATION IN THE EDITION OF #HAMBERS 53!
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#LASS .OTES Dan Haslam 81L is DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT FOR THE 'ASLAMP 1UARTER (ISTORICAL &OUNDATION AND PRESIDENT FOR 7ALKABOUT )NTERNATIONAL A WALKING AND TOUR ORGANIZATION IN 3AN $IEGO James R. Kelley 75L 77L WAS CITED FOR EXCELLENCE IN BANKRUPTCY AND CREDITOR DEBIT RIGHTS LITIGATION IN THE #HAMBERS 53! DIRECTORY (E PRACTICES AT .EAL (ARWELL 0,# IN .ASHVILLE 4ENN
David Leonard 75L has BEEN NAMED MANAGING SHAREHOLDER FOR THE !TLANTA OFlCE OF #ARLTON &IELDS (E ALSO LEADS THE lRM S INSURANCE PRACTICE GROUP Jonathan H. Waller 75L WAS INCLUDED IN THE edition of Alabama Super Lawyers. Oscar Carr III 76L was INCLUDED IN The Best Lawyers in America 2012 AND NAMED A h 0OWER 0LAYERv BY Memphis Business Quarterly #ARR PRACTICES AT 'LANKLER "ROWN 0,,# IN -EMPHIS 4ENN Larry Katzman 76L is DEPUTY PUBLIC SERVICE COUNSEL WITH 3TEPTOE AND *OHNSON ,,0 IN 7ASHINGTON $ # Neal A. Roth 76L HAS BEEN NOMINATED A FELLOW OF THE !MERICAN "AR &OUNDATION
Gordon C. Brydger 77L WITH "RYDGER 0ORRAS ,,0 IN &T ,AUDERDALE &LA WAS SELECTED AS A TOP ATTORNEY IN &LORIDA FAMILY LAW ACCORDING TO U.S. News Best Lawyers 2011 – 2012
Jeffrey Williams 81L and HIS lRM HAVE BEEN NAMED A h"EST ,AW &IRMv IN THE 0HILADELPHIA AREA BY THE "EST ,AWYERS REPORT BY U.S. News & World Report
Kenneth L. Shigley 77L WAS SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT OF THE 'EORGIA 3TATE "AR IN *UNE
David D. Aughtry 82L was ADDED TO lRM MASTHEAD AT #HAMBERLAIN (RIDLICKA 7HITE 7ILLIAMS !UGHTRY !UGHTRY ALSO WAS RANKED NATIONALLY AMONG TAX CONTROVERSY ATTORNEYS IN THE EDITION OF #HAMBERS 53!
Jerome R. “Jerry” Smith 77L HAS JOINED -ULTIMEDIA 'AMES (OLDING #O )NC AS ITS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT GENERAL COUNSEL CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFlCER AND CORPORATE SECRETARY David Ladov 78L SPOKE AT THE 0ENNSYLVANIA "AR !SSOCIATION S &AMILY ,AW 3ECTION 3UMMER -EETING ,ADOV S SESSION WAS TITLED h4HE )NTERSECTION OF !SSISTED 2EPRODUCTION AND &AMILY ,AW v The Hon. John A. Ross 76C 79L BEGAN HIS APPOINTMENT AS 5 3 DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE %ASTERN $ISTRICT OF -ISSOURI ON /CT
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Charles L. “Buck” Ruffin 80L WAS SWORN IN AS TREASURER OF THE 'EORGIA 3TATE "AR IN *UNE
Andrea D. Ascher 77L JOINED 3CHOEMAN 5PDIKE +AUFMAN ,,0 AS PARTNER IN THE lRM S REAL ESTATE PRACTICE GROUP Edwin Jay Schklar 80L 80B ANNOUNCED THE NAME CHANGE OF HIS lRM TO 3CHKLAR (EIM ,,# WHICH IS A SMALL lRM FOCUSED ON BUSINESS LITIGATION SECURITIES FRAUD AND LEGAL MALPRACTICE 4HE lRM ALSO LAUNCHED A NEW WEBSITE WWW ATLANTAlRM NET
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David N. Soloway 82L PRINCIPAL AT &RAZIER 3OLOWAY 0OORAK 0# WAS ELECTED CHAIR OF THE !MERICAN )MMIGRATION ,AWYERS !SSOCIATION CHAPTER COVERING 'EORGIA AND !LABAMA J. Comer Yates 74C 82L WAS REAPPOINTED TO THE 'EORGIA #OMMISSION ON (EARING )MPAIRED AND $EAF 0ERSONS BY 'OV .ATHAN $EAL Patrise M. Perkins-Hooker 84L 84B VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL FOR THE !TLANTA "ELTLINE WAS SWORN IN AS SECRETARY OF THE 'EORGIA 3TATE "AR IN *UNE 3HE IS THE THIRD WOMAN AND THE lRST !FRICAN !MERICAN TO SERVE AS AN OFlCER OF THE BAR
Stuart M. Lederman 85L PARTNER AT 2IKER $ANZIG 3CHERER (YLAND 0ERRETTII ,,0 HAS BEEN NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE .EW *ERSEY 3TATE "AR &OUNDATION FOR n
Julie I. Fershtman 83C 86L WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE 3TATE "AR OF -ICHIGAN THE lFTH WOMAN TO LEAD THE GROUP IN ITS YEAR HISTORY AND THE lRST EQUINE ATTORNEY TO DO SO Robin Frazer Clark 88L was SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT OF THE 'EORGIA 3TATE "AR IN *UNE Barbara Lynn Howell 84C 88L WAS NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE #RIMINAL *USTICE #OORDINATING #OUNCIL IN *ANUARY 3HE WAS CHAIR OF THE #APITOL !RTS 3TANDARDS #OMMISSION Steve Karcher 88L RESIGNED AS BRANCH OFlCE MANAGING PARTNER WITH %RICKSEN !RBUTHNOT TO LAUNCH THE +ARCHER ,AW &IRM !0# Douglas J. Tate 88L WITH -C'UIRE 7OOD "ISSETTE 0! IN !SHEVILLE . # IS PRESIDENT OF THE TH *UDICIAL $ISTRICT "AR SERVING A ONE YEAR TERM THROUGH *UNE Grant W. Collingsworth 89L WAS NAMED GENERAL COUNSEL FOR 3CI1UEST )NC IN -AY
Allison Hunnicutt Hauser 89L WAS NAMED A TOP ATTORNEY BY Florida Super Lawyers FOR Gregory P. Rogers 89L CHAIR OF 4AFT 3TETTINIUS (OLISTER S LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW DEPARTMENT HAD HIS BOOK Cincinnati’s Hyde Park: A Queen City Gem PUBLISHED BY 4HE (ISTORY 0RESS W. James Young 89L with THE .ATIONAL 2IGHT TO 7ORK Legal Defense Foundation )NC IN 3PRINGlELD 6A ARGUED HIS SECOND CASE BEFORE THE 5 3 3UPREME #OURT ON *AN 9OUNG WAS COUNSEL FOR THE PETITIONERS IN Knox v. SEIU ,OCAL .O A CLASS ACTION CASE INVOLVING ABOUT EMPLOYEES OF THE STATE OF #ALIFORNIA
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Jane H. Downey 90L of -OORE 4AYLOR 4HOMAS 0! WAS NAMED A South Carolina Super Lawyer FOR
Christine Howard 90L BEGAN HER TERM AS MANAGING PARTNER OF &ISHER 0HILLIPS ,,0 S 4AMPA OFlCE /CT James “Jim” M. McCarten 90L HAS JOINED "URR &ORMAN AS A PARTNER IN THE CORPORATE TRUSTS AND ESTATE AND TAX GROUPS IN .ASHVILLE 4ENN
#LASS .OTES Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Morgan 90L HAS BEEN ELECTED SECRETARY OF THE !MERICAN )NTELLECTUAL 0ROPERTY !SSOCIATION TO SERVE A YEARLONG TERM IN /CTOBER -ORGAN ALSO WAS CERTIlED A LIFE MEMBER OF BOTH THE -ILLION $OLLAR !DVOCATES &ORUM AND THE -ULTI -ILLION $OLLAR !DVOCATES &ORUM
William J. Keogh III 91L WITH (ULL "ARRETT 0# IN !UGUSTA 'A WAS NAMED one of The Best Lawyers in America 2012 FOR HIS WORK IN CONSTRUCTION LITIGATION Randi Schnell 91L was AWARDED THE 6IRGINIA 3 -UELLER /UTSTANDING -EMBER !WARD BY THE .ATIONAL !SSOCIATION OF 7OMEN ,AWYERS AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING
Brian T. Casey 92L PARTNER IN THE !TLANTA OFlCE OF ,OCKE ,ORD "ISSELL ,IDDELL ,,0 WAS NAMED TO THE 'EORGIA 3TATE 5NIVERSITY 2ISK -ANAGEMENT &OUNDATION "OARD OF 4RUSTEES FOR A THREE YEAR TERM BEGINNING *ULY #ASEY ALSO WAS NAMED TO THE )NSURANCE %DITORIAL !DVISORY "OARD FOR ,AW J. Olen Earl 92L was NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF GIFT PLANNING FOR %MORY S /FlCE OF $EVELOPMENT AND !LUMNI 2ELATIONS ON !UG Jesse R. Dunbar 93L JOINED 7HITE AND 7ILLIAMS ,,0 IN .EW 9ORK AS COUNSEL IN THE REINSURANCE PRACTICE GROUP OF THE COMMERCIAL LITIGATION DEPARTMENT
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William R. Horwitz 93L JOINED 0ORZIO "ROMBER .EWMAN 0# AS COUNSEL IN THE EMPLOYMENT DEPARTMENT Dominic Starr 93L with -C!NGUS 'OUDELOCK #OURIE IN -YRTLE "EACH 3 # RECEIVED THE ,EADERSHIP IN ,AW !WARD FROM 3OUTH #AROLINA ,AWYERS 7EEKLY IN -ARCH 4HE AWARD HONORS INDIVIDUALS IN THE LEGAL COMMUNITY WHO WORK TO BETTER THE LEGAL PROFESSION THROUGH MENTORING AND INVOLVEMENT IN THEIR COMMUNITIES
Carlos Kelly 97L PARTNER AND EMINENT DOMAIN ATTORNEY AT (ENDERSON &RANKLIN 3TARNES (OLT 0! PRESENTED h4HERE 'OES -Y %VERYTHING %MINENT $OMAIN "USINESS $AMAGESv AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE &LORIDA !SSOCIATION OF #OUNTY %NGINEERS AND 2OAD 3UPERINTENDENTS
Michael Cross 00L with "RISKIN #ROSS 3ANFORD ,,# WAS ELECTED TO !LPHARETTA S #ITY #OUNCIL ON .OV (E LIVES WITH WIFE ,AURIE AND THEIR FOUR CHILDREN
Katherine V. Hernacki 00L WAS INCLUDED IN THE Fulton County Daily Report’s 'EORGIA ,AWYERS 5NDER ON THE 2ISE IN !UGUST
Bart Hollander 94L AN ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL IN -ASSACHUSETTS WAS NAMED DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE 7ESTERN -ASSACHUSETTS $IVISION Rodney P. McClendon 94L HAS BEEN NAMED VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADMINISTRATION AT 4EXAS ! - 5NIVERSITY Scott L. Bonder 95L is RUNNING FOR THE 'EORGIA 3UPREME #OURT (E IS ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE $E+ALB "AR !SSOCIATION Suzanne Mawhinney 95L EARNED HER MASTER OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE IN 3HE IS A REFERENCE LIBRARIAN AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF 3AN &RANCISCO 3CHOOL OF ,AW S :IEF ,AW ,IBRARY
Shawn A. Kachmar 97L WAS SELECTED BY THE 3AVANNAH #HATHAM #OUNTY "OARD OF 0UBLIC %DUCATION TO lLL A BOARD VACANCY +ACHMAR LEADS THE BUSINESS LITIGATION PRACTICE GROUP AT (UNTER-ACLEAN IN 3AVANNAH
Andrew Thompson 97L ACCEPTED THE 2IVER 'UARDIAN !WARD ON BEHALF OF 3MITH 'AMBRELL 2USSELL ,,0 FOR PRO BONO LEGAL SUPPORT AND PRECEDENT SETTING VICTORIES FOR 5PPER #HATTAHOOCHEE 2IVERKEEPER OVER THE PAST DECADE Jonathan M. Borg 98L AND WIFE 3TEFANIE "ORG ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF ,IAM "ENJAMIN "ORG ON *UNE "ORG IS SENIOR COUNSEL WITH $AY 0ITNEY ,,0 IN .EW 9ORK AND IS ON THE BOARD OF THE 'REENBURGH .ATURE #ENTER Jennifer Duck 98L VICE PRESIDENT OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND CORPORATE LEADERSHIP AT 0lZER )NC WAS NAMED TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF 4HE )NSTITUTE FOR 7OMEN S 0OLICY 2ESEARCH Daraka E. Satcher 99L JOINED THE 0ENDLETON #ONSULTING 'ROUP IN !TLANTA AS CHIEF OPERATING OFlCER AND THE COMPANY S lFTH PARTNER
Jay Thornton 00L JOINED 'RAY2OBINSON 0! IN &ORT ,AUDERDALE &LA AS A SHAREHOLDER IN THE LITIGATION PRACTICE GROUP IN *UNE Manavinder “Manu” S. Bains 01L SERVES AS CHIEF COUNSEL FOR TECHNOLOGY FOR .93% %URONEXT (E AND wife Devi Shanmugham 02L HAVE A SON 3ADARSHAN AGE AND A DAUGHTER .ANDINI AGE
Thad Kodish 00L is MANAGING PRINCIPAL OF &ISH 2ICHARDSON 0# S !TLANTA OFlCE Stephen F. Fusco 98C 01L IS GENERAL COUNSEL FOR ,AB-$ )NC Maria Morris 01L is MANAGING ATTORNEY FOR THE 3OUTHERN 0OVERTY ,AW #ENTER S !LABAMA OFlCE Joshua M. Lee 00L was PROMOTED TO COUNSEL IN THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY GROUP AT 7OLFF 3AMSON 0# IN 7EST /RANGE . * ,EE FOCUSES ON TRADEMARK PROSECUTION TRADEMARK LITIGATION AND )NTERNET DOMAIN DISPUTES Pilar Prinz 00L WITH ,AWLER 'REEN 'IVELBER 0RINZ ,,# HAS BEEN A REPEAT PANELIST ON THE #.. TELEVISION SHOW Nancy Grace Nestor Rivera 00L was REAPPOINTED TO A THIRD TERM AS CO CHAIR OF THE (EALTH ,AW ,ITIGATION #OMMITTEE OF THE !MERICAN "AR !SSOCIATION S LITIGATION SECTION 2IVERA WAS ALSO APPOINTED TO THE !"! S 3PECIAL #OMMITTEE ON "IOETHICS AND THE ,AW
Dan Kraft Jr. 01L won A MILLION VERDICT ON BEHALF OF TWO CLIENTS FOLLOWING A lVE WEEK ASBESTOS TRIAL VERSUS THE 'OODYEAR 4IRE AND 2UBBER #O AND 'OODYEAR #ANADA IN *UNE Carol Kyungjin Minn Vacca 01L AND HUSBAND !LBERT 6ACCA ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF !LBERT ,UCIANO -INN 6ACCA ON !PRIL
Christina Graham 02L was ELECTED PARTNER AT -ORRIS -ANNING -ARTIN ,,0 IN /CTOBER
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#LASS .OTES Madeline Chiampou 05L AN ASSOCIATE WITH -C$ERMOTT 7ILL %MERY ,,0 IN "UFFALO . 9 MARRIED #HRISTOPHER $ANIEL 4ULLY ON *ULY
Youshea Berry 02L has BEEN APPOINTED TO THE "UREAU OF ,EGISLATIVE AND 0UBLIC !FFAIRS AT THE 5 3 !GENCY FOR )NTERNATIONAL $EVELOPMENT 3HE AND HUSBAND 3TEVE 2OLLINS ARE THE PARENTS OF 3IENNA *OY 2OLLINS AND #OREACH ,YN 2OLLINS
Danny M. Awdeh 03L WAS ELECTED A PARTNER AT &INNEGAN (ENDERSON &ARABOW 'ARRETT $UNNER ,,# IN 7ASHINGTON $ # !WDEH FOCUSES ON TRADEMARK UNFAIR COMPETITION FALSE ADVERTISING COPYRIGHT LITIGATION AND COUNSELING
Joshua Kohner 02L was HIRED AS CORPORATE COUNSEL FOR 3KANSKA 53! "UILDING )NC IN .OVEMBER Devi Shanmugham 02L HAS BEEN APPOINTED VICE PRESIDENT AND ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL IN THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY LAW GROUP WITH *0-ORGAN #HASE "ANK IN .EW 9ORK #ITY 3HE AND HUSBAND Manavinder “Manu” S. Bains 01L HAVE A SON 3ADARSHAN AGE AND A DAUGHTER .ANDINI AGE Eric. M. Sodhi 02L was NAMED A SHAREHOLDER WITH 2ICHARD 'REER 0! IN -IAMI 3ODHI IS A COMMERCIAL LITIGATION ATTORNEY 3INCE HE HAS BEEN NAMED A h2ISING 3TARv BY SuperLawyers -AGAZINE
Jason G. Wodogaza 02L JOINED "URR &ORMAN S !TLANTA OFlCE IN THE BANKING AND lNANCIAL SERVICES GROUPS
Victor M. Lai 03L IS GENERAL COUNSEL FOR 0RODUCERS $AIRY &OODS )NC IN &RESNO
#ALIF 4HE ,AIS lRSTBORN SON !NDREW ARRIVED !UG
Jason E. Stach 03L was ELECTED A PARTNER AT &INNEGAN (ENDERSON &ARABOW 'ARRETT $UNNER ,,# IN 7ASHINGTON $ # 3TACH FOCUSES ON PATENT LAW WITH AN EMPHASIS ON LITIGATION IN THE 5 3 DISTRICT COURTS AND AT THE 5 3 )NTERNATIONAL 4RADE #OMMISSION Lauren E. Schwartzreich 01C 04L ASSOCIATE AT /UTTEN 'OLDEN ,,0 IN .EW 9ORK MARRIED !MY 2OGERS ON !PRIL IN A TOWN HALL CEREMONY IN 'REENWICH #ONN Thomas C. Cambier 05L AN ASSOCIATE WITH (ANCOCK %STABROOK ,,0 IN 3YRACUSE . 9 WAS ELECTED TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ADVISORS OF %LMCREST #HILDREN S #ENTER
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Brian Herman 05L OF &ISHER 0HILLIPS ,,0 WAS NAMED A h2ISING 3TARv AMONG 'EORGIA ATTORNEYS Jonathan Jacobs 02C 05L and Tracy Nemiroff Jacobs 03C ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF ,ILLY 'EORGIA ON !PRIL Mary Kathryn “Katie” King 05L IS SENIOR ATTORNEY AT THE "ATTLE 'ROUP AT THE 7INSTON 3ALEM . # lRM 3PILMAN 4HOMAS "ATTLE 0,,# Louise Le Gathright 05L WITH !DAN ' 6EGA !SSOCIATES AND Bradford Gathright 05L WITH "AKER "OTTS ,,0 ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF 3EAN ON *ULY
Jeffrey D. Cooper 07L HAS BEEN APPOINTED IN HOUSE COUNSEL FOR #/2% %DUCATION AND #ONSULTING 3OLUTIONS )NC IN !TLANTA Matthew Simpson 07L of &ISHER 0HILLIPS WAS NAMED A h2ISING 3TARv AMONG 'EORGIA ATTORNEYS Daniel Singerman 07L and wife Hannah Grossman Singerman O6L AND HUSBAND ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF 3IVAN 2OSALIE 3INGERMAN ON -ARCH Guillermo Wasserman 07L OPENED THE lRM 7ASSERMAN 7EST ,,# WHICH WILL FOCUS ON INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS AND PROVIDE COUNSEL ON ACCESSING FOREIGN MARKETS Andrew Fedder 08L AN ASSOCIATE WITH 7ILSON 3ONSINI 'OODRICH 2OSATI MARRIED 2ENEE 2OSOF ON 3EPT IN .EW 9ORK
Stephanie Joy Benedetto 06L A CORPORATE ASSOCIATE WITH "AKER "OTTS ,,0 IN .EW 9ORK MARRIED *OSHUA !PFELROTH ON !UG Dina Leytes 06L AN ASSOCIATE WITH 'RIESLING ,AW ,,# CO PRESENTED h7HAT %VERY .ON 0ROlT AND !CTIVIST .EEDS TO +NOW ABOUT $IGITAL #ONTENT 0ROTECTION AND )NFRINGEMENT 0RACTICAL !DVICE ON #OPYRIGHT 4RADEMARK AND /THER 4YPES OF )NTELLECTUAL 0ROPERTY v AT 0HILADELPHIA .ET3QUARED IN .OVEMBER Jessica Slutsky Macari 06L AND HUSBAND !RIEL -ACARI ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF ,AYLA (ANNAH -ACARI ON *UNE David Magier 06L LAUNCHED #OUPTIVATE COM (E IS CO FOUNDER OF THE SITE USED TO TRACK AND COMPILE USERS DAILY DEALS AND COUPONS Hannah Grossman Singerman O6L and HUSBAND Daniel Singerman 07L ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF 3IVAN 2OSALIE 3INGERMAN ON -ARCH
Hillary Rebecca Gardner 09L ASSOCIATE WITH $ICKSTEIN 3HAPIRO ,,0 IN .EW 9ORK AND Brian Daniel Spielman 09L MARRIED ON !UG 3PIELMAN IS LAW CLERK TO THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE OF THE $RUG %NFORCEMENT !DMINISTRATION AS A MEMBER OF THE $EPARTMENT OF *USTICE (ONORS 0ROGRAM Alvin Isaac Rosenblum 09L AN ASSOCIATE WITH "INGHAM -C#UTCHEN ,,0 IN .EW 9ORK MARRIED 3ARA "LOCK ,EVINE 3EPT IN #AMBRIDGE -D
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Sean Milani-Nia 10L JOINED &OX 2OTHSCHILD ,,0 AS AN ASSOCIATE IN 3EPTEMBER
Nicole Davidson 09L AN ASSOCIATE WITH 3CHULTE 2OTH :ABEL ,,0 WAS RECOGNIZED FOR hEXPERT AND PASSIONATE ADVOCACYv IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ORDER OF PROTECTION AND CUSTODY CASES AT THE 3ANCTUARY FOR &AMILIES !BOVE "EYOND 0RO "ONO !CHIEVEMENT !WARDS IN .EW 9ORK #ITY ON .OV
Ana M. Calleja 11L is an ASSOCIATE WITH #ARLOCK #OPELAND 3TAIR ,,0 IN THE COMMERCIAL LITIGATION AND GENERAL LIABILITY GROUPS Daniel Soleimani 11L is an ASSOCIATE WITH 6ORYS 3ATER 3EYMOUR AND 0EASE ,,0 IN THE #LEVELAND OFlCE
)N -EMORIAM Emory Law mourns the passing of the following alumni, whose deaths were reported to the school since the date of our last publication.
S Paul A. Keenan 42C 47L OF !LBANY 'A ON !PRIL
Arthur “Bud� Whitehill 47C 49L OF -AITLAND &LA ON *ULY Homer Thompson 49L of 3AN &RANCISCO ON 3EPT
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Jack B. Dickson 50L of #ARROLLTON 'A ON -ARCH
Robert Hornik 50L of -IAMI "EACH &LA ON -ARCH Walter E. Baker 49C 51L of (AWKINSVILLE 'A ON *AN Dr. Sidney Shindell 51L of $ENVER ON !UG Robert L. Pennington 54L OF 3ANDY 3PRINGS 'A ON -AY
Judge John R. Strother Jr. 56C 58L OF !TLANTA ON 3EPT
James P. Edee 75L of -ARIETTA 'A ON /CT
Clayton D. Steadman 82L OF #LEMSON 3 # ON !PRIL
Freddie L. Brown 59L of 6IDOR 4EXAS ON *ULY
Gary F. Dalton 76L of $OVER $EL ON $EC
Ronald Gold 83L of -ARIETTA 'A ON $EC
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Laurence R. Arnold 76L of &AIR /AKS #ALIF ON *UNE
Pamela Tremayne 83L 85G OF !TLANTA ON /CT
Judge G. Ernest Tidwell 54L OF !TLANTA ON !UG
Charles K. Howard 64L of !TLANTA ON -ARCH
Judge John E. Faulk 56L of -ELBOURNE &LA ON 3EPT
Julian F. “Josh� Powell 67L OF !CWORTH 'A ON -AY
John David Jones 57L of !TLANTA ON !UG Sidney Parker 58L of -ARIETTA 'A ON /CT Charles L. Picknell 52OX 54C 58L OF $ALTON 'A ON *AN Edwin D. Schane 53C 58L OF !TLANTA ON -AY
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Dr. James L. Tasse 80L of 7ESTLAKE /HIO ON !UG
James Gordon Morgan 77C 81L OF !TLANTA ON *UNE
Judge Anne Workman 72L OF $ECATUR 'A ON 3EPT
John Joseph Adams 82L of 3WEDESBORO . * ON -AY
Drew J. Kovalak 73L OF 3T 0AUL -INN ON .OV
Col. David Drummond Brown 82L OF 3TONE -OUNTAIN 'A ON /CT
Barbara Shapiro Brown 88L OF !TLANTA ON 3EPT Mark L. Jenkins 84OX 86C 89L OF 7AYNESVILLE . # ON !PRIL
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Daniel P. Eckels 90L of !TLANTA ON -ARCH
You’re invited!
Reunion Weekend, Sept. 28 – 29
!LL ALUMNI ARE INVITED AS WE CELEBRATE THE CLASSES OF 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007 *OIN US FOR A WEEKEND OF ENGAGING DIALOGUE AND THE CHANCE TO RECONNECT WITH FORMER CLASSMATES AND PROFESSORS 2EGISTER ONLINE AT www.law.emory.edu/reunion
summer 2011
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&ACULTY 6OICES
#OURTS #ONGRESS #REATE 5NCERTAINTY by Timothy R. Holbrook
B
Congress ushered in the most significant changes to patent law in over 60 years by adopting the America Invents Act in September.
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usinesses prefer legal certainty. Whether environmental regulations, security disclosure obligations or tax laws, legal certainty permits companies to plan efficiently. The same is true for companies engaged in innovation: certainty surrounding intellectual property laws allows companies to invest efficiently in research, development and commercialization. Unfortunately, the last two years have seen little legal certainty in patent law. Both the courts and Congress have introduced considerable changes and, consequently, uncertainty into the system. The evolution of U.S. patent law is generally coordinated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears every appeal arising under the patent laws. The Supreme Court, however, has taken a heightened interest in patent law, deciding six cases over the last two terms. Six may not seem like many, but when the Court only hears around 80 cases total per term in all legal areas, six is a sizeable proportion of the docket. While many observers believe the Supreme Court is “antipatent,” the Court’s decisions present more of a mixed bag. The Supreme Court agreed with the Federal Circuit’s reasoning in three cases and rejected it in the others. For example, the Supreme Court affirmed the strong presumption of validity afforded issued patents in litigation in Microsoft v. i4i but continued to contract the types of inventions that are eligible for patent protection in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories. The wake of any Supreme Court decision creates uncertainty as the courts sort through the decision’s implications. For instance, after Mayo, courts now will have to re-address whether isolated human genes are eligible for patent protection. The Supreme Court was not alone in changing the law, however. The Federal Circuit heard numerous cases en banc to reconsider its previous law. As a result, the court altered the standard for bringing contempt hearings against an infringer, made it far more difficult to render a patent unenforceable due to a patent holder’s inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (uspto), and limited the availability of an infringement defense that arises when a patent’s scope is
changed through post-issuance proceedings at the uspto. The court is deciding two more cases en banc that will address when liability arises for patent infringement when multiple parties perform parts of a patented process, yet no single entity performs the entirety of the process or method. This dynamic is important for the protection of Internet-based inventions. If all of this court-related activity were not enough, Congress ushered in the most significant changes to patent law in over 60 years by adopting the America Invents Act (aia) in September. In addition to creating a host of procedures at the uspto, the aia removes what had been the singular, defining aspect of U.S. patent law: the “first to invent” system. Before the aia, the first person to create the invention could get a patent. As a result of the aia, starting in 2013, the patent will go to the first inventor to file an application at the uspto, which brings the U.S. law more in-line with foreign systems. There is considerable uncertainty surrounding the aia, however. Even though Congress justified the aia on harmonization grounds, the aia actually creates a system considerably different than other countries’ regimes. The aia is also rife with ambiguity that will require time and litigation to sort out. Complicating matters more is that patents under the old system will remain in effect until at least 2033, meaning that effectively the U.S. will have two patent systems for two decades. A nightmare for innovators, but a financial field day for patent attorneys. Consequently, the last two years have been ones of considerable change and uncertainty in patent law. Perhaps the courts and Congress will let the dust settle and permit businesses to find certainty in this brave new patent world. Timothy R. Holbrook is a professor of law and the new associate dean of the faculty. He specializes in patent law and intellectual property.
Have a plan.
FROM AN EARLY AGE, Kenneth Murrah knew he wanted to practice law, and he credits Emory deans Prentice Miller and E. H. Rece with helping secure scholarships that enabled him to achieve his aspirations. More than 50 years later, Murrah 55C 58L still practices estate-planning law full time in his hometown of Winter Park, Florida. To show his gratitude, Murrah has made numerous planned gifts, including charitable gift annuities, to create scholarships and a mentoring program at Emory Law. Murrah’s
gifts will help educate generations of law students, ensuring that his legacy of service lives on. To learn how to support Emory Law through a planned gift, visit www.emory.edu/giftplanning or call Emory’s Office of Gift Planning at 404.727.8875.
Plan to make dreams a reality.
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This year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients admire their portraits in the Alumni Hall of Honor: (clockwise from upper left) The Hon. T. Jackson Bedford 73L and his wife, Patty; Carl W. Mullis III 75L and his wife, Marian; and Aaron L. Buchsbaum 54L and his wife, Esther. See story, page 20.