LAW
MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS | SPRING 2012
Alumni land winning careers in sports and entertainment
FROM THE DEAN KU Law Magazine is published biannually for alumni and friends of the University of Kansas School of Law. Green Hall, 1535 W. 15th St. Lawrence, KS 66045-7608 785.864.4550 | F: 785.864.5054 www.law.ku.edu DEAN Stephen Mazza EDITOR & DESIGNER Mindie Paget kulaws@ku.edu | 785.864.9205 CONTRIBUTORS Professor Mike Davis, Sandy Patti, Kevin Sauer (2L), Sarah Shebek PHOTOS Randy Edmonds, Mindie Paget Steve Puppe, Sarah Shebek University Archives, University Relations COVER ILLUSTRATION Karl Gehring PRINTING Allen Press CORRECTION A profile of Jeff Stowell, L’01, in the fall issue of KU Law Magazine misidentified the name of his company, Community Systems Group. His first name was misspelled in the photo caption.
The University of Kansas School of Law supports environmental sustainability by purchasing renewable energy certificates (green tags) through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation that offset carbon emissions from producing the KU Law Magazine.
Long before they are admitted to the bar, first-year KU Law students take an Oath of Professional Conduct. They do it during orientation, prior to the start of classes, to mark their entry into the legal profession. Our goal is to make them aware early on that they are joining a learned, noble profession and should begin conducting themselves in law school the way they will be expected to in their careers. The Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct frame the responsibilities this way: “A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession, is a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.” Furthermore, “A lawyer’s conduct should conform to the requirements of the law, both in professional service to clients and in the lawyer’s business and personal affairs.” At Green Hall, we apply these same values as we decide how best to educate future Jayhawk lawyers and help them find jobs. We also uphold these standards when reporting our success in those efforts. You may have read recent news articles and blog posts that raise concerns about the accuracy and transparency of law schools’ employment data. Some schools have reported hiring 10 percent to 40 percent of their own graduating classes in part-time positions, with critics suggesting they are doing so to inflate their employment numbers for rankings purposes. We want to be absolutely clear about our policies on employment statistics. Honesty, transparency and accuracy will always endure as hallmarks of KU Law. On the KU Law website, we provide upto-date data that break down our students’ employment numbers on a variety of criteria. For the record, last year we hired two of our students in full-time staff positions. The first is a two-year appointment as a Faculty Services Senior Researcher, refilling a position that historically existed in our library. The second is an 11-month, grant-funded appointment as part of a partnership between KU Law and the KU School of Medicine, designed to make legal expertise available to patients at KU Med facilities and several regional clinics. In both cases,
the jobs are full-time, well-funded and include full benefits. We recognize that these are turbulent times for the legal profession, and we are responding accordingly. We have reduced our target J.D. class size from 165 to 140, a number we believe is more closely calibrated to future demand and permits us to focus more resources on each student. We hired a new assistant dean, Arturo Thompson, and director, Leah Terranova, in the Office of Career Services. Arturo and Leah come to their roles with experience practicing in small and large firms in both the public and private sectors. They bring an entrepreneurial approach to the office, having already implemented innovative programs to improve employer outreach and prepare students for success. We are keeping our tuition affordable. KU Law remains one of the “Best Value” law schools in the country, pairing a low tuition with a world-class educational experience. And then there is you. I am ever grateful to you for being engaged members of a loyal alumni network that supports KU Law students and graduates as they transition into the profession. In this issue of KU Law Magazine, you’ll see some of the many ways fellow graduates contribute to student success in the Volunteer Honor Roll. You’ll also read about alumni who are excelling in the sports and entertainment industries. I was struck by their tenacity and industriousness, as well as their diversity of age and geography. For me, their stories are yet another illustration that those who earn KU Law degrees have the tools to practice anywhere they want and reach the highest levels of their chosen fields. Thank you for setting a fine example for our students and for perpetuating KU Law’s tradition of success. Rock chalk!
Stephen W. Mazza Dean and Professor of Law
CONTENTS KU LAW MAGAZINE | SPRING 2012
COVER: WITH THE STARS THROUGH DIFFICULTIES
DEPARTMENTS
A growing number of KU Law alumni
16 ON THE GREEN News briefs: Moot court teams earn national
are forging careers in sports and entertainment, and as the industries
accolades; Students win appeals cases for defendants who did not receive fair trials; Law Review and Journal symposia; Center for International Trade and Agriculture roundtable
evolve, strong legal skills are increasingly in demand.
27 FACULTY NOTES Publications, presentations and other notable
activities by KU Law faculty
32 ALUMNI NEWS Photos: Celebrating diversity; Trio to chronicle
22
WHEN CHILDREN RAN THE SHOW In the early 1970s following
transition from law students to firm owners
33 VOLUNTEER HONOR ROLL
Recognition for alumni who have donated time, energy and expertise during the past year
the baby boom, KU Law hired 14 new young, ambitious faculty members in three years.
39 ALUMNI NOTES Alumni win awards, change jobs, get married
and welcome new family members
44 IN MEMORIAM Deaths in the KU Law family
PARTNER, BY TWITTER Mike Fischer, L’07, learned of his newly minted partner status at Payne & Jones via a satirical
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Twitter feed.
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CELEBRATING DIVERSITY Photos: David Lloyd, L’07, offered his insights on the importance of diversity in the legal profession at the 17th annual Diversity Banquet.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 1
Alumni land winning careers in sports and entertainment Behind legions of strutting, strumming rock stars, muscular, elite athletes, and engaging, outgoing TV personalities, and behind banner organizations like CNN, ESPN, the NHL and the NCAA stand lawyers trained at the University of Kansas. They’ve made a name for themselves in the notoriously competitive sports and entertainment industries, and they’ve done so through a combination of tenacity and timing, backed by a solid legal education. A growing number of KU Law alumni are forging careers in sports and entertainment, and as the industries evolve, strong legal skills are increasingly in demand. Most of these alums had inauspicious starts, working long, thankless hours in small markets or small firms before breaking through to leading roles. Their success, combined with a rising interest in sports and entertainment at KU Law, is setting up new graduates for unprecedented opportunities. With the growth of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society, which was co-founded by featured alumna Shawna Hilleary, and the possibility of an expanded sports law curriculum, there has never been a better time for law students to network, connect, and start up careers in either field. They might not make the winning save or craft a platinum album, but KU Law alumni ensure that performers of all kinds can freely take the spotlight – and embrace it – for fans everywhere. And that may be worth more than a few cheers or a standing ovation.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 3 KARL GEHRING
NHLPA
Don Zavelo, L’78, became general counsel of the National Hockey League Players’ Association in October 2011.
ICE MASTER Behind the scenes, Don Zavelo and his legal team keep NHL skating BY MINDIE PAGET
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ant to make a baseball fan shudder? Mention the years 1994 and ’95. That’s when a Major League Baseball strike resulted in the cancellation of more than 900 games and the 1994 World Series, as managers and the players’ union duked it out. Somewhere near the core of that maelstrom was Don Zavelo, L’78. As deputy regional attorney at the New York office of the National Labor Relations Board, Zavelo had a hand
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in helping the two sides break the impasse. “Because most of the national media and entertainment and professional sports leagues had their corporate headquarters in Manhattan,” he said, “whenever there was a national labor dispute that involved one of the industries, it ended up on my desk – or at least in my office.” Now Zavelo is part of one of the industries he once policed. In October 2011, he became general counsel of
the National Hockey League Players’ Association, a role that combines his love of sports with his interest in labor law. The NHL had its own lost season 10 years after the infamous MLB strike, and the resulting collective bargaining agreement expires this September. “I think it’s going to be a busy year,” Zavelo said. Zavelo’s journey to his dream job – with an office in Toronto, the hockey capital of the world – started at the University of Kansas. Originally from
“It’s wonderful working for the players. They’re a really impressive group of elite athletes, and it’s really a privilege to be able to represent them.”
Shawnee Mission, Zavelo entered KU in 1971 as the Vietnam War was waning and student activism was burgeoning. “I decided that a law degree might be an effective way to pursue a career in public service,” he said. Zavelo focused on labor law at Green Hall, and he went to work for the NLRB in Kansas City right out of law school, eventually ending up in the New York office. Although Zavelo never heard the term “sports law” until well after he graduated, he worked on plenty of high-profile sports cases during his more than 30 years with the NLRB. “We had hockey and football and basketball,” he said, “and they all pretty much concerned difficult
bargaining disputes that came before the Board because the union, or in some cases the league, alleged the other side had engaged in bad-faith bargaining.” Zavelo’s career path illustrates the important role that labor law plays in professional sports. He also relies on wisdom imparted by KU Law professors in the areas of torts, contracts, antitrust and criminal law. “Sports law is funny because it’s a field that’s really defined by the identity of the client rather than a cohesive area of jurisprudence,” Zavelo said. “We see it as a constellation of issues that arise in the course of representing our membership.” Zavelo and his colleagues at the NHLPA perform their duties under the
watchful eye of an enthusiastic fan base and media who, especially in Canada, follow the sport with great intensity. So the upcoming collective bargaining talks will be closely scrutinized, as teams and players try to agree on everything from compensation to safety on the ice. Despite the pressure, Zavelo finds stimulation in the variety of issues he encounters each day. Players from the 30 NHL teams stop by the office regularly – and Zavelo gets to watch a lot of hockey. “It’s a great game,” he said. “It’s wonderful working for the players. They’re a really impressive group of elite athletes, and it’s really a privilege to be able to represent them.” n
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SLAM DUNK Aderonke Mercer scores dream career in athletics compliance BY MINDIE PAGET
I
“I love my interaction with the student-athletes,” said Mercer, L’10. “I love being able to be a good example to them, influence them in some way or another. This isn’t just about catching them doing something wrong. It’s about helping them lay a solid foundation for their future.” Mercer solidified her own foundation when she applied to the University of Kansas School of Law. Although she had already earned a law degree in Nigeria, Mercer wanted the chance to practice sports law in the United States, which would require an
American law degree and bar passage. She chose KU because of its Two-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers, a rare offering among U.S. law schools. As a member of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society, Mercer got her first exposure to the field of collegiate athletics compliance when a KU Athletics attorney spoke at the group’s symposium. “Before that, I thought practicing sports law meant being an agent or practicing law and representing athletes. I had no idea you could work
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
n basketball, good point guards think at least two passes ahead and are always ready to create opportunities if the offense collapses. Perhaps that’s why Aderonke “Arike” Mercer – who ran the point for her college hoops team in Nigeria – landed her dream job just one year out of law school. Mercer’s new home court is the Compliance Office at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., where she combines her love of sports with her legal skills to help student-athletes, coaches and boosters keep pace with NCAA regulations.
Aderonke Mercer, L’10, is a compliance coordinator in the athletics department at Washington State University.
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in athletics compliance,” Mercer said. “I thought it was an area where I could excel.” Once Mercer set her mind on a career in compliance, she went into full-court press mode. She interned in the compliance department at Missouri Southern State University during the summer after her first year at KU Law. Between classes her second year, Mercer applied for every internship she could find and sent emails to college athletics directors, offering her services for free in exchange for learning more about the field. Her efforts landed her a paid internship right out of school at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz. During her year at NAU, Mercer attended a National
Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics conference to network and scout full-time opportunities. An impromptu interview with a Washington State athletics director at that event opened the lane for her current position, which she started in November 2011. As one of two compliance coordinators at Washington State, Mercer educates student-athletes, coaches, and boosters about NCAA rules. She also monitors the social media postings of student-athletes. “Each school is mandated by the NCAA to police itself,” Mercer said. “If we weren’t monitoring and something was posted on the Internet that violated NCAA rules, we may be charged for lack of institutional control.”
The NCAA rolled out a new batch of legislation in January that includes, among other things, the ability for schools to offer multiyear scholarships and for men’s basketball teams to evaluate recruits on campus. While staying up to date on these developments, Mercer finds that she uses the full range of legal knowledge she gained at KU Law. “Lawyering is very helpful, even though it was a little bit of torture while I was going through it,” she joked. “Reading cases, spotting issues, doing research, understanding exactly what a judge is talking about, arguing persuasively – all those things I learned from KU Law, I find that I need them here in what I’m doing every day.” n
“I love my interaction with the student-athletes. I love being able to be a good example to them, influence them in some way or another. This isn’t just about catching them doing something wrong. It’s about helping them lay a solid foundation for their future.”
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ESPN WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS
After managing the U.S. track team at the Athens Olympics, Michael Cain, L’01, took a sports management job at Disney.
FROM ATHENS TO ESPN Michael Cain rides Olympic momentum into sports broadcasting role BY SARAH SHEBEK
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ichael Cain was surrounded by world-class athletes on the floor of the Olympic Stadium in Athens, awaiting the start of the opening ceremony, when a familiar figure caught his eye. Legendary KU basketball coach Larry Brown, the men’s national coach that year, was only a few feet away. So Cain made his way over and introduced himself, mentioning his ties to KU and thanking Brown for all he’d done. That alone would be a
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once-in-a-lifetime experience, but what happened next was even better. Brown put his hand on Cain’s shoulder, asked if his dad was proud, then pulled out his cell phone to find out. He left a voice mail from Athens, mentioning that he and Cain were together and calling him “a good kid.” “For a KU kid to have that experience, it was very special,” Cain said. “Dad called an hour and a half later. He was crying, and it was a pretty neat deal.”
Most law students couldn’t dream up this scenario, but for Cain, L’01, dreams have been a reality ever since he passed up a legal career in favor of serving as a volunteer coordinator at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City. As a five-year member of the varsity track team at KU, he had always loved sports but didn’t envision a career there, so he jumped into law school. During his final year, he happened upon a Monster.com ad for the Olympic position and applied on a whim. Graduation came, he passed
“I got to march in the opening ceremony in Athens, and I would have never been able to do that had I not graduated from law school.”
the bar, and two days later he got called for an interview in Utah. The rest is history. Six months after the Games, Cain met the CEO of USA Track & Field, and got a job managing the U.S. National Team. He went to Athens with the team and worked with various star athletes, including Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix. At the apex of his career in track, Cain looked for vertical movement after the Games. A coworker had a connection to Disney, and three phone calls later, Cain was the new sports manager at the megacorporation. “I’d love to say it was raw talent and hard work that got me these deals, but it’s just being in the right place at the right time and knowing someone,”
he said. “Once you get your foot in the door, opportunities keep coming your way.” Today, Cain’s primary role is to manage sporting events at ESPN Wide World of Sports. He’s also done broadcasting for ESPN3 and recently began working as a content facilitator at the Disney Institute, the professional development arm of The Walt Disney Company. In his broadcasting role, he’s worked everything from sideline reporting during Major League Soccer games to studio shows for Pop Warner football. It’s hard to top Cain’s Olympic experiences, but he said that broadcasting is his new favorite role. “They’ve all been so different that they hold a special place in my heart,”
he said. “But the broadcasting is like a drug. It’s impossible to describe that feeling you get from a live show.” Even though Cain never got a chance to explicitly use his law degree, his education still paid off. The mental dexterity all lawyers must master helps him keep on his feet in broadcasting, and his legal knowledge is beneficial in consulting. But his law degree also served as a springboard for his sports career. The CEO of USA Track & Field was an attorney, and Cain believes that his background helped him win his first full-time job. “I got to march in the opening ceremony in Athens,” he said, “and I would have never been able to do that had I not graduated from law school.” n
KU LAW MAGAZINE 9
ROCK ’N’ ROLL LIFESTYLE Star power, tenacity fuel Shawna Hilleary’s entertainment law journey BY MINDIE PAGET
A
Shawna Hilleary, L’98, represents artists like Tesla and Gavin Rossdale.
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s a music-obsessed teenager in Kansas City, Shawna Hilleary landed her dream internship with a Warner Brothers Records promoter. Her job was to send CDs to radio stations and urge air play for the label’s artists. Aside from a cool experience, Hilleary walked away with an invaluable piece of advice from her boss. “He said, ‘Go to law school and you can do anything you want in this industry,’” Hilleary recalled. Boy, was he right. Since graduating from KU Law in 1998, Hilleary has combined her legal acumen and tenacious personality to mold a resume that reads more like a bucket list. She has headed up the legal department of a popular indie record label in Hollywood; represented artists like Sublime, Tesla, Gavin Rossdale and Vanessa Carlton; and attended the Grammy Awards and American Country Music Awards. “I’ve honestly lived the dream,” Hilleary said. “A lot of it comes down to having the guts to go after something and having confidence.” Case in point: Two days after graduation, Hilleary loaded up a 15-foot truck and headed to California, determined to become an entertainment lawyer. She lived on friends’ couches and studied for the bar exam. A job listing in the Hollywood Reporter led her to an interview with the head of business and legal affairs at Restless Records, whose catalog included the likes of They Might Be Giants, Soul Asylum and the Flaming Lips. When he asked why a lawyer would want to work as his assistant, Hilleary pointed to the pile of contracts on his desk. “I want to take half that stack off
your desk and take that responsibility off of you,” she said. “I don’t mind answering phones if you want me to, but I want to learn entertainment law – and I’m willing to pay my dues.” Hilleary got an offer the next day, complete with a title adjustment and salary hike. She worked on everything from record deals to intellectual property cases. Her boss taught her everything he knew, and she took over his job when he left. Hilleary put in long hours and, in return, learned some secrets to success in entertainment law. For colleagues: “Most of my job is about relationships. You can’t be a jerk. The people you negotiated with yesterday are the same people who might send you business today.”
For clients: “The less you seem like a suit in this business, the more you seem like someone they can respect and look up to. They’re very anti-authoritarian.” For future entertainment lawyers: “You have to have a very well-rounded education. Although entertainment lawyers don’t provide family and criminal law services, we need to know enough about those areas to protect our client’s rights. They’re going to come to you for almost everything.” Since leaving Restless in 2001, Hilleary has been in private practice – first with a partner in Los Angeles, and now on her own with offices in LA and Nashville, Tenn. She tries to maintain a diversified client list,
including artists, record labels, writers, producers, managers – even book authors and fine artists. Hilleary recently licensed some of Tesla’s music for the video game “Guitar Hero” and “Just Go With It,” a film starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler. She’s good friends with the classic rock band, and they once cooked dinner for her and her family at their Nashville ranch. Needless to say, Hilleary’s hard work has paid off with some excellent perks. “I’ve been able to go to Bonnaroo and look out from the stage at 80,000 people and know that these artists are making people happy,” she said. “To be part of that, even if it’s behind the scenes, is pretty awesome.” n
“I’ve honestly lived the dream. A lot of it comes down to having the guts to go after something and having confidence.”
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WINNING STREAK For Chris Howard, victories arise from hard work, smart connections BY SARAH SHEBEK
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win. He told team members to visualize themselves as conference champions at the Fiesta Bowl and to remember that visual all season. “You could just tell it was a totally different team during the season,” he said. “It was one of those things where you saw a group of kids buy into something, and they just needed to hear it from someone who came from a winning program.” The 2007 season went down as one of KU’s best, with a 12-1 record and a win in the Orange Bowl over Virginia Tech. And Howard’s career at KU
started with a bang, thanks to his own hard work and winning attitude. First he obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, while also serving as a combat medic in Operation Desert Storm. Upon returning from the war, a chance encounter got him interested in sports administration. After taking a couple of classes, Howard was hooked, but he didn’t stop there. One of the classes dealt with tort law, which rekindled his childhood interest in law school. After meeting with the law school admissions staff and then-Dean Michael Hoeflich,
SARAH SHEBEK
hris Howard was a newcomer to KU Athletics in 2007, and the football team was coming off another mediocre season – two seemingly unrelated events that made the next few months unforgettable. Returning to Kansas after a stint with football powerhouse Louisiana State University, Howard, L’01, began working with the team in the spring. They were eager for success and quizzed him on what gave LSU the advantage. Howard responded that nothing really separated the two teams, but LSU always believed they could
Chris Howard, L’01, is an associate athletics director at the University of Kansas.
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he put together a combination degree of a master’s in sports administration with a J.D. “One thing that’s fascinating about the law is that it reaches every aspect of our lives,” he said. “I really wanted to have a true understanding of the nature of the business that I was going into.” Juggling the completion of two demanding programs, Howard still managed to have a distinguished law school career, receiving the Justice Lloyd Kagey Leadership Award his final year. And the connections he made during law school set the tone for his future career in sports administration. “It’s a ‘who you know business,’” he said. “You need someone to vouch for you, and then someone else will
take a chance for you. It’s definitely the power of who.” In this case, the “who” was Dean Hoeflich, whose former firm in Syracuse, N.Y., had ties to the NCAA. Hoeflich helped Howard connect with the firm, and he spent three years there in law school as a clerk. Once Howard graduated, he got a job with the NCAA in enforcement before moving to an associate athletics director position at LSU. Now he holds the same position at KU. “A typical day for me is planning and problem-solving,” he said. “I deal with everything from supervising sports, to managing budgets, to personnel issues, to student-athlete issues.” As a proud Jayhawk, Howard remembers going out to lunch while
clerking in Syracuse and sitting near three other clerks, who were Ivy League law school students. Their attempts to one-up each other drew a chuckle from Howard, and they asked how he could afford to laugh given that KU didn’t rank anywhere near their own institutions. “I said, ‘I’m not even going to get into a discussion with you, but considering I’m going through the same clerkship and have $100,000 less in debt, I think I might be smarter than you,’” he said. “The education is second to none, and I bleed crimson and blue.” n
“The education is second to none, and I bleed crimson and blue.”
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Graham Winch, L’08, is the TV/Web producer for CNN’s “In Session.” He is responsible for all of the show’s digital content, including videos and stories.
EXPERT WITNESS Graham Winch uses degree to translate complex legal issues for viewers BY SARAH SHEBEK
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raham Winch went to law school because his favorite journalists – Tim Russert and Dan Abrams – had legal backgrounds. Now he’s following in their footsteps, combining his love for both fields and climbing the corporate ladder at CNN. “It was tough for me to decide between a non-traditional route or to go into practicing law, because either way I felt like I was letting go of something I’d worked really
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hard on,” he said. “In this capacity, I feel like I’m using both of them and they’re both alive.” Before receiving his bachelor’s in journalism at KU, Winch, L’08, interned extensively at two local TV stations and at CNN, where he assisted with writing and production, and interviewed the cast of “Lord of the Rings.” Upon graduation, he took jobs in two radically different locations – Lake Charles, La., and Anchorage, Alaska – and served as a local reporter.
One bitter Alaskan winter was enough for Winch, a native of Atlanta, and he quickly reassessed his career path before deciding on law school. “I was 16 when the OJ Simpson trial happened, and I’ve just always been fascinated by trial coverage,” he said. “After a couple years of being a reporter, I just decided it was now or never.” After a short stint at Washburn University, Winch transferred to KU Law to finish up his degree. He was a
“I use my law degree every day to look at court documents, cover these trials and understand what’s going on to decipher them for a normal viewer.”
member of the Intellectual Property Law Students Association and the Sports and Entertainment Law Society, and he interned at the Topeka Prosecutor’s Office. Despite his full schedule, Winch still made time to travel to New Orleans with a group of law students and volunteer as a legal extern with the Hurricane Katrina Clinic. That experience proved to be the highlight of Winch’s law school career. “I did some advocacy work for one woman who was about to lose her home to foreclosure, and she needed a little bit of money,” he said. “I got her in front of some people who could help her out. She
says I helped save her home. It was just really rewarding.” Armed with a wealth of legal knowledge upon graduation, Winch found himself back in the South, this time at CNN, thanks to his internship. He steadily moved up the ranks over the next two years, starting as floor director, then media coordinator, then assignment editor, then associate producer for “In Session,” before reaching his current position, TV/Web producer for “In Session.” Now he’s responsible for all of the show’s digital content, including videos and stories. “It’s a very hybrid position,” he said. “I use my law degree every day to look at court documents, cover these trials and understand what’s going on
to decipher them for a normal viewer.” Although Winch had to work long hours all across the country, he persevered and used his education to land his dream job. He traveled to Los Angeles for the Conrad Murray trial, helped cover the Casey Anthony case, and regularly works with the big names at HLN. Patience isn’t the easiest virtue to master, but it can be essential to making it in the entertainment industry. “I think that if you’re patient, having a law background is really attractive,” he said. “It really breaks you out and makes you a different type of candidate. You just need to be confident in that and things will work out.” n
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GREEN HALL NEWS
On the green Law students win 13 appeals cases for unfair trials
Nathan Lindsey and Christopher Omlid won first place at the International Moot Court Competition in Information Technology & Privacy Law in October.
KU moot court teams rack up national accolades It has been an outstanding year for KU Law moot court teams. The latest accolades come courtesy of Christi VanBlarcum and Ben Winters, third-year students who won the award for best brief at the Herbert Wechsler National Criminal Law Moot Court Competition in Buffalo, N.Y. The students competed against 25 other teams from schools such as NYU, Michigan, Wisconsin, William & Mary, and Ohio State. Other strong finishes: n The team of third-year law students Colin Baumchen, Samantha Clark, Lauren Douville and Scott Wheeler advanced to the semifinals of the European Law Students’ Association Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C. Baumchen received the award for second-best oral advocate in the competition, and Clark was named fifth-best. KU was the only school to place two students among the top five oralists. n 3Ls Evan Jarrold and Sean Foley advanced to the Sweet 16 and earned the best brief award in mid-February at the Mardi Gras Sports Law Competition in KU UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
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Everyone has the right to a fair trial, but when the legal system slips up, not all is lost. Students in the Project for Innocence and Post-Conviction Remedies at the University of Kansas School of Law work tirelessly to represent state and federal prisoners, and in the last 18 months, they have won 13 reversals of conviction for their clients. Since the start of 2009, the Project for Innocence has had a hand in 23 reversals – in some cases, giving citizens a chance to get out of prison and get on with their lives. “My hope is that through their work in the Project, the students will gain experience in the practical application of the law and have a greater realization of the importance of writing well and issue-spotting,” said Rick Kittel, supervising staff attorney. “The students have shown an ability to do these things, and that, as much as anything, has contributed to their success.” The overturned convictions have involved cases ranging from the possession of methamphetamine to identity fraud. The Project for Innocence receives more than 200 letters each year from inmates seeking assistance.
New Orleans. The event is an appellate competition sponsored annually by Tulane University Law School. n The Jessup International Law Moot Court team – 1L Matthew Agnew, 2L Sam Barton, 3L Robert Bombard, 3L Elizabeth Landau and 3L Jessica Lewicki – advanced to the quarterfinals of the KU Law symposium explores regional competition in mid-February in state of arbitration law Denver. Barton won 8th-best oralist out of roughly 90 advocates in the competition. Legal scholars from universities across the n After winning the regional title of nation explored the state of arbitration the National Moot Court Competition law during the 2011 Kansas Law Review last November, 3Ls Jill Moenius and Eddie symposium on Nov. 11. Penner placed in the top 8 out of more Presenters at “Perspectives on the than 191 teams at the national competition Current State of Arbitration Law” covered in New York City. a range of topics, including arbitration n Nathan Lindsey and Christopher ethics, the future of class action arbitration Omlid captured first place at the in the wake of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, International Moot Court Competition an examination of Supreme Court in Information Technology & Privacy Law. arbitration jurisprudence, and due process In addition to winning first place in the standards for arbitration. Presenters oral arguments phase of the competition, included: the judges also awarded KU’s team n Kristen Blankley, University of the prize for best petitioner brief. The Nebraska College of Law competition took place Oct. 27-29 at n David Horton, Loyola Law School the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. KU UNIVERSITY RELATIONS Los Angeles
n
Richard Reuben, University of Missouri School of Law n Jeffrey Stempel, University of Nevada Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law n Thomas Stipanowich, Pepperdine University School of Law n Maureen Weston, Pepperdine University School of Law Papers presented at the symposium were published in April in the Kansas Law Review,Vol. 60, Issue 4.
Journal symposium focuses on corporate tax reform Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author David Cay Johnston headlined the Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy’s 2011-12 symposium on Feb. 10. “Corporate Tax Reform: Making America Competitive” addressed the country’s current tax crisis and how changes to the corporate tax code could offer relief for all Americans and alleviate the strain on domestic corporations. Johnston received the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting, and he is the author of best-selling books on tax and economic policy, including “Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense and Stick You with the Bill.” Other presenters included: n Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project at Tax Analysts and contributing editor for Tax Notes magazine n George Plesko, associate professor, University of Connecticut School of Business n Rosanne Altshuler, professor of economics, Rutgers University n Raquel Meyer Alexander, assistant professor, University of Kansas School of Business n LeAnn Luna, associate professor of accounting and research professor,
Kristen Blankley, University of Nebraska College of Law, presents during the 2011 Kansas Law Review Symposium.
Center for Business and Economics Research, University of Tennessee Papers presented at the symposium were published in April in the Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy, Vol. 21, Issue 2.
Scholars look to future of international agriculture Lawyers, policymakers and scientists explored the future of agriculture from an international perspective at a scholarly roundtable hosted by the Center for International Trade and Agriculture. Internationally known environmental experts Wes Jackson, founder and director of The Land Institute, and Mark Cackler, manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department at the World Bank, were among the presenters at the Feb. 2 event. In its second major conference, the Center for International Trade and Agriculture focused attention on the promise that agriculture holds (and risks it poses) for economic growth in developing countries, agriculture’s
role in environmental degradation, the need for a new Green Revolution, the prospects for the financial stability of the agriculture industry in coming years and other aspects of the future of agriculture. Other presenters included: n Keith Meyer, E.S. & Tom W. Hampton Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas School of Law n Neil Hamilton, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University Law School n John Head, Robert W. Wagstaff Distinguished Professor, University of Kansas School of Law
Extra content available online You can find a “flippable” electronic version of the KU Law Magazine, as well as photo galleries, podcasts and videos that complement the stories in this issue and others, on the KU Law website at www.law.ku.edu/spring12. You can also keep up with us yearround on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and the KU Law Blog. Visit www.law.ku.edu and look for the icons above.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 17
REFLECTING ON GREEN HALL’S TRANSFORMATION BETWEEN
THEN
KU Law students spend so much time in Green Hall, it’s easy to take its looks for granted. But the building has evolved through the years, and these photos capture some of the highlights. From cosmetic enhancements to structural overhauls, if these walls could talk, they’d have plenty to say. In the Classroom
Library Circulation Desk As the main entry point for the Wheat Law Library, the Circulation and Reference Desk is in charge of first impressions. In January 2012, those impressions went from lackluster to bold with the installation of a new desk and a bright, branded backdrop to set it off. Dean Stephen Mazza chose the KU blue hue for the feature wall, which contrasts perfectly with the shiny new sign touting the name of donors Doug, L’74, and Laura Wheat. Now library patrons are greeted with an inviting space that complements the expert service and smiles they get from librarians and students workers. The new carpet isn’t too shabby either.
Green Hall classrooms are where lawyers are born. The chairs, tables, chalkboards and lecterns aren’t nearly as important as the wisdom dispensed by professors, but it’s nice to learn in a welcoming environment. A few years ago, we targeted a number of classrooms to replace aging furniture and update colors and technology. A prime example is Room 104, now known as the Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP Lecture Hall. Donations from the firm made possible new desks and chairs, and fresh carpet, paint and wall treatments. A state-of-the-art projector and screen to aid faculty and guest lecturers in presenting their important material were also recently installed. These upgrades were especially welcome in 104, our largest classroom and the venue of choice for many public events.
Office of Admissions / Book Exchange Before the age of online book sellers, the law school operated its own Book Exchange. Longtime director Tamara Dutton said the oldest record she could find indicates the Book Exchange had been around since 1939, although alumni from that era have said it existed as a student-run operation before that. When Dutton retired in 2008, the Book Exchange closed shop. Its former home in the back corner of the Informal Commons (background left), remained vacant until late last year, when construction crews began transforming the space into a new suite of offices for the law school’s recruitment operations. In January 2012, we toasted the opening of the new Office of Admissions and Scholarships, a glass, metal and wood haven that builds on the contemporary commons outside its doors. We’re proud of how nice the space turned out – and excited about the impression it will make with prospective students.
NOW Tai Chi v. Jimmy Green
The Frank L. Snell Courtroom
Although Green Hall still bears his name, Uncle Jimmy’s statue did not move down the hill when the new building opened in 1977. Historical preservationists won the debate over the most appropriate home for the sculpture. A concrete pad intended to welcome the statue still sits empty in front of “new” Green Hall, where a decidedly more modern figure now greets visitors from the lawn. “Tai Chi Figure,” sometimes referred to as “The Surfing Judge,” was donated to the law school in the 1980s by Chancellor Clark Wescoe, who said he thought it showed “the strength of the law, the balance of the law, and the power of the law.”
Every law school needs a courtroom, and KU Law’s gets plenty of traffic. From housing the final round of the In-House Moot Court Competition each year to serving as a welcoming backdrop for guest speakers, the courtroom is a popular destination. Thanks to the generosity of alumni at the Phoenix firm of Snell & Wilmer, the courtroom underwent a facelift in 2005. In addition to new carpet, paint and wood accents, the room got a new lectern with various computer capabilities, a ceiling-mounted projector and monitors at the witness stand and judges’ bench.
Informal Commons The Informal Commons, on the first floor of Green Hall, has always been a popular gathering place for students. It’s where they socialize, campaign for causes, compete for the title of Bluebook Relays champions and (sometimes) study. Until 2005, its look was original to the building: carpet, white furniture designed especially to fit snugly around the pillars, and lots of concrete. Renovations warmed up and modernized the space with wood paneling, ceramic tile, upholstered furniture in earth tones, and lots of metal and frosted glass. Students provided input throughout the project and were willing to sacrifice some lockers for a kitchen area with refrigerators, microwaves and sinks. Now more than ever, the commons is a favorite spot for students. KU LAW MAGAZINE 19
GREEN HALL NEWS
Starky the pig gets to legally spend afternoons napping on sunlit rugs within the city limits now that Lawrence has added potbellied pigs to its list of allowable pets. Starky owes the victory to his owner, KU Law student Ehren Penix (top right), and Ehren’s classmate Kevin Sauer.
FROM PIG TO PET
Student’s battle to keep beloved animal becomes tale of local lawmaking BY KEVIN SAUER
T
he City Commission members were shuffling papers and whispering to each other. The mayor cleared his throat and positioned his microphone. The murmur filling the crowded room drew to a hush as a man dressed in a fedora and tweed suit stepped up to the podium. “Mr. Mayor,” he said, “Starky is my best friend. Please don’t send me
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home tonight to tell him that the people of Lawrence don’t want him in the city, because nothing could be further from the truth.” About a year ago, my friend Ehren Penix acquired a somewhat unusual pet: a potbellied pig. At first it seemed that everyone was in shock at the novelty of having a tiny pet pig. All of our friends constantly asked Ehren to
see the pig, and a predictable round of “aww” always ensued. People on the street would stop their cars in amazement and shout, “Is that a PIG?” But it wasn’t long before the fun ended. Ehren and I returned to his house one day from school to find his roommate waiting with a business card from animal control. To our surprise, we discovered that it was not legal
KU LAW BLOG This story originally appeared on the KU Law Blog. You can read more first-person experiences from current students on the blog at kuschooloflaw.blogspot.com. to own a potbellied pig within the Lawrence city limits. As aspiring law students, we checked the laws in preparation for acquiring the pig and found no mention of the word “pig” in the Lawrence City Code. However, the city code does not exhaustively list the animals that are prohibited. Instead, the city lists only those animals that are allowable as pets, and the code excluded them without mentioning them. As the treasurer and president of the University of Kansas School of Law chapter of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, Ehren and I knew right away that we were the perfect people to confront this issue and do whatever it took to make sure that Starky the pig, now a beloved friend and family member, would not be removed from his home. As we had learned in law school, one of the best ways to start attacking a problem that is relatively unfamiliar to you is to seek the advice of someone with experience in the field. Katie Bray Barnett, KU Law Class of 2010 and KU SALDF president the previous year, was the obvious choice. Knowing Katie’s unmatched devotion to animals, it came as no surprise that she immediately and enthusiastically responded to my plea for help. With that, we began the process of petitioning the city to amend the animal ordinance to allow Starky to stay in his home. We collected letters of support from local and national organizations like the Lawrence Humane Society and the national Animal Legal Defense Fund. We emailed the City Commissioners. We went to municipal court and explained our situation to the judge. (We knew we were in good hands when the judge was reading through
the docket and cautiously stated, “Ehren Penix. You are accused of … owning a pig?”) After a few months of working with the city prosecutor and petitioning the City Commission with the help of Katie Bray Barnett, we were finally able to get the issue on the agenda for the weekly City Commission meeting. By this time, word had spread around Lawrence about Starky and his fight to stay home. Ehren and Starky appeared on the front page of the Lawrence Journal-World, and 6News Lawrence set up an interview for the night before the City Commission meeting. Ehren and I prepared and submitted a memo on the issue to the City Commission, and we both appeared to voice our support of the proposed change to the ordinance. Ehren also arranged a group of people to come speak to the City Commission on Starky’s behalf. Anthony Barnett, Katie Bray Barnett’s husband, represented the Lawrence Humane Society and expressed its belief that Starky was not in danger of being harmed by living in a domestic environment. Ehren’s neighbor brought his daughter and her friend to testify about Starky’s qualities as a great pet and friend. The City Commission, much to their credit, approached the proposed change to the law rationally and even-handedly. The mayor stated that the city enacted the list of animals excluded from prohibition to protect the residents of the city without having to predict in advance every new type of dangerous pet that someone may acquire. But, as some will remember in the context of hedgehogs, the city has a policy of being open to requests from residents to add new animals to the list of those allowable within the city. The Commission found in favor of Starky, and the new ordinance was enacted on March 6, 2012. It was exciting to help create a new local ordinance and very rewarding to see the effects firsthand. — Kevin Sauer is a second-year law student and outgoing president of the KU Student Animal Legal Defense Fund.
For students, serving community just part of KU Law tradition Law students at KU log countless pro bono hours advocating for clients through the school’s clinical programs, receiving class credit and invaluable practice experience as rewards. What don’t show up on their transcripts are the charitable efforts they organize as members of student organizations. After staging a book drive, the Asian Law Students Association and KU Law Legal Entrepreneurs this year donated hundreds of books to area agencies serving underprivileged children. The International Law Society gave proceeds from its annual Wine Tasting in March to Optimus Youth to expand an orphanage in Kenya. And the Native American Law Students Association collected toys for the children of Haskell Indian Nations University families at Christmas time. Some service events have been around long enough to become law school traditions: n The Black Law Students Association challenged Green Hall to give generously to the group’s 25th annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. Enough donations poured in this year to feed 20,000 people in the Lawrence area. n Women in Law’s Pub Night raised $2,500 for the Willow Domestic Violence Center in Lawrence. The students in the organization transformed Liberty Hall into a Prohibition-era speakeasy, and guests donned flapper dresses, feather boas, suit vests and fedoras for the April 6 event. The Moody Bluebooks – a band composed of law school faculty, staff and alumni – performed before bidding began in the live auction. n The Student Bar Association donated $1,000 to Douglas County Legal Aid, thanks to registration fees and contributions associated with Race Ipsa. Despite the poor weather forecast, April 14 turned out to be a picturesque day. More than 50 people took part in the 5k run/walk, which wound through KU’s beautiful campus. n Finally, students in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program prepared and filed more than 300 tax returns between Feb. 13 and April 16.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 21
FACULTY NEWS
When children ran the show 22 KU LAW MAGAZINE
}
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The following is an adaptation of Professor Michael Davis’s introductory remarks at a May 2010 dinner celebrating the retirements of Professors George Coggins and Keith Meyer.
T
here is a lot of love in this room tonight. Before Barkley and I set out to ruin that atmosphere – at least for our honorees – I thought it only fair to explain the context to the many of you here who could have no idea from whence those feelings come. The story starts with the baby boom following World War II. From a national average of about 2.7 million live births a year between 1900 and 1945, in 1946 the babies suddenly began flowing at the rate of 3.5 million to 4.3 million a year. Boosted by two decades of post-war prosperity, in 1964, large numbers of these “boomers” began showing up as undergraduates at America’s colleges and universities. In 1967, they began entering our schools of law. At first there was little response from law schools, as almost a century before, Harvard Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell had created a model for legal education that permitted law students, unlike any other post-graduates, to be taught like cattle.1 Within a couple years, though, the power of the surge was undeniable, and most law schools began adding faculty members to help teach their rapidly growing student bodies.
A hiring blitz in the late ’60s and early ’70s to accommodate an influx of baby boomer students resulted in the most youthful faculty in the history of KU Law. One professor recounts those golden years.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 23
FACULTY NEWS
Professor Fred Lovitch talks to a student in the early 1970s. Lovitch taught business and securities law until his retirement in 2011.
In the fall of 1968, KU Law had a new dean, former faculty member Larry Blades.2 During that 1968-69 academic year, the school recruited four young faculty members, all of whom began teaching in the fall of 1969 and all of whom are in this room tonight. With their ages when hired, they were: Barkley Clark (29), Jonathan Landers (27), Keith Meyer (27), and old man John Murphy (31). The following year, two more relative babies were added: George Coggins (29) and David Culp (26). The 1971-72 additions – hired by Blades but greeted by new Dean Martin Dickinson – were Mike Davis (28), Mal Wheeler (27) and Louise Wheeler (25). And the following year brought the biggest bumper crop of all: Web Golden (28), Cal Grant (33), Webb Hecker (28), Fred Lovitch (32) and Michael Moore (29). The upshot of this hiring blitz was that at the beginning of the 1972-73 academic year, the school had brought in 14 new faculty members in three
24 KU LAW MAGAZINE
calendar years, and, taking into account the departures of previous members, had increased the overall size of the faculty from 14 to 24. Most astonishing, among that 24 were seven of us under
those ages or older – to be running legal education in Kansas? The thought is horrifying! Yet there we were. As you can imagine, this children’s brigade had several dimensions. The first was a great capacity for hard work. Unlike anytime in “new” Green Hall, the lights in many faculty members’ offices in “old” Green burned well into the evening. Mal Wheeler was there almost every night, and many of us were there often. The work product was enormous and eventually paid off in a 1985 Journal of Legal Education analysis of law faculty scholarly productivity that ranked KU Law fourth in the country behind the University of Chicago, Stanford and Harvard.3 There were also important teaching dimensions. All of us took our instructional responsibilities very seriously which, when mixed with students of approximately the same ages, created a strong sense of common purpose. Also, many students were products of those incredible times, which spawned a considerable number of anti-war protesters as well as rapidly increasing numbers of both female and minority students. While frictions remained, it was probably for the best that several faculty members teaching these New Age matriculants had similar hair length and political philosophies.4 But the truly memorable moments – the moments that create the “love in
As we sit here tonight, the most poignant analogy I can muster is how would we like our children – many of whom are now those ages or older – to be running legal education in Kansas? The thought is horrifying! Yet there we were. 30 years old, and eight more under 35, including the dean (Dickinson), the associate dean (Clark), and the law librarian (Barney Reams). As we sit here tonight, the most poignant analogy I can muster is how would we like our children – many of whom are now
the room” – were more personal than professional. Most of us were married. A few had kids when they joined the faculty; most joined parenthood during their early years here. A work hardplay hard lifestyle was universal, which for most of us included two principal
aspects. The first was sports, an outcome primarily attributable to the Blades era. Dean Blades, a fine athlete himself, had a strong tendency to seek out a like kind in faculty hiring. I said at the time that as best I could tell, of the nine of us hired during Blades’ tenure as dean, only Jon Landers and Louise Wheeler were chosen on academic merit alone.5 The rest of us had to show academic merit, for sure. But we also had to pass what I called “the jump shot test.” Shortly after a brief interview for a faculty position, I was taken to Robinson Gymnasium for a scrimmage. Thankfully, I made a few buckets, and an offer was forthcoming. The result of all this was a very athletic young faculty. We played basketball at noon, softball in the spring and summer, golf whenever possible. Our specialty, though, was football. Murphy, Meyer and Coggins had all played varsity football as undergrads, and many of the rest of us had played high-level intramurals both in undergrad and law school. While we engaged in an annual Columbus Day game against the Law Review (which we always won), the overwhelming highlight was during the Fall 1972 “season,” when our faculty team, the Green Machine, won the Lawrence campus independent championship. We did have a handful of student “ringers,”6 but most of the team came straight off the faculty. The underwhelming lowlight, on the other hand, came the following year when wide receiver Wheeler dived into a metal goal post, broke his jaw, and went on injured reserve – from both the gridiron and the classroom – for the remainder of the semester. The other aspect to the closeness we still feel undoubtedly stems from the parties we shared. No one, to my knowledge, partied between Sunday and Friday afternoons. We worked hard, watched a little TV (in both senses), and made and raised babies. But come Friday afternoon, watch out, Saturday morning classes notwithstanding. All of us were each other’s best friends. There were no cliques. Sometimes we went out in public; more often one couple hosted a dinner party. And these parties were serious
Professor Barkley Clark famously re-enacts “Casey at the Bat” during a picnic at Oldfather farm. Clark, who also served as associate dean under Dean Martin Dickinson, was hired at age 29 and began teaching in the fall of 1969. Page 22: Students played alongside young faculty members on the law school’s slow-pitch softball team. Pictured here in 1972 are, back row from left, Dick Lester, L’72, Chris Robe, L’72, Professor Keith Meyer, Miles Sweeney, L’72, and Len Clark, L’73; front row from left, professors John Murphy, John Landers and Bob Casad, David Mitchell, L’73, and professors Mike Davis and Dave Culp. All photos courtesy of University Archives.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 25
FACULTY NEWS
HEAR IT LIVE Professor Mike Davis followed this introduction with a roast of long-time friend George Coggins, after which Barkley Clark did the same for buddy Keith Meyer. The entire evening was recorded, and is available on the KU Law website at www.law.ku.edu/spring12.
Professor Jonathan Landers, right, advises a student at Green Hall in 1969.
business. In an unspoken but universal understanding, children who usually lived at the party venue were neither heard nor seen during the evening. I don’t remember exactly where we shipped them, but I distinctly remember they were never around. Some memories from these occasions will live forever. The Dickinsons’ party the night of the Saturday Night Massacre – when President Nixon took another step toward impeachment – comes to mind, as does the night the Viennaborn, very proper, former Provost Francis Heller did “the twist” on his back on the Davis living room floor. The best (or worst) of these – the Wheeler going-away party – will be recounted later during my roast of George. Suffice for now to say these were the good old nights, long evenings of great fun and no regrets that live on happily in the memories of their participants. There was a sympathy figure in this drama. In 1971, poor Martin Dickinson, only 33 years old himself, was appointed the dean of this cuckoo’s nest. He and Mary Ann enjoyed parties as much as, well, some of those in the
26 KU LAW MAGAZINE
children’s army. But he had the job of running the law school as well. His associate dean – Barkley – wasn’t much help, so the full brunt of responsibility fell on Martin’s shoulders. This burden was particularly acute during faculty meetings. Some of us came out of the protest movement and, whatever our later aspirations, weren’t that crazy about authority in the first place. We had faculty members bring (and open) beer at faculty meetings. One member, soon to leave us, began a chant of “choo, choo, choo” during a meeting to reflect his belief that the dean was railroading a proposal through the group. And meetings took forever. Those of you used to the five- to 10-minute meetings of the last 30 years have no idea. The principal creators of these marathons were the “No Brothers,” Coggins and Landers. These two had appointed themselves the canaries in the coal mine of Western Civilization, and if anything even mildly resembling reform of legal education arose, they resembled the member of the House of Lords who, when told they would be taking up a “reform bill” sent from Commons struggled up and thundered: “Reform,
reform, aren’t things bad enough already?”7 It was a very special moment in time, and all of us privileged to live it understand how lucky we were. The full group dissolved quickly. The Wheelers, the Little Giant, Golden, Moore and Grant were all gone by 1975.8 Barkley and Murph left in the ’80s. Indeed, only five of the 14 remained on the faculty their entire careers, and we are saying good-bye to two of those tonight. So before we turn out the lights entirely, let’s look around. Here is Dean Logan, Dean Blades, Bob Casad, Dean Dickinson, the entire Class of 1969, George Coggins, Web Golden, Webb Hecker and Fred Lovitch. Would the lot of you please stand and join me in a round of applause for ourselves, and for the time that once was and will never be again. n
FOOTNOTES 1
The model persists today.
The first of four consecutive deans who were graduates of the University of Michigan School of Law: Blades, Dickinson, Davis and Jerry. This remark drew mild boos from the crowd. 2
See Journal of Legal Education (September 1985). The analysis was of “senior faculty” production and looked at the “breadth and depth” of scholarly output between 1980 and 1983. In addition to its 4th “overall” rating, KU Law was ranked first among all public law schools, as well as first among all law schools within its cohort of “medium-sized” senior faculties. Under the definition used, the KU senior faculty would have included the seven remaining 1969-72 hires (Clark, Meyer, Murphy, Coggins, Davis, Lovitch and Hecker), plus Casad, Dickinson, Ray Goetz and Paul Wilson (1 year). 3
Much more of this in Clark’s intro to the Meyer roast. The times also produced some hysterical moments. My favorite involved a classroom give-take between Jon Landers and a female student whose “liberation” outlook included an always-moving antenna searching for any whiff of male sexism. Landers had asked his Civil Procedure class to construct and submit a rudimentary pleading. When reporting back on what he had found, he noted that many of the products lacked “sex appeal.” Taking offense, the female student shot out that she didn’t think it necessary to use “sexist” language to make a point. To which The Little Giant, as Landers was affectionately known to his younger colleagues, drew himself to his full 5’5” and responded: “Ms. ---, I resent your implication that only women can have sex appeal.” 4
And Landers himself later became an accomplished pitcher on the faculty softball team. 5
Among the half-dozen students was current faculty member Dennis Prater. 6
Others who might be thought to deserve sympathy were the older faculty members – Scott, Oldfather, Wilson, Shurtz, Kelly, Casad and Goetz. But they could not have been kinder or more understanding to their wilder young colleagues. Alternatively amused and bemused, they not only opened their homes and their hearts to us but took an avuncular view of our professional conceits summed up by my neighbor “Scotty,” who after a meeting during which we had adopted some transformational approach dryly noted, “Well, we tried that in ’62 and it didn’t work, but maybe it will this time.” 7
It was not as if the school began shooting blanks in hiring after the salad days described above. Our next four new faculty members were Flip Kissam, Deanell Tacha, William Westerbeke and Marilyn (Yarborough) Ainsworth, all important figures in the development of the school and good friends in their own rights. But those four hires took place over a four-year period, signaling the end of the avalanche that occurred earlier in the decade. 8
FACULTY NOTES Raj Bhala gave six lectures over seven days in two countries: India and the United Arab Emirates. In New Delhi, India, he gave presentations at the Inter-Pacific Bar Association annual meeting on “Free Trade Agreements in Asia – What Works and What Does Not?” and on “Islamic Financial International Trade – Challenges and Issues.” The IPBA meeting attracted 900 lawyers, 700 of whom were from 60 countries outside India, making the event the largest gathering ever of foreign lawyers in India. Bhala serves as a vice chair for the IPBA International Trade Committee. In the UAE, Bhala was the official guest of the Cultural and Media Center of His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahayan. Sheikh Sultan is the son of the founder of the UAE (Sheikh Zayed), and the brother of the UAE president (Sheikh Khalifa). At the Center in Abu Dhabi (capital of the UAE), Bhala spoke to a large audience of Emiraties and expatriates on “Recent Milestones in World Trade Cases and the Sino-American Trade Relationship.” After that, he spoke at the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development to senior economists and strategic planners on “Fighting Poverty and Terrorism through the Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations: Mission Not Accomplished.” At the University of Sharjah, Bhala gave a public lecture to the entire faculty of law and students on “Recent Developments and Future Trends in International Trade Law.” Finally, at the UAE University, he spoke to the dean and faculty of law on “Six Questions to Analyze Free Trade Agreements,” and then met with the university vice provost for graduate studies and research. Along with Richard Levy, Bhala was interviewed in a KCUR 89.3 FM story, “Midwest Muslims Work To Change Anti-Shariah Movement,” on Feb. 21. Bhala’s article, co-authored with
David Gantz, University of Arizona, “WTO Case Review 2010,” 28 Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law (2011), appeared in six top 10 lists of most downloaded articles on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). He was quoted and featured in prominent international media publications: n “Oklahoma Ruling Exposes Legal Issues with Sharia Law Bans,” International Business Times, Jan. 12. n “Is There a Place for Islamic Law in Western Countries?” 6 CQ Global Researcher 1, Jan. 3. n “Newt Gingrich’s Sharia Law Stance Raises Questions,” International Business Times, Dec. 16. Bhala was appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board of Carolina Academic Press in January. His book chapter co-authored with David Jackson, “Toward Equal Human Dignity in U.S. Free Trade Agreements,” was published in “Imagining a Shared Future: Perspectives on Law, Conflict, and Economic Developments in the Middle East,” 223-251 (Koen Byttebier, Kim Van der Borght & Cailin C.E. Mackenzie, eds., Cameron May/CMP Publishing, London, England, 2011). As a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he led an interactive conference call, “Understanding Sharia: From Caliphate to Current Day,” Oct. 27. He gave the following presentations: n “Islamic Law (Shari’a): Six Themes and Illustrations Thereof,” to officers in the U.S. Special Operations Forces, Navy Seals, aviators, Air Force pilots, military intelligence, psychological operations, and civil affairs, Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Jan. 12. n “Understanding Islamic Law (Shari’a): Six Themes,” University of Kansas Faculty Discussion Club, October. n “Understanding Islamic Law (Shari’a): Themes and Criminal Law,” Judge Advocate
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FACULTY NEWS
General Corps, Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, November. n “Poverty, Islamist Extremism, and the Debacle of Doha Round Counter Terrorism,” annual University of Saint Thomas Law Journal Lecture, Minneapolis, Minn., November. n “Understanding Islamic Law (Shari’a): How and What?” faculty colloquium, University of Saint Thomas, Minneapolis, Minn., November. n “Religious Freedom and Apostasy in Islamic Law,” teleconference, United States International Religious Freedom Commission, Washington, D.C., November. n “Running the Empire for the Common Good,” Woodyard Award presentation, University of Kansas Union, Lawrence, November. His work on Islamic Law (Shari’a) was the subject of a two-part radio broadcast series on Islam and the Arab Spring for an Ottawa, Kan., radio station on Dec. 11. Shelley Hickman Clark successfully represented Robert Gilmore at a municipal court trial, where a judge ruled that part of a sidewalk ordinance was unconstitutional. The case was mentioned in a Feb. 13 Lawrence Journal-World article, “City to appeal judge’s ruling that part of sidewalk ordinance unconstitutional.” Martin Dickinson was named Best Lawyers’ 2012 Kansas City, Kan., Tax Law Lawyer of the Year. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community was honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.” Best Lawyers compiles its list of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys. Representing the Kansas Judicial Council, Dickinson testified twice before the Kansas House Judiciary Committee regarding a bill related to marital property transfers, once in January and once in March. He also presented a paper to the Democratic Caucus of the Kansas House
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of Representatives regarding a tax reform bill on March 1. The 24th edition of “Taxation of Estates, Gifts and Trusts,” which Dickinson co-authors, was published in November by West. Chris Drahozal, along with his co-reporters, presented Council Draft No. 3 of the Restatement (Third) of the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration to the Council of the American Law Institute on Jan. 27 in Philadelphia. The ALI Council approved the draft, which will go before the full ALI membership for approval in May. He made the following presentations: n “The Future of Arbitration and the World of Class Action Litigation,” Federalist Society teleforum, March 8. n “Arbitration Innumeracy,” at “U.S. Arbitration Law in the Wake of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion,” Penn State University Dickinson School of Law, Feb. 22. n “Arbitration Clauses in Credit Card Agreements: An Empirical Study,” Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 16. He was a guest speaker in an arbitration class at Vanderbilt the next day. n “Contractual Alternatives to Litigation: Pre-Dispute Arbitration Clauses,” Annual Meeting of the American College of Business Court Judges, Fairfax,Va., Dec. 6. n “Recognition and Enforcement of International Arbitral Awards,” at a “Teach-In” on International Arbitration, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine, Dec. 7-8. n Panel discussion, “Balancing Finality and Fairness in Arbitration: A State-Federal Contrast,” 6th annual Robert I. Weil Lecture, Los Angeles, Nov. 7. n “Contract and Choice,” AALS Works-in-Progress Conference, Creighton University School of Law, Omaha, Neb., Nov. 4. n “Primary Legal Materials: Access, Preservation, Authentication and Advocacy,” 2011 Joint Meeting of the Mid-America Association of Law Libraries and the
Southwestern Association of Law Libraries, Lawrence, Nov. 3. He published the following: n “Why Arbitrate? Substantive Versus Procedural Theories of Private Judging,” 22 American Review of International Arbitration 163 (2011). n “Judge-Arbitrators in Delaware,” Kluwer Arbitration Blog, Dec. 20. n “In Memory of the Honorable Charles Clark,” 30 Mississippi College Law Review 389 (2012). Drahozal gave a podcast on the Supreme Court’s recent decision in CompuCredit v. Greenwood for SCOTUScast by the Federalist Society on Jan. 20. He also participated in the National Roundtable on Consumer and Employment Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, Calif., Feb. 2-4. David Gottlieb spoke at the Kansas Bar Association Agricultural Law CLE on “Recent Developments in Professional Responsibility: Unauthorized Practice of Law” on Oct. 30 in Manhattan, Kan. He also spoke on “Refugee and Asylum Law” at the social justice class at Plymouth Congregational Church, Lawrence. His opinion editorial, “Tighten Rules for the Supreme Court,” was published March 11 in the Kansas City Star. The Lawrence Journal-World mentioned Gottlieb’s work to free Joe Jones, the first individual in Kansas to be exonerated by DNA evidence, in the Oct. 29 article “For first Kansan exonerated through DNA, freedom remains elusive.” John Head undertook a sabbatical-leave research project on international legal regimes for the protection of grasslands around the world. His research involved visits to Washington, D.C., and to national grassland areas in the United States. In addition, he combined research and teaching in a two-week trip to Turkey. His project benefited from visits to grassland
areas in central and northern Turkey, including visits with both academic and government officials in the region. He spent a week in Istanbul teaching a short course on international economic law to a group of about 24 Turkish students. His teaching stint was a contribution to a six-week program organized by Feridun Yenisey, KU Law’s main contact at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. The program also featured courses taught by KU Law professors Jean Phillips and Stephen Mazza. His article, “Feeling the Stones When Crossing the River: The Rule of Law in China,” 7 Santa Clara Journal of International Law (2010), was translated to Chinese and will be published in the Study of Comparative Law Journal. The translation is thanks to the work of Head’s S.J.D. student, Xing Lijuan, and a Ph.D. student at China University of Political Science and Law. He recently completed the third edition of his book, “Global Business Law,” a text for use in law schools in the United States and overseas. It will be published by Carolina Academic Press. Webb Hecker testified on the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act before the Kansas House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 2. He was quoted on March 2 in a Thomson Reuters News & Insight article, “How Good a Case Do the Kochs Have in the Cato Flap?” which concerned the Koch brothers’ recent lawsuit against the Cato Institute. Hecker is a member of the Kansas Bar Association’s Corporation, Banking, and Business Law Section Subcommittee to draft amendments to the Kansas Revised Limited Liability Company Act. Virginia Harper Ho made the following presentations: n “The Governance of Corporate Groups and the (Ir)relevance of Delaware,”
faculty workshop, University of Arizona James E. Rogers School of Law, March 1; and junior faculty regional workshop, Washington University at St. Louis, Feb. 17. n “Sustainable Growth and the Role of Law,” China Forum, University of Kansas, Jan. 22. n “Corporate Citizenship and the State: Defining Corporate Social Responsibility in the PRC,” at “Tea Talk” Lecture Series, University of Kansas Center for East Asian Studies, Oct. 24. n “Theories of Corporate Groups: Corporate Identity Reconceived,” junior faculty workshop, Michigan State University School of Law, Oct. 7. n “Corporate Boards and Risk Oversight Disclosures,” 2011 Midwest Law and Economics Association Annual Meeting, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Sept. 16-17. Her paper “Governance Beyond Regulation, Corporate Social Responsibility and the Role of the State in Comparative Perspective” will be published by the China Journal of Public Administration this spring. And her article “Theories of Corporate Groups: Corporate Identity Reconceived” will be published by the Seton Hall Law Review later this year. Mike Hoeflich published a book, “Justice on the Prairie” (Kansas City Star Books/Rockhill Press, 2011), and discussed it on Dec. 6 at an event at the National Archives in Kansas City. He also wrote the introduction for the recently published book, “The Trial of George Niven,” (NY: Law Book Exchange, 2011). He gave two luncheon addresses, “Legal Ethics and Web Presence” at the Heart of America Tax Institute in Kansas City and “Writing Court History” at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri on Dec. 2. Richard Levy testified on Feb. 9 before the Kansas Senate Judiciary
Committee concerning SB 320, providing for probable cause hearings for alleged juvenile defenders in pretrial detention. Along with Raj Bhala, he was interviewed in a KCUR 89.3 FM story, “Midwest Muslims Work to Change Anti-Shariah Movement,” on Feb. 21. On Jan. 31, he presented “The Three Faces of Ends-Means Scrutiny” at a KU Law research workshop. Stephen Mazza gave a CLE lecture, “Interaction Between Ethical Obligations and Tax Penalty Provisions,” at the Kansas Bar Association Tax Section CLE on Nov. 18 in Salina. He published an article with Tracy A. Kaye, “Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance in the United States,” 73 Confédération Fiscale Européenne Forum Reports on European Taxation (Servaas van Thiel, ed., 2011). Mazza visited alumni in a variety of locations, including San Francisco in March, Phoenix in February and St. Louis in October. He hosted a KU Law reception at SNR Denton in Washington, D.C., in October and attended the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting in D.C. in January. He also had lunch with Kansas Supreme Court members on Jan. 27. He presented, “Building Communities, Expanding Opportunities,” campuswide summit, University of Kansas, Jan. 20. Steve McAllister was appointed adviser to the American Law Institute’s new project “Principles of Election Law: Resolution of Election Disputes,” in February. He was selected by graduating law students as a student marshal for the May 2012 commencement ceremony, and he published the following articles: n “Justice Byron White and The Brethren,” 15 The Green Bag 2D 173 (2012). n “Standing Up for Mrs. Bond,” 15 The Green Bag 2D 3 (2011). Two of his articles made top 10 download lists on SSRN: “Individual Rights
KU LAW MAGAZINE 29
FACULTY NEWS
Under a System of Dual Sovereignty: The Right to Keep and Bear Arms,” 59 Kansas Law Review 867 (2011), and “The Supreme Court’s (Disparate?) Treatment of Sovereigns as Amicus Curiae,” 13 The Green Bag 2D 289 (2010). He also gave the following presentations: n “Supreme Court Update: Pending Decisions,” with KU Law alumnus Toby Crouse, for federal law judicial clerks in the District of Kansas, Kansas City, Kan., Nov. 17 and Dec. 20. n “The Bill of Rights and Expression,” scholar lecture for the Bill of Rights Institute Program for Kansas high school teachers, in Wichita on Oct. 25 and Kansas City, Kan., on Oct. 20. Lou Mulligan published the annual update to the fourth edition of “Kansas Law and Practice: Kansas Code of Civil Procedure Annotated” (Thomson-West, 2012), with the late Spencer A. Gard and Robert Casad. He also published the 2011-2012 Kansas Civil Jury Instruction Companion Handbook (Thomson-West 2011) with Robert Casad. Other publications included: n “The Supreme Court’s Regulation of Civil Procedure: The Lessons of Administrative Law,” 59 UCLA Law Review, May 2012. n “Standards of Review and Reversibility,” Kansas Bar Association Young Lawyers Forum 2, Winter 2012. n “Jurisdiction by Cross-Reference,” 88 Washington University Law Review 1177 (2011). He coauthored a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief, Minneci v. Pollard, No. 10-1104 (U.S. 2012) in Fall 2011. He also edited the March 2012 Kansas Bar Association Appellate Section newsletter. Mulligan was a commentator at the Junior Faculty Federal Courts Workshop in February at Florida International University College of Law, Miami. He was especially active in the KU Law community. He served as director of the
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Shook, Hardy & Bacon Center for Excellence in Advocacy, and on committees for faculty hiring, law school website redesign, judicial clerkship, admissions director hiring, and Rice Scholars recruitment. He also served as the Rice Scholars Speakers faculty sponsor, Public Interest Law Society faculty sponsor, Native American Law Students Association Moot Court team coach, faculty mentor for the University Scholars Program, and pre-law adviser for the University Honors Program. Over the past year, Mulligan has been a member of the Kansas Court of Appeals Mediation Study Committee, a member of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals C.J.A. Attorney Panel, and an executive committee member of the Kansas Bar Association Appellate Section. Uma Outka gave these presentations: n “Renewable Energy Goals and Local Impacts,” inaugural symposium for Journal of Environmental and Sustainable Law, University of Missouri School of Law, Columbia, Mo, March 9, 2012. An essay will be published in the journal in Fall 2012. n “Environmental Law and Fossil Fuels: Barriers to Renewable Energy,” Vanderbilt Law Review 2012 Symposium on “Supply and Demand: Barriers to a New Energy Future,” Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 24, 2012. The paper will be published in the Vanderbilt Law Review in Fall 2012. n “Energy Sprawl,” guest lecture to land use planning students in the M.A., Ph.D., and joint-degree law programs at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, Conn., Oct. 25, 2011. Outka also served as faculty sponsor for the new Environmental Law Society. Joyce McCray Pearson served on the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Committee on Law Libraries and Technology. She also served on a subcommittee of the committee tasked to do
critical research and review and update a bibliography for the AALS Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Teachers and Students. Pearson co-authored a bibliography for the committee which included resources for aspiring law teachers, background on the hiring process, resources for law school faculty hiring committees, best practices for law faculty hiring, and materials on recent law teaching scholarship. She was recognized for her work at the January 2012 AALS conference in Washington, D.C. In November, she gave a presentation, “Tips, Quips, Working Out and Acting – In the Library,” at the MAALL/SWALL joint meeting, a regional conference hosted by the KU Wheat Law Library. The program was an interactive discussion about ways to keep fresh and engaged in your job duties. John Peck published an article, “Water Use and Reuse: The New Hydrologic Cycle,” (Stein, Brockmann, Covell & Peck), 57 Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute 29-1 (2011). He also gave a CLE presentation, “Water Law: Some Basics and Recent Developments,” at the annual Slam Dunk CLE sponsored by the Kansas Bar Association on Feb. 13 in Manhattan, Kan. Elinor Schroeder spent the spring semester teaching in London as part of the London Law Consortium, a group of seven U.S. law schools that sponsors a study abroad program in the city each spring. She presented “Everything a Mediator Should Know About Employment Law” at the KBA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution CLE on Nov. 18 in Lenexa. Betsy Six published “The Act of Subtle Persuasion” in the February 2012 edition of the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association. Christopher Steadham made two presentations at the 2011 Joint Meeting
of the Mid-America Association of Law Libraries (MAALL) and Southwestern Association of Law Libraries (SWALL) in Lawrence: n “Primary Legal Materials: Access, Preservation, Authentication, and Advocacy,” Nov. 3, 2011. n “Tips, Quips, Working Out and Acting – In the Library,” co-presenter, Nov. 4, 2011. Andrew Torrance was appointed a Gruter Institute Research Fellow in November, joining a multidisciplinary network of 36 distinguished scholars from the United States and abroad to pursue research and teaching. He was a visiting professor at the University of Washington School of Law during the Fall 2011 semester and a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management during the Spring 2012 semester. He published the following articles: n “DNA Copyright,” 46 Valparaiso Law Review (2012). n “Property Rules, Liability Rules and Innovation – One Experimental View of the Cathedral,” 14 Yale Journal of Law and Technology (2012), with Bill Tomlinson. n “Family Law and the Genomic Revolution,” 79 University of MissouriKansas City Law Review 2 (Winter 2011). n Update to “Spinning the Green Web: Transnational Environmentalism,” Global Activism Reader (Luc Reydams, ed.), The Continuum International Publishing Group (2012), with Wendy Torrance. He gave the following presentations: n “Rejection and the 99%,” The Future of Intellectual Property Law Conference, University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, Ga., March. n “Variation in Grounds of Rejection by Patent Office Art Units,” Works-In-Progress Intellectual Property (WIPIP) Colloquium, Houston Law Center, Houston, February. n “Synthetic Biology Ownership,”
Sharing & Innovation Symposium (SynBIOSIS), Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., January. n “User and Collaborative Innovation – Where is the FDA Regulatory Border?” MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Mass., November. n “Open and Closed Innovation – Experimental Evidence to Support Open Science and Innovation,” Open Science Summit 2011, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, Calif., October. n “Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Innovation – One Experimental View of the Cathedral,” Faculty presentation, Emory Law School, Atlanta, October. He was an invited panel moderator for “Using Social Media for Customer Co-Creation,” 2011 World Conference on “Mass Customization, Personalization and Co-Creation (MCPC 2011): Bridging Mass Customization & Open Innovation,” San Francisco, November. He also participated in the Biotechnology Industry Organization Intellectual Property Corporate Counsels Committee Conference, New York City, November. Torrance hosted and presented at the 5th annual Biolaw Conference in October at KU Law. In March, he was quoted in the Los Angeles Daily Journal and San Francisco Daily Journal, “Supreme Court rejects patents for diagnostic medical tests.” And he gave two invited guest lectures at the MIT Sloan School of Management this spring. Suzanne Valdez published “What Every Lawyer Should Know About Crime Victims’ Rights in Kansas,” 80 Kansas Bar Association Journal 22, December 2011. She also served as the moderator for a Federalist Society guest speaker, Dr. Christina Hoff Sommers, on Oct. 18. Steve Ware gave presentations on financial regulation to the Federalist
Society chapters of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and University of Arkansas-Fayetteville on Feb. 6-7. He spoke on foreclosure and bankruptcy at the Duke University School of Law on Jan. 11 with University of North Carolina law professor Melissa Jacoby. He also spoke on judicial selection at the Indianapolis Federalist Society on Jan. 10, and – with former Duke Law Dean Paul Carrington – at the Elon University School of Law on Jan. 11 in Greensboro, N.C. Ware participated in a panel discussion on judicial elections at George Washington University on Nov. 8, and spoke on U.S. debtor-creditor law on Nov. 5 at the University of Limerick, Ireland. Ware published an opinion editorial, “Switch to democratic politics to choose judges,” on Jan. 23 in the Indianapolis Star. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court cited Ware’s scholarship in a decision reaffirming the enforceability of agreements to arbitrate disputes, rather than take them to court. His article, “Arbitration and Unconscionability after Doctor’s Associates Inc. v. Casarotto,” was referenced by Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion for the Supreme Court’s majority in the case of CompuCredit Corp. v. Greenwood. Melanie Wilson and co-author Paul Marcus, professor at William & Mary School of Law, published “Criminal Procedure,” part of Gilbert’s Law Summaries (Thomson/West 2011). Wilson was featured in a United States Courts podcast, “Mapp v. Ohio,” discussing the Fourth Amendment case from 1961 as part of the United States Courts project. She also appeared in a William & Mary School of Law Institute of Bill of Rights Law video in a student panel on the Supreme Court case United States v. Jones on Sept. 13. Wilson served as a visiting professor at William & Mary during the fall semester.
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ALUMNI NEWS
Congrats!
PARTNER,
BY TWEET Alumnus learns about promotion via Twitter
T
he announcement came in a string of tweets from a fake Twitter account, but it wasn’t just another joke for one KU Law graduate. Between tweets explaining rules for watching KU basketball and game day haikus, FakeJoeDooley announced that Mike Fischer, L’07, who has worked at Payne & Jones since 2007, had been promoted to partner. Along with most other lawyers at the firm, Fischer (@kufsch on Twitter) is a Fischer loyal follower of the FakeJoeDooley account, but he wasn’t expecting a promotion notice to pop up in his feed. “It took a second before I realized what had happened. I thought maybe it was a mistake,” he said. “After the initial shock, I called and texted the managing partner, laughing super hard.” The FakeJoeDooley account is one of the many on Twitter that parody the lives of minor and major celebrities around the world. The account’s creators call it “a parody representation
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of what we think a baller KU assistant coach would be in an awesome world.” In reality, Joe Dooley is an assistant coach for the University of Kansas men’s basketball team, a position he has held since 2003. As one of the youngest partners, Fischer is considered the “social media expert” at the firm. He gives weekly Twitter updates for FakeJoeDooley and other, more serious accounts at staff lunches. “It’s a fun way to follow KU basketball,” he said. “I follow all the official accounts and all of the basketball players as well – that’s why they thought it would be an appropriate way to make the announcement.” Not many lawyers can hold claim to receiving a promotion notice via Twitter, and Fischer believes he’s the only attorney ever to be made partner by FakeJoeDooley. Payne & Jones might well be the only firm to use a parody account to announce a new partner, but that’s indicative of the firm’s unique, KU-centric culture. All of the 18 attorneys hold at least one degree from the university, and over half have degrees from KU Law. “We are a pretty fun-loving, closeknit group, and the unique announce-
BY SARAH SHEBEK
ments just kind of evolve from that,” said Chris Sherman, L’01, another partner at the firm. The year that Sherman made partner, Payne & Jones came up with a different creative strategy to announce his promotion. His wife was on maternity leave when she got the call to meet the firm members at a surprise lunch. Sherman showed up thinking he would have a lunch meeting with an expert, and was instead met by his wife, new baby and future partners to give him the good news. The FakeJoeDooley tweet was especially appropriate because of the office’s enthusiastic support of KU athletics. After KU won the Orange Bowl in 2008, they plastered the office inside and out with dozens of oranges. A large number of the firm’s attorneys travel together for the Final Four in men’s basketball, and they also decorated the office with news articles from KU’s runs through the tournament in 2008 and 2012. For a sports-loving KU Law alum like Fischer, it’s the perfect work environment. “As a die-hard fan of the university and supporter of KU Law, there is no better place for me to be,” he said. n
VOLUNTEER HONOR ROLL
T
his fourth annual edition of the Volunteer Honor Roll recognizes the many KU Law graduates who donate time, energy and expertise mentoring and staging mock interviews with students, guest lecturing in law classes and at student organization events, judging moot court rounds, hosting alumni receptions, serving on boards and otherwise volunteering for the benefit of the law school and future generations of KU lawyers. We value your contributions! Names that follow represent volunteer efforts from March 2011 to March 2012. We made our best efforts to ensure that the list is complete. If you are aware of any omissions or errors, please contact Mindie Paget at mpaget@ku.edu.
Anisha Thomas, 1L, Krista Morgan, L’02, Rachel Martin, 1L, and Professor Ellen Sward visit during the 1L Mentor Reception in October 2011. Top: Grant Harse, L’10, of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, talks to students about legal careers in government at the Government Agencies Fair in March.
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ALUMNI NEWS GUEST LECTURERS, SPEAKERS AND PANELISTS Steve Anderson, L’09 Joan Archer, L’92 Sarah Lynn Baltzell, L’08 Joan Bowen, L’90 Kelly Campbell, L’92 Mitch Chaney, L’81 Toby Crouse, L’00 Kirt DeHaan, L’95 Mike Delaney, L’76 Cheryl Denton, L’90 Mark Dodd, L’06 Craig Evans, L’85 Robert Flynn, L’06 Shelly Freeman, L’88 Heather Counts Garrett, L’00 W. Rick Griffin, L’04 Thomas Griswold, L’81 Stephen Harmon, L’74 Mark Hinderks, L’82 Cory Lagerstrom, L’98 Laura Lawson, L’95 The Hon. Steve Leben, L’82 John McGannon, L’86 Laura McKnight, L’94 Megan Monsour, L’08 Jon Strongman, L’02 Marie Woodbury, L’79 MISCELLANEOUS Charlie Hostetler, L’63 Heather Jones, L’00 Douglas Wheat, L’74 Katherine Zogleman, L’03 MOOT COURT JUDGES The Hon. G. Gordon Atcheson, L’81 The Hon. Carol Beier, L’85 Drew Cummings, L’11 Mike Delaney, L’76 Jeanne Gorman, L’78 Lindsay Grise, L’10 Joan Hawkins, L’99 Lindsey Heinz, L’09 The Hon. Janice Miller Karlin, L’80 Kevin Kelly, L’89 The Hon. Steve Leben, L’82 The Hon. John Lungstrum, L’70
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The Hon. Carlos Murguia, L’82 Evan North, L’11 Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, L’82 Ellen O’Leary, L’11 The Hon. Joseph Pierron, L’71 SEPT The Hon. Julie Robinson, L’81 Steve Six, L’93 Jon Strongman, L’02 Todd Thompson, L’82
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DIVERSITY ADVISORY COUNCIL Dan Cranshaw, L’03 Laura Clark Fey, L’92 Albert Herdoiza, L’80 Lana Knedlik, L’96 Ricardo Kolster, L’01 Patricia Konopka, L’94 Marcella Lee, L’94 Janet Murguia, L’85 Kelley Sears, L’74 Joe Serrano, L’93 Damon Williams, L’02 Issaku Yamaashi, L’00 Holly Zane, L’86 WOMEN’S ADVISORY COUNCIL Katharina Babich, L’91 Parthenia Evans, L’82 Amy Fowler, L’01 Cathy Havener Greer, L’76 Carrie Josserand, L’98 Madeleine McDonough, L’90 The Hon. Mary Murguia, L’85 Cathy Reinhardt, L’83 Elizabeth Schartz, L’88 Lisa Schultes, L’85 Stacey Warren, L’93 Jeanne Verville, L’85 NEW MEMBERS OF BOARD OF GOVERNORS The Hon. Karen Arnold Burger, L’82 Hayward Fisk, L’68 Kirk Goza, L’82 Gene Irvin, L’78 Peter Johnston, L’97 Brad Korell, L’97
Eric Namee, L’84 Jeff Stowell, L’01 Stanley Woodworth, L’78 Paul Yde, L’85 Find a complete list of board members at www.law.ku.edu/alumni
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE Martin Bauer, L’75 Lydia Beebe, L’77 David Elkouri, L’78 Kit Smith, L’72 Tom Wagstaff, L’72 MOCK INTERVIEW PROGRAM Ryan Brunton, L’02 Adam Davis, L’08 Mark Dodd, L’06 Amy Fowler, L’00 Lindsey Heinz, L’09 Martha Hodgesmith, L’78 Ricardo Kolster, L’00 Robert McCully, L’85 Jennifer Stevenson, L’03 1L MENTORS Katherine Allen, L’02 Collin Altieri, L’01 Dustin Bradley, L’08 Clay Britton, L’08 Daniel Calderon, L’07 Kelley Catlin, L’05 Mark Cole, L’07 Dan Cranshaw, L’03 Danielle Davey, L’09 Bryan Didier, L’04 Thomas Diehl, L’07 Brian Dietz, L’07 Michael DiPasquale, L’06 Matthew Donnelly, L’07 Anne Emert, L’05 Michael Fischer, L’07 Carl Folsom, L’05 Kelly Foos, L’09 Adam Gasper, L’08 Rebekah Gaston, L’05 Jessica Glendening, L’04 Jeremy Graber, L’09
Marie Haynes, L’05 Stefani Hepford, L’03 William Hurst, L’06 Lawrence Jenab, L’02 James Johnson, L’03 Heather Jones, L’00 Sara Juarez, L’05 Samuel Korte, L’05 Adam LaBoda, L’04 Shayla Lewis, L’10 Karyn Lopez, L’01 Maren Ludwig, L’08 Katie Lula, L’07 Jessica Madrid, L’08 Jack McInnes, L’04 Martin Miller, L’81 Scott Miller, L’94 Terelle Mock, L’03 Jehan Moore, L’05 Krista Morgan, L’02 Daniel Morris, L’09 Tricia Nibarger, L’10 Holly Perkins, L’08 Demetrius Peterson, L’09 Sara Pfeiffer, L’09 The Hon. G. Joseph Pierron, L’71 Martha Presser, L’05 Robert Ramsdell, L’99 Ambriel Renn-Scanlan, L’06 Shawn Rogers, L’98 Jason Romero, L’09 Robert Schendel, L’81 Kathleen Selzler Lippert, L’93 Jamison Shipman, L’03 Luke Sinclair, L’08 Cary Smalley, L’05 Rachel Stahle, L’09 Catherine Theisen, L’97 Emily Vijayakirthi, L’04 Amanda Voth, L’07 Burton Warrington, L’09 Jennifer Webb, L’00 Christine White, L’05 Edward Wilson, L’00 Natalie Yoza, L’07 Daniel Yoza, L’08 Guillermo Zorogastua, L’07
LEGAL CAREER FAIRS Christopher Allman, L’89 Steve Allton, L’04 The Hon. G. Gordon Atcheson, L’81 Angela Atkinson, L’01 Melanie Baker, L’97 Joseph Bant, L’08 Diane Bellquist, L’02 Gregory Benefiel, L’06 Kyle Binns, L’07 Stacey Blakeman, L’09 Dustin Bradley, L’08 Derek Brown, L’97 Ryan Brunton, L’02 Kelley Catlin, L’05 David Clauser, L’93 Anna Cohen, L’10 Crissa Cook, L’07 Danielle Davey, L’09 Bryan Didier, L’04 Mark Dodd, L’06 Matthew Donnelly, L’07 Kip Elliot, L’95 Lisa Fewins, L’06 Jay Fowler, L’80 Peter Glasser, L’04 Ivery Goldstein, L’06 Matthew Gough, L’05 Jeremy Graber, L’09 Anne Gusewelle, L’96 Heather Hall, L’05 Matthew Hanson, L’07 Jo Hardesty, L’86 Grant Harse, L’10 Marie Haynes, L’05 Stefani Hepford, L’03 Tyler Hudson, L’01 Neal Johnson, L’09 Christopher Jones, L’02 Maria Kaminska, L’09 Wiley Kannarr, L’94 Michele Kessler, L’83 Linda Koester-Vogelsang, L’91 Anna Kowalewski, L’09 Tamera Lawrence, L’10 The Hon. Steve Leben, L’82 Vicki Miller, L’93 Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, L’82 Reid Nelson, L’86
Timothy O’Brien, L’83 Patrick O’Bryan, L’05 Tyler Page, L’10 The Hon. G. Joseph Pierron, L’71 Jim Pottorff, L’84 Judy Pottorff, L’84 Ambriel Renn-Scanlan, L’06 Demetra Salisbury, L’06 Bill Sampson, L’71 Mark Samsel, L’10 Dennis Schapker, L’79 Luke Sinclair, L’08 Gregory Skoch, L’00 Anne Smith, L’10 Joshua Smith, L’10 Libby Snider, L’99 Susan Stanley, L’84 Caleb Stegall, L’00 Adrienne Strecker, L’07 Naomi Stuart, L’75 Chad Sublet, L’06 Chad Tenpenny, L’97 Heather O’Hara Tombs, L’07 David Trevino, L’07 Edward Tully, L’10 Brian Turney, L’01 Nancy Ulrich, L’84 Amanda Voth, L’07 The Hon. William Woolley, L’86 Holly Zane, L’86 SUPERVISORS FOR CLINICAL STUDENTS The Hon. Carol Beier, L’85 The Hon. Robert Fairchild, L’73 Peter Glasser, L’04 Brandon Jones, L’00 Heather Jones, L’00 The Hon. Janice Miller Karlin, L’80 The Hon. Peggy Carr Kittel, L’83 The Hon. John Lungstrum, L’70 The Hon. Michael Malone, L’73 Paula Martin, L’81 The Hon. Carlos Murguia, L’82 Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, L’82 Leon Patton, L’83 The Hon. Julie Robinson, L’81 The Hon. Kathryn Vratil, L’75
Clockwise from left: David Elkouri, L’78, participates in a meeting of the Capital Campaign Committee in February; Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, L’82, Judge Mary Beck Briscoe, L’73, and Steve Six, L’93, judge the Moot Court Competition finals in April 2011; Luke Sinclair, L’08, meets with his 1L mentee, David Barclay.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 35
ALUMNI NEWS
Top: Jean Menager, 1L, Professor Joyce McCray Pearson, Kyle Binns, L’07, Xavier Andrews, 1L, and Jose Ordonez, 2L. Center: Jacy Moneymaker, L’07, Nick Garzia, Pat Konopka, L’94, Clark Quigley, 2L, Kathy Perkins and Stan Davis. Bottom: Sallie Dickinson, Jie Li, 3L, Professor Martin Dickinson, Career Services Assistant Director LaVerta Logan, and David Lloyd, L’07.
Rene Ugarte, 2L, Lana Knedlik, L’96, Jie Li, 3L, Elsa Fraire, 2L, and Andoni Garrote, 2L.
PHOTOS BY STEVE PUPPE
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CELEBRATING DIVERSITY The KU Law community came together on March 2, 2012, for the 17th annual Diversity in Law Banquet, hosted by the Asian Law Students Association. A major fundraiser for the Diversity Scholarship Fund, the banquet celebrates diversity at the law school and in the legal profession. David Lloyd, L’07, served as this year’s keynote speaker, discussing the value of diversity in law and forecasting its arrival in the near future. Lloyd is an attorney at Finch & Campbell LLP, an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Business and co-owner of Method, a men’s clothing boutique in Kansas City, Mo.
Top: Ricardo Kolster, L’01,Troy Butler, Sara Butler, Ronald Nguyen and Peter Chung. Bottom from left: David Lloyd, L’07, delivers the keynote address, puts on the Jayhawk bowtie he received as a gift from the hosting Asian Law Students Association, and poses with Dean Stephen Mazza.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 37
ALUMNI NEWS
After graduating this spring, 3Ls Zach Roberson, Carlos Hernandez and David Smith will open a law firm in Olathe. They plan to document their experience on the KU Law Blog for the benefit of others interested in following the same path.
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED Trio to chronicle transition from law students to firm owners
A
t least three KU Law students SEPT set to graduate this spring know who their first boss will be. After passing the bar exam, Zach Roberson, Carlos Hernandez and David Smith plan to open a law firm in Olathe, Kan. — and they’re bringing you along for the ride. Through occasional posts on the KU Law Blog, the trio will keep readers up to speed on their experiences. “Carlos, Dave and I decided to write this blog because we think that it will provide helpful insight for law students who are considering starting their own firms,” Roberson said. “Just as we have been able to learn from the
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Read the trio’s complete first blog post at www.law.ku.edu/spring12
mistakes and successes of others, we hope to provide law students with tips and suggestions that they may use to successfully ‘hang their shingle.’” We will check back in with the group a year from now in the KU Law Magazine. In the meantime, here are a few excerpts from their first blog post: “Just like any venture, you need to go out and see the market, talk to people, and figure out what legal services people need,” Hernandez writes. “We found that the Hispanic
population in Kansas City and the surrounding area is underrepresented. The Kansas City area is in desperate need of bilingual attorneys who can practice family law, immigration law, employment law, and criminal law.” From Smith: “Perhaps the primary reason we’re starting this firm together comes from the most treasured American ideal: the desire to master our own destinies. I don’t want to be stuck doing legal research all day to write memos for clients I may never meet. It’s better to actually interact with people and tell them face-to-face what I can do for them, how I will do it, and when.” n
ALUMNI NOTES
Items were received or collected prior to April 1, 2012. Submit your news by e-mail to patti@ku.edu or online at www.law.ku.edu. Click on Alumni and look for Keeping in Touch. KU Law Magazine relies on alumni for the accuracy of information reported.
1960s Robert H. Wagstaff, L’66, was awarded a
Doctor of Philosophy degree in law by the University of Oxford, England. The title of his thesis is “The Spectre of Lord Atkin in the Aftermath of 9/11: The Rule of Law and Terror Detentions in the United States and the United Kingdom.” David J. Phillips, L’69, has retired after 35
years with the office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Kansas, the last 10 years of which he was the head of the office.
in her field and has influenced other women to pursue legal careers, opened doors for women lawyers in a variety of job settings that historically were closed to them, or advanced opportunities for women within a practice area or segment of the profession. She has also been recognized for outstanding service to the Kansas Supreme Court and the citizens of Kansas through her membership on the Blue Ribbon Commission for the study of the Kansas judicial system.
Sam H. Sheldon, L’83, Ottawa, Kan., has been
1980s Jim Eggleston, L’80, founding partner of
1970s Joseph F. Speelman, L’74, a partner at
Blank Rome LLP, Houston, moderated an American Bar Association plenary CLE session, “Where to Draw the Line: When Can the Government Hire Private Lawyers to Prosecute Actions?” at the Environmental, Mass Torts and Products Liability Litigation Committees’ Joint CLE Seminar held in January 2012 in Hollywood, Fla. Roger Walter, L’75, of the Law Offices of
Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy, Chtd., Topeka, was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the field of securities/ capital markets law. Robert Schmisseur, L’77, retired from his
position as district court judge for the 30th Judicial District in Pratt in January 2012 and is now Pratt County Counselor. Martha Hodgesmith, L’78,
received the 2012 Chief Justice Kay McFarland Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka. The award recognizes an individual who has achieved professional excellence
2012. He was also listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of civil rights, litigationlabor and employment, litigation-municipal, personal injury litigation-defendants. Seck is also listed as a Kansas “Super Lawyer” in the category of employment and labor. He co-authored the 2011-12 supplement to his text, “Determining Economic Loss in Injury and Death Cases,” published by West Publications. He is a partner in the Overland Park office of Fisher Patterson Sayler & Smith LLP.
Eggleston Flowers & King, a 10-lawyer firm based in Weatherford, Texas, is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in commercial real estate law and farm and ranch real estate law, the coordinator of the RBLS Real Estate specialization exam, and a speaker on real estate, oil and gas, and asset protection topics. Judge Robert E. Nugent III, L’80, chief judge
of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas, was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy in March 2012 in Washington, D.C. Nugent was one of 36 nominees honored for his professional excellence and exceptional contributions to the fields of bankruptcy and insolvency. He is also secretary of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. Chris McNeil, Ph.D., L’81, Columbus,
Ohio, has written a primer on preparing for administrative agency hearings, “Administrative Agency Litigation,” published by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and Lexis/Nexis. Michael Seck, L’82, was
named by Best Lawyers as Overland Park’s “Lawyer of the Year” in employment law-management for
appointed by Gov. Sam Brownback to the Kansas State Tax Court of Appeals. Sheldon is owner and president of Haley Title Company and Bowers & Sheldon Law Firm. The Court of Tax Appeals aims to resolve disputes between taxpayers and taxing authorities promptly and impartially, and to help maintain public confidence in the state and local tax system. Appointments require Senate confirmation. Janet Murguia, L’85,
president and CEO, National Council of La Raza, has been appointed a commissioner on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission. Over the next year, the commission will craft a package of realistic and actionable policy recommendations that will address the future housing needs of an increasingly diverse American society. The final recommendations will be released in 2013. Joseph P. Richardson, L’85, has joined
Gammage & Burnham in Phoenix. Richardson’s practice focuses on corporate finance and securities, mergers and acquisitions, banking, business and corporate governance issues. Jan Fink Call, L’87, is corporate secretary
and general counsel to the LECG group of companies in Wayne, Pa.
KU LAW MAGAZINE 39
ALUMNI NEWS Michael Russell, L’88, has been appointed
to the 29th District Court in Wyandotte County, Kan., by Gov. Sam Brownback. Russell’s appointment fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Thomas Boeding.
1990s Molly, Wood, L’91, a
prominent elder law attorney, was recognized by Douglas County Senior Services in April at its 6th Annual Jazz It Up event. Wood has been a partner at the Lawrence firm of Stevens & Brand LLP since 2002. She previously worked at Kansas Legal Services, where she became managing attorney and directed its elder law project, providing free or low-cost legal assistance to seniors in Douglas, Jefferson and Shawnee counties. In 1995, Wood helped establish the Elder Law Clinic at KU Law, where she served on the faculty as an adjunct professor for the clinic’s first 10 years. For the past 20 years, Wood has written “Legalese,” a monthly column in Douglas County Senior Services’ monthly newsletter, “60 and Better,” addressing legal issues and concerns of older citizens. Wood serves as a volunteer on the boards of directors for Douglas County Visiting Nurses, Rehabilitation & Hospice Care and Kansas Advocates for Better Care (formerly Kansans for Improvement of Nursing Homes). Kimberly K. Hays (Souter), L’93, received the
2011 Outstanding Family Law Attorney Award presented by the Family Law Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association. Hays served as chair of the Family Law Section for the Oklahoma Bar Association in 2010-11 and chair of the Family Law Section of the Tulsa County Bar Association from 2010 to present. In addition, Hays was elected to the Oklahoma Bar Association Board of Governors, District 6 (Tulsa), and will serve a three-year term from 2012-14. She is also serving a two-year term as a director-at-large on the Tulsa County Bar Association Board of Directors. Hays practices family law in Tulsa. Harry Herington, L’93, chairman of the
board and CEO of the Olathe-based company NIC Inc., the premier provider
40 KU LAW MAGAZINE
of official eGovernment services, ranked No. 20 on the Forbes magazine list of the “100 Best Small Companies in America.” This is the third consecutive year the company has made the list. It is the only company headquartered in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, as well as the state of Kansas, to make the list. Deborah Wilkerson, L’93, is president and
CEO of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. She served in a variety of roles at the Foundation, including general counsel and COO, before assuming the role of president and CEO in 2012. Prior to joining the Foundation, Wilkerson was an attorney with the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, where she focused on estate planning and charitable planned giving. Roger Grandgenett II, L’94, was recently
named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 Guide. Grandgenett is a shareholder in the Las Vegas office of Littler Mendelson, the nation’s largest employment and labor firm. Kim Jones, L’94, has joined the Kansas City,
Mo., law firm of Seyferth Blumenthal & Harris LLC as a member of its employment and business litigation practice. Jones previously practiced with Hush Blackwell LLP. Michelle A. Russell, L’94, has been appointed
executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of YRC Worldwide in Overland Park, effective February 2012. Russell recently served as senior vice president and general counsel at Spirit AeroSystems Inc. YRC Worldwide Inc. is a Fortune 500 Company headquartered in Overland Park and is a leading provider of transportation and global logistics services. John Wilcox, L’94, has been elected managing
director of the Kansas City, Mo., law firm of Dysart Taylor Cotter McMonigle & Montemore PC. In this capacity, Wilcox will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm and will continue his full-time practice in the areas of trucking and transportation, personal injury, employment and criminal litigation. C. Edward Young, L’94, accepted the Ameri-
can Council of Engineering Companies National Award for the most innovative
engineering program or report in April in Washington, D.C. The award was presented to KDOT and Burns & McDonnell for the Kansas Airspace Awareness Tool. Young originated the ideal for tool and oversaw its execution. The awareness tool won the Kansas ACEC award for innovation. It was the second year in a row KDOT Aviation won the award.Young is the director of KDOT Aviation. Andrew Halaby, L’96,
was featured in the February 2012 edition of Student Lawyer magazine, dubbed the “Hot Practice Issue.” The publication selected Halaby to represent the field of intellectual property law, which he practices as a partner at the Phoenix office of Snell & Wilmer. Janet Mittenfelner, L’96, has joined the Office
of General Counsel at Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City, Mo., as litigation counsel. Beccy Yocham, L’96, deputy city attorney and
interim community development director for Lenexa, has been appointed to serve as director of the Community Development Department by the city of Lenexa. She has been serving as interim director since October 2011. The department facilitates both public and private development in the community through planning, public projects, community standards, licensing, high-quality building practices, engineering and inspection services for public infrastructure and facilities, and customer service. Virginia (Ginny) Murray, L’97, was appointed
associate general counsel for the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department in August 2011. This appointment follows 14 years working as an assistant attorney general for the state of Missouri. Patrick Smith, L’97, has accepted a position
as corporate counsel for Westar Energy in Topeka. He is in charge of federal reliability compliance with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as well as legal duties involving Westar’s membership in the Southwest Power Pool electric transmis-
sion grid system. He previously worked as litigation counsel with the Kansas Corporation Commission doing primarily electric utility regulation and federal regulatory work with the FERC on behalf of the state of Kansas. Brent N. Coverdale, L’98, who practices at
the firm of Seyferth Blumenthal & Harris LCC in Kansas City, was recently named a “Client Service All Star” in the BTI Client Service All-Star Team for Law Firms 2012. The BTI Consulting Group’s Client Service All Star award is based on unprompted feedback from more than 240 general counsel at large and Fortune 1000 organizations. This exclusive award conveys Coverdale’s commitment to client service excellence.
LOOKING FOR
Christopher Getty, L’98, formerly a deputy
county attorney in the Riley County Attorney’s Office, was hired as the Salina Municipal Court prosecutor in January 2012. Mike Mohlman, L’98, is a partner at the
Overland Park law firm of Smith Coonrod Mohlman LLC. He was recognized in the 2011 Super Lawyers for his work as a plaintiff’s attorney. Hale Sheppard, L’98, an
attorney in the Atlanta office of Chamberlain Hrdlicka, has been named to the Georgia Super Lawyers list as a top attorney in Georgia for 2012. No more than 5 percent of lawyers statewide are selected by Super Lawyers annually. Cathleen Carothers, L’99, continues her
work as a consular officer in the Foreign Service. In June, she will complete her fifth tour, a three-year tour at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai as the Immigrant Visa Unit Chief. Later in the summer, she will begin a three-year tour at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo as a regional consular officer, where she will travel throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Brian D. Goodman, L’99,
senior practice leader, Resources Global Professionals – Human Options, is one of 48
KU LAW GEAR? LOOK NO FURTHER. The Student Bar Association has polos, pullovers, T-shirts, hats and other gear for you to show off your ties to KU Law! Just visit the SBA tab on klfp.org to browse. Then send an e-mail to kansas.sba@gmail.com to place an order.
ALUMNI NEWS business leaders in Orange County, Calif., named as On Purpose Honorees and profiled in the 2012 “On Purpose” book. The honorees are some of Orange County’s most accomplished leaders and community service advocates. The book also showcases the many charitable organizations and educational programs supported in the Orange County community, with the aim of educating and inspiring greater involvement and supporting the next generation of philanthropic leaders. Proceeds from the sale of the book will be used to provide scholarships to Orange County high school seniors to encourage their future leadership and philanthropy.
selected for the list of 2012 Texas Rising Stars. Fleming was honored for his work representing clients in business litigation matters. Texas Rising Stars selections are based on peer nominations and limited to those lawyers who are 40 years old or younger or who have been practicing law for fewer than 10 years. Overall, only 2.5 percent of eligible Texas attorneys receive the Rising Stars honor.
Rachel Smith, L’99, a partner in the Overland
Brennan P. Fagan, L’01, has been named to
Park law firm of Smith Coonrod Mohlman LLC, was recognized in the 2011 Super Lawyers as a Rising Star.
the Missouri and Kansas “Rising Stars” list as one of the top up-and-coming attorneys in Kansas for 2011. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state receive this honor. Fagan practices with Fagan Emert & Davis LLC in Lawrence.
2000s Sean Fleming, L’00, a shareholder in the
Dallas office of Godwin Ronquillo PC, was
Nathan B. Webb, L’00, has been elected
a new partner at Emerson Thomson Bennett in Akron, Ohio. Webb is a registered patent attorney who focuses his practice in the area of intellectual property litigation.
Melissa Hoag Sherman and Chris Sherman, both L’01, welcomed their third daughter,
Lily Kate, in February 2011. Melissa practices with Lathrop & Gage LLP and Chris with Payne & Jones, Chtd. Both firms are in Overland Park. Rich Federico, L’02, will graduate with
an LL.M. (concentration in criminal trial practice and national security law) from Georgetown University Law Center in May 2012. Following graduation, Rich, spouse, Ann Premer, L’02, and daughter, Emilia, will move to Jacksonville, Fla., where Rich will be the senior defense counsel for the Navy’s Southeast Region. Bradley C. Friesen, L’02, was recognized
as one of “North Carolina’s Rising Stars for 2012.” The 2012 Super Lawyer listings appeared in North Carolina Super Lawyers magazine and the North Carolina edition of The New York Times. Friesen practices with Bell Davis & Pitt PA in Winston-Salem. Jeffrey L. Heiman, L’02, has joined the
Lawrence/Topeka law firm of Stevens & Brand LLP, where he will concentrate his practice in the areas of civil litigation,
dedication to law The University of Kansas School of Law is confronting challenges in legal education with an approach that is both innovative and responsive to the changing profession. Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas seeks to increase support for law students and faculty. Your gift opens doors for them to become leaders in the legal community.
Law, ‘13
to support the KU School of law, please visit farabove.org, or contact Kristen toner at KU endowment, 785-832-7321. Help us rise. Help us soar.
corporate law, employment law, estate planning, and personal injury law. Jason C.M. “Jace” McClasky, L’02, is pleased
to announce his marriage to Kristin Patton in May 2011 in Kansas City, Mo. McClasky is a partner in the law firm of Short, Borth & Thilges in Overland Park. Jennifer Knapp Riggs, L’02, recently moved to
Sprint in Overland Park, where she serves as litigation counsel in the company’s legal department.
Molly Aspan, L’03, received
the 2012 Oklahoma Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Award because of her professionalism, skills and commitment to the profession and her community. Aspan is a shareholder with the law firm of Hall, Estill, Hardwick, Gable, Golden & Nelson PC in its Tulsa office. Her primary practice area is employment and labor defense litigation and counseling. Aspan is also admitted to practice in Kansas. Her nomination for the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award states that she has inspired and challenged others to be more effective leaders in the bar and in their communities. Matthew Corbin, L’03, has been elected
partner in the Overland Park office of Lathrop & Gage LLP, where he practices in the area of business litigation. Tony Corporon, L’03, became assistant
counsel in the real estate investments division in the Overland Park office of Metlife in December 2011. He advises clients in matters relating to agricultural lending. Jeff Schwartz, L’03, has been inducted into
his high school’s hall of fame. Schwartz attended East High School in Pueblo, Colo., where he was an all-state choir selection and performed in a number of school plays. He also was a member of the Eagles’ tennis team. He currently practices law in Fort Collins. Terelle A. Mock, L’04, is a partner at Fisher,
Patterson, Sayler & Smith, practicing in the firm’s Topeka office. Mock’s practice focuses on defense of government entities
– including counties, cities and school districts – against claims involving employment law, civil rights and general torts. Jonathan W. Davis, L’05, has been named
a shareholder and director of the firm Wallace, Saunders, Austin, Brown & Enochs, Chtd., in Overland Park. He has been with the firm since 2005 and is a member of its litigation and business law practice groups. His practice focuses on litigation, general business, estate planning and professional negligence defense, including architecture, engineering, medical and real estate. Kelli Lieurance, L’05, was recently elected
to the partnership at Baird Holm LLP in Omaha, Neb.
Raymundo Eli Rojas, L’05,
is president of the El Paso Immigrant Defense Bar. In 2010, he founded the El Paso Chicano(a) History & Preservation Project. In private practice, Rojas finds time to do community and low-income worker organizing. He serves on the alumni board of the National Latino(a) Law Student Association and teaches Chicano Legal History in the Chicano Studies Program at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he also serves as faculty adviser to the UTEP Chicano(a) Pre-Law Society. In 2011, Rojas founded the Border Jayhawks, the recognized KU alumni club in El Paso. F. Simon Tolbert, L’05, is an associate in the
Denver office of Burleson LLP. His practice focuses on oil and gas title work. Tolbert also advises clients in international oil and gas law, trade agreements, and trade policies, in developing markets in the western Pacific. Beth Wegner, L’05, and Buck Wendel,
Lenexa, were married in September 2011 in Lawrence. Wegner is the community outreach and crime prevention specialist with the Olathe Police Department. Kara Bemboom, L’06,
has been appointed assistant vice president in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s
legal department and will serve as assistant ethics officer. Bemboom joined the bank’s human resources department in 2002 and left in 2003 to attend law school. She returned to the bank is 2010 as a staff attorney. Bemboom also serves as assistant secretary to the bank’s board of directors and secretary to the bank’s management committee. Maria Fogliasso, L’06, is the new director
of social media in the Overland Park office of Intouch Solutions, a digital marketing agency exclusively dedicated to serving pharmaceutical brands. She was previously a social media manager at CenturyLink. Kara Gerwin, L’06, welcomed her son,
Benjamin William, in February 2011. She practices at Sprint in Overland Park. David R. Lloyd, L’07,
is practicing with Finch & Campbell LLP in Kansas City, Mo., where he does corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and securities work. Lloyd continues to teach Business Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and he and two other attorneys own and operate Method Clothing Boutique in Kansas City, Mo. Lloyd delivered the keynote address at the law school’s 2012 Diversity in Law Banquet. Elizabeth “Liz” Rogers Rebein, L’07, is an
assistant prosecutor in the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in Hackensack, N.J. Rebein practices in the appellate section. John P. Smolen, L’07, is practicing with
Nossaman LLP in Washington, D.C. He previously practiced with a firm in Baltimore, Md.
Tadd Blair, L’08, recently
accepted a commission as a member of the JAG Corps with the U.S. Navy. His first tour will be in the Jacksonville, Fla., area. Dennis L. Kuhnel, L’08, was recently
selected as the Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands first director of the HudsonMeng Educational & Research Center and has also been named as the volunteer
KU LAW MAGAZINE 43
coordinator. In addition to his duties with the U.S. Forests & Grasslands, Kuhnel teaches history and anthropology at Chadron State College.
IN MEMORIAM
Holly M. Perkins, L’08, is practicing with the
Jennifer L. Arnett, L’05, Kansas City, Mo., January 30, 2012
Lawrence law firm of Stevens & Brand LLP. Alicia Kirkpatrick, L’09, has
James H. Bernard, L’48, Kansas City, Mo., February 8, 2012
accepted a position in the Kansas City, Mo., office of Polsinelli Shughart, practicing in the firm’s tax department.
M. Dean Burkhead, L’55, Lawrence, Kan., November 17, 2011
Daniel Moskowitz, L’09,
Larry O. Denny, L’67, Kansas City, Mo., March 7, 2012
has accepted a position with the Kansas Citybased law firm of Graves Bartle Marcus Garrett LLC, and is practicing in its Dallas office in the area of whitecollar criminal defense. Tim Swanson, L’09, has accepted a position
in the Kansas City, Mo., office of Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP, practicing in the firm’s bankruptcy department. Dana Watts, L’10,
is practicing at Adduci Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP in Washington, D.C. Andrea S. Gava, L’11, is a senior property
tax appeal representative at Marks Nelson Vohland Campbell Radetic in Kansas City, Mo. She is engaged to be married in the fall of 2012. Anna Gillispie, L’11, Lawrence, has accepted
a position with TDB Communications as a Freedom of Information Act Processor for a division of Homeland Security. Ryan McAteer, L’11, Redondo Beach, Calif.,
recently had an article published in the Loyola Chicago School of Law’s “Informed Consent.” The paper is titled, “Examining Contemporary Manufacturer-Physician Consultation Agreements: The Federal Fraud and Abuse Provisions and Fair Market Valuation in Lawful Service Agreements.”
44 KU LAW MAGAZINE
Richard D. Coffelt, L’59, Hays, Kan., January 25, 2012 James R. Crouch, L’57, Lahaina, Hawaii/Las Cruces, N.M., January 8, 2011
Robert J. Hammer, L’68, Loveland, Colo., November 20, 2011 George Lowe, L’50, Paola, Kan., October 26, 2011 Richard Massieon, L’71, Seneca, Kan., March 25, 2012 M. Paul Mathews, L’48, Winfield, Kan., October 13, 2011 Lee McMaster, L’61, Wichita, Kan., January 2, 2012 James Ray Moore, L’67, Lawrence, Kan., December 16, 2011 John C. Morse, L’77, Liberty, Mo., April 29, 2011 Edward R. Moses III, L’48, Sun City West, Ariz., March 29, 2012 Warren C. Neal, L’49, Kansas City, Mo., March 7, 2012 Judge Robert H. Perry, L’73, Carson City, Nev., December 20, 2011 The Hon. Laurence R. Smith, L’37, Kansas City, Mo, January 18, 2012 Franklin P. Snyder, L’49, Shreveport, La., September 27, 2011 Andrew J. Somora, L’98, Kansas City, Mo., October 28, 2011 Benjamin A. Stead, L’74, Slater, Iowa, February 9, 2011 Omer G.Voss, L’39, Wilmette, Ill., February 16, 2012 Orlin L. Wagner, L’55, Wichita, Kan., January 22, 2012
COME HOME. RECONNECT. MAKE MEMORIES.
KU Law Reunion Weekend October 26-27, 2012 Classes of 1972, 1982, 1987, 1992 and 2002 The KU Law classes of 1972, 1982, 1987, 1992 and 2002 will reunite during Homecoming weekend, Oct. 26-27, 2012 in Lawrence. Please reserve the dates and join us for what promises to be a fun weekend! Highlights will include a reception at The Oread before the football game, tailgating on Campanile Hill with the Student Bar Association, and a discounted KU Law block of football tickets. Check www.law.ku.edu/reunion for the latest details as they become available and for hotel information to reserve a room. Alumni who would like to help plan special events for individual class years should contact Noelle Uhler at nuhler@ku.edu.
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KU Law Reception at KWAA Conference Casad Comparative Law Lecture Homecoming Reception Legal Career Options Day
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