Mitchell on Law Spring 2008

on law WANTED:

SPRING 2008

WILLIAM MITCHELL COLLEGE OF LAW MAGAZINE

First-Year Associate with Experience

Spring 2008

Finding Your Balance pg 14 The Future of Food pg 18

Mitchell on Law Volume 25, No.2

Editor’s Note Spring is a time of new beginnings, and this season

our magazine features several new beginnings for our faculty, alumni, and school.

The name Janus comes from the ancient Roman god of doorways, beginnings, and the rising and setting of the sun. And so Mitchell enters a new season in its history with Dean Eric S. Janus’ official installation as the law school’s 24th president. A note from Dean Janus reflecting on this new beginning is found on page 32.

Recently, Mitchell embarked on extensive alumni research to enhance our relationship with you. A summary of the results is found on page 4.

This issue shows off Mitchell’s strengths. We’ve been pioneering the practical aspects of legal education for decades, but what are we doing to continue to be pioneers into the future? Several innovative programs and skills courses are highlighted in “Wanted: First-Year Associate with Experience.”

You eat, right? You’ll want to read “The Future of Food,” about Professor Donna Byrne who is plowing new ground in food and agricultural law.

A recent CLE raised the subject of work-life balance, and that got us wondering about whether the discussion that started in the ’80s has changed. See what you think after reading “Finding Your Balance” on page 14.

Finally, there’s a new beginning for alumnus Eric Magnuson ’76 who becomes chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court in June. All are welcome on Tuesday, June 24, at a reception in his honor. See page 26 for more details.

Happy summer!

Wendy Burt magazine@wmitchell.edu

Published by the Office of Institutional Advancement, William Mitchell College of Law 875 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105-3076 (651) 290-6370 fax: (651) 290-7502 magazine@wmitchell.edu www.wmitchell.edu/alumni Editors Wendy Burt Mary McGlynn Grant

Art Direction Pamela Belding

Class Notes Editor Julie Husmoe

Graphic Design Pamela Belding Melinda Bianchet

Writing Lisa Harden Amy Lindgren Meleah Maynard Erin Peterson

Photographers Raoul Benavides Jonathan Chapman Tim Rummelhoff Moses Shirai Illustrator Keith Skeen

President and Dean Eric S. Janus Chair, Board of Trustees Gregory J. Stenmoe ’81 Board of Trustees Mary Cullen Yeager ’89, vice chair; Judge Elizabeth H. Martin ’80, secretary; James C. Melville ’90, treasurer; Louis L. Ainsworth ’77; Lynn M. Anderson ’80; Lawrence T. Bell ’79; Stephen R. Bergerson ’74; Stephen B. Bonner ’72; Patricia Ann Burke ’78; Mary C. Cade ’77; Jeffrey P. Cairns ’81; Richard R. Crowl ’76; Mary Lou Dasburg; Michelle A. Hatcher ’98; Penny A. Hunt ’77; Stephen R. Lewis Jr.; David M. Lilly Jr.; Ben I. Omorogbe ’95; Kathleen Flynn Peterson ’81; Lewis A. Remele Jr.; Peter M. Reyes Jr. ’97; William R. Sieben ’77; Thomas W. Tinkham; Eric C. Tostrud ’90; William A. Van Brunt; Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright; Donald F. Zibell ’62; Richard F. Ziegler Alumni Association President Michelle A. Hatcher ’98 Alumni Association Board of Directors Mark A. Metz ’97, vice president; Jocelyn L. Knoll ’92, secretary/ treasurer; Thomas C. Baxter ’94 ; Jennifer F. Beck Brown ’03; Aaron A. Dean ’94; John M. Degnan ’76; Dyan J. Ebert ’93; Kate A. Golden ’99; Mark A. Hallberg ’79; Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks ’85; Juan G. Hoyos ‘92; Imani S. Jaafar Mohammad ’04; Barbara J. Klas ’91; William M. Orth ’80; Judge George T. Stephenson ’85; Robert G. Suk ’70; Kay E. Tuveson ’87; Alan R. Vanasek ’69; Piper K. Webb ’97; Sylvia I. Zinn ’84

Mitchell on Law

Table of Contents Features and Profiles

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2 Optimism, Opportunities, and Open Doors: John Stanoch ‘85

By Erin Peterson The president of Qwest’s Minnesota operations has an open-door policy: when he sees one, he walks through. It’s led him from a judge’s chamber to the state Capitol to a Fortune 500 company.

8 Dedicated to Public Service: Carol Washington 1L

By Lisa Harden A natural advocate, this Mitchell student has already gained considerable experience in policy and government.

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10 Wanted: First-Year Associate with Experience

By Erin Peterson Several new innovative programs are giving Mitchell students an edge when they start working and firm recruiters what they’re looking for when hiring.

13 Two Supreme Court Chief Justices Support a Working Student

By Lisa Harden Nick Mazzocco, a part-time Mitchell 1L student and fulltime construction project manager, is the first recipient of the Magnuson Amdahl Working Student Scholarship.

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14 Finding Your Balance

By Amy Lindgren With work and life seamlessly integrated—thanks largely to technology— everyone’s happy, right? Apparently not. The word “balance” is making a comeback. This time around, men are joining the discussion, and the conversation is about more than child care.

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18 The Future of Food

By Meleah Maynard Professor Donna Byrne is preparing her students to tackle food law’s new frontier.

22 Working Where She’s Needed: Jessie Nicholson ‘85

By Lisa Harden Jessie Nicholson ’85 has devoted a legal career to representing low-income people.

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Departments 4 News 21 Gratitude 24 Class Notes

Cover illustration

by Keith Skeen

32 To the Point—Thoughts from Dean Janus

22 Spring 2008

Read the magazine online @ www.wmitchell.edu/alumni

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Optimism, Opportunities, and Open Doors John Stanoch ’85 has an open-door policy: when he sees one, he walks through.

It’s led him from a judge’s chamber to the State Capitol to a presidential post at a Fortune 500 company.

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Mitchell on Law

Alumni Profile

By Erin Peterson rom his 21st floor office at Qwest, John Stanoch ’85 has a spectacular view of downtown Minneapolis, but on many warm summer afternoons, he prefers to be a few blocks east in the confines of the Metrodome, where the downtown view is replaced by an off-white fiberglass dome.

Every year, he splits season tickets with a couple of buddies so he can watch the Minnesota Twins in action.

Stanoch vacations in Fort Myers, Fla., to watch the squad in spring training, and every year he and his son travel around the country to watch games in venues like Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, and Fenway Park.

He’s perfectly content with his annual baseball rituals, but he admits he can’t wait until April 2010, when the Twins will welcome fans to a brand new ballpark.

“When the team finally has an outdoor stadium, I can hardly wait to spend a Sunday afternoon watching baseball outside,” he says.

In some ways that view perfectly encapsulates the philosophy that has driven his entire career. As happy as he is at any given point, he’s always confident that there’s an even better opportunity just on the horizon.

Photo by Raoul Benavides

A Broad Base From the very beginning, Stanoch juggled his interests in governmental and corporate work. Before heading to William Mitchell, he spent a year at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs. While at Mitchell, Stanoch started lobbying on behalf of the city of Minneapolis—experience that led to more government relations work. He took a job with a private firm shortly after graduating, but left a couple years later to run his own government relations practice.

By the late 1980s, he’d built a strong circle of political connections, and in 1990, then-Gov. Rudy Perpich asked him to chair his re-election campaign. Perpich lost the race, but before he left office, he offered Stanoch a position as a district court judge in Hennepin County, which Stanoch accepted.

Hennepin County Chief Judge Lucy Wieland ’82, who worked with Stanoch during his tenure at the district court, says he was both skilled and personable, a perfect combination for the role. “John

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is one of the most congenial and eventempered people I know,” she says. “He likes people, and people know that. As a result, they’re drawn to him.”

Stanoch took on his share of highprofile cases as a judge, but he says that the ones that meant the most to him happened when he was working in juvenile court between 1995 and 1998. Frequent monitoring meant that he often saw kids several times throughout their probation, and he watched as they changed and improved their lives. He remembers one boy who drew him a picture of Bugs Bunny to thank him—Stanoch put it on his door and kept it for the rest of his time on the bench.

“That’s part of the reason the juvenile court exists as a rehabilitation—rather than a punishment—court. Young people can make mistakes, but they can also turn themselves around.”

Stanoch enjoyed the job, and by 1998, he’d been elected for a second full term.

But when state Attorney General Mike Hatch offered him a post as chief deputy attorney general, he says he couldn’t pass it up.

“I believe you have an obligation to give back to your community and to try to make it a better place to live and work.”

At the state attorney general’s office, Stanoch supervised more than 200 attorneys and oversaw civil litigation as well as the work of the criminal division. While it looked like a big move up to most, he admits that it caused a bit of consternation for his father. “I think he really wondered if something was wrong with me,” he says.

“He couldn’t understand why I would want to stop being a judge.” Stanoch reassured his father that everything would work out for the best.

Stanoch’s optimism was well-placed.

In his new job, his work and demeanor continued to impress the state’s top movers and shakers. When Qwest, the telecommunications company, quite literally came calling a couple years later to see if he was interested in becoming president of the company’s Minnesota operations, he jumped at the chance. The new position

in business was both a step forward and a nod to his past.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he enthuses. “It was a chance to use the experience I had in dealing with the government, dealing with regulators, dealing with the legal system, and dealing with the media.”

New Opportunities, New Challenges Stanoch took the reins at a time of significant flux in the industry—Ma Bell has been transformed into an industry that’s about more than just phones. “The rate of transformation has been enormous,” Stanoch says. “Many people are moving away from having a landline phone, and there’s been huge growth in the Internet and broadband connections. The scope of what we do has expanded tremendously, and it’s a much more competitive environment.”

Wieland says though it might not have been a traditional career move, it was one for which Stanoch was well suited. “He’s someone who likes a challenge. But he’s also someone who’s a strategic thinker. He’s got natural leadership ability, and he builds consensus,” she says.

Stanoch is also someone who believes there’s more to life than his career. You might find him mentoring students through the Minnesota Business Partnership or chairing a Hennepin County task force that focuses on improving graduation rates.

He's also serving on Mitchell's National Security Forum advisory board. “I believe you have an obligation to give back to your community and to try to make it a better place to live and work,” he says.

Stanoch is entering his eighth year as president of the Minnesota operations at Qwest. He’s content with his role, but he also acknowledges that he’s kept his law license active. At first, it was a concession he made to his father when he took the job at Qwest. But now he says he can see that he might eventually move back to law.

You might expect that, though. Because throughout his career, he’s proven that if you keep your options open, opportunity just might knock.

Erin Peterson is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer.

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ALUMNI OPINIONS Letting Us Know What You Think In an effort to help guide strategic planning efforts for the school and enhance the alumni relations program, William Mitchell recently asked alumni for your opinions about the school’s reputation, your relationship with the school, what we do well, and where we can improve.

Here’s what you said:

Specifically, alumni are looking to Mitchell for:

Generally, there is good satisfaction among alumni. In fact, 67% of those surveyed are satisfied overall with their law school experience. Among the findings:

Alumni believe Mitchell graduates are better able to hit the ground running and make an immediate contribution in their new jobs.

Alumni view William Mitchell as having a strong reputation and one focused on practical legal education.

Three-quarters would recommend Mitchell to prospective students 65% of alumni felt prepared to succeed in their career.

When asked what words best describe William Mitchell, 78% of you said “practical wisdom.”

We asked about your level of support for Mitchell’s college-wide strategies. Here’s what you ranked most important:

1. Practical and relevant legal education 75% 2. Access for non-traditional students 71% 3. Keeping Mitchell affordable 55% 4. Successful job placement 55% 5. Competitive with other Minnesota law schools 50% In addition, we found that we have room to improve: 45% of alumni surveyed said they would like to be more connected to Mitchell. 71% said they felt somewhat informed, and 18% said they felt very informed about what's going on at Mitchell. They also agreed that the school could increase communication to alumni through the Web, print communications, and email.

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Educational opportunities

60% 55%

Opportunities to help students

55%

Career development help while students at Mitchell

39%

Opportunities to connect with fellow alumni

What it means going forward

"Our network of 10,000 alumni is one of our strongest assets,” said President and Dean Eric S. Janus, “and I am committed to strengthening our alumni engagement and career development efforts. In addition, we’re testing webcasting of our CLEs to reach more alumni. A strong alumni relations program will not happen overnight, but we are already taking steps to enhance what we are doing.”

The research, conducted by an outside research firm, included phone surveys and focus groups with a broad cross-section of alumni, and will be conducted again in three years. We also looked at differences between age groups, including priorities of Baby Boomers (born 1946-64), Generation X (1965-82), and Generation Y (1983-97).

Thank you to Mitchell alumni who participated in our research. If you would like to contribute your thoughts on William Mitchell’s alumni relations program, email magazine@wmitchell.edu.

Mitchell on Law

Mitchell News

In the News "We know that statistically, seniors are at enormous risk for fraud. It’s foolish to ignore that. But there's also a huge dilemma in determining when someone is just being eccentric, versus someone who is a victim of undue influence."

Professor Kim Dayton on senior citizens filing lawsuits alleging they were victims of business fraud. The New York Times, Dec. 24, 2007

"We should let the world know that we are going to not be doing this willy-nilly, but that the program is important. When you have 100, 150 people who have been rendered, you can't just say we're going to have a mistake or two." Professor A. John Radsan in the April 12

News & Observer as part of a panel discussion at Duke University in North Carolina on the practice of extraordinary rendition in which terrorism suspects are moved from one country to another for interrogation.

"I'm pretty sure that at the end of the day, we won't have bars calling themselves street theaters. How does that go: What's in a name? That which we would call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?'' Doug Blanke, executive director of the Tobacco Law Center at William Mitchell, in the Feb. 15 Star Tribune, commenting on the practice of bars declaring themselves theaters to avoid the Minnesota smoking ban.

"The only people who can answer that question are inside that deliberation room when the Court meets to decide how it's going to handle cases after oral argument.

And the only people who are inside that room are the seven justices of the Supreme Court." Professor Peter Knapp, on how much power a Minnesota Supreme Court chief justice

wields behind closed doors during a March interview on Minnesota Public Radio following the appointment of Eric Magnuson ’76 as Minnesota Supreme Court chief justice.

Law Review One of Top-Cited Journals by U.S. Judges The William Mitchell Law Review is the most frequently cited legal journal in Minnesota by U.S. judges and is increasingly cited by other legal journals across the country, according to recent rankings of 1,431 U.S. journals by Washington and Lee University Law School.

Mitchell’s Law Review ranked 22nd in the nation for citations by judges and

Spring 2008

57th in the nation on citations by other legal journals, moving up five places from last year in the Washington and Lee ranking.

The William Mitchell Law Review is a quarterly, student-edited journal. Founded in 1974, the Law Review publishes timely articles of regional, national, and international interest for legal practitioners, scholars, and lawmakers.

Read more news online @ www.wmitchell.edu/alumni

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In the News Vice President Walter Mondale Guest of National Security Forum Former Vice President Walter Mondale discussed how U.S. intelligence agencies can balance national security interests with the law at a special National Security Forum event on April 10 at William Mitchell.

The United States should not have to choose between protecting Americans and following the law, Mondale said. He criticized the current administration for bypassing the law in the name of public safety. “The idea of forgetting our law and values is not an acceptable answer to our problems,” he said, calling for new procedures that preserve fundamental rights while sustaining the principles of justice.

“The lawyer’s highest challenge is saying no at a time when he is expected to say yes,” Mondale told the audience of 200 law students, professors, judges, attorneys, and community members. Mondale concluded with advice for new lawyers encountering ethical dilemmas: “If you have to choose between your career and the profession of law, stick with the profession. You’ll have a better life.”

Former Vice President Walter Mondale took questions on issues ranging from the role of the vice president to the qualifications of the current presidential candidates after his National Security Forum presentation.

Legal Research Tips from the Mitchell Reference Librarians

Take the Taxing out of Tax Law Legal Research At some point, it happens to every attorney. You’re tasked with researching the tax-related implications of a legal issue— and you haven’t studied tax law in 10 years. After that initial moment of panic subsides, turn to the CCH Tax Research Network and the BNA Tax and Accounting Center databases available at William Mitchell's Warren E. Burger Library.

The CCH Tax Research Network features a wealth of information on taxation, including a hypertext version of the IRS code with links to annotations, explanations, and related topics of interest. Also invaluable to the intrepid tax researcher is the inclusion in the database of tax reporters, legislative updates, and cases and rulings for each of the 50 states.

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The BNA Tax and Accounting Center is home to the renowned Tax Management Portfolios. Each Portfolio provides an in-depth, authoritative, and up-to-date examination of a specific aspect of tax law. Subject areas covered in the easyto-browse database range from the minutiae of home office deductions to the intricacies of hedge fund taxation.

So the next time, or actually any time, you’re faced with the daunting prospect of tax research, we encourage you to visit the Warren E. Burger Library. The CCH and BNA databases are freely accessible to alumni on all public computer terminals. Contact a reference librarian at reference@wmitchell.edu for more information.

Mitchell on Law

Mitchell News

Center for Elder Justice & Policy Launched in March Professor Kim Dayton kicked off the Center for Elder Justice & Policy with a reception attended by partnering organizations on March 19. Dayton, who is the director, and her students have a number of projects under way designed to advocate for seniors, change laws, and provide more information for families and caregivers, including: • A housing discrimination law project with the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis that will help educate tenants, landlords, and advocates about the housing rights of disabled older people.

• Working with the Minnesota Caregivers Association, William Mitchell students are researching legislation and

information for people raising their grandchildren. In addition, students are working with Lutheran Social Services to make it easier for grandparents to gain custody of their grandchildren when necessary.

• Students are working with the Elder Care Rights Alliance on a multi-year project to revise the state's Vulnerable Adults Act to better protect the victims of elder abuse and neglect.

• Along with the Volunteers of America organization, students are administering a survey to determine the size and characteristics of Minnesota’s un-befriended elderly.

The goal is to define a process for appointing health care decision makers for un-befriended elderly.

• Finally, students also are working with the Alzheimer’s Association to improve dementia training laws, develop additional consumer education materials, and expand laws for paid time off for the care of a sick or disabled elderly.

IP Institute Brief on Winning Side William Mitchell’s Intellectual Property Institute filed an amicus brief in the patent rule-making case Tafas v. Dudas. Adopting many of the arguments set forth in the brief, the Eastern District Court of Virginia ruled in April that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) exceeded its authority in promulgating the new rules and invalidated them. The IP Institute’s brief helped the judge understand the radical change the new rules were to

have in shifting the burden of proof during the patent application process from the USPTO to the applicant, said Steven J. Moore, attorney for plaintiff Tafas from the Connecticut-based firm of Kelley Drye & Warren. “This argument will have profound effects on other pending USPTO regulations,” Moore said.

The brief was drafted by Mitchell Professors Carl Moy and Jay Erstling and several student research assistants.

Mitchell Alumni Lead Teams to Successful Competition Season William Mitchell students had a very successful competition season this year, taking third in the nation at the American Bar Association’s Client Counseling Competition, finishing second at a new state intellectual property competition, and advancing to the nationals in the ABA’s Arbitration Competition, Negotiation Competition, and National Moot Court Competition Alumni Michael Gibbons ’99 and Stacy Matthews St. George ’04 took Mitchell students to the nationals of the Client Counseling Competition for the third time in the past four years. Only 15 teams out of more than 150

Spring 2008

from across the United States and Canada made it to the national competition.

Jim Baker ’03 coached Mitchell students in the first annual Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association (MIPLA) Cup Competition hosted by William Mitchell in March. The team placed second out of six teams from all four Minnesota law schools.

Coaches Dionne Benson ’00 and Erika Burkhart Booth ’05 helped Mitchell students win the Region 8 Moot Court Competition and compete at the nationals for the first time in two decades.

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Mitchell Mix

1L Carol Washington is

Dedicated to Public Service

&

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Mitchell on Law

Mitchell Mix

A natural advocate, Washington has already gained experience in policy and government

By Lisa Harden

Photo by Jonathan Chapman

Carol Washington started advocating for smoking

companies, are still enslaved to it,” Washington says, noting that African American adults have the second-highest rate cessation before she had even mastered the language. As a of smoking (26.7 percent) of any ethnic group in the United kindergartner, she unabashedly put out relatives’ cigarettes.

States.

Today, as a first-year Mitchell student, she works as a research Washington’s dedication to public service attracted the assistant for the Tobacco Law Center at William Mitchell. The attention of the St. Paul Mayor’s Office, and in 2006 she went 30-year-old has spent more than six years working for tobacco to work for newly elected Mayor Chris Coleman. She worked control and smoking policy organizations, serving as the first as an education and communications associate, providing director of the Minnesota African American Tobacco Education direct assistance to constituents who contacted the office and Network. assisting with getting the word out about initiatives.

“I am a natural-born advocate,” Washington says. “I want Washington enjoyed interacting with residents. “City to inspire people and effectively impact their lives in a positive government, especially with Mayor Coleman’s administration, way.” is one of the last refuges in government where an ordinary After graduating in 2000 from Howard University in citizen can call and see a real impact,” she says.

Washington, D.C., with a B.A. degree in political science, Washington came to Mitchell to gain the Wisconsin native started practical legal experience to further her working as a community “The most rewarding career desire to make a difference. She is in affairs assistant for the Mitchell’s inaugural Fellows Program, Minnesota Smoke-Free for me is where I can make which provides student participants an Coalition. The Coalition and opportunity to delve deeper into legal a positive impact. There are its members have advocated topics and engage in leading-edge for decades for statewide research with faculty. rewards other than financial.

If smoke-free laws. This “I like being part of anything that’s the culminated in passage of you’re not doing what you like, first of its kind,” she says of being a new the state’s 2007 Freedom to Mitchell Fellow. “It’s great participating in Breathe Act, banning smoking then no amount of money will an environment with people who think in workplaces, including bars like you.

I can ask questions and hear and restaurants. make you happy.” personal anecdotes, including failings, “It was exciting because and learn from those.”

I was on the cusp of This summer Washington will clerk in the Adult Criminal fundamental change on one of the country’s most important Division of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. It’s a new public health issues,” Washington says. direction she’s excited to explore.

Although she has done Washington enjoys being on the forefront of change, so in several undergraduate internships in Washington, D.C., 2003, at just 25 years old, she jumped at the chance to lead including with the Democratic National Committee, she has no the Minnesota African American Tobacco Education Network, plans to run for political office or return to the nation’s capital. created by the Minnesota Big Tobacco lawsuit settlement and She’d rather use her policy experience to become a successful run by the Council on Black Minnesotans.

On her own, reporting to a 12-member advisory board, she student and, eventually, an effective practitioner.

“I want to make change in a real way and do something laid the foundation for the organization, creating a strategic that makes people’s lives better,” she says. “The most plan, developing a policy agenda and communications plan, rewarding career for me is where I can make a positive impact. and coordinating the organization’s activities.

There are rewards other than financial. If you’re not doing “I knew at first it would be scary, but it was a once-inwhat you like, then no amount of money will make you a-lifetime opportunity,” Washington says of the network happy.” that continues to engage the African American community throughout Minnesota. “We created something out of nothing.”

“It’s ironic that African Americans started picking tobacco and today, thanks to targeted marketing by big tobacco

Lisa Harden is a staff writer in William Mitchell's Office of Institutional Advancement.

Check out the Tobacco Law Center at www.wmitchell.edu under "Centers and Institutes."

Spring 2008

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WANTED: First-Year Associate with Experience William Mitchell is giving its graduates and law firm recruiters a head start

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Mitchell on Law

By Erin Peterson

Illustrations by Keith Skeen

Ray Faricy ’99, a partner at Lindquist & Vennum, loves

working with third-year law students. He finds them bright, motivated, engaged, and earnest. But the second they toss their mortarboards, he knows that they’re something of a gamble. “In private practice, associates generally lose money for at least the first couple years with all the time the firm invests in them to get them up to speed,” he says.

That idea isn’t heresy; it’s common knowledge. A 2003 study found that law firms don’t generally start recouping their investments in young lawyers until their fourth year at a firm.

William Mitchell has long recognized the need for law students to receive both theoretical learning and practical legal skills training so they can be more effective as beginning lawyers. A leader in offering experiential opportunities to guidance as she opens an eco-friendly sporting goods store, its students, William Mitchell was a pioneer in clinics, legal hires employees, sells products, and sells the business a few practicum, trial advocacy, and legal writing. But during the years later. past few years, the school’s Sonsteng says it’s been an eyeadministrators and faculty “Somebody who has done opener for students. “Adults don’t learn have made an even more through lectures,” he says. “They learn concerted effort to integrate well in this course is going by identifying a problem and solving skills with the rest of the problem. In the class, they work to be attractive to a firm with the curriculum. on property law, intellectual property, Their work is ahead of a a corporate practice. This is zoning, negotiations, and contracts.” trend sweeping through law Through the course, they learn that schools today. A 2007 report the legal theories they read in texts can’t going to save them months and by the Carnegie Foundation always be used to address practical suggested law schools needed months of hands-on training.” realities. Walt Duffy ’70, a partner at to ramp up their efforts to Faegre & Benson who gave a lecture for integrate legal education with – Professor Jim Hogg Sonsteng’s course, says students are quick the practice of law. learners. Though they might not have “Most law schools give done tasks perfectly the first time, they’ll have the background only casual attention to teaching students how to use legal they need when they do them again at a firm where the thinking in the complexity of actual law practice,” its authors stakes are much higher. “When my daughter plays piano, for noted. “Legal education pays relatively little attention to direct example, she’ll practice in front of her family and then in front training in professional practice.” of her classmates before she does a recital on the stage,” he Because of William Mitchell’s strong tradition in such says. “The analogy is the same here: experience matters.” practical offerings, it is able to continue building on an already Students, meanwhile, say that the course is giving their strong foundation, rather than creating hands-on training legal education depth and breadth that they can’t always get courses from thin air. in a typical classroom setting.

“So many people, attorneys as well as other professionals, From Classroom to Keystone have given their time to share their knowledge and A new series of Keystone classes is a perfect example of experience with us,” says James Haarmeyer, a 3L student in this effort. The courses, which are kept deliberately small, are the Business Practice Legal Practicum. “We did a mock city designed to help students address real-world challenges while council presentation during which we were seeking a zoning getting feedback from their professors and practicing lawyers. change for our (ficticious) client. We anticipated doing the Three of the new courses introduced this spring—Business presentation in front of two adjuncts who would play the role Practice Legal Practicum, Business Buy/Sell Transaction of council members. We ended up doing the presentation in Simulation, and Elder Justice and Policy—are already earning front of the two adjuncts, the mayor of New Brighton, the city rave reviews. manager of New Brighton, and a former New Brighton council For instance, in the Business Practice Legal Practicum, comember! Suffice to say, we learned a lot about the process, directed by Professor John Sonsteng and Adjunct Professor the law, and ourselves.”

Karen Lundquist ’05, students coax a fictitious young widow through an entire business development. They provide

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Continued on next page

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WANTED: First Year Associate Continued from page 11

you’ll probably miss a lot of information,” she says.

Co-director Lundquist, who graduated from Mitchell just Each Pathway includes a flowchart that advises students three years ago, feels that she was well prepared for her law career thanks to courses such as Advocacy, Advanced Advocacy, about specific courses and ways they might structure their course load during their time at Mitchell. Students curious about and Writing & Representation: Advice & Persuasion. Still, she a class in the flowchart can click on it for a description, a list of believes that the practicum she’s helping lead now would have prerequisites, and information on grading and credits. Students provided an even stronger base for her career after graduation. can look at sample schedules or print out a chart that allows “Practicum courses give students insight into aspects of the them to tailor their own schedule. practice of law that are never touched on in any other class, The more the curriculum committee dug into the project, the such as representation agreements, time sheets, billing, and more members realized how much bigger and more useful the daily correspondence,” she says. “This is what allows students site could be. The committee to really learn, as they are applying “We did a mock city council presentation began adding customized what they have learned in other information to each Pathway classes to a real-life situation.” during which we were seeking a zoning about student organizations, Professor Jim Hogg, who change for our (ficticious) client. We competitions, professional teaches the pilot Business Buy/Sell Transaction Simulation Keystone anticipated doing the presentation in front organizations, and career information. The site includes course, believes that these classes, of two adjuncts who would play the role of links to well-respected blogs which more closely replicate what with the latest news as well as students will do as associates, are council members. We ended up doing the other free Internet resources. invaluable tools. They benefit not presentation in front of the two adjuncts, the Students love the well just students, but the firms who hire them. mayor of New Brighton, the city manager of organized and easy-tounderstand site. They can find “Somebody who has done New Brighton, and a former New Brighton the information they need well in this course is going to be council member!” without getting overwhelmed, attractive to a firm with a corporate and they can feel confident that practice,” he says. “This is going to –James Haarmeyer, 3L they won’t overlook anything as save them months and months of Business Practice Legal Practicum student they plan their course schedules. hands-on training.”

The site has even earned In addition to the simulation raves from Judith Wegner, one of the authors of the Carnegie models represented by the two business law Keystones, there Foundation report. She praised it as innovative and unique, are Keystone courses linking externships with seminars, such encouraging Mitchell to share it with peer schools. as the Elder Justice and Policy course in which students provide Roy says there are additional plans in the works for the policy research for elder justice organizations and investigate Pathways site, including chat spaces, practicing lawyers who the use of technology in the practice of elder law and elder may serve as Pathway mentors, and information on public advocacy, and plans for a live-client clinic model as well. If the service opportunities. pilots prove successful—and all indications suggest that they’re an extraordinary asset—more will be rolled out in forthcoming Looking Ahead years.

As the number of Keystone courses increases and Pathways Pathways to Excellence offerings expand, William Mitchell administrators hope that all The second major tool William Mitchell has developed students will be able to take advantage of the many different to help students craft a strong legal education is Pathways ways the school helps prepare students. They hope students to the Profession of Law. This Web tool helps students plan will understand that law isn’t just about big ideas, but it’s also their courses throughout school, find student organizations about practical solutions and experiences. The more they’re able and externships, and read the latest news related to their law to integrate both into their learning, the more attractive they’ll interests. There currently are 14 distinct Pathways, ranging from become to those who are looking to hire. business law to civil litigation to real estate law.

“This work is just one more example of Mitchell looking into the future,” says Hogg. “We’re doing as much as we can Professor Denise Roy, who spearheaded the effort to create the tool as chair of the curriculum committee, says the Pathways to prepare students, once they graduate, to practice in the real were inspired originally by a desire to help students come up world.” with a reasonable course schedule. “We have a wonderful curriculum, but if all you’ve got is an alphabetical list of courses, 12

Mitchell on Law

Schola rships Chan ge Lives Two Supreme Court Chief Justices Support a Working Student

Nick Mazzocco 1L

Photo by Moses Shirai

No one understands how difficult it is to balance law school, a full-time job, and a family better than newly appointed Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson ’76. He knows a little support, both moral and financial, can go a long way.

“I went to Mitchell because I needed to work my way through school,” Magnuson says. “I was lucky enough to get a job working for one of the best role models available, someone who also had worked full time to get through school—former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Douglas Amdahl ’51. He gave me the inspiration to handle a job and school at the same time and the opportunity.”

Continuing that legacy of helping others and in honor of his mentor, Magnuson created a scholarship for a student who works full time and has dependent children.

“Law school is hard in a lot of ways,” Magnuson says. “When you're trying to hold down a job, raise a family, and go to law school all at the same time, a little help can mean a lot.”

Nick Mazzocco, a part-time Mitchell 1L student, full-time construction project manager for United Properties, and married father of two, is the first

recipient of the Magnuson Amdahl Working Student Scholarship.

“It’s humbling to receive a scholarship that not only honors one of the most influential chief justices of the state Supreme Court, but is sponsored by the state’s leading appellate lawyer who will be a chief justice as well,” Mazzocco says.

The scholarship, along with others he’s received, will ease the financial burden on Mazzocco’s family. His wife stays at home, and he hopes to pay off his student loans before his children start college.

“Juggling work, family, and school is certainly a challenge,” Mazzocco says. “It’s not just one person committing to it, but four. By offering scholarships, you bring a broader spectrum of people into the legal profession. It provides an opportunity for those who may not be able to go to law school to do so and encourages those who are going to do their best.”

Mazzocco, 31, wants

to use his eight years of construction and real estate industry experience working in real estate law.

“During my construction career, I have reviewed contract documents, drafted rebuttals to claim requests from subcontractors, and interpreted lease agreements,” he says. “Having a law degree in addition to a civil engineering degree will separate me from my peers and open more doors than an MBA.” Mazzocco is already achieving success in his academic career. His work in fall classes earned him a spot in the Mitchell Fellows Program, and he will eventually be "apprenticed" to a Mitchell professor doing cutting-edge work in an area that interests him.

Inspired by the legacies of Amdahl and Magnuson, Mazzocco hopes someday to leave his own imprint on the legal profession. “I’d like to be seen as someone who is fair, can achieve the goals of the company I work for, and always keeps family first,” he says.

– Lisa Harden For more information about creating a scholarship at William Mitchell, contact Lisa C. Barton ‘97 by emailing lisa.barton@wmitchell.edu or calling (651) 290-6357.

Scholarship recipient Nick Mazzocco with Justices Eric Magnuson ´76 and Douglas Amdahl ´51.

13

Finding Your Balance As the boundaries between work and home become blurred, can lawyers—both women and men— find balance in the workplace alongside pursuing a career, raising children, and, increasingly, caring for

14

Illustrations by Pamela Belding

elderly parents?

Mitchell on Law

By Amy Lindgren

R

emember work-life balance?

For attorneys working in private practice, the notion has always been somewhat utopian, but here is a refresher: work-life balance is the concept that one’s work and personal life can be managed in such a way as to make a fulfilling, happy whole. It was a hot topic in the ’80s and ’90s, driven largely by women who were tired of trying to do everything.

Instead of being superwomen, they reasoned, they would approach the situation more like a buffet, taking a little of each thing until they had a tasty, balanced meal on their plates.

But often, too much of everything cascaded onto the plate unbidden, spilling over in a messy heap.

Now, thanks largely to technology, we hear less about work-life balance and more about work-life integration.

The evolution from balance to integration turns the buffet into a stew. BlackBerrys, email, wireless, cell phones, laptops, video conferences … such innovations mean that one can work from home while cooking dinner or even while pacing the sidelines at a Little League game. Conversely, the well-integrated employee can tend to personal tasks at work. Waiting for a client meeting to start? Why not order the week’s groceries or schedule a haircut? It’s all possible with the flick of a wrist and an Internet connection.

So, with work and life so seamlessly integrated, everyone’s happy, right?

Apparently not. It turns out that the technology not only allows attorneys to work from home, it practically demands that they do. And so the word “balance” is making a comeback, but with a twist: This time around, men are joining the discussion, and the conversation is about more than child care. In fact, one factor alone is bigger than everyone and everything else at the table: demographics.

Take a look at this triple whammy facing law firms (and every employer

for that matter): First, the leading edge of the bubble we call the Baby Boomers is entering retirement.

When the rest of the bubble follows, employers will face the difficult task of replacing large numbers of skilled workers. Second, these same workers, and those just younger than them, are shouldering the responsibility of elder care in a way that this nation has never before experienced. With so many seniors living into their ’80s and ’90s, working adults are now managing their parents’ households (or multiple households, in the case of divorce or blended families) along with their own. Thanks to delayed marriages and childbearing, these same workers may be raising teenagers, or even toddlers, simultaneously. Can we say flex time?

With expectations in some firms having risen beyond 2,000 billable hours annually, the structure clearly contributes to pressures faced by attorneys who can barely find time for lunch, much less a week off to care for a parent.

The third factor in the triple whammy may provide the most difficult challenge of all for law firms: The next-generation attorneys who won’t work for firms that don’t respect their personal lives. Consider the group of 130 Stanford law students now publishing a ranking of firms based on their treatment of employees. Along with the list comes a pact from these young attorneys not to work for firms that don’t rank well. Like any thin edge of a wedge, this kind of thing will be easy to ignore at first. But as firms experience more retirements, and a more unified front from the replacement troops, it seems unlikely

that they will be able to continue doing business as usual.

Indeed, one study has already found that more than 70 percent of associates tracked between 2002 and 2004, both male and female, left within the first five years of employment at firms. Other studies— exit polls, if you will—find 60 percent of women and 40 percent of men cite a lack of work-life balance as the reason for leaving a practice. The talent exodus doesn’t come cheap: some estimates place the cost for replacing a second-year associate as high as $300,000.

William Mitchell Professor Ann Juergens sees the cost of attrition as a potential catalyst for change. “When the firms see that it is costing them real money and that they are losing some of the best talent,” she notes, “the firms will begin to care.” One of the biggest problems in firms, she says, is not outright bias against attorneys with families, but rather the ingrained processes that create unwitting bias.

“What lawyers should examine in their workplaces,” she says, “are policies that were implemented without thinking about their adverse impacts on caregivers. For example, policies that strip all seniority from employees who leave the workplace and then return are especially tough on caregivers who wish to take a few years away from the office to care for family members.”

Some of those policies came to light for a CLE audience at William Mitchell recently when Juergens led a panel of attorneys in discussing the current state of work-life integration in the practice of law. Among the problems noted for lawyers working less than full time were: the disproportionate pay penalty, the loss of computer equipment and administrative support for one who worked from home, and the loss of client relationships.

Suggested solutions included Continued on next page

Spring 2008

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Finding Your Balance Continued from page 15

creating job share positions, committing to the professional advancement and proportionately equal pay for part-time attorneys, and providing more on-site resources such as lactation rooms and elder-care information.

But this is all just window dressing compared to the biggest idea of all: removal of the billable hour system.

With expectations in some firms having risen beyond 2,000 billable hours annually, the structure clearly contributes to pressures faced by attorneys who can barely find time for lunch, much less a week off to care for a parent.

One firm has come up with a method to monitor work allocation to ensure all attorneys, regardless of full-time status or other considerations, are allocated appropriate work to enhance their development as lawyers.

Dorsey & Whitney, for example, uses a six-month review policy for all part-time associates, to ensure the workload is properly balanced for the situation. Other features include a sabbatical leave of 12 weeks for partners, a billable hour requirement of 1,850 hours in most offices, provision of backup child care arrangements, and regular education programs on issues such as elder care and raising teenagers.

“Our retention of women has

improved,” says Diane Malfeld, partner and co-chair of Dorsey’s Diversity Steering Committee, with a current class of senior associates that is evenly divided between men and women.

And, “of the women who became partner January 1 [2008], several of them were reduced-time lawyers.

That’s been common for us.”

Time will tell if all firms will work to implement changes, or if the changes will come unbidden, through outside circumstances. But it’s difficult to imagine any firm remaining unchanged in the face of such overwhelming forces. And why would they want to?

In the end, the solution to the work-life conflict in law firms may come in the most natural way imaginable: Through the changing experiences of the partners who make the rules. As these (still mostly) men begin dealing with their own aging parents, and the worklife issues of their adult children, there is hope—and growing anecdotal evidence—that things will improve.

Just try not to call the change an "accommodation," says Juergens.

“We should move away from the term ‘accommodate,’" she says. “When you talk about making accommodations, the presumption is that having caregiving responsibilities is abnormal.”

Touché.

Can the billable hour be replaced?

Deborah Epstein Henry, founder of Flex-Time Lawyers, LLC, has crafted a model comprised of five components to replace the billable hour. The concept, known as FACTS, she wrote in the November 2007 issue of Diversity & The Bar, meets “billable hour demands while offering all lawyers work-life choices.” The five parts of her model are fixed hours, annualized hours, core hours, shared hours, and target hours. The five-part system allows attorneys to work when needed and leave when needed. Learn more at www.flextimelawyers.com.

Amy Lindgren is a St. Paul-based freelance writer.

The New Work-Life Balance Up Close and Personal

A part-time solution As an intellectual property associate for Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner and the mother of two kids under the age of eight, Patti Jurkovich ’97 has worked hard to maintain balance.

In 1999, when her father died, Jurkovich was the first in her firm to take unpaid time off under the Family Medical Leave Act. She returned to work at 80 percent time, to keep

Five alumni demonstrate there’s more than one way to bring about a semblance of balance in life.

Patti Jurkovich '97

16

Mitchell on Law

flexibility for her mother’s needs, then took a year off without pay when her daughter was born in 2001. Since the birth of her son, she now maintains a 50 percent workload in her firm.

For Jurkovich, going part time has been the right answer. “I’m certain that we can keep making this better,” she says.

A full-time solution Lynnette Slater Crandall ’00 joined the firm of Dorsey & Whitney shortly after graduation, then married and had a child while working toward partnership. She achieved that goal recently, and says her Lynnette Slater Crandall '00 six-month maternity leave three years ago “didn’t throw me off the partnership track” largely because of the firm’s flexible policies. “I’ve never had a problem filling my billable hours,” she notes, “but if I couldn’t work from home occasionally, it would make my life a lot more difficult.”

Time management has also helped Slater Crandall make it home for dinner each night. “One thing I’ve noticed is that since I started a family, I’m more efficient in the office,” she says. “I’m probably a little less social, but it’s worth it to get home on time.”

Taking a sabbatical When Celeste Grant ’91 passed the Bar just short of her 40th birthday, her husband supervised their teenagers while she worked the long days required of an intellectual property litigator. In one year alone she logged 2,400 billable hours, not counting travel time.

A bout with thyroid cancer resulted in several medical leaves, but Grant always came back full time, largely out of loyalty to her firm, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, which she credits with providing the support and flexibility she needed to recover. Then she hit a rough patch, when six family members died in a short period. Citing unresolved grief and a heightened sense of mortality, Grant quit her job to travel the world. She returned to a position as Minnesota’s deputy state auditor, which she finds more manageable.

Spring 2008

Going corporate Law school friends Steve Anderson ’94 and Adam Lockhart ’94 went different ways after graduation. Lockhart tried a government position, then went into legal research, eventually landing at Thomson Corporation as a senior attorney editor. Anderson, meanwhile, turned an earlier clerkship into an associate position in personal injury. After four years, however, he was ready to go Steve Anderson '94 corporate, too. He now works as a team coordinator at Thomson, overseeing 18 people working on U.S. Code annotated updates.

“There’s a lot less money involved here,” Anderson notes, “but fortunately I got out of litigation before I was making real money, so it didn’t hurt as bad. The compensating factor is the schedule. In private practice, I once worked 35 days straight, 10- to 12-hour days.”

While Anderson was working those hours, his wife, Robin, was also working, and they were fitting in child rearing as best they could. After Anderson left private practice, they decided to balance their lives by having Robin stay home full time.

Meanwhile, in the Lockhart household, the strategy is for Lockhart to use his job’s flexibility to handle their son’s needs, while his wife, Kris Wiinikainen, maintains a more rigid schedule in her Adam Lockhart '94 municipal job. It’s an arrangement that suits Lockhart well. “This place is terrific in terms of having kids,” he notes. “I’m able to schedule my days in such a way that I can see my son’s school programs without any difficulty at all.”

We'd like to hear your comments on this story. Email magazine@wmitchell.edu.

17

The

Future of Food

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Like so many areas of science today, the technology behind much of the food we eat is moving far faster than our ability to sort out the legal and ethical questions that inevitably have arisen along the way.

Mitchell on Law

Professor Donna Byrne is preparing her students to tackle food law's new frontier.

Photo illustration by Mike Krivit

By Meleah Maynard you think eating seems a lot more complicated than it used to be, you are not alone. Even a quick grocery run can bring on a rush of mind-boggling questions. What’s better: wild-caught salmon or farm-raised? If the frozen corn is not labeled as “non-GMO,” does that mean it has been genetically modified?

What’s bovine growth hormone, and why do some milk labels specifically say it has come from cows that were not treated with it?

Issues like these not only have consumers thinking, they have piqued the interest of the legal community as well. Until recently, food and drug courses have been taught in combination, with the emphasis being on drugs. Now food law is becoming an area of its own, attracting the attention of legal professionals like William Mitchell College of Law Professor Donna Byrne.

Byrne has been teaching tax law at Mitchell for more than a decade. But her growing interest in legal issues related to food motivated her this year to introduce a new Food Law and Policy seminar.

Students taking the course are exploring traditional topics, such as regulatory issues around food and drugs and the Food and Drug Administration’s process for approving ingredients and overseeing labeling and marketing.

But they are also delving into sticky agricultural law topics that are growing in importance, such as establishing clear organic standards and regulating genetically engineered crops, cloned animals, and pesticide use.

Like so many areas of science today, the technology behind much of the food we eat is moving far faster than our ability to sort out the legal and ethical questions that inevitably have arisen along the way. This has opened up ripe territory for law professionals. Patent lawyers and litigators work on biotech rights. Administrative attorneys deal with the FDA on product approval. Product

Spring 2008

question the way we make food policy in this country?”

The need for truth when it comes to food is a recurring theme for Byrne, whose current work focuses on labeling issues. At a recent conference in Berkeley, Calif., Byrne presented a paper on voluntary and mandatory labeling during a food law and culture panel. Among her many points, she believes the one The Law and Politics of Food that affected people most was her Byrne’s interest in food issues began argument that too little attention is paid early when she and her family rallied to the characteristics of consumers when around her younger twin sisters who deciding what should and should not struggled with anorexia as children. An appear on food labels. avid reader of nutrition news, Byrne has Instead, food labeling is often long followed debates about everything politically charged and intertwined with from the ills caused by saturated fats the financial interests of big business. and the role of the glycemic index in By way of example, Byrne points to the understanding how carbohydrates affect FDA’s January decision to allow meat blood glucose levels to the structure of and dairy products from cloned animals the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s onto supermarket shelves without food pyramid. “So much that you read labeling them as such. This didn’t sit is contradictory,” says Byrne, who is well with consumer advocates who also bothered by what she sees as a had made clear their opposition to the preponderance of soft science behind a absence of labeling. So the debate has lot of food studies. now moved into legal territory. Business Week reported in March that at least 13 bills “I know some of our lawyers will go on to had been introduced in work in food law. Some will probably work state legislatures across for companies like Cargill or General Mills, the country calling for so the better they are at thinking about food some type of wording or symbols denoting cloned law beyond what is right in front of them, the food.

Proponents of better off we all will be.” label-free cloned “There is a big difference between products, including biotech and livestock the correlation between two variables companies, argue that identifying a food and the demonstration of causation.” For item as cloned will only confuse or scare example, she continues, “A lot of what shoppers into thinking there is reason you read says obesity is a risk factor for to be concerned about the safety of the heart disease. People with heart disease food. This same argument has long been are often overweight, but that doesn’t made by biotech giants like Monsanto, mean that’s the cause of the disease. And maker of the synthetic bovine growth if that’s true, then we’re basing layers hormone known as Posilac. of government policy on a belief that Despite FDA assurances that milk from what causes health problems may not be cows treated with growth hormones true at all. How can this not make you is safe, The New York Times and other liability lawyers have been busy looking into recent food recalls of everything from packaged spinach to cantaloupe.

And, internationally, there are trade consequences to navigate in light of Europe’s ongoing refusal to accept genetically modified foods. “As always,” says Byrne, “where there’s controversy, there will be lawyers.”

Continued on next page

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The Future of Food Continued from page 19

is labeling to look at. We still have a lot to learn about how consumers make choices, and we need to look at how industry decides what information is ‘bad news.’”

Looking Ahead and Spreading the Word

media report that a growing number of consumers are opting to buy milk labeled as coming from cows that have not been treated. In response, these analysts say, Monsanto and its allies have stepped up pressure to restrict or even ban such labels, claiming that consumers know not what they do. “They claim that consumers are being misled by these labels,” Byrne explains. “I’m not convinced. It seems that knowledgeable consumers will pay more to avoid genetically modified products, and non-knowledgeable ones wind up acting the same way when there

About a year and a half ago, Byrne began editing her own food law blog on the law professor network (lawprofessors. typepad.com/foodlaw) as an alternative to clipping and saving news articles that interested her. Entries run the gamut from debate over nutritional guidelines and regulation of poultry plants to the recent ground beef recall.

In February, Byrne was asked to write an online column for FindLaw about farmraised vs. wild salmon. Specifically, she was interested in the colorant added to farm-raised salmon to make it pink. While wild salmon get their orange-pink color from the krill they eat, she wrote, farmraised salmon are gray due to their diet of feed made from a blend of fish.

Adding color has been shown to make the salmon more appealing to consumers.

The trouble is that although cantaxanthin,

as the colorant is known, has been approved by the FDA, it has also been linked to retinal damage when people have taken it orally to create an artificial tan. At issue is the labeling of these fish.

Consumer advocates want it. Fish farmers do not. Lawsuits are pending, so right now it is up to the courts to decide.

Even with all of her reading, Byrne was surprised to discover that farm-raised salmon were dyed and so were a lot of her friends and colleagues. This, she says, is a reminder that there is still plenty of room for better thinking when it comes to food law issues, nutrition policy, and agricultural technology.

Perhaps some of her students will help lead the way. “I know some of our lawyers will go on to work in food law,” she says. “Some will probably work for companies like Cargill or General Mills, so the better they are at thinking about food law beyond what is right in front of them, the better off we all will be.”

Meleah Maynard is a Minneapolis freelance writer.

Mitchell Faculty “We still have a lot to learn about how consumers make choices, and we need to look at how industry decides what information is ‘bad news.’”

— Donna M. Byrne, Professor of Law

Teaches: Clinic—Legal Planning Clinic for Tax-Exempt Organizations and Low Income Clients (formerly Tax Planning Clinic) Estate and Gift Taxation Estates and Trusts Food Law and Policy Seminar Income Tax

donna.byrne@wmitchell.edu.

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International Tax

Mitchell on Law

Gratitude

Giving Back Looking Forward Knowing the stages of giving can help when making charitable donations, whether you’re giving $10 or $10 million.

By Erin Peterson

“Each generation supports the

Bob Collins ’65, an estate planning lawyer

generation to come. Just as we

at Lindquist & Vennum and an adjunct faculty member at William Mitchell, has spent years encouraging grads to give back. Still, he knows that finding recent law school grads who are eager to send big donations to their alma mater are about as common as recent law school grads who are eager to hear Uncle Louie reel off his latest batch of lawyer jokes: remarkably rare.

“Law school graduates today often have big debts, so they’re thinking about survival, not about charitable contributions,” Collins says.

Attitudes toward giving (unlike Uncle Louie’s knee slappers) evolve over time.

Like a seed, charitable contributions often start small, but can grow much larger with the right nurturing. Knowing the stages of giving can help people understand not only where they are now, but also how they can consider moving forward in the future, whether it’s a gift for $10 or $10 million.

In the first few years after graduation, says Collins, just getting into a habit of giving is key. Like daily exercise, making it a practice to give even small amounts can make a big difference over time. “A gift of even a few dollars is important—not necessarily because of the dollar amount, but because of the charitable intent,” says Collins.

As years go by, the checks may swell to a few hundred or a few thousand dollars.

No longer saddled with law school debts, alumni may have a bit of extra cash to share each year. More important, says Collins, they begin to more fully understand the value of the education they received at William Mitchell—for many it has led to engaging work, a comfortable lifestyle, and wideranging opportunities.

were trained as young lawyers, we must return the favor for the next group. It’s about paying it forward.” – Bob McLeod ’92

Spring 2008

“The major impetus [for giving] becomes gratitude,” he says. “It’s gratitude for the opportunity to be a lawyer and gratitude for what the school has provided.”

When alumni move into their later years, many will want to move beyond their annual gifts. They’ll look to the most important institutions in their lives with the hope of creating a legacy. They often hope to create something that will serve to help preserve the values they believe are important, says Bob McLeod ’92, a lawyer at Lindquist & Vennum and an adjunct faculty member teaching Estate and Trust Law. A legacy gift—usually created by designating funding from an IRA, a will, or life insurance policy—can help achieve that goal. “When you’re no longer raising your kids, you finally have a chance to look back and reward those who rewarded you,” he says. “Maybe they want to help current students through a scholarship endowment, or maybe they want to name a wing of a building.”

Though such gifts can seem complicated, they can be as simple as changing the beneficiary on an account or will. Structured appropriately, a gift may end up having significant tax benefits as well.

While large gifts are often highlighted, you don’t have to be a Rockefeller to create a gift that can make a lasting impact on William Mitchell and its students for years to come. The importance of giving comes not with a specific gift or a certain dollar amount, but the understanding of the importance of stewardship. “Each generation supports the generation to come,” says McLeod. “Just as we were trained as young lawyers, we must return the favor for the next group. It’s about paying it forward.”

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Workin g where she's n eeded

Devoting a Legal Career to Representing Low-Income People

Jessie Nicholson '85 Director & CEO Southern Minnesota Regional Services

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Alumni Profile

By Lisa Harden

Photo by Raoul Benavides

Jessie Nicholson ’85, chief

and one of only eight in the entire country.

“Jessie has always been a champion for people of color who cannot afford or do not have access to our legal system,” says William Mitchell Associate Dean of Multicultural Affairs Andriel Dees ’95.

“She is always willing to listen and guide those of us who are striving to be leaders in the legal community.

These qualities are what make her such an inspiration to me.”

Nicholson never set out to be a trailblazer. “I am simply doing what I need to do,” she says. “This is where I need to be.”

explain the situation.

“To succeed in public service executive officer of Southern you need a real understanding of Minnesota Regional Legal Services, what it is to be poor and not have keeps a framed black and white meaningful access to legal services,” photograph of herself at age 6 Nicholson says.

“We are not here months on the table in her St. because of the salary, but because Paul office as a reminder of her we are committed to the mission of upbringing. helping people.”

Nicholson grew up in Waterloo, For many SMRLS clients, threeIowa, with six siblings, and at a fourths of whom are women, it’s young age was inspired by jurist not about winning but making William Parker, the first African sure they have meaningful access American judge in Iowa, to give to the civil justice system and are something back. “Judge Parker heard, Nicholson says. “We don’t said that the law is about helping want to see a judicial system where people,” Nicholson recalls. “I never people don’t have access. The forgot that.” people who come to us want, Nicholson has worked need, and deserve high-quality “We don’t want to see a judicial for SMRLS, which provides representation. We make sure to free legal representation and listen to and always respect the system where people don’t have advice to low-income people person across the desk.” in 33 counties of southern Funding the nonprofit access. The people who come to Minnesota, for her entire organization is a constant 22-year legal career. She challenge as resources shrink us want, need, and deserve highearned a bachelor’s degree and caseloads grow.

SMRLS staff in sociology and a master’s cannot meet the needs of every quality representation. ” degree in Spanish from the individual, so the offices produce University of Northern Iowa, hundreds of educational materials where she taught Spanish With the rise of housing for the public and profession. before moving to Minnesota. foreclosures and predatory lending Keeping up with the changing legal She served as senior leadership practices, SMRLS offices are busy. landscape and making sure staff stay attorney for SMRLS Refugee, Immigration law has become a motivated are daily tasks.

Immigrant and Migrant Services major focus for SMRLS clients facing Nicholson, married 35 years with practice group before becoming the many challenges compounded by a son in college, has another office organization’s CEO in 2007. She is language and cultural differences, photo that keeps her grounded: an responsible for the work of more Nicholson says.

She cites the case Italian monastery she visits regularly than 57 staff attorneys, 57 other of a landlord who wouldn’t allow to unwind.

She says, “No matter staff, and approximately 500 active a family to hang a particular type what you do, whether it’s sweeping volunteer attorneys who helped more of curtain even though the type of the streets or running SMRLS, you than 11,000 clients in 2007. covering was needed to respect the need to take time for yourself.

And Nicholson is the first African family’s religious practices.

SMRLS never forget where you came from.”

American woman to head a legal aid staff brought in a religious leader to organization in the upper Midwest

Spring 2008

23

Class Notes

1957

Robert M. Greising (St. Paul College of Law) was honored for 50 years in the law by the Minnesota State Bar Association.

1975

Seven Mitchell alumni appointed to Minnesota bench

The Minnesota bench has seven more Mitchell alumni following recent appointments by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Eric J. Magnuson ’76 will assume his duties as chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court June 1.

Robert R. Drevlow joined the Zenith Insurance Company, Woodland Hills, Calif., as vice president of operations for claims.

Chief Judge John P. Smith, 9th Judicial District, received the Rosalie E. Wahl Judicial Award for Excellence from the MSBA Public Law Section.

1976

Douglas J. Dehn was voted shareholder of Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Mpls.

Brian E. Wojtalewicz was elected treasurer of the Minnesota Association for Justice.

Thomas M. Neuville ’76 3rd District John H. Guthmann ’80 2nd District

Jerome B. Abrams ’81 1st District

Thomas M. Fitzpatrick ’81 10th District

1977

John “Jack” Harper III was elected president of the executive committee of Krass Monroe, Mpls.

Earl E. Maus ’82 9th District

1978

Thomas M. Manion and Jay Wheelock ’05 opened the Manion and Wheelock Law Office, Lanesboro, Minn.

Fred Karasov ’83 4th District

Michael T. Norton was elected president of Kennedy & Graven, Mpls.

1979

Michael J. Ford was elected president of the MSBA for 2008-09.

1980

Barbara J. Gislason spoke at the American Veterinary Medical Law Association and the 2007 American Bar Association Annual Meeting. She is also featured in the August 2007 DVM Newsmagazine.

24

Judge Margaret Shaw Johnson retired as a Minnesota 3rd Judicial District Court judge.

George A. Meinz was elected shareholder of Gray Plant Mooty, Mpls.

1981

Patrick R. Burns received the 2007 Pro Bono Award of Excellence from the MSBA Public Law Section.

Mitchell on Law

Class Notes Timothy J. Hassett was elected to the board of directors of Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon and Vogt, St. Paul.

Thomas E. Marshall was elected treasurer of the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association.

1986

Bradley H. Lehrman joined Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, Mpls., as a shareholder.

Janet M. Nelson was elected president of the Legal Marketing Association Minnesota chapter.

Debra A. Holtz was named director of the Minnesota Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care.

Mansco Perry III was selected chief investment officer of the board of trustees for the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, Baltimore.

Paul A. Rajkowski was elected president of the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association.

James W. Keeler Jr. was appointed Carver County (Minn.) attorney.

Kathleen Flynn Peterson steps down in July as president of the American Association for Justice.

Joan G. Hallock joined Hansen, Dordell, Bradt, Odlaug & Brandt, St. Paul, as general partner.

1982

Milton H. Luoma was appointed assistant professor, Information and Computer Science Department, College of Arts and Sciences, at Metropolitan State University, St. Paul.

1983

M. Peter Adler joined Pepper Hamilton, Washington, D.C., as a partner.

Terrence E. Bishop was elected to the board of directors at Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren, Bloomington, Minn.

Joan H. Lucas was elected president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers-Minnesota chapter.

1984

William S. Forsberg joined Leonard, Street and Deinard, Mpls., as a shareholder.

1985

Charles O. Lentz joined Gray Plant Mooty, Mpls., of counsel to its employment law practice group.

Kathryn Santelmann Richtman was appointed co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Committee.

Candace L. Dale joined Burke & Thomas, Arden Hills, Minn., as partner.

Clark D. Opdahl was elected managing partner, Henson & Efron, Mpls.

1987

Beth E. Bertelson, is an independent and neutral arbitrator with the National Arbitration Forum.

James P. Carey was elected secretary of the Minnesota Association for Justice.

Michael C. Krikava was elected director at Briggs and Morgan, Mpls.

Noreen C. Phillips received the William E. McGee Public Defender Award of Excellence from the MSBA Public Law Section.

Alumni serve on new MN Supreme Court Historical Society

Recently retired Supreme Court Justice Sam Hanson ’65 is the founding chairperson of the new Minnesota Supreme Court Historical Society.

Retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Esther Tomljanovich ’55 (middle) and current Justice Helen Meyer ’83 are on the board of directors.

Modeled after the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society, the newly formed nonprofit entity is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and promotion of Minnesota’s judicial history, by supporting research, education, and publications.

David J. Hough was appointed deputy Hennepin County administrator.

Martin R. Lueck was elected chairman of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, Mpls.

Spring 2008

Read the magazine online @ www.wmitchell.edu/alumni

25

Class Notes

1987 (continued)

Jody A. Cohen Press and her husband have formed Press Law Office, practicing in estate and business planning, probate, guardianship, and commercial collections.

Sharon L. Van Dyck was voted president-elect of the Minnesota Association for Justice.

1988

William C. Griffith was elected to the board of directors at Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren, Bloomington, Minn.

Dennis J. Unger was elected president of the Minnesota Land Title Association.

Michael A. Bryant was elected vice president, Minnesota Association for Justice.

David S. Wething was reelected chairman of the board of directors of Minnesota Masonic Elder Services and also was elected to the board of directors of Minnesota Masonic Charities.

Lauris A. Heyerdahl joined Foley & Mansfield, Mpls., as an associate.

1989

Ronald R. Bradley is general counsel for Capitol Lein Records & Research, St. Paul.

Roseanne M. Hope joined Faegre & Benson, Mpls., as special counsel, real estate practice.

Richard H. Kyle Jr. was appointed to the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board.

1990

Stephen G. Froehle was promoted to senior legal director at Medtronic, Mpls.

David M. Jann joined Faegre & Benson, Mpls.

Attend reception for Chief Justice Eric Magnuson ’76 June 24

Jacqueline M. Schuh joined the St. Cloud, Minn., office of Gray Plant Mooty.

Join us in celebrating the appointment of Eric Magnuson ’76 as chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. William Mitchell will host a special reception for Chief Justice Magnuson on Tuesday, June 24, with Mitchell alumni, faculty, staff, and students and members of the local legal community from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Auditorium. Please register online at www.wmitchell.edu/rsvp.

1991

26

Nancy E. Anderson was promoted to senior vice president and director of the Wealth Planning Center for Citigroup Global Wealth Advisory Service, Mpls.

Gail Chang Bohr received a Child Advocacy Award from the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division in conjunction with the Center on Children and the Law.

Barry A. O’Neil was elected to the board of directors of Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, Mpls.

1992

Mark A. Cangemi joined Igbanugo Partners International Law Firm, Mpls., as partner.

Nauni J. Manty joined Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon and Vogt, Mpls.

Heidi Pederson Donahe joined The Octavus Group, Excelsior, Minn., as senior vice president.

David A. Schooler joined Briggs and Morgan, Mpls., as a shareholder in the labor and employment law section.

1993

Robert O. Blatti Jr. opened Lakes Area Center in Battle Lake, Minn., focusing on family litigation and mediation, Social Security, disability, and general litigation.

David A. Bonello is the Upper Midwest Pension Rights Project manager, Minnesota Senior Federation.

Kevin G. Cedergren was promoted to manager, Juvenile Division, Carver County (Minn.) Attorney’s Office.

Dyan J. Ebert was appointed chief executive officer of Quinlivan & Hughes, St. Cloud, Minn.

Mitchell on Law

Class Notes Michael R. Nixt was appointed to the board of directors, Moss & Barnett, Mpls.

Christine A. Van Tassel joined Hitesman & Associates, Maple Grove, Minn.

Daniel A. Yarano, was appointed to the Community Based Energy Development Advisory Task Force, which promotes locally owned renewable energy production facilities.

1994

1995

Michael J. Case, Zionsville, Ind., was promoted to vice president of claims and is on the board of directors of Protective Insurance Company.

1996

Yvonne M. Flaherty was named partner, Lockridge Grindal Nauen, Mpls.

R. Todd Franks joined Moss & Barnett, Mpls.

Gregg A. Engler, 82nd Airborne Division, is deployed in Iraq.

Kevin R. Lewis joined Foley & Mansfield, Mpls., as an associate.

Jennifer M. O’Brien joined Halleland, Lewis, Nilan & Johnson, Mpls., as a shareholder in the health law group and director of compliance services for the law firm’s subsidiary, Halleland Health Consulting.

Hassan M. Saffouri joined Faegre & Benson, Mpls., as staff attorney, immigration practice.

Damon E. Schram was named vice president, general counsel, and secretary, Lakes Entertainment, Minnetonka, Minn.

Teresa M. Thompson was elected shareholder, Fredrikson & Byron, Mpls.

Brian H. Sande joined Bassford Remele, Mpls., as shareholder focusing on insurance coverage and commercial litigation.

Douglas P. Spanier and his wife, Krista, announce the arrival of Sean Caiden Paul Spanier on Nov. 1, 2007, and note he is getting along well with his brother, Samuel, 2.

1997

Kalene M. Engel is coordinator, Winona County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

Michael R. Holt, Miami, Fla., published “Parallel Proceedings in Florida’s State and Federal Courts: Fifth Amendment Considerations” in The Florida Bar Journal, Vol. 82, No. 1, Jan. 2008.

Steven J. Ledin opened Blaney & Ledin, Oakdale, Minn., practicing in corporate and business transactional law.

John D. Magnuson joined Magnuson Law Firm, Stillwater, Minn.

William D. Siegel was voted shareholder, Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Mpls.

Thomas F. Steichen was elected shareholder, Fredrikson & Byron, Mpls.

Jennifer Suich Frank and husband Marlin Frank had their second child, son Noah Alan Frank, on Nov. 7, 2006. She is in-house employment law counsel for Allina Hospitals & Clinics, Mpls.

John L. Fossum ’93 spent nine months in Afghanistan teaching Afghan police and prosecutors about criminal law, procedures, and provisions in the country’s 2004 constitution as part of the Justice Sector Support Program, funded by the U.S. State Department.

“Afghans are not accustomed to consulting law books, and often do not have them available in their offices,” Fossum said. “All of our students were provided with a complete set of law books.”

Fossum is in private practice in Northfield, Minn., and is admitted to practice in the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Spring 2008

Read the magazine online @ www.wmitchell.edu/alumni

27

Class Notes

1998

Kathryn S. Hahne was named a partner at Faegre & Benson, Mpls. She is part of the government relations team.

Kristin M. Boylan became partner at Merchant & Gould, Mpls.

Adam P. Jensen, director of compliance for Virchow Krause Employee Benefits, Madison, Wis., was elected 2008 president of the Madison Chapter of the International Society of Employee Benefits Specialists.

Kristi L. Angus joined ShoreMaster, Fergus Falls, Minn., as a contract administrator.

Susanne J. Fischer joined Moss & Barnett, Mpls.

Sean J. Mickelson was named partner at Terhaar, Archibald, Pfefferle & Griebel, Mpls.

Alison J. Midden was named shareholder of Briggs and Morgan, Mpls.

Matthew H. Morgan joined Nichols Kaster & Anderson, Mpls., as an associate.

Denise S. Fullerton opened Fullerton Law, Roseville, Minn., focusing on personal injury and wrongful death cases involving dram shop and commercial vehicles.

Christopher D. Johnson was elected chairman, Forest Lake (Minn.) Area Chamber of Commerce.

Elizabeth A. Papacek was elected shareholder of Leonard, Street and Deinard, Mpls.

Charles S. Gerlach was selected as a National College of District Attorneys faculty member at the National Advocacy Center and is a juvenile prosecutor in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Kathleen M. Loucks joined Hellmuth & Johnson, Eden Prairie, Minn.

Daniel G. Queenan was promoted to executive vice president of Opus North Corp., Chicago.

Kimberly A. Small joined the Illinois Association of School Boards’ Office of the General Counsel as assistant general counsel.

Brian R. McDaniel joined the government relations team at Lockridge Grindal Nauen, Mpls.

Jeffrey M. Montpetit was named partner at Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum & Carey, Mpls.

Tong Wu is partner at Merchant & Gould, Mpls.

1999

Maj. William J. Annexstad was honored as the American Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division, Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year for 2006-07. Jim is an instructor in the Operations and International Law Division at the Judge Advocate General’s School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

Amy J. Reed-Hall was appointed chief deputy county attorney, Isanti County (Minn.) Attorney’s Office.

J. Richard Soderberg was named principal at Fish & Richardson, Mpls., practicing in patent prosecution and counseling clients on computer system and network issues.

Richard J. Savelkoul was named shareholder of Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon & Vogt, Mpls.

Bradley J. Thorson was named partner at Patterson, Thuente, Skaar & Christensen, Mpls.

Daniel J. Van Loh opened Deckert & Van Loh, Maple Grove, Minn., practicing in family law, mediation, and general litigation.

Damien F. Toven joined the Princeton (Minn.) Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

2000

Cindy J. Ackerman was named shareholder of Moss & Barnett, Mpls.

Thomas R. Bennerotte opened Bennerotte & Associates, St. Paul, in December 2007.

Anthony A. Dorland was named shareholder of Moss & Barnett, Mpls.

Daniel R. Donovan joined Faegre & Benson, Mpls., as special counsel in the wealth management practice.

Elizabeth A. Emerson joined Lockridge Grindal Nauen, Mpls., as a lobbyist.

Todd M. Gillette joined Schauer Law Office, Winthrop, Minn.

Michele R. Fisher was named partner at Nichols Kaster & Anderson, Mpls.

28

Scott J. Ulbrich was named partner at Patterson, Thuente, Skaar & Christensen, Mpls.

2001

Darla Jo Boggs joined the Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office as an assistant city attorney.

J. Kevin Kirchner joined Arthur, Chapman, Kettering, Smetak & Pikala, Mpls., as an associate representing insurance companies and individuals in no-fault, construction defect, and general civil litigation.

Mitchell on Law

Class Notes Alum helps Central High School mock trial team reach state competition for ďŹ rst time

Stacey Sorensen ’06 (front row, far right), a civil litigation attorney at Hansen, Dordell, Bradt, Odlaug & Bradt, St. Paul, has coached the St. Paul Central High School mock trial team for the past four years.

Students competed in the state tournament last year for the first time in school history and this year placed seventh out of 12 teams. Sorensen, a successful mock trial competitor at Mitchell, says the competition helps students gain confidence and keeps her courtroom skills fresh.

Melanie J. Leth is a partner at Weber and Leth, Kasson, Minn.

Joseph G. Sedarski joined Fredrikson & Byron, Mpls., as an associate.

2003

Mark D. Belinske was named associate general counsel of Kraus-Anderson Construction Company, Mpls.

Mark L. Vavreck joined Scrimshire, Martineau, Gonko & Vavreck, Mpls.

Joshua D. Christensen joined Anastasi & Associates, Stillwater, Minn., as an associate.

Justin P. Weinberg joined Gislason & Hunter, New Ulm, Minn.

Sara R. Grewing was named chief of staff for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.

2002

Julie L. Boehmke was elected shareholder of Gray Plant Mooty, Mpls.

Carrie A. Daniel joined Graco Inc., Mpls., as corporate and litigation counsel.

Karen K. Hatfield became general partner of Hansen, Dordell, Bradt, Odlaug & Bradt, St. Paul.

Sarah B. Helwig joined Rudy, Gassert, Yetka & Pritchett, Cloquet, Minn., as an associate in family law and probate.

Erica L. (Thompson) Roettger and her husband, Philip, celebrated the birth of their second child, Amelia Marie, on March 30, 2007. She joins brother, Luke.

Ugo A. Ukabam was elected partner in the labor and employment law group, Gray Plant Mooty, Mpls.

Spring 2008

Zachary A. Kretchmer joined Niemi, Barr & Jerabek, Mpls., as a senior associate in family law.

Robin Moulin Radke and her husband, Rich Radke, welcomed Clara Elizabeth in July 2007. Clara joins big sister, Ann Louise.

Jennifer M. Spalding joined Gregerson, Rosow, Johnson & Nilan, Mpls., as a municipal prosecutor.

Eric H. Warner is executive vice president at Winona Abstract Company, Winona, Minn.

2004

Jodi (Lindor) Asmus married Aaron Asmus on Dec. 1, 2007 and is clerking for Judge Ann L. Carrott in Douglas County, Minn.

Timothy J. Carrigan joined Arthur, Chapman, Kettering, Smetak & Pikala, Mpls., as an associate.

Isaac L. Hammer and Karen L. (Tibert) Hammer welcomed their first son, Tate William, on Sept. 18, 2007. Isaac and Karen are associate attorneys at Suttell & Associates, Bellevue, Wash.

Matthew H. Hanka joined Fryberger, Buchanan, Smith & Frederick, Duluth, Minn., as an associate.

Jessica (Norman) Hafemeyer opened Ibeling Hafemeyer in Faribault, Minn., on Aug. 1, 2007. The firm focuses on family, bankruptcy, will, and probate law.

Stephen J. Knudsen joined Velde Law Firm, Alexandria, Minn.

Barbara M. Kristiansson joined Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon & Vogt, Mpls.

Dehlia C. Seim joined Fryberger, Buchanan, Smith & Frederick, Duluth, Minn., as an associate.

2005

C. Blair Buccicone and Virginia Cronin opened Cronin & Buccicone on Nov. 1, 2007 in St. Paul. Practice areas include criminal law, family law, probate law, and general litigation.

Jeff N. Davidman joined the government relations practice at Best & Flanagan, Mpls. He will work on transportation, transit, public safety, and general business issues.

Read the magazine online @ www.wmitchell.edu/alumni

29

Class Notes Luke E. Enno joined Skjold Barthel, Mpls., as an associate practicing in estate planning and real estate.

Michael Freiberg was re-elected to a second term on the Golden Valley (Minn.) City Council.

Julie A. Oster joined Melinda Weerts Law, Fargo, N.D., as an associate attorney.

Patrick J. Swift is assistant county attorney, Waseca (Minn.) County Attorney’s Office.

John Wendland and Melissa (Milbert) Wendland announce the birth of their son, John “Jack” Matthew, on Oct. 9, 2007 in Mpls. Melissa is an associate at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, Mpls.

John is associate general counsel at the Minnesota Credit Union Network.

2006

D. Scott Aberson joined the litigation group of Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, Mpls.

Amelia N. Jadoo joined Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, Mpls., as an associate in business litigation.

Eileen C. Krenner joined Lucas Family Law, St. Paul, as an associate.

Charles P. Marabella joined Merchant & Gould, Mpls., as an associate.

Travis J. Smith joined the Nobles County (Minn.) Attorney’s Office as assistant county attorney.

Sarah M. Stensland joined the intellectual property section of Carlson, Caspers, Vandenburgh & Lindquist, Mpls.

Lynn M. Stoneburner joined Stoneburner Law Office, Paynesville, Minn.

2007

Christina K. Brusven, Fredrikson & Byron, Mpls., received the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s Inspiring Efficiency Leadership Award.

Ryan M. Check joined Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Mpls., as an associate on the corporate finance and transactions team.

Jianguang Du joined Fish & Richardson, Mpls., as an associate in the firm’s patent prosecution group.

Michael K. Gravink joined Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Mpls., as an associate in business litigation.

Robert M. Hirning joined Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Mpls., as an associate on the intellectual property team.

Gretchen K. Seymour joined Foley & Mansfield, Mpls., as an associate in construction law.

Rebecca G. Sluss joined Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Mpls., as an associate on the commercial finance and real estate team.

Ryan C. Sorge joined Arthur, Chapman, Kettering, Smetak & Pikala, Mpls., as an associate practicing in automobile law.

Jonathan H. Stechmann joined Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Mpls., as an associate on the corporate finance and transactions team.

Uyen N. Tang joined Christie, Parker & Hale, Pasadena, Calif., as an associate.

Susan J. Thoresen joined Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Mpls., as an associate on the employee benefits team.

Jillian N. Walker joined Messerli & Kraemer, Mpls.

Melissa J. Houghtaling joined Heltzer & Burg, Mpls., as an associate practicing in estate planning, probate, and business law.

Krystal R. Pierce is a part-time assistant Nicollet County Attorney and a full-time associate attorney with MacKenzie & Gustafson, St. Peter, Minn.

Keep Us Posted: Send your Class Notes updates to magazine@wmitchell.edu or fill out the online form at www.wmitchell.edu/alumni. You can also fax (651) 290-7502, call (651) 290-6370, or mail your updates to Mitchell on Law, 875 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105. We (and your classmates) look forward to hearing from you!

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Mitchell on Law

Obituaries

1936

Robert E. Zeck (Minneapolis College of Law), 94, Horseshoe Bend, Ark., died Feb. 21.

Practiced in Minnesota until retiring in 1978. Survived by wife, Louise; children Barbara Ann, Janice Carol, Kathleen Mary, Jeanne Marie, Gerald, and Gregory.

1939

Donald F. Eggleston (Minnesota College of Law), 92, Mpls., died Nov. 9, 2007. Spent career in trust department of Chase Manhattan Bank. Preceded in death by wife of 58 years, Margaret.

1948

Lee M. Berlin (St. Paul College of Law), 86, Virginia, Minn., died Feb. 9. Vice president, 3M Company, and chairman, LecTec Corporation. Founder, Minnesota Medical Alley; chairman, Minnesota District Export Council; director, Minnesota World Trade Center. Survived by wife, Helen; son, Judd.

1952

Robert C. Runchey (St. Paul College of Law), 80, Marshall, Minn., died Sept. 30, 2007. Lyon County Attorney, 1958-70. Retired in 1996 from private practice. Survived by wife, Ardella; children and stepchildren JoAnn, Barbara ’80, Catherine, Michael, Richard, Jane, Susan, Sara ’96, Sharon, Maureen, Terry, and Janell.

1953

William C. Ball (Minneapolis-Minnesota College of Law), 91, Mpls., died Sept.

10, 2007.

Spring 2008

Anthony M. Barich (MinneapolisMinnesota College of Law), 81, St. Cloud, Minn., died June 1, 2007.

1956

Charles “Chuck” Olson (St. Paul College of Law), 79, Roseville, Minn., died July 8, 2007. Retired after 30 years with Speeter, Johnson, Hautman and Olson. Survived by wife, Estelle; children Edward ’83, Mary Beth, and Judy.

1959

Hon. John Moonan, 79, Mankato, Minn., died Dec. 19, 2007. Practiced law with Charles and Gus Johnson prior to serving as a Blue Earth County district judge until retiring in 1998.

1965

Emmett Dowdal, 72, Birchwood, Minn., died Feb. 23. Trial lawyer for more than 40 years; practiced with daughter Bridgid Dowdal, William Mitchell assistant dean for career and professional development. Survived by wife, Barbara; children Mullen, Bridgid, and Megan.

1967

Bruce L. Anderson, 67, Two Harbors, Minn., died Dec. 4, 2007. Lake County attorney, 1975-02. Survived by wife, Sharon; children and stepchildren Morgan, Kelly, Craig, and Dale.

1968

Hugh V. Plunkett III, 65, Mpls., died Oct. 15, 2007. Practiced in product liability, commercial lending, securities, antitrust, and insurance law. President, Mower County and Tenth District Bar Associations; MSBA Board of Governors; chairman, Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Council. Survived by wife, Mary; children Tara and Sean.

1971

Phillip S. Resnick, 63, Mpls., died Feb. 19. Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Distinguished Service Award, posthumously. Survived by wife, Kandy; children and stepchildren Allison, David, Lauren, and Briana.

1977

Carl E. Norberg, 68, St. Paul, died May 16, 2007.

Mark H. Stromwall, 61, Bayport, Minn., died Aug. 7, 2007. Owner, Dakota Home Appraisals. Survived by daughter, Amy.

1986

David L. Ferguson, 68, Reno, Nev., died Oct. 25, 2007. Survived by wife, Edie; children Robert and Heather.

1994

Charles O. Amdahl, 44, Mpls., died Jan. 11. Practiced criminal defense law; Hennepin County District Court clerk; taught English in Taipei, Taiwan.

Survived by father Justice Douglas Amdahl ’51; sister, Faith ’91.

1999

John J. Curi, 40, Eagan, Minn., died Jan. 13.

Peter C. Saari, 39, Mpls., died Dec. 17, 2007. Survived by children Eleanor and Calder.

2004

Owen M. Waxman, 32, St. Louis Park, Minn., died Sept. 15, 2007. Survived by wife, Stacey; children Eli and Avi.

31

To the Point Message from the Dean

Value the Difference In April, I was formally installed as president and dean of William Mitchell College of Law in an event that included faculty, alumni, leaders of the judiciary, law firms, public interest organizations, and representatives from our sister law schools in the Twin Cities. I felt humbled by all the attention and honored by the people present.

What struck me that evening was the visible impact Mitchell has had on the legal community. Mitchell alumni, Mitchell adjuncts, Mitchell supporters, and leaders of the judiciary, many of whom told stories at the reception afterward—stories about their careers, their mentors, leaders before them—that often began with the phrase “If not for Mitchell….”

As I said in my remarks, Mitchell’s know-how, our reputation, our culture, and our mission have all been President and Dean Eric S. Janus

built incrementally, brick by brick, course by course, year by year—by people who believe in and value the difference Mitchell has made and will continue to make to this community. I commit that I will do everything in my power to pass this law school along more vibrant, more engaged, and more diverse.

Very Truly Yours, Eric S. Janus President and Dean

www.wmitchell.edu/installation.

32

Mitchell on Law

Photo by Tim Rummelhoff

To read speaker remarks from the installation and to view photos and video, go to

Events at Mitchell Immigration Law Clinic at William Mitchell Celebrates 25 Years | May 1, 2008

Pictured left: Alumni, adjuncts, and students who have contributed to the Immigration Law Clinic’s 25 years of success were recognized at a reception during the 2008 Upper Midwest Immigration Conference. Pictured right: The American Immigration Lawyers Association Minnesota/ Dakotas Chapter honored co-founders H. Sam Myers and the late Bernie Becker, and Paula Duthoy ’90, who has been the supervising adjunct professor for 10 years.

Women in Law Tea 2008 | April 18, 2008

Pictured left: Judge Betsy Hoene Martin‘80 at the podium. Pictured middle: Tea committee members (back row left to right) Heather Diersen ’08, Vanessa Rybicka ’04, Patricia Butler ‘07, Kathy Kimmel ’96, Carolyn Chalmers. (Front row) Ani Hartzheim ‘04, Sue Laine ’79, Marie Ruzek ’01, Imani Jaafar-Mohammad ‘04. Pictured left: Kelley Malone O'Neill ‘88 and Justice Esther Tomljanovich ‘55.

National Healthcare Decisions Day | April 16, 2008

Mitchell students and attorneys participated in a massive effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decisionmaking. More than 100 people filled out health care directives at the day-long event sponsored by the college’s Elder Law and Estate Planning Society, Center for Elder Justice & Policy and the Minnesota Justice Foundation.

Vulnerable Adults Task Force meets at Mitchell as part of the Elder Justice & Policy Institute April 18, 2008

Key stakeholders met at William Mitchell to analyze the current Vulnerable Adult Act in Minnesota.

Pictured left: Jennifer Kirchen and Kris Lohrke, DHS. Pictured right: Attorneys Randy Snyder, Victor Smith ‘88, and Sam Orbovich.

www.wmitchell.edu

Mark Your Calendar Reception for Chief Justice Eric Magnuson '76 June 24, 2008 | 5–7 pm Register at www.wmitchell.edu/rsvp

875 Summit Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105-3076

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID St. Paul, MN Permit No. 1300