The Writ (2009)

The Hanson NewReading Room, Taggart Law Library

ONU Law Alumni Around the World LLM Graduates Lead Anticorruption Efforts United States Supreme Court Admission Ceremony Feature: Why Lying Matters

Letter

DEAN’S

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he College of Law changes each year – new faculty, new students, new courses and new facilities. The pages of the Writ are full of news of our growth and progress. It is an exciting time to be at Northern.

Even as things change, however, much remains the same. Our mission – to prepare the finest practitioners anywhere – remains as it was when Henry Solomon Lehr added the College of Law to his university in 1885. Through those years, we have never lost sight of the law as a calling requiring a professional education. We continue to be committed to that vision today.

During this academic year we will be preparing for the celebration of our 125th anniversary scheduled for 2010-2011. Special events, speakers, symposia and more will highlight our celebration. We hope you watch for announcements of these events, and that you will be able to join us.

In the meantime, we hope you will find time to visit us. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Very truly yours,

David C. Crago Dean and Professor of Law

FALL 2009

Feat ured

A Publication of the Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law

INSIDE 2

ALUMNI ABROAD: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Profiles of a sampling of ONU Law alumni living abroad

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WHY LYING MATTERS

By Bruce Frohnen

DEPARTMENTS COLLEGE UPDATES 12 Being Social at ONU Law 13 Employment Rate Surpasses National Average 14 Hanson Reading Room Dedicated 18 Entering Class of 2009 20 New Concurrent JD/LLM Program Launched 22 The Campaign for Tomorrow FEATURED SPEAKERS 24 Kleinbard Delivers Woodworth Lecture 24 Karlan Featured as Kormendy Lecturer 25 Dean’s Lecture Series

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES 27 Public Interest Stipends Awarded 28 Moot Court Year in Review 29 Law Review Symposium 30 Tenth Annual Diversity Forum 31 Students Explore Iceland FACULTY & STAFF 33 Faculty Recognized at Honors Banquet 34 Fenton Honored for 20 Years of Service 35 Activities

EDITOR: Mindi Wells, JD ’98, BSBA ’95 Assistant Dean for Administration & Student Services

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Brittany Walker, L-2 Alan Ohman, Senior Creative Writing Major

DESIGN/LAYOUT: Gary Stuart, BSED ’67 Studio II

PRINTER: Herald Printing

PLUS

9 HOMECOMING 10 COMMENCEMENT 21 U.S. SUPREME COURT CEREMONY

The Writ is the official publication of the College of Law. The Writ is published once a year and distributed to alumni and friends of Ohio Northern University’s Claude W. Pettit College of Law. Letters, alumni notes, requests for reprint permission and manuscripts of articles should be sent to: Mindi Wells College of Law Dean’s Office Ohio Northern University 525 N. Main • Ada, OH 45810 PHONE: (419) 772-3051 FAX: (419) 772-2318 m-wells@onu.edu www.law.onu.edu/contact

Feat ure

Alumni Abroad: Where are they now?

The following pages contain profiles of a sampling of the alumni who have left Ada, Ohio, and now live abroad.

These individuals are a tribute to the global nature of the legal education students receive at Ohio Northern University.

They have gone on to careers in politics, translating legal materials, off-shore project development and IT law.

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here are currently over 4,400 living alumni who have passed through the halls of the Pettit College of Law at Ohio Northern. Then, like seeds to the wind, they have scattered across the country and even around the world to work, raise their families and live their lives. The Ohio Northern international legal community continues to expand each year, not only through the graduates from the LLM in Democratic Governance and Rule of Law program, but also from our juris doctor students who choose to share their talent in the global arena.

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Joseph Banks JD ’74 SECRETARY GENERAL, CISV INTERNATIONAL [RETIRED], and FREELANCE RISK MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST FOR CHARITIES Newcastle upon Tyne, England jgbjd@aol.com

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he former secretary general of CISV International is proof that having a law degree does not mean one must practice law.

CISV International is an international youth exchange and peace organization operating in 65 nations. It creates annual opportunities for 8,000 students of all ages, from 11 to adult, to experience cultural diversity firsthand through over 200 international activities.

Joseph Banks, JD ’74, learned about the secretary general position while he represented the United States on CISV’s international board. He had no problems with working overseas: “I studied law at Exeter, was in the Icelandic Exchange and had substantial CISV experience, so I was positive about living abroad.” He moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in 1985 and has lived there since.

As secretary general, “my challenge at CISV was to lead it [the company] from a kitchen/coffee table unincorporated charity to a modern multinational organization as a registered charitable company [that] utilizes cutting-edge risk management and experiential educational methods,” the now-retired Banks explains. “Members [of CISV] represented nine different legal systems and have varying degrees of English language and AngloAmerican legal competence.”

With 8,000 students and many more volunteers, one of Banks’ biggest coordination issues was liability. “[We had to] secure and maintain global public liability and travel insurance at reasonable prices for 48,000 volunteers.” He also adds, “payment of fees within the constraints of currency control laws at the national level was also a major challenge.”

Though he did not practice law, Banks feels that his days at Ohio Northern were well spent. “I feel my basic legal training worked well in [helping me] perform my job,” Banks says. Aside from ONU, Banks studied law in England and Iceland, which helped him become open to other systems.

Following his retirement, Banks consulted in the field of risk management, using skills he had learned both at ONU and while working with CISV. Given CISV’s focus on globalization, Banks has had many wonderful experiences: “I have met many extraordinary people, traveled to over 55

countries and have visited many historical and cultural landmarks.”

While he thoroughly enjoys working abroad, he is quick to point out just how much work it can be, especially considering the global climate. “It is a challenge…to be a U.S. citizen living and working abroad when government policy and personal beliefs are inconsistent,” he claims.

There are also more practical ideas to consider when working overseas.

Banks quickly counts off a number of potential troubles: language skills, interest in history and culture outside the United States, family support and adjusting work and rest time for the application of global communication. Even in law, Banks says, there are things to think about, including differences in procedure, evidence and property. “I did not practice [law], but if I had…I would have needed to study English law and pass the bar [in England].”

Despite the many things to think about when working overseas, Banks seems to have thrived, and he has much advice for anyone who desires to work abroad. “Take good, professional advice to ensure portability of pension, retirement or health positions. [Also], when negotiating salary, remember the cost of trips home.” Finally, “be humble enough to realize that there are civilizations older than and just as valid as ours,” Banks says, imparting wisdom from more than twenty years traveling the world.

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“I have met many extraordinary people, traveled to over 55 countries and have visited many historical and cultural landmarks.”

■ Joseph Banks

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Feat ure Dena Haggerty JD ’98 IT LAWYER, WISEMEN B.V. The Hague, Netherlands dena@wisemen.nl

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fter graduating from Ohio Northern University’s Pettit College of Law, Dena Haggerty, JD ’98, wasted no time trying to find a job. She’s different from many ONU students, however, because her job search began after she moved overseas. When asked if she was nervous about initially moving overseas, Haggerty laughs. “Which time?” she asks.

Even before her move after law school, Haggerty was no stranger to Europe. She spent time in Europe as a foreign exchange student and as part of the military. When she attended law school at ONU, she spent a semester studying abroad in Rotterdam, Netherlands. When she was with the military, she even met her husband while stationed in Heidelberg, Germany. “Had I not been intending to attend law school,” Haggerty says, “[I] probably would not have returned to the United States.”

Her subsequent return to the United States, though, proved beneficial for Haggerty. “In the Netherlands, a legal education is completely theory based. Graduates are completely unprepared to work as lawyers.” She has also noticed an important distinction between Americans and Dutch: “As an American, I expect my people to work hard and stay late if necessary.

The Dutch don’t always agree with this attitude and this can lead to strife!”

Haggerty, an IT lawyer for Wisemen B.V., for five years, never imagined that she would be working with intellectual property. She now specializes in intellectual property and corporate law. She recommends keeping an open mind when considering a career and taking a variety of classes: “Had I known what my future career entailed, I would have definitely taken advantage of the courses available in [that] area at ONU.” Haggerty is quick to point out differences between Dutch law and American law. “The Netherlands is a civil law country…the law is more static and changes very slowly in relation to the United States.” There is also a distinction between an attorney and a jurist in the Netherlands; an attorney is one who has studied law, while a jurist is not allowed to litigate and is not required to study law. Also, “in order to litigate, graduates must

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do an internship that involves a year of additional classes regarding civil litigation,” Haggerty says. A practicing attorney must also supervise graduates for a number of years.

While she participates in many aspects of law, Haggerty cannot litigate with the Dutch courts. She can, however, arbitrate and mediate, and she spends a majority of her time drafting and negotiating agreements, which include standard license agreements and acquisition agreements.

Though she initially had problems with the language barrier, she now speaks fluent Danish and often works solely in that language. To anyone planning to work in a different country, she suggests “learn[ing] the culture…and learn[ing] a bit of the language even if it’s not strictly necessary.

It will open doors and the world.”

What doors? Haggerty laughs. “Our secondary employment benefits are awesome! We get 25 vacation days a year [and] our target for billable hours is significantly lower than in the U.S. There is a balance between work and social life, which is often lacking in the U.S. You are not defined by your job here.”

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“As an American, I expect my people to work hard and stay late if necessary. The Dutch don’t always agree with this attitude and this can lead to strife!”

■ Dena Haggerty

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Roger S. Saxton JD ’79 SPECIAL COUNSEL, O’NEILL PARTNERS – COMMERCIAL LAWYERS Sydney, Australia rogers@oplegal.com.au

“I have enjoyed my overseas experience immensely and would not trade that experience.”

I Roger S. Saxton

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International affairs and business was always a strong interest to me,” says Roger Saxton, JD ’79. Thirty years after his graduation from Ohio Northern University, Saxton has stayed true to that interest: in that time, he has spent only five years in the United States.

Now a senior lawyer at Sydney, Australia’s O’Neill Partners – Commercial Lawyers, formerly known as Nash O’Neill Tomko, Saxton has practiced law all around the world. Before graduating, he spent time in Tokyo, Japan, working with law firms. “Immediately after graduating from ONU I commenced my first full-time position with a Swedish law firm in Stockholm, in the process becoming the first American-trained lawyer to be admitted to practice in Sweden.” Following that position, he returned to the U.S. and spent five years practicing in Pennsylvania. He then returned to Japan, where he worked for three years, and, in 1989, he was hired in Australia and has remained there since.

Since 2006, Saxton has served as special counsel for Nash O’Neill Tomko, a boutique business law firm with a focus on corporate insolvency and reconstruction, as well as litigation. Saxton does not participate in these areas of the firm, however; he is a senior part of the firm’s growing corporate and commercial transaction team.

“The majority of my work relates to offshore project development,” Saxton says, pointing out that this has little relation to Australia. “Most of my clients are non-Australian corporate entities…[including] a statutory corporation Japanese government for which over the past six years I have advised on more than 40 projects.”

Australia is an important supplier of energy and mineral resources, and Saxton has also spent much of the last five years focusing on mining and natural resource sectors. This work is close to home for him: “coal mining was the ‘family business’ for several generations…[so] those sectors are something I fully understand from the client perspective.”

Though he has worked in many different countries, each with its own

law system, he has noticed many similarities to U.S. law. “[Australia is] without doubt [the country] with the greatest similarity to the U.S. On so many legal issues Australia and the U.S. have followed parallel paths with little difference.” He has, however, noticed that there are significant differences between the two nations. One such difference is taxation: “Australia has the concept of ‘assessable income,’ such that income which is not assessable income is not subject to income taxation, yielding such results as lottery winnings not being taxed.” There are also subtle differences, so Saxton advises, if one works overseas, “to read legislation doubly carefully.”

And though Japan and Sweden presented different situations and problems, Saxton says that he “greatly enjoyed…those working experiences.”

While working overseas can be “a darned good time,” Saxton expresses some hesitancy for those considering work overseas. He points to many issues, including familial, taxation and financial considerations, that one should think about before accepting a position abroad. He also worries that a position overseas may endanger one’s career progression in one’s home district, especially if the overseas position is supposed to be temporary.

“Unless one already has a job with a firm that sponsors an overseas secondment and which will treat the overseas experience at least on a par with the equivalent period of time spent in the home jurisdiction, the cost to one’s career path may be too great,” Saxton cautions.

Though he expresses concern, Saxton stresses that his overseas work has been incredibly enjoyable and beneficial: “I have enjoyed my overseas experience immensely and would not trade that experience.” His family is close by at all times; his wife is an office manager for the Australian office of an American software company, and their son is employed by Dell Computers and is currently in charge of the marketing of Dell desktop computers in Australia and New Zealand.

“While there are potential risks, not for one minute have I regretted pursuing the career that I have. If you go into the process with your eyes open and can handle all the necessary adjustments, then by all means, join the international club,” Saxton advises confidently.

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Feat ure Sidney Hunt Weeks JD ’96 VICE PRESIDENT and GENERAL COUNSEL, KVH CO., LTD. Tokyo, Japan sid_weeks@yahoo.com

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s vice president and general counsel of KVH Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Sidney Hunt Weeks, JD ’96, and his team handle a broad spectrum of internal and external legal matters, both domestic and international. Before taking on such a large role, Weeks established himself in Japan, working at many firms and even teaching at Temple University’s Japan campus.

After working in the United States and gaining patent litigation experience at Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto, as well as serving in the legal department of Starbucks Corporation headquarters, Weeks decided he wanted to utilize his international law skills and his Japanese fluency. “I attended a job fair in Boston and found a job with Toshiba in 1998,” Weeks says. He served as in-house counsel in the Intellectual Property Division of the Toshiba Corporation. Later, he practiced law with Anderson, Mori & Tomotsune and taught classes on topics relating to cyberlaw and contract law at Temple University before finding his job with KVH. He has now lived in Japan for eleven years following law school, as well as an additional two years prior to attending Ohio Northern University.

KVH is an IT and communications provider that supplies services both within Japan and internationally. “The past year has been very interesting

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“Get good U.S. law firm experience first.

That is where you will build your knowledge base, which you will draw on in overseas work.”

■ Sidney Hunt Weeks

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and informative in handling the legal and regulatory aspects of opening a branch office in Hong Kong and getting an IVANS license to provide nonvoice communications to and from Hong Kong.” KVH has also dealt with India in order to allow for increased outsourcing to vendors in India.

Weeks feels as though his experience at ONU aided him tremendously in working overseas. “Professor Fenton’s courses on international business transactions and private international law were a great foundation for international practice.” Other courses that helped Weeks establish the skills he needs were courses in civil procedure, contracts, torts and corporations and agencies.

Though he was well prepared for an overseas position, Weeks is glad that he worked in the United States prior to taking up his practice in Tokyo. “Get good U.S. law firm experience first,” he advises. “That is where you will build your knowledge base, which you will draw on in overseas work.” Weeks has noticed an interesting attribute to Japanese law: “Litigation is rarely used in Japan.” But one shouldn’t allow such a lack to dissuade a position in Japanese litigation. “There are some outstanding Japanese litigators…especially in the IP field.”

Language knowledge is also important, as “they will also set you apart.

At my level, all the non-Japanese that I meet are close to being fluent in Japanese, either due to learning before they came here or applying themselves once they arrived.”

Being so far from the U.S. does have its downside, as Weeks has discovered. “I feel as though I am out of touch with what it feels like to be an American these days….I have been [in Japan] during 9/11, the Bush presidency and both Gulf Wars.” He is also far from his parents, though he and his family are often visited by his wife’s parents, who live only 30 minutes away. His parents also visit every summer, closing the distance a bit. For Weeks, deciding to work overseas was a “thrilling idea” because “every day would be a new adventure or a learning experience.” One such new adventure was meeting his future wife, Youko, in Tokyo in 1998. His marriage to Youko and the birth of their daughter Grace and sons Louis and James is Weeks’ favorite aspect to his foreign work experience.

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James Espaldon JD ’03 SENATOR AND MINORITY WHIP, 30th GUAM LEGISLATURE Tamuning, Guam jimespaldon@yahoo.com

s a senator and minority whip for the 30th Guam Legislature, James Espaldon, JD ’03, represents yet another aspect to an education in law: politics. The son of a six-time Guam senator, Espaldon was unsure what he would do with his Ohio Northern University juris doctorate. “When I was at ONU, I was thinking about going into politics, but I wasn’t sure at the time,” Espaldon explains.

“I also thought about being a judge.”

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Prior to attending Ohio Northern, Espaldon graduated from Menlo College in Atherton, California, with a bachelors of science degree in business administration. Following his graduation, he dabbled in a variety of areas, including retail management with ABC stores in Hawaii and real estate brokering. His father was a plastic surgeon and his mother was an anesthesiologist, and Espaldon followed in their footsteps by serving as the director for facilities services at the Doctor’s Clinic in Guam.

At age 43, though, Espaldon decided he wanted to try something new.

After taking the LSAT, he fielded many letters from schools in Hawaii and California. One of the schools that sent him a letter was Ohio Northern.

“I’ve attended schools in both the East and the West,” Espaldon explains.

“I thought going to the Midwest would give me a new way to look at the world.” He also decided that Ohio Northern would not provide the distractions that schools near beaches would provide – namely, “swimming and body surfing.”

His time at Ohio Northern proved valuable. Espaldon says he learned more than just details concerning law: “The analytical abilities I learned at ONU have benefited me greatly, even though I didn’t go into law. Being able to think critically adds dimensions to a person, and Ohio Northern was really good at helping that thought process thrive.” He also adds that legal research skills that he learned have continued to help him as a senator.

Upon his return to Guam, Espaldon served as a law clerk in the Superior Court of Guam under Presiding Judge Alberto C. Lamorena, III, and was sworn into the Guam Bar in September 2006. By that time, Espaldon was a candidate for the ’06 senatorial race with the blessing of his father: “I’d talked about politics before, but it was for all the wrong reasons, like fame and getting my name in the paper. After spending long

nights talking to my dad, though, he thought I was finally ready to give back to the community – which, to him and me, was the right reason.

And, at the time, I wasn’t even considering politics, so it came as a surprise to have that suddenly come back into my life.”

After being elected to the 29th Guam Legislature, Espaldon found himself the chairman of many different committees, including committees on natural resources, infrastructure, maritime affairs and tourism. His Filipino background helped him win backing from Guam’s largest minority, and he became the first senator with Filipino blood. He was later re-elected to the 30th Guam Legislature and is considering a run as lieutenant governor during the next gubernatorial race.

As senator, Espaldon has dealt directly with Guam’s law. “Most Guam law is taken from other U.S. states,” Espaldon explains. “When the laws were written, they were based heavily on where the writers went to law school. There are pieces of Texas, California and other states in it. It’s a mish-mash of the States, so the general law isn’t too different than in the U.S.” Some legal differences do exist, though, because of the island’s history.

“Some laws are tailored to the island, to preserve land and culture for the indigenous peoples,” Espaldon says. These laws are sometimes controversial, as they may be unconstitutional: “They’re bittersweet; they might violate the constitution and the American way, but sometimes the American way can’t protect indigenous culture. So it’s been difficult to figure out what to do with these laws.” Though this controversial topic may be difficult at times, Espaldon says that it is one of the things he has enjoyed most about being a senator at this time. “I have the opportunity to become part of Guam’s history,” he says. “Some past rules didn’t serve the overall good, and we need to get rid of those. We need to take on laws that divide us and prepare for our island’s future.”

One aspect of the future of Guam is military activity. The United States has relocated many troops from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam, which has presented the possibility for further problems, especially financial. “The island could technically become a third-world country outside the [military’s] fence, and I’ve spent quite a bit of time making sure that doesn’t happen,” Espaldon says. “We need to make sure our infrastructure is strong, and to

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Feat ure do that, we need money and security. I’ve personally traveled to the United States and Japan to ensure that we get the money we need.” Though there are many potential controversies in the future, Espaldon has enjoyed his time as senator and hopes to continue in politics. He suggests that any law student with a desire for politics “makes sure they have the passion to serve the community and isn’t doing it for the wrong reasons, like fame. As long as you do it for the right reasons and follow your heart, you should be on the right path.”

“I have to thank Ohio Northern for helping me with a variety of things. I made lots of friends, and those friends, along with the ONU faculty and staff, helped me in my time away from home. The school in general also helped me understand the mindset of a Midwesterner and, when that perspective is combined with the perspectives I’ve gained from living in Guam and attending universities on either U.S. coast, I feel like a really well-rounded person.” ■

Robert Houser JD ’90 DIRECTOR OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT SERVICES, TRANSLEGAL Sollentuna, Sweden houser@translegal.com

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I’m the type of person that, if I decide to do something, I do it,” says Robert Houser, JD ’90.

Perhaps one of the most important decisions Houser has made was moving to Sollentuna, Sweden, in 1996 to be with his wife, Helena, a decision he does not regret in the least.

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hen he moved, Houser did not have a job lined up. “I thought that if nothing worthwhile came up after two years, I’d leave,” Houser says. After applying at various firms, Houser decided to attend Stockholm University to get his LLM. Aside from the books he had to purchase for classes, the schooling was free. Once he graduated with his master’s degree in European law, Houser taught classes at Stockholm University and coached the Stockholm University European Moot Court. One of the teams he coached was awarded the best oral and written pleas by the European Court of Justice.

In 1998, following his teaching position, Houser found a job at TransLegal, the world’s leading provider of Legal English products and services. TransLegal’s inhouse staff of lawyer-linguists is the largest in the world, and Houser, who is fluent in Swedish, fit in well. Starting as a Swedish-English translator, Houser moved his way up to become the direc-

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tor of language assessment services.

While in this position, he and his company developed a test that allowed employers to know how fluent their employees were in English. He also helped develop, with the help of the University of Cambridge, an international legal English certificate. Many products are available for this certification, including a book, co-written by Houser, called “International Legal English,” available through the Cambridge University Press.

Though he does not practice law in Sweden, Houser does consult with lawyers and deals with translating legal texts, so he has noticed many differences between Swedish and American law. The most noticeable difference is that Sweden practices civil law, not common law. “With civil law, it’s the law that wins, not the best argument,” Houser says. “Lawyers [in Sweden] typically aren’t as creative as lawyers [in America] because they don’t have to be. They read through the law a few times and

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once they know the law, that’s it. It doesn’t change as quickly or as often as common law.”

Another difference is that lawyers in Sweden are very theoretical. “Many of the lawyers in Sweden, when they come out of law school, write like they’re still in law school,” Houser laughs. “There’s a lot of ‘if this, then this,’ and ‘therefore, I would conclude that…’”

“The biggest problem with working overseas is the language,” Houser says. “To work in a law firm abroad, you have to have a firm hold on the local language, because, at the end of the day, language is the only tool a lawyer has, and if you don’t have it, you have a problem.”

Though there might be language difficulties for some individuals, they can be overcome, and Houser feels as though working overseas has been very beneficial. “The food, places, people…it’s all great in Europe, and being from America, it’s nice being the only guy

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around that can answer certain questions.”

Prior to moving overseas, Houser practiced for five years in the areas of commercial and tort law litigation, including many trials and appeals before the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. “I could never have done what I’m doing if not for ONU,” Houser claims. His ONU experience helped prepare him for U.S. law, and he would recommend, with discretion, that an Ohio Northern student accept a position overseas. “You have to be the persistent type. You have to have a clear plan. If you’re questioning being a lawyer at all, you have to be creative in finding a job. But if you really want something different that’s very rewarding, I recommend trying overseas work.”

Perhaps the most poignant advice Houser has applies to both domestic and international work. “Take risks.

Lawyers, in general, avoid taking risks.

But you have to take risks to get ahead and get enlightenment.”

HOMECOMING

“Tropical Tundra” HOMECOMING 2009 | October 9-11, 2009 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2009

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009

1–4 P.M. “ETHICS, PROFESSIONALISM & SUBSTANCE ABUSE”* MOOT COURT ROOM, COLLEGE OF LAW

10:30 A.M. PARADE 11:30 A.M. LAW ALUMNI & FRIENDS TAILGATE PARTY DIAL-ROBERSON STADIUM

Continuing Legal Education program sponsored by the College of Law and Phi Alpha Delta - Willis Chapter Registration fee: $65 non-law alum/$50 law alum/ $40 Lehr Society law alum Registration form online at www.law.onu.edu Contact CLE@onu.edu or 419-772-3051 Deadline to register: October 2, 2009

Join us under the big-top tent! Law alumni and friends have a designated area where they can enjoy the tailgate lunch together.

1:30 P.M. FOOTBALL GAME • ONU VS. HEIDELBERG

*Advance registration required directly with College of Law. Approved for 2.5 CLE hours including 1 hour Ethics, 1/2 hour Substance Abuse, and 1 hour Professionalism.

7:30 P.M. LAW DONOR RECOGNITION DINNER HANSON READING ROOM, TAGGART LAW LIBRARY

The Student Bar Association will hold its Race Judicata on Thursday, October 8, 2009.

The 5K run/walk will begin at 6 p.m. Details available at www.law.onu.edu

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COMMENCEMENT

2009 Commencement Ceremony Hosted the Honorable Judith Ann Lanzinger

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he 2009 Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law commencement took

place on Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m. in the ONU Sports Center. 100 students graduated. Dr. Kendall L. Baker, Ohio Northern president, presided over the ceremony.

In addition to juris doctor degrees, ONU conferred LLM degrees to nine lawyers from transitional and emerging democracies who have completed a year-long course of intensive study in the Democratic Governance and Rule of Law program.

A musical prelude began at 1:30 p.m., followed by the procession of faculty and juris doctorate candidates.

The Honorable Judith Ann Lanzinger, current justice on the Supreme Court of Ohio, delivered the commencement address. Elected as

Judith Lanzinger, Jerry Skinner, Reverend Monsignor James Reuf, Charles VanDyne, President Baker

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the 150th Supreme Court Justice in 2004, Lanzinger is the only person elected to all four levels of the Ohio judiciary. She has served on the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Sixth District Court of Appeals, the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas and the Toledo Municipal Court.

Three ONU Law graduates received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees: Jerome L. Skinner, a 1979 graduate from Cincinnati, Ohio, Charles VanDyne, a 1954 graduate from Alger, Ohio, and Reverend Monsignor James L.

LLM graduate, Janice Misoi, with family members from Kenya

Student speakers; Jana Shearer, Sean Martin, John Mujuma and President Baker

Ruef, a 1967 graduate from Columbus, Ohio.

Academically ranked at the top of her class, Jana Shearer, L-3, North East, Penn., delivered the student address, and David C. Crago, Dean of the College of Law, gave remarks. The National Anthem and the benediction were performed by Kenitra Alexandra Cavin, L-3, Colorado Springs, Colo., Crystal Okoro, L-2, from Vicksburg, Miss., and Lindsey Miller, L-1, from Little Rock, Ark. Graduating law students Sean Martin, L-3, Plain City, Ohio, and John M. Mujuma, LLM, of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, gave the invocation and the spoken benediction, respectively.

Dean Crago, assisted by members of the tenured law faculty, placed the academic hood upon each candidate, followed by Baker’s presentation of the diplomas. A reception for graduates and families took place in the College of Law immediately following the ceremony. â–

LLM graduates

Featured vocalists: Lindsay Miller, Crystal Okoro and Alexandra Cavin

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COLLEGE UPDATES

Being Social at ONU Law ONU builds a larger presence online By now, it seems social networking has become the fastest growing means of communication. Although you may not be anywhere close to Ada, Ohio, social networking sites provide you the opportunity to stay connected with ONU Law. Keep up with your classmates, friends, professors, and current students of the Pettit College of Law by joining ONU Law groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. These social networking sites offer an easy and convenient way to keep in touch with classmates and professors, as well as to keep abreast of the happenings at ONU Law and in Ada. View pictures of the college’s most recent renovation, the Hanson Reading Room, and see what the Tilton Hall of Law looks like today.

While you’re on LinkedIn, take a minute to read through current discussion board items or start a new one of your own. Alumni are also encouraged to post job openings and advise students of law clerk opportunities in their area. Be social. Be connected.

Coming soon . . . ONU Law on Twitter!

COLLEGE UNVEILS NEW MARKETING MATERIALS The College of Law is excited to debut its new marketing materials.

Designed by FahlgrenMortine, the new materials are used by the Law Admissions staff as they travel throughout the country and meet prospective students, pre-law advisors and career services professionals. The new materials reinforce the college’s commitment to preparing practicing attorneys and are supported by collateral materials on our experiential programs and international programs.

Know a student who may be interested in law school?

Let us know! The Office of Law Admissions will send them an introductory packet about ONU Law. Email lawadmissions@onu.edu for more information.

Take a minute to join the ONU Law groups on Facebook and LinkedIn today.

ONU Law’s new marketing booklets are now available…

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Even in a Economic Downturn, Ohio Northern University College of Law Graduates Surpass the National Employment Rate Seven Years in a Row

By Cheryl A. Kitchen, director of law alumni and career services

The 2008 National Employment Report was released in June 2009 from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) with an overall national rate of 92% employed nine months after graduation. Ohio Northern’s employment rate for the Class of 2008 was 94%.

2008 marks the 36th consecutive year that NALP, the National Association for Law Placement, has compiled annual statistics on the employment rate of law graduates throughout the United States. Nationally, for the past seven years, the ONU College of Law employment rate has been higher than the national average.

The 2008 National Employment Report was released in June 2009 from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), with an overall national rate of 92% employed nine months after graduation. Ohio Northern’s employment rate for the Class of 2008 was 94%.

Even though there have been many ups and downs in the legal job market in 2008, the Class of 2008’s employment rate remained strong. As 2008 came to a close, the legal market and job prospects for the future graduating law students changed dramatically. At the end of 2008, the legal market took a downward turn with law firms downsizing and attorney layoffs escalating.

The legal job market continues to be in what some call a “crisis,” but even in a crisis situation, there are opportunities that may arise. Indeed, in this economic downturn or crisis, we are forced to sift through and sort out what we think will solve this crisis in the employment world. What Ohio Northern has always had is a strong connection to its alumni, which continues to be our most powerful marketing agent for our students.

As alumni, you are our connection to employment for the students. With the help of our alumni, our students will be able to survive this economic crisis and forge ahead to a successful legal career. Many ways in which you could help is by mentoring a student, speaking on a panel, networking with students or being a resource for a student in your practice, setting or geographical location.

Although we continue to report a slight increase in our employment statistics over the national average, 2009 is going to be a very difficult year in the legal market. This employment rate is due to the

hard work and tenacity on the part of the students, along with the help and support of the faculty and alumni, as well as the continued efforts of the Career Services Office. These efforts, along with the current employment success of our alumni, continue to help strengthen the status of the law school among employers and increase the demand for our students. The growing recognition of the quality of our students is demonstrated by the increasing number of employers using the Career Services Office to recruit students. In the 2008-09 school year, over 600 employers from across the country posted job announcements with our office.

In addition to posting job announcements with our office, during this past school year over 100 offices conducted on-campus interviews at Ohio Northern and another 35 employers participated in our resume collection program. These employers come from all segments of the legal profession including federal judges, The American Lawyer’s 100 top corporate firms, government agencies, public interest organizations and corporations. Our students represent over 40 states and their job searches span nationwide. The placement statistics for the Class of 2008 show the diversity of employment not only in areas of the legal practice, but also in the employment of our students throughout the country.

Class of 2008 AREAS OF PRACTICE Private Practice ...........52% Government .................31% Business .......................7% Academic ...................... 5% Judicial Clerkships .........3% Public Interest ...............2%

AREAS OF THE COUNTRY Mid-Atlantic...............................................15% East North Central.....................................44% West North Central......................................2% South Atlantic ............................................26% East South Central ......................................6% Mountain ....................................................3% West South Central ......................................2% New England ...............................................2%

Ohio Northern has always had a strong connection to its alumni, which continues to be our most powerful marketing agent for our students.

Even though the legal market has had a significant downturn, we continue to have success in our placement rate. We still need to draw upon our alumni network to uncover job leads for our students and graduates though.

If you can assist us in uncovering job leads for our students and graduates, please let us know. You can do this by calling (419) 772-2249, faxing (419) 772-1487, or emailing the Office of Career Services at lawcareer@onu.edu

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Hanson Reading Room Dedication Oct. 18, 2008

By Nancy Armstrong, director of law library and professor of law

T President Kendall Baker

he dedication for the new Hanson Reading Room was held on October 18, 2008, in conjunction with Homecoming weekend activities.

President Baker and former deans Daniel Guy, JD ’52, LLD ’05 and Al Baillis gave remarks, as did the Hon. Gerald Meyer, JD ’68. Dean Hanson’s two daughters were there, as were other family members and friends.

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s part of the Hanson Reading Room project, three new group study rooms were created. They were named for former dean Dan Guy, JD ’52, LLD ’05, James Pry, JD ’70 and Richard Ferris, JD ’70.

The new Hanson Reading Room and its alcoves are used for a wide range of activities. Students study at the large tables and relax in the oversized leather seating areas. Seminar classes are held in the teaching alcoves. Professors and students alike use the technology in these rooms for their presentations. This includes the use of overhead projectors and screens concealed in the ceilings and hook-ups for computers and the Internet located inside the tables. In addition, a real estate class used the Blake Alcove for final exam “mock closings” because the

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COLLEGE UPDATES space created a conference room setting for students to practice these skills. The Hanson Reading Room is also used for special events, such as the “class gift” kick-off event held by the graduating class this spring.

The construction company responsible for the Hanson Reading Room was Thomas & Marker construction, based in Bellefontaine, Ohio, led by project supervisor Terry Morrison. Furnishings were provided locally by Jon Bassitt of Country View Barn (Amish-made tables and chairs) and Westrich Furniture of Delphos, Ohio.

We were delighted to learn this summer that our portfolio of the Hanson Reading Room construction project was selected for the “Educational Interiors Showcase” sponsored by American School & University magazine. Portfolios from schools around the country will be featured in an online showcase and in the magazine’s annual architecture issue. The portfolio contained the photographs of Ohio Northern University photographers Jose Nogueras and Ken Colwell, and documents contributed by the project architect Steve Miller from Miller Lecky Architects, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio.

The law library continues its teaching mission and held over 70 legal research workshops in the newly renovated Supreme Court Alcove. Research presentations were also given in seminar classes, for law review, for LLM students, and for some of the law school’s moot court teams.

Al Baillis

Looking into the Blake Family alcove Dan Guy

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Robert Cupp, BA ’73, JD ’76, with Rodney Blake, JD ’66 and Kara Blake, JD ’04

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We’re Celebrating!

The Pettit College will reach a milestone in 2010 as the college celebrates 125 years of training attorneys. The college, which was officially established at Ohio Northern in 1885, is planning a number of exciting events to take place during academic year 2010-2011.

Distinguished speakers, special dedications, alumni events, and symposia are all planned.

Details to come. We hope to see you back in Ada for the festivities.

“This accomplishment reflects the hard work of the entire college, but most of all the efforts of these students.”

ONU Law Graduates Top the State in Bar Passage Students who graduated from the College of Law in December, 2008, had a 100 percent passage rate on the Ohio bar examination administered in February, 2009. This continues the trend of outstanding bar exam performance by Ohio Northern law graduates. In 2008, 100 percent of first-time applicants passed the Ohio bar exam in February, followed by 93.3 percent of May graduates on the July exam. In 2007, graduates of the college recorded the highest percentage of first-time applicants passing the July 2007 bar, with 95 percent of first-time takers passing the exam.

For the most recent administration of the Ohio bar exam, in February, 2009, out of 387 applicants, 237 (61.2 per cent) passed. Of the 225 first-time applicants, 77.3 per cent received passing scores.

David C. Crago, dean and professor of law at Ohio Northern, celebrated the continued success of recent graduates of the College on the bar examination: “This accomplishment reflects the hard work of the entire college, but most of all the efforts of these students.”

The new attorneys were sworn in during a special public session of the Supreme Court on May 18, 2009, at The Ohio Theatre in Columbus.

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Entering Class of 2009

17% minority. These numbers give ONU the most racially diverse class ever to

By Linda K. English, director of admissions and assistant dean enroll at ONU Law. ONU Law The national and international dimensions of Admissions is committed to the mission of a challenging curriculum at Ohio Northern seeking students who are capable of undertaking University College of Law are paralleled by an the rigorous study of law and will uphold the accomplished, expert faculty and a diverse, multihighest standards as citizens and future lawyers. talented student body.

The Fall 2009 entering class is showing great The approachable faculty enables students to promise not only in continuing a rich history and thrive in a rigorous yet humane environment. tradition of excellence at the Pettit College of Law, We believe students deserve not only academic but in demonstrating great potential for being rigor, but also a personalized and respectful “architects of justice” in a complex and dynamic experience. Ohio Northern Law has been ranked society. by the Princeton Review’s Best 170 Law Schools, The more traditional pre-law majors in 2008 Edition as one of the top ten schools with history, political science, english and criminal the most competitive law students in the nation. justice continue to dominate, yet, a very diverse The quality and reputation of our program selection of disciplines provides multiple continues to grow as a result of our JD students’ perspectives and a rich forum in which to study scholarship and contributions to the legal field. the law.

The entering class of 2009 promises to be one of the most academically talented classes in the history of the law school. Nearly 1400 applications were carefully reviewed in selecting the members of this class. The 113 first year students hail from 22 states and received their bachelor’s degrees from nearly 72 different undergraduate colleges and universities throughout the nation. Although the majority of entering students are traditionally aged and have recently graduated from a bachelor’s program, the age range is 20-42. This entering class is over

2009 entering class members have held a variety of jobs including: ■ Court advocate ■ Restaurant server ■ Concierge ■ Paralegal ■ Law library assistant ■ Real estate title officer ■ Research assistant ■ Yacht broker ■ Teacher ■ Case worker ■ Coach ■ Coal miner ■ Computer technician ■ Bank teller ■ Tutor ■ Lifeguard ■ Valet ■ Medical assistant in cardiology

The Princeton Review’s Best 170 Law Schools, 2008 Edition lists Ohio Northern University Law as one of the top ten schools with the most competitive law students in the nation.

2009 OHIO NORTHERN COLLEGE OF LAW CLASS Students in the 2009 entering class hail from 22 states:

California Colorado Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri New York North Carolina

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IN-STATE

Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania Texas Virginia Wisconsin

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OUT-OF-STATE

42% 58%

of 2009 entering class is from Ohio

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of 2009 entering class is from out-of-state

The 113 first year students hail from 22 states and have received their bachelor’s degrees from nearly 72 different undergraduate colleges and universities throughout the nation.

I Landscapist I Intern with a senator or congressman I Pharmacy technician I Pizza deliverer I Human rights coalition advocate I Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance staff

Scouts, Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Guardian Ad Litem, Relay for Life, Volunteer, tutors, soup kitchens, Special Olympics, Peace Corps volunteer and Katrina relief volunteers.

Demonstrations of Service: U.S. Army, Bronze Star, U.S. Navy, National Guard, Boy

In addition to the more traditional pre-law majors in history, political science, criminal justice and English, a variety of undergraduate majors are represented including: Note: 32 majors – the total number reflects those disciplines represented as major studies - a significant number of students major in more than one discipline during their undergraduate studies.

Accounting (4) Political Science (39) Psychology (4) History (16) English (10) Criminal Justice (2) Communications (3) Journalism (3) Finance (4) Philosophy (3) Business Administration (7) Economics (3) Mechanical Engineering (2) Pharmacy (2) Liberal Arts (3) Spanish (2) Prelaw (4) and one each of the following:

Human Ecology Biology Sociology Electrical Engineering Sports Administration Education Ethnic Studies International Relations Women’s Studies

International Anticorruption Watchdog Appoints Four ONU LLM Graduates as Lead Researchers for Their Countries Global Integrity, a Washington, D.C.-based international anticorruption organization, appointed four ONU LLM graduates as lead researchers for their respective countries. Alisher Karimov (LLM '08, Tajikistan), Givi Kutidze (LLM '07, Georgia), Selcan Mammadli (LLM '09, Azerbaijan), and Liridon Shurdhani (LLM '09, Kosovo) will be leading national teams of journalists, social scientists and other experts in preparation of anti-corruption and good governance national-level assessments for the Global Integrity Report: 2009.

Global Integrity is an independent international non-profit organization that monitors and promotes openness and accountability. It relies on a network of local experts in 92 countries to generate, synthesize and disseminate credible, comprehensive and timely information on governance and corruption trends around the world.

Global Integrity's work is unique in that it seeks to assess the opposite of corruption – good governance and anti-corruption mechanisms – rather than corruption itself.

The Global Integrity Report is the organization's flagship annual publication made up of individual country assessments prepared by local experts. The Report combines qualitative journalistic reporting with quantitative data gathering that produce a powerful "snapshot" of the strengths and weaknesses of national anti-corruption mechanisms. The Report is widely used by development experts and aid donors, reform-minded governments, private sector investors and grassroots journalists and advocates to prioritize governance challenges and promote anti-corruption reform efforts.

The LLM program at Ohio Northern includes a specialized course in corruption taught by Professor Elena Helmer.

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Kutidze

Mammadli

Shurdhani

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ONU Introduces New Concurrent JD/LLM Program

By Howard N. Fenton, director of LLM program and professor of law

The College of Law is building on the success of its LLM in Democratic Governance and Rule of Law Program by expanding it to include JD students who will receive both degrees at the end of three years. By opting to enroll in the concurrent program their first year, the students begin immediately taking courses with the international LLM students and participating in specially focused events. The program is limited to six students per class, and designed to attract highly qualified students with an international interest who might not otherwise consider ONU. The concurrent students will take all of the non-introductory LLM courses with the international students, spread out over their three years. This will give them the opportunity to interact with three classes of international students, while completing all the requirements of their JD. The course of study also includes two summer externships with organizations focusing on building democracy and law reform around the world. During the first summer, the concurrent students will work with organizations in the United States, while the second summer will be spent overseas with organizations working on the application of development and law reform principles in transitional countries.

This past summer, the five students in the first class had very diverse experiences, highlighting the range of opportunities the program provides. Jemel Liverpool spent the summer in New York City at the United Nations Development Programme headquarters, working in their Democratic Governance Group. He worked on a variety of tasks, including the Group’s Global Thematic Programme on Accelerating Access to

Justice, which exposed him to the work of UNDP on law reform in countries all over the world. According to Jemel, the work he did at UNDP allowed him to utilize the legal reasoning, research and writing skills he had learned at ONU while examining the causes and factors hindering the effective operation of justice systems in struggling countries.

Nicole Rataski was with Trace International, Inc. in Annapolis, Maryland, an anticorruption organization representing major multi-national corporations. She worked on preparing a compendium of enforcement actions by the U.S. government under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which required her to review an array of pleadings and evidence to identify particular corrupt practices and their legal implications. Nicole said that the LLM course on Competitiveness and Corruption she had at ONU gave her the kind of background she needed to do her work.

The lawyers supervising Nicole were very impressed by how well informed she was for a first-year law student.

The three other externs were in the Washington, D.C. area. Ryan Nuss was at the Urban Institute’s Center on International Development and Governance, while Geoff Lawson worked with International Relief and Development, a non-governmental organization working in over 30 less-developed countries.

Daniel Bey was an extern with Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan. All five of the students will be working overseas next summer, while the new class of concurrent students will be working with these and other organizations in the U.S. next year.

Jemel Liverpool

Anne Richardson, director of member services, Trace International and Nicole Rataski

LLM Class of 2009 Field Trip to Washington Each year, the students in ONU’s Democratic Governance and Rule of Law LLM program spend a week in Washington, D.C., getting a close look at many of the facets of the American government. This past March, the nine students, accompanied by director Howard Fenton and assistant director JeanMarie Kamatali, were introduced to the three branches of government as well as the international development activities centered in Washington.

Highlights of the trip included: hearing oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court and meeting with William Souter, the Clerk of the Court; a half-day at the World Bank Integrity Vice-Presidency; and meeting Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and his staff.

The students had extended meetings with officials from the Democracy and Governance Office of the United States Agency for International Development, the Rule of Law section of the United States Institute for Peace and senior staff of the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative.

The students were given time to visit many of the museums and historic sites in Washington and experience the culture of the city. The visit included a reception for the students and friends of the LLM program, as well as Washington area ONU law alumni, hosted by the law firm of Vorys, Sater Seymour & Pease.

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ONU College of Law United States Supreme Court Admission Ceremony… An Exceptional Experience

By Cheryl A. Kitchen, director of law alumni and career services

Ohio Northern University College of Law held its fifth United States Supreme Court admission ceremony on June 8, 2009. The event began with a reception and dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill with over 110 alumni, family and guests attending. In addition, area alumni joined the group in celebration of the swearing-in ceremony. Dean David Crago welcomed and congratulated the inductees on their accomplishments.

Robert Ryan, JD ’79, and President of the Law Alumni Association, also welcomed the group to Washington D.C., and impressed upon the group the importance of taking part in the ceremony on Monday morning. Johnnie Johnson, JD ’70, was introduced to everyone as our movant. Johnson then introduced each inductee and congratulated them on becoming members of the U.S. Supreme Court. The evening was a huge success. It was a night of celebration with the anticipation of the upcoming ceremony the next morning.

Thirty-three of our graduates were sworn into the U.S. Supreme Court in this impressive alumni group ceremony. All who participated felt a sense of pride not only as being a part of the Ohio Northern group but also as now being a part of the highest court in the nation. “Equal Justice Under Law” – these words, written above the main entrance to the Supreme Court Building, express the ultimate responsibility of the Supreme Court of the United States and for anyone who takes the oath and is sworn into this Court. Everyone who took part in this ceremony was in awe of the Court and of what was happening.

The morning began as we loaded three buses and headed for the Supreme Court. Once we made our way through security, the group was escorted to the East Conference Room to gather prior to the ceremony. Security was tight and the rules of the court were strict, but we were able to assemble our group of 142 inductees, family members and guests into the East Conference Room. Ohio Northern was an impressive group and one of the largest the Court had ever had for a ceremony. Once the inductees were lined-up and escorted into the

“I am honored to have been admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court, and I can only hope to have the opportunity to argue a case before the nation’s top court during my career.

Seeing the justices in person and being admitted to the bar with fellow alumni and in the company of our families made for a spectacular day in Washington D.C.” Emile H. Banks, Jr., JD ’84, Milwaukee, Wisc. and Johnnie L. Johnson, JD ’70, Memphis, Tenn.

courtroom, the ceremony was under way. Once in the courtroom, the inductees of Ohio Northern were asked to stand and our movant, Johnnie L. Johnson was called by the clerk to address the court.

Johnson proceeded to the podium and began by saying, “Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the court, I move the admission of the following attorneys.” Each name was called in the order of the attorney’s state and then he made a motion to move the group. Once the names were read and the motion was made, the Chief Justice, John G. Roberts, Jr., accepted the motion and the inductees became members of the Court.

This was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment for our graduates.

After the ceremony, the group was escorted back into the East Conference Room to gather and celebrate their admission. Following the reception, the group was escorted to the court room for a presentation by the Curator of the Marshal’s Office and then to the front steps for a group photo. To say it was an exceptional experience is an understatement.

“I was honored to be sworn into the Court. It was truly a humbling experience to sit in that court room and think about all of the American history that has taken place there.”

Inductees Charles Philip Miller ................1972 Leonard Jeffery Grill................1975 Gary James Nagle...................1977 Clayton Elliott Chong...............1977 Rhett W.Burgess......................1979 Amanda Ella Pecchioni ........Faculty Sean Patrick Espy...................1999 Kyle Thomas Thompson .........2001 Krystal W. Abbott ....................1988 Marna N. Trammell ................2002 Brigham M. Anderson ............2004 Robert Craig AndersonII..........2005 Robert Craig Anderson............1978 William Mack Anderson ..........1977 Dennis Mitchell Donnelly.........1976 Steven M. Emerick..................2001

– HOLLY GLEASON, JD '05

Robert C. Folland....................1995 Holly Lynne Gleason...............2005 William Douglas Hart..............1980 Kimberly Sue Kislig.................2003 Thomas P. Martin....................1975 Margo S. Meola ......................1995 James Roger O'Donnell ..........1966 Randy L. Reeves .....................1980 Phillip Andrew Reid .................1976 Peter H. Riddell .......................1973 William H. White .....................1967 Maryann Joyce Bistline...........1985 Susan Kathleen Bowen ..........2003 Jay P. Lundy ...........................2004 RichardIain Hutson.................2005 Emile H. Banks Jr...................1984 Thomas B.R. Christenson I.....2004 Mary J. Arena .........................1997

–STEVE EMERICK, JD '01

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The Campaign for Ohio Northern University’s Tomorrow

By Lisa Sonia Taylor, director of development, College of Law

On November 1, 2008, Ohio Northern University publicly launched The Campaign for Ohio Northern University’s Tomorrow. This is a $100 million comprehensive campaign to support the vision of Ohio Northern University’s future that will see ONU as a leading, private, student-centered institution of increasing regional and national prominence.

ONU will be a diverse, dynamic and unique learning community offering rigorous professional programs in partnership with the sciences and the arts to prepare individuals for lifelong challenges.

The Campaign for Ohio Northern University’s Tomorrow has four major funding priorities that are: 1) $20 million for scholarships and student aid; 2) $25 million to enrich academic programs; 3) $45 million for new construction and capital improvements; and 4) $10 million to strengthen the Northern Fund.

The College of Law shares in the vision for ONU’s Tomorrow. Our goal is to make the College of Law a preeminent national law school by improving financial aid, strengthening our academic programs and continuing to provide top-notch faculty and instruction. In keeping with the Campaign’s priorities, the following are some of the College of Law’s fundraising goals: ■ STUDENT AID * The Eugene N. Hanson Reading Room and Fellows Program Now that the Hanson Reading Room is complete all future donations to this project will support the Hanson Fellows Program. This program will honor Dean Hanson’s legacy by providing annual, need-based scholarships to students who demonstrate financial need and exemplify academic success. * Loan Repayment Assistance Program (“LRAP”) We seek to establish a LRAP that will provide financial assistance to law graduates who pursue a career in the public interest sector. While the cost of legal education escalates, law students are borrowing more to cover their tuition and expenses and are graduating with more debt. In contrast, financial compensation for attorneys in the public interest sector has stagnated. The LRAP will assist students who enter public service to eliminate some or all of their educational debt.

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to recruit such high profile scholars to our faculty. * Endowed Lectureships This endowment will cover the cost of the Dean’s Lecture Series. This will allow the College of Law to invite distinguished law scholars to speak on current issues of national significance.

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PROJECTS * Tilton Hall Classrooms We want to improve the physical environment of the classrooms by replacing tables and seating and making the rooms more comfortable and inviting.

Also, we seek to improve the technological utility of the classrooms in order to enhance faculty performance and the student experience. * Alumni Moot Courtroom We plan to upgrade the current courtroom to allow students to explore the ways in which technology can be used to enhance litigation. We hope to redesign the floor plan for more efficient use as a courtroom and classroom. Other upgrades on our wish list for this project include high resolution digital overhead presenters, video projectors and monitors and computer terminals.

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* Endowed Professorships Our mission is to provide the best quality education for our students by employing a faculty of experienced, well-respected and nationally acclaimed experts in their field. Endowed professorships will allow ONU

OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW |

THE NORTHERN FUND

Donations to the Northern Fund allow the College of Law to meet its most current and immediate operational needs. These operational costs include financial aid, student organizations and activities, faculty research, research assistants and alumni events. Further, alumni support of the Northern Fund goes beyond the obvious monetary benefit; giving statistics are used by foundations and corporations to determine grants to the institution and in national rankings to determine alumni satisfaction. Our goal is not only to improve alumni support of the Northern Fund through greater participation, but also to increase law alumni membership in the Lehr Society.

PROGRAM ENRICHMENT

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

JOIN THE LEHR SOCIETY Members of the Lehr Society are recognized as the University's strongest supporters. Members contribute $1,000 or more within the fiscal year beginning June 1.

Graduates of the last decade may join the Lehr Society through the GOLD program at a discounted rate. Benefits include: • Campus-wide parking pass • Athletics passes • Passes to select Alumni events • Tickets to select Freed Center productions • Special recognition honoring all members at a private dinner during the fall • Discounts on CLEs For more information about the Lehr and GOLD societies contact the Northern Fund Office at (419) 772-4022 or the Office of Law Development at (419) 772-2256.

CLASS OF 2009 PRESENTS CLASS GIFT

In a show of support for Ohio Northern University’s Tomorrow, class of 2009 pledged over $10,000 toward the Campaign for their senior class gift. Departing from the usual support of discrete capital projects, the class of 2009 thought that it was more important to show support for the future of the law school and encourage other alumni to do the same. The College of Law is grateful for their efforts and congratulates them on their success.

“As a good steward of those who trained me, I feel it my duty to give back to the pe ople and institutions that helped me re ach my goals, so that those same gifts may be shared with future generations. It is essential in my mind that, just as we owe our parents for their support and hard work, we need to identify and return those favors that our university and professional school gave to us. Each of us owes a debt to the educators at ONU for the position they have helped us all achieve.”

THE HONORABLE BENJAMIN H. LOGAN, II, BA ’68, JD ’72, LLD ’92

Ways to Support The College of Law is grateful to our alumni for its past support and invites you to be a part of Ohio Northern University’s Tomorrow. You can support the Campaign by: * Making an outright gift * Becoming a contributor to the Northern Fund for the College of Law or increasing your current level of support * Taking advantage of deferred gift options For more information about the Campaign for Ohio Northern University’s Tomorrow and the College of Law Campaign priorities, please contact the Office of Law Development at (419) 772-2256 or e-mail lawdevelopment@onu.edu

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FEATURED SPEAKERS WOODWORTH LECTURE

Kleinbard Delivers 2009 Woodworth Lecture

By Louis F. Lobenhofer, professor of law

Edward Kleinbard, chief of staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, discussed “The Role of Tax Expenditure Analysis in the Legislative Process” in the 2009 Laurence Neal Woodworth Lecture on Federal Tax Law and Policy on May 7 in Washington, D.C. Kleinbard’s lecture was both entertaining and insightful, and it led to later discussions during the ABA Tax Section’s May meeting on the following two days.

Kleinbard, as chief of staff of the Joint Committee, is generally considered to hold the most influential staff position on tax matters in the legislative branch of the federal government. Dr. Woodworth was the chief of staff of the joint committee for fifteen years, and is still revered, more than thirty years after his death, as the model for members of the Congressional tax staffs. Before joining the Joint Committee Staff in 2007, Kleinbard had established himself as one of America’s finest tax lawyers with Cleary, Gottlieb in New York. The Woodworth lecture was Kleinbard’s last major speech before leaving the Joint Committee staff to join the law faculty at the University of Southern California.

Tax expenditures are provisions in the tax code, sometimes referred to as “targeted tax relief,” that are really spending programs in the guise of tax deductions, exclusions or credits. Following on the work of Stanley Surrey, professor at the Harvard Law School and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy, the Joint

Committee staff has published an annual report of tax expenditures since the 1960s.

Kleinbard pointed out just how much tax expenditures create complexity in the tax law, distort tax policy making and, indeed, enhance the power of the tax-writing committees of Congress in comparison to other Congressional committees.

Kleinbard began with the commonplace observation that tax expenditure provisions create much of the complexity that everyone decries in the tax system, as well as creating a perception of unfairness in the tax system. He also pointed out that tax expenditures distort the tax-writing process.

Lowering the tax burden on some taxpayers through tax expenditures leads to tax burdens increasing on other taxpayers, causing us to have relatively high tax rates to produce the revenues to support our government. In the tax-writing process, the passing of new tax expenditures leads to the search for new tax rules to “pay for” tax expenditures, rather than funding other priorities like simplification or lower tax rates. In perhaps the most interesting part of the lecture, Kleinbard pointed out that tax expenditures amount to approximately twice as much money as amount that Congress appropriates for discretionary domestic spending. This makes for incoherent policy-making by Congress and also gives the taxwriting committees out-sized influence on domestic policy-making in all fields. You will be able to find an enlarged version of the lecture in both Tax Notes magazine and in the Ohio Northern Law Review later this year.

Louis Lobenhofer, professor of law, Esther Woodworth, JD ’82, daughter of Laurence N. Woodworth, Edward Kleinbard, speaker, and Larry Woodworth, son of Laurence N. Woodworth

The Woodworth Lectures honor Dr. Laurence Neal Woodworth, BA ’40, a graduate of ONU in economics who served as both Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy before his untimely death in 1977. In addition to his work on the Joint Committee, Woodworth also found time to serve as a trustee of Ohio Northern and as a mentor to a generation of tax professionals who had a major impact on the tax bar, bench, academia, and in government. The funds that support the lecture have come from Woodworth’s friends and former colleagues. Two of Woodworth’s children, Larry and Esther Woodworth, JD ’82, a graduate of the College of Law, attended this year’s lecture, as did prominent members of the tax bar, Tax Court judges, tax professors, journalists and public servants.

KORMENDY LECTURE

Karlan Featured as Kormendy Lecturer Ohio Northern University was proud to host Professor Pamela S. Karlan as its guest speaker for the 2008-09 Kormendy Lecture. Her presentation, “Bullets, Ballots and Battles on the Roberts Court,” focused on recent Supreme Court decisions in the voter identification case and the Washington, D.C. guns case. She examined some of the major potential fault lines on the Roberts Court and how the justices used evidence while Pamela S. Karlan considering constitutional rights.

Karlan is a Standford Law School professor, scholar and award-winning teacher. She has co-authored three leading casebooks on international law and more than four dozen scholarly articles, and is frequently featured as a commentator on legal issues on programs such as “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”

Karlan is also the founding director of Stanford Law’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, which allows students to litigate live cases before the court.

As one of the nation’s leading experts on voting and the political process, she has served as commissioner on the California Fair Political Practices Commission and an assistant counsel and cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Karlan’s name was mentioned as a possible solicitor general candidate for the Obama administration.

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OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW |

ONU’s College of Law established the Kormendy Lectureship in 1987 through an endowment established by Helen E. Kormendy, widow of Dr. Steven W. Kormendy, LLD ’85, JD ‘28. The Dr. Steven W. Kormendy and Helen E. Kormendy Law Lecture Fund is used each year to bring prominent individuals to campus to address relevant, topical matters of law.

Dr. Kormendy, who died on Jan. 6, 1985, graduated from ONU’s College of Law in 1928 and was posthumously awarded an honorary LLD degree in 1985. The Ohio State Bar Association honored him for 50 years of law practice, and he was active in the Hungarian community in Cleveland.

Past Kormendy lecturers include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, U.S. Senator Orin Hatch, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Harvard Law School professor David Kennedy.

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2009 KORMENDY LECTURE October 28, 2009 “Who Judges? Who Cares?

History Now and Then” Professor Barbara Aronstein Black George Welwood Murray Professor Emerita of Legal History Dean Emerita, Faculty of Law Columbia University School of Law

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

DEAN’S LECTURE SERIES

Series Brought Legal Scholars to Campus This year’s Dean’s Lecture Series brought to campus five acclaimed legal scholars. On Sept.

11, two prominent international political scientists, one from Mexico and one from Canada, discussed how the race between Senators McCain and Obama was viewed from their respective countries and the concerns Mexicans and Canadians had about the presidential election and its outcome. The discussion was entitled, “The Presidential Election in the North American Context: The Views from Canada and Mexico,” and was the first in this year’s Dean’s Lecture Series.

Gustavo VegaCanovas is a widely published scholar in the areas of international political economy and international trade regulation, focusing on U.S.Mexico relations. He has been a visiting professor in the United States at Yale, Gustavo Vega-Canovas Brown and Duke, as well as the Universities of North Carolina and Washington. He received his LLM from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University.

Gilbert R. Winham has been on the faculty at Dalhousie University since 1975. He has served on a wide range of Canadian and international advisory bodies on international trade relations and published widely on

NAFTA and WTO issues. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and has been a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the Center for International Affairs at Daniel J. Rohlf Harvard University and the Brookings Institution. Winham received his AB from Bowdoin College, his diploma in international law from the University of Manchester, England, and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in political science.

On Sept. 22, Daniel J. Rohlf presented “Off the Record: The Stealth Attack on Judicial Review of Federal Agencies’ Environmental Decision-Making.” Rohlf is an associate professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Ore. He also serves as director of the law school’s environmental law clinic, the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center (PEAC).

Rohlf ’s courses include: Wildlife Law; Law, Science and the Environment Seminar; Civil Procedure, an Endangered Species Act summer seminar; and Legal Ecology, an interdisciplinary field-based summer course. His scholarship emphasizes protection and management of biodiversity and the interconnections between law and science. Rohlf has published widely on biodiversity management and conservation, including a book on the Endangered Species Act. His work with PEAC emphasizes litigation under the federal Endangered Species Act, including cases involving conservation of grizzly bears and Pacific salmon. Rohlf received his undergraduate degree in geology

from Colorado College and his JD from Stanford Law School.

On Jan. 22, Heather K. Gerken presented “Building the Election System We Deserve.” Gerken is a professor of law at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. She has Heather K. Gerken published numerous articles on election law and constitutional theory in Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, The Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Roll Call, Legal Affairs, Legal Times, The New Republic and elsewhere. She has served as a commentator on election controversies for a number of media outlets, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, NPR, “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” CNN, MSNBC and NBC News.

Gerken’s research centers on questions of applied democratic theory, including the role groups play in a democratic system, the translation of institutional design choices into manageable legal doctrine and the values associated with minority-dominated institutions. Her most recent scholarship explores questions of election reform, diversity and dissent. Gerken’s proposal that Congress establish a Democracy Index – a national ranking system of state election performance has been incorporated into separate bills by Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and has been the subject of a conference sponsored by the Pew Foundation, the Joyce Foundation and AEI-Brookings. The proposal is the subject of her forthcoming book, “The Democracy Index: Getting from Here to There in Election Reform,” which will be published by Princeton University Press in spring 2009.

Gilbert R. Winham

2009-10 DEAN’S LECTURE SERIES October 1, 2009

The Dean’s Lecture Series was established in 2004-05 to enhance the intellectual environment within the College of Law and encourage scholarly discussion among students, faculty and visiting scholars.

Professor Kathryn Abrams Herma Hill Kay Distinguished Professor of Law University of California Berkeley Law

January 28, 2010 Professor Keith Aoki University of California-Davis School of Law

February 24, 2010 Professor Daniel Hamilton University of Illinois College of Law at Urbana-Champaign

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FEATURED SPEAKERS

Law Alumnus Discusses Complex Issues of Environmental Law Charles A. DeMonaco, JD ’74, discussed the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Everglades litigation and restoration cases that involve complex issues of environmental law, parental and corporate liability and federal court practice, on March 16, 2009.

The event, sponsored by the Environmental Law Society, was free and open to the public.

DeMonaco concentrates his practice in securities litigation and director and officer liability, corporate compliance and governance, environmental law, health care law, commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense. In addition to providing legal representation to both corporate and individual clients in the private sector, he is providing representation in federal civil litigation regarding restoration of the Florida Everglades.

Charles has also represented clients in complex litigation, including allegations of breaches of fiduciary duties and corporate waste, federal securities fraud litigation, a Bivens cause of action against federal prosecutors, Qui Tam litigation and other commercial and white collar litigation.

Before joining Fox Rothschild,

Charles was a partner at Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote. Prior to that, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Allegheny County for more than seven years, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania for more than six years and as Assistant Chief of the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., for more than nine years. During his tenure with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., Charles served as lead counsel for the United States in the criminal prosecution of U.S. v.

Exxon and Exxon Shipping Co. for the massive 1989 Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill. The $1.1 billion criminal and civil settlements obtained by the government represented the largest comprehensive settlement in the history of law enforcement. Charles has also prosecuted major environmental cases in Pittsburgh, Miami, Anchorage, San Juan and Washington, D.C. Charles has made more than 50 professional presentations to government employees, the environmental regulated community and attorneys.

He is the coauthor of an article on corporate officer responsibility printed in the Environmental Law Reporter.

In addition, he Charles A. DeMonaco has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other national media.

Charles has served on faculties and made presentations and submitted papers to the American Bar Association, ALI-ABA, the Pacific Admiralty Conference, the Practicing Law Institute, the Allegheny Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. He was profiled by the Environmental Law Institute in the Environmental Forum in March/April 1999 regarding his work on the Exxon Valdez litigation and his current practice. He also served as moderator of the Corporate Legal Times Roundtable on the topic, “Corporations are Striving to do the Right Thing,” published in November 1999. He is scheduled to

be on the faculty of the ABA 23rd Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime in San Francisco, CA, in March 2009. In January 2003, Charles joined the adjunct faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and teaches Conflict of Laws.

Charles is the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, the U.S. Attorney Director’s Award for Sustained Superior Service, the U.S. Department of Labor Award, the U.S. Department of Transportation – United States Coast Guard Meritorious Public Service Award and the U.S. Department of Justice Special Achievement Award and Certificate of Commendation for three separate prosecutions. He received letters of recognition from two Attorneys General and two FBI Directors. He was listed in the 2007 and 2008 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers for Securities Litigation.

Charles was also selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America for White Collar Criminal Defense in 2009.

Phi Alpha Delta Presents Ethics, Professionalism and Substance Abuse Phi Alpha Delta focused its 2008 CLE program on Ethics, Professionalism and Substance Abuse. Seventy-five registrants were in attendance.

The program was held on October 17 in conjunction with Ohio Northern University’s Homecoming activities.

Scott R. Mote opened with a lecture on “Substance Abuse, Chemical Dependency and Mental Health Concerns in the Legal Profession.”

Mote is the executive director of the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program, an Ohio nonprofit organization. A recovering alcoholic since Jan. 7, 1985, Mote began volunteering with the Ohio State Bar Association’s Lawyers’ Assistance Committee in late 1985. Mote has made over 350 presentations to lawyers, judges and law students, including the annual conventions of the OSBA, the Ohio Judicial Conference and the National Organization of Bar Counsel. He has facilitated over 100 interventions and oversees four other chemical dependency and mental health professionals. The OSBA presented Mote its highest award for service to the profession, the Ohio Bar Medal, in May of 2006.

Professor Kevin D. Hill next presented a lecture on “Lawyers as Objects of Scorn in Urban Legends: Professionalism in the Age of the

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Internet.” Professor Hill joined the College of Law in 1985. Prior to joining the faculty, he was a teaching assistant to former Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg, clerk to federal Judge Scott R. Mote William O. Bertelsman and teaching fellow at the Temple University School of Law, as well as a private practitioner.

Hill has published numerous articles on environmental law and has drafted a set of model jury instructions for use in federal court. His teaching interests include Civil Procedure I & II, Toxicological Liability, Evidence, Federal Courts, Environmental Law, Complex Litigation, Business Associations, Trial Advocacy, Conflicts of Law and Administrative Law. He has been recognized with the Student Bar Association Award for Teaching Excellence in 1986-87, 1987-88, 1990-91 and the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Classroom Teaching in 1992-93 and 1996-97.

Steven K. Nord, BA ’81, closed the lectures by presenting “Securing Your Client’s Electronic Data: Ethical and Practical Considerations.”

OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW |

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Kevin D. Hill

Steven K. Nord

Steven K. Nord is a partner with Offutt Nord, PLLC in Huntington, W. Va., where he has a general civil litigation practice and represents individuals, corporations and municipalities in litigation involving transportation, health care, professional negligence, insurance, personal injury and employment issues. His recent presentations have been on topics related to ethics and employment law. Nord was named West Virginia Lawyer Citizen of the Year in 2007 and a West Virginia Super Lawyer in 2007 and 2008. Nord serves on the Board of Directors for the West Virginia Bar Foundation and on the Board of Governors for the West Virginia State Bar.

Summer Public Interest Stipends Awarded

PUBLIC INTEREST STIPEND RECIPIENTS These students, along with those who have gone through the program in the past, are dedicated to public service. We continue to encourage our students to participate in making a difference and affecting social change.

Law students at Ohio Northern University College of Law continue the history of public service. Many students enter law school with the desire to work in the public sector and to make a difference in the world by “doing good” for our society. Despite their good intentions, very few students actually go into the public sector area of law after law school. Only about two to four percent actually end up in public interest law after graduation.

For the past 12 years, the Office of Law Alumni & Career Services at Ohio Northern University College of Law has sponsored a Public Interest Auction to support students who want to pursue a public interest career and who volunteer their time during the summer. Each year businesses from the area, as well as individuals, donate items for the auction. The auction provides the funds for students to participate in legal positions over the summer in the public service sector. No salaries are paid for these positions, but students receive a stipend to help with their expenses. In the past 11 years, we have raised over $60,000 and have been able to award stipends to 58 students.

The annual auction has grown each year and we encourage its expansion, which allows even more students the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the public service area of law. In the summer of 2009, seven more students were each awarded a $1,000 stipend for their volunteer work over the summer. This summer law students will serve in many areas with people desperately in need of legal representation who cannot afford it.

JENNIFER BOYER, L-2 Canonsburg, Penn.

Hancock County, Ohio Office of the Public Defender

THOMAS BURKHART, L-2 Mercer, Penn.

Mercer County, Pennsylvania Office of the Public Defender

CHASE CARTER, L-1 Bainbridge, Ohio Ross County, Ohio Office of the Prosecutor

JILLIAN COPELAND, L-2 Mays Landing, N.J. Atlantic County, New Jersey Office of the Prosecutor

EMILY JURMU, L-1 Escanaba, Mich.

Office of U.S. Attorney in Phoenix, Ariz.

CHRISTINE PFISTER, L-2 Hudson, Ohio Chicago, Illinois Legal Clinic

IAN WEBER, L-1

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The next Public Interest Auction will be held this fall. To donate items for the auction or to provide financial support, contact Cheryl Kitchen at (419) 772-2249 or c-kitchen@onu.edu

Defiance, Ohio Neighborhood Legal Services Association Pittsburgh, Penn.

JEROME WILLIAMS, JR., L-2 Valley Stream, N.Y. Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice

Summer Scholar Researches Torture

ing skills. One faculty member is chosen each summer to work with the Summer Scholar and is encouraged to undertake a new project or expand the scale of a current project.

According to Kochheiser, “This was an excellent opportunity to fully review and consider leading legal research and discourse surrounding such a fundamental aspect of the War on Terror.”

This summer, Steven Kochheiser, BA ’06, L-1, Lexington, Ohio, was involved in a unique project given to one student every year at the College of Law. Each spring, an outstanding first- or second-year law student is selected for the ONU Pettit College of Law Summer Scholar Award. This student spends the summer working with a member of the law faculty on a substantial research project. Students in the top 15 percent of their class are invited to apply. The selected student is chosen for his or her research and writ-

Kochheiser worked with Professor Michael Lewis in researching potential liability under domestic and international law for the treatment of War on Terror detainees. He began his research by analyzing the recently declassified “Top Secret” memos regarding the treatment of War on Terror detainees to better understand the policies and procedures in place. He then reviewed these documents in context of precedent set during previous conflicts to determine what, if any, liability for detainee treatment exists under domestic or international law.

To become the summer scholar, a student must go through a highly competitive interview process. But the reward is worth it, with a $300 stipend, an hourly wage and even a three-credit class hour stipend.

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Steven Kochheiser

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES MOOT COURT

2008-09 Year in Review

By Keesha Warmsby, L-2, incoming chief justice, Moot Court

ONU Trial Team

This year’s Moot Court program was a great success. The year kicked off with the annual Burke E. Smith Competition, the intra-school mock trial competition. Teams of two law students practiced and developed their trial advocacy skills while competing for cash prizes in a courtroom environment. In the final round, Daryl Manns, L-3, of Warner Robbins, Ga., and Sarah Williams, L-3, of Marysville, Ohio represented the prosecution and Alexandra Cavin, L-3, of Colorado Springs, Colo. and Keesha Warmsby, L-2, of Atlanta, Ga. represented the defense.

For the first time in the history of the competition there was a tie between the final two teams for first place.

The ONU trial team competed in the Texas Young Lawyers Association National Mock Trial Competition Team. The team included Tom Burkhart, L-2, of Mercer, Penn., Nick Laudato, L-2, of Mentor, Ohio, Sean Mott, L-2, of Biglerville, Penn., Luke Overymeyer, L-2, of Groveport, Ohio, Megan Schenk, L-2, of Lima, Ohio, and Sarah Williams, L-3, of Marysville, Ohio.

The team was coached by Meaghan McGuirk, L-3, of Johnstown, Penn., and advised by Professor Sherry Young.

The Ohio Northern Moot Court Program is composed of six national competition teams. The ONU Fall team was the first team to compete. The team competed in the Association of the Bar of the City of New York National Moot Court Competition against 30 teams in Lansing, Michigan. This year’s team included Sachin Gadh, L-2, of Lake Grove, N.Y., Melanie Martin, L-3, of Fostoria, Ohio, and Shannon McAlister, L-2, of Bridgeville, Penn. The team was coached by Anthony McMullin, L-3, of St. George, Utah, and advised by Professor David Raack.

This year the American Bar Association Team competed in the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition in St. Louis, MO. The problem for the competition generally focuses on an issue of constitutional law. This year’s team went 3-0 and advanced to the semifinals, placing 6th out of 31 teams.

This year’s team included Rachel Kasper, L-2, of Hunlock Creek, Penn., Anna Marin Russell, L-2, of Atlanta, Ga., and Joe Sellers, L-3, of Hamburg, N.Y. The team was coached by Jason Flower, L-3, of Pittsburgh, Penn., and advised by Professor Toni Clarke.

ABA Team

ONU Constitutional Law Team

ONU Tax Team In February, the ONU Tax Team competed in St. Petersburg, Fla. at the Florida Bar Association National Tax Competition, where they were first runner up for best brief, beating out 14 other teams. Tom Hillegonds, L-3, of Ada, Mich., Randall Petrouske III, L-2, of Tomahawk, Wisc., and Brett Schlender, L-2, of Stevensville, Mich. represented this year’s team. The team was coached by Andromeda McGregor, L-3, Nebraska City, Neb., and advised by Todd Kholerieser, JD ‘01.

The final team to compete was the ONU Con Law Team that competed in the National Constitutional Law Moot Court Team. This year’s team included Alexandra Cavin, L-3, of Colorado Springs, Colo., Jillian Copeland, L-2, of Mays Landing, N.J., Chantal St. Fleur, L-3, of South Lancaster, Mass., and James Vachachira, L-2, of Naperville, Ill. The team was coached by Esther SanInocencio, L-3, of Clarksville, Tenn., and advised by Professor Joanne Brant.

Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Team The next team to compete was the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Team. The Jessup Competition is internationally known and is the only competition that enjoys participation by nearly every law school in the United States and abroad. This year the team took seventh overall best brief and Tyler Haslam, L-2, Bluffton, S.C., received an individual award as the 20th best oral advocate, beating out many other students. This year’s team included Joseph Ahlemeyer, L-2, of Athens, Ga., Brian Anderson, L-2, of Johnson Creek, Wisc., Tyler Haslam, L-2, of Bluffton, S.C. and Keesha Warmsby, L-2, of Atlanta, Ga. The team was coached by Gregory Behringer, L-3, of Hampton-Cove, Ala., and advised

by Professor Howard Fenton.

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OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW |

The 2009-2010 executive board is Keesha Warmsby – Chief Justice; Anna Marin Russell – Administrative Justice; Tom Burkhart – Presiding Justice; Tyler Haslam – Associate Justice; Rachel Kasper – Associate Justice; Luke Overmeyer – Associate Justice; and Brett Schlender – Associate Justice.

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2009 Symposium Sheds Light on Ethical Issues in the Corporate Setting

By Joseph M. Calimeri, L-2, Jamestown, N.Y.

On March 20, 2009, the Ohio Northern Law Review, with the support and assistance of the Fred L. Carhart Memorial Program in Legal Ethics, held the 32nd Annual Law Review Symposium. The symposium, “The Role of Ethics in the Corporate Landscape,” was a great success as many faculty, practitioners, students and legal scholars gathered to take part in the event. The 2008-2009 Symposium Editor, Rebecca Newman, worked in conjunction with the Law Review and the Dean’s office to organize and host the event.

This year’s event marked the first time that the Law Review teamed up with the Fred L. Carhart Memorial Program in Legal Ethics. The Carhart Program was established at the College of Law in 2007. The program brings eminent scholars, jurists and lawyers to Ohio Northern to actively engage in lectures, seminars and panel discussions for the benefit of our students.

The Carhart Program funds lectures and symposia in alternating years.

Professor Joanne Brant moderated the symposium. Brant is a distinguished professor of law at Ohio Northern and is a former clerk for Chief Judge Pierce Lively of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Her excellence in legal scholarship and dedication to professionalism have provided her the opportunity to serve on the Attorney General’s Ethics and Professional Responsibility Advisory Council, the ABA site inspection team, and as chair of the AALS Brant

Section on Law and Religion in 2001.

To begin the program, professor Leonard Gross of the University of Southern Illinois School of Law gave his presentation on “Duties Owed

by Corporate Counsel to Minority Shareholders in Closely Held Corporations.”

The focus of his presenGross tation was on the duties owed by counsel to corporations and minority shareholders respectively. Gross argued, through the use of case law and particular ABA rules, that corporate counsel owes its primary obligation to the corporation.

Additionally, Gross talked about various sub-topics including joint privilege, liability to third parties and liability for assisting controlling shareholder’s breach of fiduciary duty.

Next, Lynn Lieber, a graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, seasoned employment law attorney, nationally recognized spokeswoman on ethics and the founder of Workplace Answers Inc., gave her presentation entitled “HR’s Proactive Role in Workplace Lieber Ethical Issues.” The presentation focused on how and what corporate actions HR departments should take in order to comply with federal regulations, such as, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, The Gramm Leach Bliley Act, The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and antitrust laws. Lieber maintains that in order to reduce ethical violations and corporate liability, it is imperative that human

If you are interested in submitting any articles for publication in the Ohio Northern University’s Law Review, please contact Lead Articles Solicitation Editor, Matthew Oyster at m-oyster@onu.edu

Anthony J. Celebrezze Competition In the spring, second-and third-year law students were invited to compete in the intra school appellate competition, the Anthony J. Celebrezze Competition. The competition is named in the honor of the late Honorable Anthony J. Celebrezze, LLB ’36, LLD ’63, distinguished alumnus of the College of Law and former Senior Justice of the Sixth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals. Tyler Haslam, L-2, of Bluffton, S.C. and Keesha Warmsby, L-2, of Atlanta, Ga. competed in the final round judged by Judge Jeffery Sutton of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Robert R. Cupp, BA ’73, JD ’76, and Judge William Klatt of the 10th

resource practitioners have knowledge of ethics-related laws and play a pivotal role in their everyday enforcement in the workplace.

After the luncheon, Leonard Bucklin, a wellknown author and faculty member of the Round Table Scholars and the principal of Bucklin Corporate Ethics, gave a presentation entitled “More Preaching, Fewer Rules: A Process for the Corporate Lawyer’s Maintenance of Corporate Ethics.” Bucklin argued that the corporation is not a person capable of making moral decisions. Rather, he spoke and emphasized the importance of individual moral values and moral decision making in the corporate landscape.

Carolyn Lindsey, a director of member services for TRACE International Inc. and adjunct professor of law at George Washington Lindsey School of Law, followed with a presentation entitled “More than you Bargained For: Successor Liability under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.” The presentation began with an in-depth look at the historical context and elements of the FCPA, followed by a discussion on successor liability in the FCPA context and the DOJ’s role in enforcing the regulation. To end the

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

presentation, Lindsey provided the audience with practical steps that can be used to reassure compliance with FCPA regulations.

To close the event, Mason Evans and Eric Gallon, both attorneys with the Columbus office of Porter Wright Morris and Arthur LLP, provided the audience Evans with a joint presentation entitled “Slip-Ups and Safety Nets: The Procedural Ethical Implications of Inadvertent Disclosure of Privileged or Gallon Protected Documents Under Ohio Law.” The presentation focused on the procedural and ethical obligations an attorney faces when privileged information is inadvertently disclosed. Specifically, the presenters spoke about the evidentiary implications of inadvertently disclosed information and compared different jurisdictional approaches and laws throughout Ohio.

The annual symposium is presented for the purposes of attracting prominent speakers, who provide interesting and important discussion on significant issues in the legal field.

If interested, each symposium speaker will have their presentations published in the upcoming edition of the Ohio Northern Law Review.

THE 33rd ANNUAL LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM WILL BE HELD AT OHIO NORTHERN PETTIT COLLEGE OF LAW ON MARCH 19, 2010.

District Court of Appeals. Keesha Warmsby was the first place finalist; Tyler Haslam took second place with Joseph Ahlemeyer, L-2, of Athens, Ga. and Randall Petrouske III, L-2, of Tomahawk, Wisc. rounding out the top four finalists.

Daniel S. Guy Intra-School First Year Appellate Advocacy Competition The year ended with the Daniel S. Guy Intra-School First Year Appellate Advocacy Competition. The competition is mandatory to all first-year students and is named in honor of the former Dean of the Pettit College of Law Daniel S. Guy, JD ’52, LLD ’05. The competition is an integral part of the first year Legal Research and Writing Course. Paul Foley, L-1, Walkersville, Md., was the first place winner. Ryan Kirk, L-1, Powell, Ohio, Jason Urbaniak, L-1, Williamsville, N.Y. and Mike Perehenic, L-1, Altoona, Penn. rounded out the top four.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES

BLSA Hosts Tenth Annual Diversity Forum

By Keesha Warmsby, L-2, Atlanta, Ga.

On Feb. 20, 2009, the Ohio Northern University Black Law Student’s Association hosted its Tenth Annual Diversity Forum. This year’s topic, “Making Your Path in Today’s Society,” entailed seven alumni returning to the Ohio Northern Pettit College of Law to speak to current students regarding their career experiences.

This year’s forum was held in hopes that the alumni’s experiences would provide guidance for current ONU students on their respective journeys.

The panel included Cynthia CallenderDungey, JD ’96, of Ohio Department of Family Services, Bridgette D. Crafton, JD ’96, of the United States Department of Justice, Felepe Hall, JD ’98, of the Attorney General’s Office in Michigan, Kevin Hexstall, JD ’97, of Rawle & Henderson LLP, and Rochelle Outlaw, JD ’05, of Meyer Brown, Rowe, & Maw LLP. The panel was moderated by the Honorable Benjamin H. Logan, BA ’68, JD ’72, LLD ’92.

Judge Logan began the program by asking the panel: “What advice did you receive in ONU and how did it apply in the real world?”

Crafton replied that the “law is a profession, not

just a job.” Hall advised students to never give up and, more specifically, to put in a lot of work because, “if you put in the work no one will notice, but if you don’t put in the work everyone will notice!”

Panelists were also asked to describe their biggest challenge faced in the workplace and how they learned to overcome it. Outlaw advised students to speak up for themselves and advised them to keep paper trails. Then Hexstall stressed the significance of networking and urged students to maintain professional relationships because it is the little things that make a big difference. Callender-Dungey also emphasized the importance of networking and urging students to develop a specific set of skills so people will know you for your skill set.

After the program, panelists were invited to a lunch, where they were addressed by the keynote speaker Judge Logan. Judge Logan expressed the importance of hard work, determination and achieving one’s goal and spoke about his first job as a paperboy who more than doubled his route within a few weeks. It was this determination that later led to him being elected the first African-American Judge in the 61st District Court in Michigan.

Judge Benjamin H. Logan, BA '68, JD '72, LLD '92, Kevin Hextall, JD '97, Bridgett Crafton, JD '96, Rochelle Outlaw, JD '05, Cynthia Callender-Dungey, JD '96, Felepe Hall, JD '98

The program had its intended effect in inspiring both students and teachers alike. First year law student Leah Clark said that the program was “inspiring” and “gave [her] just what she needed to propel her through the rest of the semester.” Professor Nancy Sabol was of the same opinion; she said she benefited from the panelists’ stories as well.

Law Review “Schools” Moot Court at Annual Softball Game Once again, Law Review won the coveted Law Review-Moot Court softball game, held April 24, 2009, at the Ada Park. This year, however, the margin of victory was slight.

Law Review trailed Moot Court significantly through most of the game. After a score difference of nearly 15 runs, incoming Editor-inChief Brian Anderson persuaded outgoing Chief Justice Nicole Boals to continue the game two more innings. The extra playtime allowed Law Review to score most of its line-up twice, resulting in a heated victory of 25-26, with the last run crossing the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Needless to say, the “sibling rivalry” between Law Review and Moot Court was not extinguished after this year’s game.

Megan Schenk at bat, Becky Falvo as catcher and Megan Roby at first base.

Patrick Fazzini pitching, shows that despite a broken hand, LR is hardcore. Brian Anderson is poised and ready in the background.

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Students Explore Iceland

By Scott Winograd, Kristopher Hill, Eric Pheneger, Joseph Carso, Stephanie York and Jennifer Ciszewski

Iceland often conjures images of a desolate and frigid land devoid of human activity. Despite the country’s relatively small population of around 300,000 people, the nation is abuzz with activity and full of landscapes of breathtaking beauty. The island nation, straddling the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic, is brimming with constant action, whether it be the cafes in Reykjavik on any given night or the constant geothermal and volcanic activity that is continually molding the terrain. Iceland is full of warm-hearted people who welcome guests with open arms and are proud to tell you of their storied and sometimes tumultuous history.

From Jan. 14 to Jan. 18, Ohio Northern College of Law sent six law students to Iceland for a cultural exchange with students from the law school at the University of Iceland: Kris Hill, L-3, Dresden, Ohio, Joe Carso, L-3, Venetia, Penn., Scott Winograd, L-2, Beachwood, Ohio, Stephanie York, L-1, Newport, Kentucky, Eric Pheneger, L-1, Lima, Ohio, and Jennifer Ciszewski, L-1, Highland Heights, Ohio. Staying with hosts, the ONU students were given tours of various renowned Icelandic attractions, such as the Blue Lagoon, in addition to being shown Parliament (Althingi) and the Icelandic Supreme Court. The trip left many lasting memories for the ONU participants.

Upon arriving in Iceland, the students were taken to Thingvellir, the site of the oldest parliamentary gathering of the Icelandic people in 930 A.D. and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. The students stayed in cabins along the Golden Circle in order to be fully submersed in Icelandic tradition.

In the area, the students explored geysers and waterfalls that encompassed the beauty of the region.

The students also visited an Icelandic prison. One student likened the experience to staying at a cheap hotel. Prisoners in Iceland have the relative freedom to move about the compound and can shop for groceries, go to school, go to work, exercise, and do not have to leave the comforts of their room to watch TV or use the computer. Scott Winograd reflected on the prison visit: “learning that the maximum prison sentence was 20 years was interesting, but entering prisoners’ rooms and having conversations with them was an experience we will not forget.”

The students were also exposed to local cuisine during their stay, which by one account is as interesting as the weather. On the menu were, among other things, mink, whale, puffin, horse and lamb.

As part of the Icelandic Legal Society’s exchange program, Icelandic students visit Ada as well. The participants were able to meet the Icelandic students who visited Ada, as well as see their homes in Iceland. One student explained the similarities between the Icelandic students and themselves: “they watch the same television shows, enjoy the same sports, wear the same clothes and have the same fascination with the law.” Jennifer Ciszewski found it interesting that “at times it seemed like they were more aware of what was going on in our own country more than we were.”

The ONU Icelandic Exchange program is as active as ever, and housed eight Icelandic students in the fall: Oddur Vîarsson, Sverrir Norland, Haukur Gümundsson, Sigrún Gísladóttir, Salvör Fiórisdóttir, Hinrika Ingimundardóttir, Erla Arnardóttir and Steiner Steinarsson.

A waterfall at Thingvellir National Park

ONU students at Thingvellir National Park. Left to Right: Joe Carso, Eric Pheneger, Stephanie York, Scott Winograd, Jennifer Ciszewski and Kris Hill

Mark Your Calendars ONU ALUMNI TRIP TO ICELAND JUNE 16 – 21, 2010 In conjunction with the College of Law celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2010, we are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Icelandic Legal Exchange Program. Join us June 16-21, 2010 as we recognize this outstanding program with a reunion trip to Iceland.

In 1960, Eugene Hanson of Ohio Northern University accepted an appointment as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Iceland. While there, he became friends with Armann Snaevarr, then rector of the University of Iceland.

Together they devised a plan to create an exchange program between the law schools. Each year, students from Iceland travel to Ada to learn about law and life in America, while students from ONU travel to Iceland to learn about the ancient roots and contemporary practices of the Icelandic legal system.

ONU will celebrate the 50th anniversary of this program and commemorate the anniversary by taking a group of ONU alumni and friends to Iceland.

Information will be mailed to all alumni once details of the trip are finalized.

The trip is scheduled for June 16 – 21, 2010, with additional destinations to Greenland from June 13-16 and Scotland June 21 - 25. You can choose to travel to all destinations or just to Iceland.

If you are interested in joining us in 2010, you can email the law alumni office at lawalumni@onu.edu and we will put you on an email list to receive information as it becomes available.

ONU students and University of Iceland students at Geysir

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Street Law Introduces Legal Practice to Area High School Students The annual Street Law Competition was held Sunday, April 26. Ada team 3, coached by Daryl Manns, L-3, Warner Robbins, Ga. and Jennifer Boyer, L-2, Canonsburg, Penn., won the competition. The students conducted a mock trial based on an alleged murder.

The Street Law Competition is orchestrated by small groups of

Ohio Northern University law students who make weekly visits to area high schools between January and April to teach students the general aspects of the law, the basic structure of a trial and the role of an attorney within the trial. The high school students play the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a mock trial. At the end of the 10week period, participating teams meet at the College of Law to com-

pete against other teams in a competition judged by ONU law faculty and students. High school government classes from Kenton, Ada and Upper Scioto Valley participated in this year’s program.

Street Law began as a project at Georgetown Law Center in 1972.

Four law students and their professor, in an innovative public law clinical program, were looking for a

Hannah Gunn, Sarah Smith, Trista Hatcher, Matt Walker, Kaitlin Teneyck. Law student coaches were Daryl Manns, L-3, from Warner Robbins, Ga. and Jennifer Boyer, L-2, from Canonsburg, Penn.

way to provide young people with information about the law that would assist them in their daily lives. The law students began their work in two District of Columbia public high schools. The original idea was to devise a preventive law approach that would also provide students with knowledge of what to do when confronted with a legal problem. Over the next three years, the program in D.C. was so successful that it spread to all the city’s sixteen high schools.

All Street Law Participants

Inn of Court Continues Programs to Encourage Civility

By Bruce C. French, professor of law

The William Howard Taft American Inn of Court at Ohio Northern University concluded in April, its 17th successful year of programming. Outgoing president Honorable Mark S. O’Connor of the Court of Common Pleas of Logan County, Bellefontaine, was honored, and incoming president, Samuel L. Diller, Esq. of Bluffton, was noted.

The Inns of Court movement was initiated by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and law professor Sherman Cohn of Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. The Inns concept, as envisioned by the Chief Justice, was to enhance civility in the practice of law, drawing upon the model of the Inns of Court in the United Kingdom. Burger envisioned collaborative associations of judges, senior lawyers (Masters of the Bench) and young lawyers (Barristers). The Inn at ONU incorporated significant law faculty participation. The addition of law students (pupils) made the William Howard Taft Inn the first Inn in the nation with law students being active participants.

Since its inception, the ONU Inn has had 317 members. Many student members have joined other Inns upon their graduation, using access to

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the Inns as an effective networking tool to enter a new legal community.

For the 2008-09 academic year, the Inn consists of 6 judges, 36 attorneys, 8 professors and 13 students. Programs, for which continuing legal education credit is obtained from the Supreme Court of Ohio, during this year included: (September) Learning Objectives: Chemical Dependency Treatment – What Really Happens When Your Client Enters [Substance Abuse] Treatment, by D. Christopher Hart, BSPh ’77, of the ONU College of Pharmacy; (November) Giving “Stability and Value to our Rights and Liberties”: The Ohio Judiciary’s Greatest Generation, 1802-1823, presented by Donald F. Melhorn, Jr., Toledo; (February) “The Expert Witness,” moderated by Professor Bruce Comly French, who also serves as the Administrator of the Inn; and (April) “Human Trafficking Prosecution by the Government of the United States,” presented by Susan Lynn French, Esq., U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. Student members are also paired with attorneys and judges who serve as their mentors during the academic year.

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Free Income Tax Assistance Offered Elderly and low-income tax payers in Allen and Hardin counties received free income tax assistance from Ohio Northern University law and accounting students through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). The VITA Program, coordinated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), offers free tax help to low- to moderate-income (generally, $40,000 and below) individuals across the country who cannot prepare tax returns on their own. As part of this program, ONU students received training to help prepare basic tax returns and identify special credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit and Credit for the Elderly. ONU students offered free electronic filing services at several area locations in Hardin and Allen counties during tax season, from February 7 until April 15. In 2009, 32 VITA students filed 178 tax returns, resulting in $68,246 in earned income tax credits and $188,226 in total refunds.

FACULTY & STAFF

Faculty Recognized at Annual Honors Banquet The College of Law held its annual Honors Banquet on April 15, 2009. Academic honors were presented, as well as awards for Law Review, Moot Court and Student Bar Association.

Several faculty members were also recognized.

■ PROFESSOR SCOTT D. GERBER was recognized with the Fowler V. Harper Faculty Scholarship Award. A faculty committee selected him based on contribution to legal scholarship during the current year.

This is the second time Gerber has received the award.

■ Leah Sellers presented award by Daryl Manns, president of SBA and Kenitra Cavin, vice president of SBA

■ Linda English presented Liberty Bell award by Daryl Manns, president of SBA, and Kenitra Cavin, vice president of SBA ■ PROFESSOR SHERRY YOUNG was recognized with the Teaching Excellence Award.

■ KEVIN HILL, professor of law, was honored The candidates for this award are selected based by the Student Bar Association with the Most upon student evaluations for overall teaching Effective Teacher award, which recognizes the effectiveness for the prior two semesters and/or professor who, in the students’ views, has been nominations from the faculty. This is the fourth the most effective teacher. time Young has received the award since its inception in 1990.

■ LEAH SELLERS, adjunct professor of law, ■ PROFESSOR SCOTT GERBER was selected for the Ella A. & Ernest H. Fisher Chair in Law. Appointment to the Fisher Chair in the College of Law is recognition of singular achievement as a legal educator. Because the selection is made by colleagues on the faculty based primarily on sustained excellence in legal scholarship and teaching, the appointment reflects the highest recognition the College of Law has to offer to a member of its faculty.

■ LINDA K. ENGLISH, director of law admissions and assistant dean, was recognized by the Student Bar Association with its Liberty Bell Award as public recognition for outstanding law community service.

was recognized by the Student Bar Association with the Faculty Appreciation Award.

■ M. Charlotte Sidor, editor in chief of Law Review, presents award to Cindy Klingler

■ CYNTHIA KLINGLER, senior administrative assistant, was recognized by Law Review with its Dean Daniel S. Guy Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism.

■ HOWARD N. FENTON, director of LLM program and professor of law, was recognized by Moot Court with its Outstanding Team Advisor of the Year.

■ Dean David C. Crago presents Sherry Young with award

■ Kevin Hill presented award by Daryl Manns, president of SBA, and Kenitra Cavin, vice president of SBA

LOUIS LOBENHOFER was presented with a certificate by student coordinator, Thomas Hillegonds, L-3, from Ada, Mich., recognizing his 30 years of service to the Voluntary Income Tax Assistance Program at the College of Law.

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FACULTY & STAFF

Fenton Honored for Service and Dedication Howard N. Fenton, director of the LLM program and professor of law, was recognized for 20 years of service during Ohio Northern University’s annual Recognition Dinner, held April 6, 2009.

The following tribute was given by Stephen C. Veltri, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of law.

HOWARD FENTON When Howard Fenton came to Ohio Northern two decades ago, the law college was a more insular place than it is today.

No one during that time has done more than Howard to expand the horizons of the college.

Though his scholarship, teaching, collegial and professional service, Howard has challenged all of us to think globally.

As a scholar, Howard has written widely in the field of administrative law with a particular focus on law reform in emerging democracies. He has also been a scholarly and consistent advocate of free trade. As a faculty member, Howard has brought a global perspective to our curriculum, in which he has developed courses on the rule of law, international law, international business transactions and comparative administrative law. Throughout that time, he has been a highly effective teacher of contract and administrative law and a very successful coach of both our administrative law and Jessup International Moot Court teams.

As associate dean and later interim dean of the law college, Howard undertook a number of measures designed to enhance the professional engagement of our faculty and the modernization of our building. He started our summer scholar program, which gives law students an opportunity to engage in research with a member of the faculty. He also began and secured funding for the annual Woodworth Lecture the law college sponsors each year in Washington, D.C. As a lawyer, Howard has consulted on a number of projects sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development in order to foster development of the rule of law in countries of the former Soviet Union. Notably, on leave from the University in 2001 and 2002, he served as Chief of Party for the USAID Rule of Law project in Tbilisi, Georgia. Howard has held leadership positions on the state bar committees devoted to international and administrative law. He also served on seven international trade dispute resolution panels operating under international trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In that capacity, he has done his best to preserve a free market in this

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Pictured are Howard Fenton (center), Ronald Beaschler (left) and Robert Ward (right)

hemisphere for, among other items, pork products, live swine and high fructose corn syrup.

Nothing better exemplifies the contribution Howard has made to Ohio Northern University than the LLM Program in Democratic Governance and Rule of Law. Howard developed that program for the law college.

Each year, young lawyers from developing countries study with us in a program designed to encourage them to follow careers in public law committed to democracy and the rule of law. Those students, who come from all over the world, have enriched the life of the University. Because of Howard, Ohio Northern has graduates today in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Balkans, the four corners of Africa and the Himalayas. Each of those students has spent a great deal of time at Howard and Beth Fenton’s place. They have found a home on the Fenton’s backyard deck, together with a generation of contracts students and just about every stray cat in Hardin County, Ohio.

For all these contributions, Howard, I am privileged to express the gratitude of the faculty, staff and students of the college of law and the University. Congratulations and best wishes on 20 years of outstanding service.

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FACULTY & STAFF ACTIVITIES Nancy Armstrong, Director of Law Library

David Fetrow, Reference Librarian

Association of Law Schools, and the book was featured in a review essay in the Claremont Review of Books.

During the summer, professor Nancy Armstrong attended the China - U.S. Conference on Legal Information and Law Libraries in Beijing, China.

This conference was sponsored by the American Association of Law Libraries, the International Association of Law Libraries and the Chinese Ministry of Education. Professor Armstrong also gave a lecture on U.S. law libraries while visiting Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, China. A translator helped explain the presentation to the audience of 75 library staff, students and faculty who attended.

David Fetrow authored an online lesson for the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). The lesson, entitled “Ohio Legal Materials: Primary Sources,” focuses on the use of cases, statutes, administrative regulations and other materials in Ohio legal research.

Gerber received the Fowler V. Harper Award for Excellence in Legal Scholarship and continues to serve on the Ohio Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He will be on sabbatical during the 2009-10 academic year at Brown University finishing his current book project, which is tentatively entitled “The Origins of an Independent Judiciary: A Study in Early American Constitutional Development, 1606-1787.”

Bruce Frohnen, Visiting Associate Professor of Law

Elena Helmer, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law

Professor Bruce Frohnen published three edited or co-edited volumes this year: “Rethinking Rights: Historical, Political and Philosophical Perspectives” (University of Missouri Press, with Kenneth Grasso), “Defending the Republic: Essays in Honor of George W. Carey” (ISI Books, also with Kenneth Grasso) and “The American Nation: Primary Sources” (Liberty Fund). His articles appeared in the Quinnipiac Law Review and the Villanova Journal of Catholic Social Thought.

On Oct. 24, 2008, professor Elena Helmer presented “The United States Legal System,” a presentation at the Supreme Court of Ohio to a group of visitors from Ukraine.

The group consisted mostly of lawyers as part of the League of Women Voters/Open World Program.

While in China, Armstrong also participated in a book donation ceremony and visited the law library and the school of information management at nearby Wuhan University. Professor Armstrong’s essay on the new Hanson Reading Room appeared on the Spectrum magazine website, published by AALL. Spectrum’s May issue focuses on library architecture and the web site includes invited essays about recent renovation projects. In addition, Armstrong worked on a portfolio of the reading room project which has been selected for the “Educational Interiors Showcase” featured in the August issue of American School & University magazine.

Amanda Compton, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Professor Amanda E. Compton finished her article “Acquiring a Flavor for Trademarks,” and is now awaiting publication. She is currently working on a new article “War, Politics and Entertainment: How Pop Culture has shaped Trademarks”.

Compton served on the organizing committee for the 2009 Midwest People of Color Conference. She is currently serving as President Emeritus and Board member for the Marion County (Indianapolis) Bar Association.

Howard Fenton, Director of LLM Program and Professor of Law In May, professor Howard Fenton served as Chair for the Administrative Litigation and Administrative Law Panel of a Workshop on Comparative Administrative Law. The workshop was held at Yale Law School.

Also in May, Fenton presented “The New Model State Administrative Procedure Act and Opportunities for Revision of the Ohio Administrative Code,” as part of a CLE Program on Ohio Revised Code Chapter 119 at the Ohio State Bar Association Annual Convention.

Professor Frohnen delivered lectures at a number of universities, research centers, and law schools, including the Villanova University School of Law and Calvin College. He planned and hosted a conference on “Liberty in the Thought of Sir Edward Coke” for Liberty Fund, Inc. and served as discussion leader or participant in three other Liberty Fund conferences.

Frohnen continues to serve as Editor of the Political Science Reviewer, an annual review of important works on public law and politics.

On Nov. 17, 2008, she presented “A Comparison of the Judicial Systems of the U.S. and Ukraine,” at the Supreme Court of Ohio to a group of visiting judges from Ukraine as part of the ongoing exchange program between the Supreme Courts of Ohio and Ukraine.

In April, Helmer developed and chaired the CLE-bearing program on Kosovo, South Ossetia, Tibet and the Shifting Standards for Self-Determination at the ABA Section of International Law Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Scott Gerber, Ella and Ernest Fisher, Chair and Professor of Law This year, professor Scott Gerber published the Georgia chapter of his current book project in the Georgia Historical Quarterly, op-eds about Chief Justice Roberts in the Wall Street Journal and the National Law Journal, and sundry items in the Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law and the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States. He debated Dean Larry Kramer about popular constitutionalism at Stanford Law School, and made presentations at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Santa Clara School of Law, and Loyola University of New Orleans School of Law. Gerber also participated in a Social Philosophy & Policy/Liberty Fund symposium about constitutionalism in Tampa, Florida, and a Liberty Fund colloquium on free will, moral responsibility and responsibility for character in Cleveland and discussed the differences between writing nonfiction and fiction at the Lima Public Library. He discussed his book about Justice Thomas’s jurisprudence at the annual meeting of the Southeastern

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Also in the fall, professor Helmer participated in the drafting of an ABA Section of International Law Working Paper on the Impact of the Proposed Arbitration Fairness Act on International Commercial Arbitration in the United States. The Working Paper was presented to the ABA House of Delegates as the support for a resolution urging Congress to consider the negative impact the proposed Arbitration Fairness Act would have on international commercial arbitration in the U.S.

In May, she attended “by invitation only” Workshop on Comparative Administrative Law at the Yale Law School. Also in May, Helmer was appointed to the Editorial Board of the ABA Section of International Law Russia/Eurasia Committee Newsletter. Recently, professor Helmer received a confirmation letter regarding her appointment as Vice-Chair of the International Anti-Corruption Committee of the ABA Section of International Law.

Michael Lewis, Associate Professor of Law In September, professor Michael Lewis published “Advice to the Next Administration Regarding Coercive Interrogation” in the ABA National Security Law Report. The piece was a debate with Michael Posner of the ACLU. On Sept. 18, professor Lewis was a panelist at

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the South Texas College of Law Symposium on “Ethics in the War on Terror.”

Maximilian Torres Jr., Assistant Professor of Law

On Oct. 14, Lewis participated in a panel discussion with prof. Brant on the recent Supreme Court opinions of Heller and Boumediene. Also in October, he accepted a publication offer from SMU Law Review for his article on federal diversity jurisdiction entitled “Comedy or Tragedy: The Tale of Diversity Jurisdiction Removal and the One-Year Bar”.

In October, professor Max Torres was a discussion seminar participant in “The American Founding and the Western Intellectual Tradition: Two Visions of America: Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton,” a roundtable discussion held at The Center for the American Idea and Liberty Fund in Colorado Springs, Colo.

In February, Lewis published an essay entitled “Ethics and Operational Realities of the War on Terror” for publication in the Symposium issue of the South Texas College of Law Review. On Feb. 24, Lewis participated in a debate at the University of Toledo College of Law with prof. Ben Davis on questions of torture and criminal prosecution of the previous Administration. On Feb. 27, he submitted the manuscript of a book chapter entitled “Battlefield Perspectives on the Laws of War” for publication in The War on Terror and the Laws of War: A Military Perspective, forthcoming from Oxford University Press.

On March 8, Lewis debated at the University of RutgersCamden School of Law with prof. Vildostegui on detainee treatment issues. On April 14, he presented his paper proposing a clearer and more objective standard for the definition of torture entitled “The Jaundiced Eye of the Beholder: The Case for an Objective Definition of Torture” at Cornell. Prof. Jens Ohlin provided commentary on the presentation. Also in April, Lewis debated the scope of Presidential power to detain terrorists and the al-Marri case with Colleen Connell, the Executive Director of the Illinois ACLU at the University of Illinois School of Law.

Allison Mittendorf, Instructor of Legal Research and Writing Professor Allison Mittendorf served as an assistant editor for volume 15 of Legal Writing for the Legal Writing Institute.

Mittendorf was also a project evaluator for the 2009 Youth for Justice Summit in Columbus, and is on the case committee for the High School Mock Trial Program through the Ohio Center for Law Related Education.

Liam O’Melinn, Professor of Law In the fall of 2008, professor Liam O’Melinn presented a paper entitled “Our Discrete and Insular Founders: American ‘Degeneracy’ and the Birth of Constitutional Equality” at the University of Illinois Law School, where he also taught “Theories of Intellectual Property” as a visiting professor. He was invited to present at a November symposium at the Akron Law School on the theme of secondary liability in Intellectual Property law. The piece that O’Melinn wrote for the symposium, tentatively entitled “Making Others do the Work: Secondary Liability Considered as a Departure from the Traditional Contours of Copyright,” will be published in the 2009 edition of the Akron Intellectual Property Journal. He also spoke at the Drake Law School 2009 Intellectual Property Scholars’ Roundtable, at which he presented “The Recording Industry v. James Madison, aka ‘Publius’: An Essay on the Nature of Intellectual Property.”

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On January 24, professor Torres presented at the Ohio Legal Scholarship Workshop, held at The Ohio State University - Moritz College of Law. He discussed philosophical anthropology in the law. Torres also authored a chapter in “Doing Well and Good: The Human Face of the New Capitalism” entitled “Getting Business Off Steroids,” which will be published in 2009.

In June, professor Torres presented a full day seminar to senior executives at The Lismullin Institute in Dublin, Ireland entitled “Leadership & Optimism Against the Odds.” During the summer, Torres taught a course at IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. The course, which was part of the MBA program, was entitled “Leading Organizations: Systems, Values & Ethics.” He also taught an “Organizational Behavior” course in the Global Executive MBA program. Professor Torres is presently researching in the Corporate Governance area.

Vernon Traster, Professor of Law Professor Vernon L. Traster is writing a textbook concerning Insurance Company Misconduct, to be completed 2010. Traster continues to supplement his book chapter, Insurance Bad Faith in Ohio, in Tort Law. In May, professor Traster attended the Ohio Association for Justice annual convention in Columbus, Ohio. In July, he attended an advanced seminar concerning uninsured and underinsured motorist law in Columbus. Also in July, Traster attended the American Association for Justice annual convention in San Francisco, Calif.

Mindi L. Wells, Assistant Dean for Administration and Student Services Dean Wells was sworn in for her final term as an out of state representative to the Florida Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors.

She also serves as the YLD liaison to the Out of State Practitioners Division. Wells chairs the Transition to Practice Committee, which is focusing on developing a mentoring program for new attorneys in Florida. She serves on the Committee on Legal Education of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, which is responsible for planning continuing legal education workshops and vitual seminars. She is a board member of the Lima Society for Human Resource Management. Wells gave presentations on employment and workplace law issues. She also participated in Ohio Northern’s field biology trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands this summer.

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Crago Named Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs David C. Crago, Pettit College of Law dean and professor of law, has been named Ohio Northern University’s interim vice president of academic affairs, effective July 1.

Crago, who will remain dean of the College of Law, takes on the responsibilities of the departing Dr. Anne Lippert, who announced her retirement earlier this year. Lippert, who has been with ONU since 1971, has served as vice president since 1992.

Dr. Kendall L. Baker, ONU president, said, “Dean Crago has provided excellent leadership as the dean of the College of Law, and I am confident he will demonstrate these same outstanding abilities as he leads ONU’s academic division.”

Crago said, “The University’s ambitious agenda for academic excellence makes this an exciting time for all of us. I appreciate the opportunity to serve in this new role as we work to achieve our goals.”

Crago has been on the law faculty of ONU since 1991 and has served as dean since 2001. Prior to joining the faculty, he was a partner with the firm of Jones, Day in Columbus, Ohio, where he specialized in business and commercial litigation. He received his bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his juris doctor from the University of Michigan.

Crago chairs the Ohio State Bar Association’s Commission on Judicial Campaign Advertising and Monitoring Committee. He was awarded the 2007 Legal Educator Award by the Ohio State Bar Association for his contribution to the OSBA, the lawyers of Ohio and the public for his leadership on the OSBA Judicial Campaign Advertising and Monitoring Committee.

Feat ure Why Lying Matters

L

Bruce P. Frohnen, visting associate professor of law

awyers occupy positions of trust, both in

society as a whole and in their relations with clients and the court system. To take the most basic example, without trust, lawyers could not get their clients to tell them the embarrassing details of their

legal problems. Increasingly, of course, we have come to depend more on enforcement mechanisms (“break a contract, get sued”) than old-fashioned notions of honor to enforce trustworthiness. But in at least one important area those mechanisms are hard to find.

When it comes to lying, it often is difficult to catch the culprit, let alone punish him or her. This is particularly true where there is no written record, and where there is little expectation of careful regard for the truth.

Indeed, some commentators have argued that lying in negotiations in particular is not lying at all because general conventions of bargaining create the expectation that both parties will lie. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct endorse this view, stating in the official comment to rule 4.1 that “under generally accepted conventions in negotiation, certain types of statements ordinarily are not taken as statements of material fact.”

Given the almost universal practice of lying in negotiations, it would seem foolish not to engage in it to protect the interests of one’s clients.

But where does this reasoning lead? Monroe Freedman, one of the nation’s leading teachers of legal ethics, provides an example of how far this view can go, and perhaps provides reasons for rethinking complacency about lying.

Freedman argues that a plaintiff ’s attorney has a duty to ask for more money from the defendant’s attorney when that attorney offers a larger settlement than the plaintiff in confidentiality has indicated he or she would accept.1 He further argues that this duty extends to making intentional misrepresentations of facts to opposing counsel and even to a judge involved in negotiations regarding a client’s minimum or maximum settlement figure.2 Freedman justifies the lawyer’s lies by asserting that, under the circumstances he outlines, opposing counsel (and the judge) has no right to know the relevant figures because they are confidential.3 To the obvious retort that one may simply refuse to disclose confidential information Freedman replies that such refusal might “tip off ” others to the content of the confidence and that, given general conventions, no one expects the truth in any event.4 Taken together these are powerful arguments, which Freedman buttresses with an equally powerful example: suppose a legal aid attorney is confronted by a judge who asks whether his or her client “did it?”5 The question is clearly improper in that it asks the lawyer to volunteer confidential information. And silence or a refusal to answer may tip off the judge to the client’s guilt (or lead the judge to assume it), causing irreparable harm

to the client’s interests.

Powerful as Freedman’s argument and example may seem, however, his conclusion—that the lawyer is duty-bound to lie under these circumstances—is highly questionable. Most important is the misleading manner in which Freedman presents his hypothetical. Sissela Bok, a leading student of lies, notes our acceptance of dishonesty in times of “acute crisis,” when the lawyer does not have time to gain outside assistance and so must either lie or allow a misdeed to create significant, perhaps irreparable harm.6 But the events on which Freedman bases his hypothetical fail to meet the criteria of an acute crisis. The hypothetical is drawn from legal aid lawyers in Brooklyn, reporting that “[s]ome judges. . . would routinely call defense counsel to the bench prior to trial in criminal cases and say, ‘Come on, let’s move this along. Did he do it or didn’t he?’”7 Unless the

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legal aid lawyer is inexperienced and has failed to do due diligence by inquiring about the judge, there is no surprise here. What we have, instead, is a circumstance in which large numbers of attorneys are allowing judges to habitually behave in an inappropriate manner, reducing their workload at the expense of procedural fairness. The proper response would not be a lie, but a report to the appropriate authorities regarding the judge’s misconduct. As to bad consequences for clients and the lawyers themselves, solidarity rather than lying would appear the appropriate response—joint complaints and joint refusal to answer inappropriate questions, along with coordinated appeals in the cases of any clients whose rights have been negatively affected. A true crisis may justify (or more appropriately, give us grounds to excuse) a lie; but Freedman’s need to mischaracterize his own points to the rarity of such crises. More often, lying is the result of a failure to consider all available options—including ones that might require more work and cooperation than might be convenient at the time.

Let us return to Freedman’s basic point—that there is no rational expectation of veracity from opposing counsel in negotiations. This is the familiar argument that negotiations are a kind of game in which players have agreed, prior to playing, to abide by rules allowing lying. But we can only justify this practice by assuming that the game has been entered into voluntarily and with foreknowledge by all parties. Do clients consent to such games? If they are to assert their rights, clients must either negotiate or litigate. Litigation is risky and expensive. Thus lawyers, if they are to serve their clients’ interests, often must negotiate. The client may expect bad practices, but has not thereby voluntarily consented to them. Does a defendant who agrees to pay a bribe to a corrupt judge, knowing that failure to do so would result in years of imprisonment, “volunteer” to pay for freedom?

Habits, though not innate, become difficult to change once established because they become natural to us over time.12 One benefit of this constancy is that a person can become less likely to give in to vicious desires once habituated to despise such desires.13 But the person must continue to do good acts and despise bad ones, lest bad acts and bad character ensue.14 Modern behavioral studies bear out Aristotle’s argument. Lying is a developmental process by which one learns how to make people believe something that is not true.15 The trait of lying develops in children through patterns of upbringing that encourage lying—e.g., excessive punishment for other transgressions (encouraging lying as a self-defense mechanism) or parental patterns of reward and punishment that blur the lines between reality and useful fantasy.16 Those who lie under given circumstances over time develop habits of lying that can harden and become unconscious and automatic.17 Moreover, most lies require follow-up lies to protect the original deceit.18 The liar’s moral distinctions coarsen, psychological barriers to lying break down and the liar’s behavior—even if the lie is not discovered—changes in subtle ways such that others treat him or her with less trust.19 And this self-reinforcing aspect of lying is a particular problem for lawyers, who face many opportunities for profitable lying, along with likely deception from opposing counsel and an adversary ethic that makes it easy to define those with whom one deals as enemies not deserving of the truth.

This basic understanding of habit and character formation is instantiated in the rules of evidence, in which character—“a generalized description of a person’s disposition, or of the disposition in respect to a general trait, such as honesty”20—and habit—“one’s regular response to a repeated situation”21—are important categories.22 Evidence of a witness’s prior convictions for felonies,23 other crimes involving false statement or dishonesty24 and even misbehavior not involving conviction but nonetheless going to the witness’s character for untruthfulness, may be admissible.25

Bad Habits Settlement negotiation is not the only area of legal practice in which truthfulness tends to be undervalued. In discovery, lawyers often engage in a kind of deceptive bargaining—responding to overbroad requests with overly narrow interpretations of what must be produced. More generally, one cannot simply cordon off a realm of deceitful negotiations from the rest of one’s practice and communications; the very act of participating in deceptive bargaining may affect the lawyer’s ability to discriminate among kinds and levels of falsehood, allowing lies to multiply and spill over into different relationships.

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle describes what he calls “the moral virtues (such as courage, magnanimity, and honesty)” as the result of habituation—of repetition in the doing.8 We acquire virtues by doing their corresponding acts; as a builder becomes a builder by building, a just person becomes just by doing just things.9 Likewise, by acting in an unjust manner we become unjust.10 While no one desires to be vicious (to have the character of a vicious person, such as, say, one who is unjust), our desire to do vicious things can, if we give in and do the vicious acts, make us vicious.11

Suppose a legal aid attorney is confronted by a judge who asks whether his or her client “did it?”

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Moving Toward Trust Why not lie? On a practical level, lies decrease trust, and decreasing trust increases transaction costs. When attorneys expend time and energy to formalize agreements and fight out disputes, the parties pay. In the short term, this increases billable hours for lawyers. But the costs are very real. Certainly the prosperity of society as a whole (a whole of which lawyers are a part) depends in large measure on the amount of trust inhering in the culture.

Trust in colleagues and trading partners cements relationships and allows for extensions of credit and other actions necessary for economic growth and prosperity in the face of crises and market uncertainty.

Further, if attorneys thought lying was ethically insignificant because law is a game, it would be natural for them to become pirates or facilitators of piracy rather than advocates for justice. Consider what the loss of honesty would mean in light of a lawyer’s gatekeeping responsibility—the duty to tell “would-be clients that they are damn fools and should stop.”26 If we believe lawyers should be willing to deceive investors on behalf of clients, we should not be surprised to read that “without lawyers, few corporate scandals would exist and fewer still would succeed long enough to cause any significant damage.”27 Consider the staggering human price of the scandal perpetrated by Enron: 4,500 people in Enron’s Houston office lost their jobs, while Enron’s employees lost $1.6 billion in 401(k) savings and its investors lost $61 billion in capital.28 In addition, the public already holds a dim view of honor amongst lawyers.29 In the absence of trust rooted in dependable veracity, it will be increasingly difficult over time to uphold the position that the lawyer’s role is vital to civilized society.

Increasing distrust has coincided with an array of mental and emotional problems associated with being a lawyer.30 How great a portion of lawyer unhappiness is due to antagonism and distrust between practitioners is not clear, but it would be surprising were a large proportion of attorney dissatisfaction not coming from dealing with untrustworthy adversaries all day. Studies suggest that people who lack trust are unhappy and statistically more likely to betray others.31 It would be reasonable to expect negativity to spill over into lawyer-to-lawyer and even lawyer-client relationships in an environment where lies and mistrust are common.

None of this is to assert that lawyers have in general become liars (or worse). Rather, the point is that the norm of truth telling must be defend-

ed more vigorously because the legal profession itself is rooted in a rejection of the call to lying, being rooted instead in a commitment to trust embodied in the relationship between lawyer and client.32 Protection of this trust is so important that the lawyer is expected to subordinate his or her own interests to those of the client. And the duty to the client must include maintenance of social trust in the legal profession and society more generally. It is precisely to preserve social trust that John Stuart Mill, perhaps the most famous proponent of utilitarianism, reasoned any person who could lie to protect his or her own immediate interests nonetheless has a duty to tell the truth.33 Given the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms against lying in areas like negotiation and discovery, new rules will be of little use in restoring trust to the profession. Rather, we must look to less formal methods for re-establishing a norm of truth telling among lawyers. Organizations of the bench and bar, in which lawyers socialize as well as do business with one another are obvious examples of groups within which such a norm

Consider what the loss of honesty would mean in light of a lawyer’s gatekeeping responsibility—the duty to tell “would-be clients that they are damn fools and should stop.”

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could be encouraged. But this requires that the norm become an explicit part of the stated mission of each group and that it be enforced: it must become something over which real penalties of disapproval and even ostracism can be imposed. It will not be easy; attempts at combating racism in the legal profession over many decades attest to this. But it is a task worth undertaking. ■

Protection of this trust is so important that the lawyer is expected to subordinate his or her own interests to those of the client.

Bruce Frohnen Biographical Note: Bruce Frohnen is visiting associate professor of law at Ohio Northern University College of Law. He has also taught at Emory University, the Catholic University of America and Reed College and is the author, editor or co-editor of many books, including American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia and The American Republic: Primary Sources, the companion to The American Nation: Primary Sources. His research interests focus on the nature and development of human rights and their connections with differing views of the nature of human community and the person. Frohnen can be reached at bfrohnen@onu.edu •

1. Monroe H. Freedman, In Praise of Overzealous Representation—Lying to Judges, Deceiving Third Parties, and Other Ethical Conduct, 34 HOFSTRA L. REV. 771 (2006), 77879.

(W. D. Ross trans., Batoche Books 1999), available at http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/u gcm/3ll3/aristotle/Ethics. pdf.

2. Id.

11. Id. at 52.

3. Id. at 773, 778-79.

12. Id. at 121.

4. Id. at 773-74.

13. Id. at 23.

5. Id.

14. Id. 179.

6. SISSELA BOK, LYING: MORAL CHOICE IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE 108-9 (1978).

15. CHARLES V. FORD, LIES! LIES! LIES! THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DECEIT 69 (1996).

7. Freedman, supra note 1, at 773.

16. Id. at 81.

24. FED. R. EVID. 609(a)(2).

17. Chris William Sanchirico, Character Evidence and the Object

25. FED. R. EVID. 608(b)(1). Admissibility of this type of evidence is at

8. ARISTOTLE, NICOMACHEAN ETHICS 20-21

40

9. Id. at 21.

10. Id.

of Trial, 101 COLUM. L. REV. 1227, 1297 (2001).

18. BOK, supra note 6, at 25.

19. Id. 20. See Sanchirico, supra note 17, at 1297.

21. Id. 22. See especially FED. R. EVID. 406.

23. FED. R. EVID. 609(a)(1). Admissibility of this type of evidence is at the court’s discretion.

Id.

OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW |

the court’s discretion. Id. 26. 1 PHILLIP C. JESSUP, ELIHU ROOT 133 (1938).

27. Susan P. Koniak, The Lawyer’s Responsibility to the Truth, 26 HARV. J.L. & PUB. POL’Y 195, 195 (2003). Id. at 197 (footnotes omitted).

28. John R. Kroger, Enron, Fraud, and Securities Reform: An Enron Prosecutor’s Perspective, 76 U. COLO. L. REV. 57, 58–59 (2005) (citing Patty Reinert, The Fall of Enron: Watkins to Discuss Now-famous Memo, Enron Exec Plans to Bring More Documents to Hearing, HOUSTON

Writ FALL 2009

CHRON., Feb. 13, 2002, at A19; James K. Glassman, Diversify, Diversify, Diversify, WALL ST. J., Jan. 18, 2002, at A10; Michael Lietdke, Proud “Papa” Recognizes Some Faults in 401(k)s, HOUSTON CHRON., Sept.

23, 2002, at B3).

29. See The Gallup Organization, Honesty/Ethics in Professions (2008), http://www.gallup.com/p oll/1654/Honesty-EthicsProfessions.aspx (last visited Mar. 13, 2009).

30. Patrick J. Schlitz, On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an

Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession, 52 VAND. L. REV. 871 (1999).

31. Megan TschannenMoran & Wayne K. Hoy, A Multidisciplinary Analysis of the Nature, Meaning, and Measurement of Trust, 70 REV. ED. RES. 547, 559 (2000).

32. See, e.g., United States v. Lopez, 4 F.3d 1455, 1461 (9th Cir. 1993).

33. JOHN STUART MILL, ON LIBERTY 22-23 (G. Sher, ed. 2001) (1869).

“Know Thyself ” –Socrates

“Control Thyself ” –Cicero

“Give Thyself ” –Jesus

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