Law
T h e M a g a z i n e o f S a n ta C l a r a U n i v e r s i t y S c h o o l o f L aw
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vol 17 no 1
Santa Clara
The Changing Face of the Legal Profession For more than four decades, female graduates of Santa Clara Law have influenced all aspects of the legal field. Page 12
S a n ta C l a r a L aw
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4 Celebrating a Century
of Lawyers Who Lead
6 Dual Degree Grads
Mean Business
18 Committed to Japan
C e l e b r at i n g a C e n tu r y o f E d uc at i n g L aw y e r s W h o L e a d
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1911-2011
SANTA CLARA LAW
de a n ’ s m e s s a g e
A Century of Educating Lawyers Who Lead Dear Friends of Santa Clara Law:
I
KEI TH SU TTER
t is a pleasure to introduce this issue of Santa Clara Law, the law school’s bi-annual report on its activities, faculty and student achievements, and interesting information about law school graduates and friends. I am pleased to report that we have been planning an eight-month long celebration of the law school’s Centennial anniversary in 2011. Associate Dean Mary Emery ’63 and Ted Biagini ’63 serve as co-chairs of the Centennial Planning Committee, which is providing support and advice to the law school’s planning for this significant and historic event. Senior Assistant Dean Julia Yaffee is heading up the special law school committee charged with implementing the planning for the Centennial celebration. Please browse the Centennial Calendar of Events (pages 4-5) and make plans to join your colleagues for some of these special events. One exceptional opportunity is the Supreme Court Swearing-in we have planned for May 31 in Washington, D.C. While we are celebrating our richly storied past, we are also planning for our future. The issue gives the highlights of the law school’s strategic plan and maps our priorities for reaching those goals. Accomplishing our ambitious goals will require the financial support, encouragement, and involvement of our graduates and friends, and I look forward to providing you with more information about how you can advance the law school’s plan for its future. The law school’s long range and strategic plan and its Centennial celebration highlight the importance of our graduates. We now proudly proclaim that we have more than ten thousand Santa Clara Law alumni—men and women who serve as leaders in their communities and in the legal profession. This issue also describes the many accomplishments and achievements of our graduates and, equally significant, their support of the law school through their advising of law students, their financial support of the Law Strategic Initiatives Fund and their involvement in the law school’s annual reunion programs that reunite graduates with the law school. I sadly note the passing of law school graduates, including the Honorable Mark Thomas ’56 (see page 32). Like many graduates, Mark loved his law school and, over his long and distinguished career as a lawyer and judge, remained a dedicated and involved member of our law school family. Perhaps one of Mark’s most distinguishing achievements for the law school was his authoring the law school’s “official” history, From Promise to Prominence, published in 2003. Mark will be greatly missed by all of us at Santa Clara Law. I look forward to hearing your comments about this issue of Santa Clara Law and I look forward to seeing you at the law school and university activities, especially our Centennial anniversary celebrations.
JULIA YAFFEE M.A. ’87, M.A. ’97 Senior Assistant Dean for External Affairs Elizabeth Kelley Gillogly b.a. ’93 Editor LARRY SOKOLOFF ’92 Assistant Editor Michelle Waters Web Editor carole vendrick Copy Editor Amy Kremer Gomersall b.a. ’88 Art in Motion Art Director, Designer Charles Barry Santa Clara University Photographer Santa Clara Law, founded in 1911 on the site of Santa Clara University, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution, is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead, with a commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. One of the nation’s most diverse law schools, Santa Clara Law offers its 975 students an academically rigorous program, including graduate degrees in international law and intellectual property law; a combined J.D./MBA degree; a combined J.D./MSIS degree; and certificates in intellectual property law, international law, and public interest and social justice law. Santa Clara Law is located in the world-class business center of Silicon Valley, and is distinguished nationally for its top-ranked program in intellectual property. For more information, see law.scu.edu. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the Law Alumni Office by phone at 408-551-1748; fax 408-554-5201; e-mail lawalumni@lawmail.scu. edu, or visit law.scu.edu/sclaw. Or write Law Alumni Office, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053. The diverse opinions expressed in Santa Clara Law do not necessarily represent the views of the editor or the official policy of Santa Clara University. Copyright 2010 by Santa Clara University. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Polden
Cert no. XXX-XXX-000
Dean AIM 10/10 10,500
Santa Clara Law is printed on paper and at a printing facility certified by Scientific Certification Systems to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards. From forest management to paper production to printing, FSC certification represents the highest social and environmental standards. The paper contains 10 percent post-consumer recovered fiber.
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Santa Clara Law Centennial Join us for a full year of events as we celebrate the past 100 years and envision the future. Dual Degree Grads Mean Business graduates with key tools to be successful in law and business.
12 The Changing Face of the Legal Profession
by A sa Pi t t man ’ 0 9 For more than four decades, female
graduates of Santa Clara Law have influenced all aspects of the legal field.
18 Committed to Japan
By S usan Vogel For 30 years, Santa Clara Law has partnered
with top Japanese attorneys and scholars to train U.S. law students in the intricacies of the Japanese legal system and culture.
22 Mapping Out Our Future
By D o n ald J . P o lden an d J ulia Yaffee As our Centennial celebration unfolds, we will be unfolding our roadmap for the next century.
24 Law Strategic Initiatives Fund Aids Recent Grads in a Tough Economy
By Mike Wallace
26 2010 Reunion Weekend
28 class action 33 Closing Arguments
By S usan Vo gel Santa Clara Law’s J.D./MBA program empowers
2 Law Briefs
Photos and memories from our fall reunion weekend celebration
Above left, Santa Clara Law Professor David Yosifon is the faculty advisor to the J.D./MBA program. Top, law students study in the brand new Bergin Hall of 1939. Below, a Tokyo photo from Professor Philip Jimenez, who has directed Santa Clara Law summer abroad programs in Asia for more than 30 years. ON THE COVER Alumnae across the decades: Mary Beth “Molly” Long J.D. ’82, MBA ’85, Asa Pittman ’09, and Dean Mary Emery J.D. ’63 gather at SCU to share memories of their Santa Clara Law experiences. Photo by Charles Barry
VISIT THIS MAGAZINE ON THE WEB Visit us online for more photos and stories from our Centennial year, as well as additional photos from the 2010 Reunion Weekend. Our magazine web site also makes it easy to share articles from this issue (or previous issues) with friends and colleagues. law.scu.edu/sclaw
fall 2010 | santa clara law 1
LAWB R I E F S
2010 Commencement eep your values in mind even as the legal world shifts around you, Santa Clara Law graduates were told at their graduation on May 22 by the Hon. Miguel S. Demapan ’85, chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The chief justice told the 350 graduates about how change is already occurring in other countries to allow law firms to be publicly traded. That raises questions about whether client concerns will get diluted in favor of shareholder demands for profit, he said. “Can the maximization of profits co-exist in a profession in which we owe the highest duties to both the court system and our clients?” he asked. Demapan received an honorary doctor of law degree from SCU. He had been unable to attend his own graduation ceremony in 1985. In his roles as a superior court judge and chief justice, Demapan has presided over key cases in the CNMI, including some involving government bribery and abuse of power. He also has overseen an innovative movement to bring home-foreclosure cases to mediation, rather than to the courts. Participants in the event includ“...Santa Clara Law ed a number of Santa Clara Law alumni, including John Larsen ’92, a certainly gives you the parole commissioner for the state of tools to serve others in California. “I agreed with the sentiyour legal career. I felt ments of the guest speaker,” he said, “that Santa Clara Law certainly gives this as I reflected on you the tools to serve others in your the 18 years that have legal career. I felt this as I reflected on the 18 years that have passed since I passed since I was last was last on that stage.”
on that stage.”
Joa nn e Lee
—John Larsen ’92
Hon. Miguel S. Demapan ’85
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Joa n n e L ee
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Linda Wuestehube ’10 shakes hands with SCU President Michael Engh, S.J., on her graduation day.
2010 Outstanding Graduates Linda Wuestehube received the Inez Mabie Award, which honors a top graduate for scholarship, community leadership, and professional responsibility. She received a number of awards during her time in law school. Her paper, “U.S. Patent Applications and Export Control Regulations: Seven Habits for Highly Effective Offshore Outsourcing,” won the grand prize in the San Francisco IP Law Association’s annual writing competition. A single mother who commuted over an hour to get to SCU, Wuestehube used her long commutes to listen to podcasts of law school classes, including some in which she was not registered. Erik Kaeding received the ALI-ABA Scholarship and Leadership Award, given to the graduate who “bests represents a combination of scholarship and leadership.” He received a Public Interest and Social Justice Scholarship and numerous awards during law school. As a 2009 recipient of a Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship, he conducted legal and policy research in India, and helped draft memoranda to promote biodiversity and sustainable agriculture on behalf of Indian farmers. He also served on the Disability Advisory Commission for the city of San Jose.
ACS National Student Chapter of the Year
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anta Clara Law’s chapter of the American Constitutional Society was named “National Student Chapter of the Year” at the 2010 ACS convention. The law school shares this title with Yale Law School and was selected from among 170 other chapters including longstanding chapters at Harvard, Georgetown, and Stanford. Santa Clara was also awarded the title for “Best Networking.” Jessica Jackson ’11 was elected to serve as the student member of the ACS National Board of Directors. This opportunity will enable Santa Clara to secure some very prominent speakers for chapter events. Confirmed speakers for next year include Justice Stephen Reinhardt, Justice Cruz Reynoso, and Professors Pamela Karlan, Orin Kerr, and David Cole.
Moot Court Teams Shine
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he Santa Clara Law Honors Moot Court External Team received third place for an appellate brief at the Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition, held at Brooklyn Law School in April. The team of Christine Cusick, Corey Wallace, and Adam Flores also argued in a final round, which was judged by a panel including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. In another competition, students Courtney Smith and Andi Barson took third place against 18 other West Coast teams at the regionals of the Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Moot Court Competition at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A second team from Santa Clara, Keith Mitro and Michael Donohoe, also participated.
More law.scu.edu/acs/
Left to right: Christine Cusick, Adam Flores, and Corey Wallace
New Class Stats
Faculty Spotlight
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anta Clara Law received nearly 5,000 applications for this year’s incoming class, an increase of 8 percent and the most since 2004. The 247 fulltime and 82 part-time students hail from 29 states and 14 foreign countries including China, Estonia, India, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Uzbekistan. They attended 131 different undergraduate schools, and 34 of them already have advanced degrees—including 10 Ph.D.s. The new class is 48 percent women, and 45 percent are students of color. Forty-two percent of the entering class noted they are interested in high tech law, while 38 percent are interested in social justice programs. “The diversity of talented students who have joined us this year is a testament to the value of a rigorous legal education in tough economic times,” said Dean Donald Polden.
Law professor Kenneth A. Manaster has been named the Presidential Professor of Ethics and the Common Good by SCU President Michael Engh, S.J. The professorship is a three-year appointment that includes a stipend to support research. Professor Manaster’s current research includes an article that explores the responsibility and the ethics of environmental law practice in a variety of contexts. It will be published in the Pace University Environmental Law Review. Kenneth A. Manaster
Blogs by law professors Eric Goldman and David Friedman were included in a list of the top 20 most cited blogs in the law review literature from 2006 to the present. Dave Hoffman, associate professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, updated the Yospe/Best study on court citation of blogs and posted the results on Concurring Opinions, a group blog with a broad emphasis on legal topics. Goldman’s Technology & Marketing Law Blog was number 17 and Friedman’s Ideas was number 11.
Eric Goldman
More law.scu.edu/faculty/faculty-spotlight.cfm fall 2010 | santa clara law 3
1911-2011
Santa Clara Law Celebrating a Century of Educating Lawyers Who Lead
Join us as we celebrate our past and envision our future. Founded in 1911, Santa Clara Law has flourished, grown, and changed in the last century—a transformation as profound as the Valley of Heart’s Delight becoming Silicon Valley. In honor of our first 100 years, we have planned 12 months of activities, including a series of special events, reunions, and celebrations. We hope you can join us!
JOIN THE CELEBRATION ONLINE!
Visit our special Centennial Web site for more information on events, as well as historical photos, a timeline, and more! You can also sign up there to receive our Centennial e-newsletter with event updates, trivia, and stories from our history. See law.scu.edu/100
law.scu.edu/100 4 santa clara law | fall 2010
Centennial Calendar of Events
Fall 2010
Spring and Fall 2011
October 8 President’s Speaker Series (Co-sponsored by the School of Law) Leon Panetta ’63 J.D., Director of the CIA 8:00 p.m., Mayer Theatre October 18 Centennial Convocation 5:00 p.m., Mayer Theatre An academic procession will proceed from Bannan Hall to Mayer Theatre, where a special program will celebrate our upcoming centennial year. Sharing in the ceremony will be President Engh, Dean Polden, and other members of the law school community.
2011 Centennial Celebration Student Writing Competition Open to any student enrolled at an ABA accredited law school, the competition invites essays on “Future Ethical Challenges.” The deadline is January 31, 2011, and there will be a cash award for the winning paper. For more information, email centennialwriting@ scu.edu.
October 28 Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center Celebration of Community, Commitment & Courage 5:30 p.m., Adobe Lodge This event honors those whose support has made it possible for the Center to further the rights of low-income people. November 3 Diversity Gala 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., Adobe Lodge Students and alumni come together to recognize the contributions that prominent members of the legal profession have made to fostering inclusion and furthering the interests of minority groups.
Various Dates Regional Alumni Events Alumni throughout the region and the country will have opportunities to get together, reconnect, and be a part of our Centennial year February 24 President’s Speaker Series (Co-sponsored by Santa Clara Law) Rosalyn Higgins, International Court of Justice 7:30 p.m., Mission Church Date TBD The Clarence Darrow Trial Location TBD Santa Clara Law Professor Gerald Uelmen will present a lively reenactment of the 1911 trial of Clarence Darrow, who was charged in Los Angeles for jury tampering. March 19 Dinner Honoring the Judiciary Benson Center This very special dinner event will honor our alumni judges who serve the public good. April 13 President’s Speaker Series (Co-sponsored by Santa Clara Law) David Drummond, General Counsel, Google Corporation 7:30 p.m., Mayer Theatre
Various Dates Regional Alumni Events Alumni throughout the region and the country will have opportunities to get together, reconnect, and be a part of our Centennial year. For details, see law.scu.edu/alumni.
May 21 Centennial Commencement Ceremony 9:30 a.m., Mission Gardens
May 31 U.S. Supreme Court Bar Swearing In Washington, D.C. Santa Clara alumni from across the country will gather in Washington, D.C., for a special swearing-in before the U.S. Supreme Court, complete with a private breakfast at the court and photo opportunities. July 3-6 Asia Centennial Celebration for Alumni and Friends Tokyo, Japan Professor Phillip Jimenez, who has years of experience directing our program in Tokyo, is heading up a special visit to Tokyo that will include CLE lectures by some of Japan’s leading lawyers as well as opportunities to tour various cultural sites. July 24-28 Oxford Summer Abroad Reunion for Alumni and Friends Magdalen College, Oxford University Professor Robert Peterson, long-time director of our Oxford program, is orchestrating a special visit complete with CLE lectures by Oxford dons. Optional activities may include a tour to Stratford, cruise on the Thames, and visit to London. College housing will be available. September 9 – 11 Centennial Gala and Reunion Weekend Along with our usual reunion class activities and campus events, the weekend will include a once-in-a-century gala at the Fairmont Hotel. Santa Clara Law alumni and friends will come together to reminisce about the past, celebrate the law school’s many achievements, and help envision our future while dining and dancing the night away. Sept. 9 Class Reunion Celebrations, on campus Sept. 10 Centennial Gala, Fairmont Hotel, San Jose Sept. 11 Vintage Santa Clara, on campus Date TBD Alexander Prize Event This award has been made possible through the generosity of Katharine & George Alexander to bring recognition to lawyers who have used their legal careers to help alleviate injustice and inequity. The hope is that recognition of such individuals will improve the image of lawyers around the world.
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By S usan Vo gel
Dual Degree GRADS Mean Business Santa Clara Law’s J.D./MBA program empowers graduates with key tools to be successful in law and business.
K ATE BUR GE SS
After working for Morrison and Foerster in Palo Alto and Intel Capital, Francis Jose J.D./MBA ’03 moved to his current position as corporate counsel for contracts at Immersion, a San Jose technology company concentrating in “haptics,” touch technology that creates texture and feel in an electronic product. SCOTT LEWIS
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Zaharek, a former linebacker for the Bronco football team, was in cosmetology boot camp, preparing for his role as inhouse counsel with Sebastian, the iconic hair product company that provided the structural support for the big hair of the 1980s. “I was not a licensed cosmetologist, so I couldn’t cut hair,” he says, “but I could play with hair.” While playing with hair was not one of the advantages Santa Clara Law had in mind when it established its joint J.D./MBA program, it is one of many that have propelled graduates into top positions in corporate legal departments, law firms, and government in the 16 years since the program’s first two graduates flipped their tassels in 1977.
ENTERPRISING MINDS During his first few years of teaching the law of business organizations, corporation finance, and securities regulation at Santa Clara Law, Jost Baum, now professor emeritus, observed “a need for the students who wanted to go into the corporate and business side of practice to understand things that typically were not taught in law school, like finance, accounting, and understanding financial statements.” Baum, who has a bachelor of arts and a juris doctor from the University of Chicago, and had done postgraduate work at the London School of Economics, proposed a program similar to those offered by some other law schools, in which students could earn both a J.D. and an MBA with the law and business schools sharing certain academic credits. “The whole notion was well received,” he says, and two students signed up: Dan Mount B.S. ’74, J.D./MBA ’77, and Andy Kryder B.S. ’74, J.D./MBA ’77. Mount had a degree in economics. “I had wondered whether I would end up in law or business,” Mount says, “and the joint degree would give me the chance to explore both.”
SCOTT LEWIS
Five years out of law school, Zachary Zaharek BS ’91, J.D./MBA ’95, was standing over a sink in a hair salon washing a client’s hair before styling it into cornrows. “I would get it all wet first and then tell her that I’m really a lawyer, not a stylist, and that the worst that could happen was that I’d get water all over her face.”
Professor emeritus Jost Baum helped to launch the J.D./MBA program at Santa Clara Law in the mid-70s.
Kryder, who had an undergraduate degree in accounting, interviewed with the Big Eight, but didn’t want to be an auditor. “Checking other people’s work didn’t seem creative. I really liked the business law classes I took as an undergrad, and I saw that the MBA would not cost me a lot of money.” To the surprise of the University, Mount and Kryder powered through the two programs in three years even as they both worked part-time. Students now complete their first year as law students, their second year as MBA students, and then take law and business classes concurrently in their third and fourth years. While Kryder and Mount, with undergrad degrees in business, found the law classes the most challenging, others say that the business school classes were the toughest. Jeff Holl J.D./MBA ’81, says, “my time in the business school caused more hair loss than my time in the law school. Mathematics was never my forte...so writing essays was always more pleasurable than equations.” Regardless of students’ backgrounds or strengths, managing both programs takes discipline. “The one major challenge was time,” says Valerie Alabanza-Cary J.D./MBA ’00. “With law school courses during the day and business classes in the evening, I had to be disciplined and efficient with my time between classes to get the work done. Group projects are common for many business courses, so managing your time is an important skill as you have to accommodate other people’s schedules as well.” fall 2010 | santa clara law 7
A LEG UP
FIRM FOOTING
All agree that the joint degree was well worth the demands it placed on their time and bank account. In the business world, attorneys are sometimes seen as naysayers, admonishing clients that they can’t do this or that. But an MBA turns them into creative problem-solvers and opens many doors upon graduation and beyond. It often gives grads increased access into and between corporate legal departments, law firms, and tax firms. Assistant Professor David Yosifon, who is faculty advisor for the program, says, “Silicon Valley needs people who can speak both languages—law and business. Especially in times of economic crisis, clients want lawyers who can think about business. Most of the time when a client comes to you for advice there is a business question tangled up in the legal question.” Having both degrees, he says, gives graduates a leg up.
When Francis Jose J.D./MBA ’03 applied to the corporate department of Morrison and Foerster’s Palo Alto office upon graduation, he was told that “the ramp up for a junior associate just to understand where the client is coming from was two to three years,” he says. The MBA, however, shortened that. “The MBA allowed me to relate a lot faster to the client since CFOs and CEOs of companies tend to have gone to business school,” he says. Mount’s MBA got him his first job out of law school as a business litigator. “With an MBA, I understand financial statements, and I know when to litigate,” he says. “We fight about money only when it makes money sense.” His MBA has also helped in the day-to-day management of his firm, Mount & Stolker, in San Jose. “An MBA helps you better understand the service business we are in as lawyers,” he says. Louise McCabe switched from tax to litigation and worked as a partner at Nixon Peabody specializing in complex business disputes. Now a partner in the Southern California offices of Troutman Sanders, McCabe says, “I believe the business education gave me a tremendous advantage as a litigator. [It] made me a better, more well-rounded, and practical lawyer, and provided a heightened sensitivity to the business and financial goals of my clients.” It also made her a highly valued law firm manager. McCabe has served in a number of management positions throughout her career including that of treasurer, where for a time she was responsible for oversight of the accounting department and dayto-day financial operations of a firm. “The MBA and accounting background really enabled my career to soar very early on," she says of her first position with a major law firm after leaving
TAX BASE
CHA R LE S B AR RY
The leg up Kryder got was a job upon graduation in Arthur Young’s (now Ernst & Young) tax department. “They normally didn’t hire directly for that department,” he says, “but because I had a degree in accounting, an MBA, and a J.D., they hired me directly.” In 1988 he became a tax partner, and remained with the firm until 1990, when he joined Quantum as General Counsel and Vice President. Louise McCabe J.D./MBA ’83, who holds an undergraduate joint degree in economics and sociology, landed a solid job in a soft market in the tax department of Touche Ross, now Deloitte. There she joined two other Santa Clara Law graduates, Ted Upland J.D./MBA ’81 and Sam Coffey ’83 and worked with them for the next several years.
DAN MOUNT b.s. ’74, J.D./MBA ’77
Louise McCabe J.D./MBA ’83 SCOTT LEWIS
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P H O T O C ourtesy o f L ouise Mc Cab e J.D./M B A ’83
Touche Ross. “I came in with a business sense, was made partner in five years, and was elected to the executive and management committees,” she says.
DUAL DEGREES OPEN IN-HOUSE DOORS When Sebastian was purchased by Wella, which was then bought by Procter & Gamble, Zaharek, rather than moving to Cincinnati, found a headhunter, showered her with hair products, and landed a job as senior corporate counsel for Downey Savings and Loan. Now he is division counsel of First American Corporation, the largest real estate information and title company in the United States, based in Orange County. “There is no question that my MBA played a part in getting in-house counsel jobs,” says Zaharek. “It said that I was comfortable reviewing financial statements and able to understand numbers more than the average lawyer. In these jobs, you have to understand accounting and finance.” An internship at Sun Microsystems after her first year of law school convinced Alabanza-Cary that she wanted to work in-house. She felt an MBA would make her more competitive. It did. Upon graduation, she was hired by Sun, where, over nine years she rose from contract attorney to counsel to senior counsel to assistant general counsel. When Sun announced its acquisition by Oracle in 2009, she was one of just five assistant general counsel out of a products legal department of 38. “It is difficult to say how much the MBA helped my career at Sun,” says Alabanza-Cary, “but I know it was a benefit. The extra knowledge, especially as a new in-house attorney, gave me confidence, as the MBA program taught me the multiple aspects that make up core parts of a business.”
Alabanza-Cary, who went on to work as IP transactions counsel at SAP, a provider of business software, says her MBA “was a good introduction to business, as I was a political science major and didn’t have a business background. The MBA gave me great tools as I began my in-house career.”
THE BLUE LANE Seven years into law firm practice, Jose made the move. After working with Intel Capital, on loan from Morrison and Foerster, he jumped to his current position as corporate counsel for contracts at Immersion, a San Jose technology company concentrating in “haptics,” touch technology that creates texture and feel in an electronic product (its president and CEO, Victor Viegas, holds undergrad and business degrees from SCU). Jose is grateful that his MBA gave him the chance to move from a firm to working in-house. “You know when you go to work each day that a new and unique problem will come up,” he says. “It makes life pretty exciting, especially when you are also growing a company.” In 2000, Kryder left Quantum to become general counsel of network applications at NetApp, a data storage and management company. “Because of my finance and law background, I had both the tax and the legal departments reporting to me, which is kind of unique.” “My financial background,” says Kryder, “has been one of the biggest pieces contributing to my success. If you have a legal background you focus mostly on risk, but the business background says, ‘it’s not about how much it costs, it’s about how much you make as a result.’ Without the financial background I wouldn’t be as good at that side of it.”
“Silicon Valley needs people who can speak both languages—law and business,” says Santa Clara Law Assistant Professor David Yosifon, faculty advisor for the J.D./MBA program. “Especially in times of economic crisis, clients want lawyers who can think about business.” Santa Clara Law Assistant Professor DAVID YOSIFON keith sutter
fall 2010 | santa clara law 9
“My financial background has been one of the biggest pieces contributing to my success,” says Andy Kryder B.S. ’74, J.D./ MBA ’77. “If you have a legal background, you focus mostly on risk, but the business background says, ‘it’s not about how much it costs, it’s about how much you make as a result.’ Without the financial background I wouldn’t be as good at that side of it.” Valerie alAbanza-cary J.D./MBA ’00 photos b y SCOTT LEWIS
ANDY KRYDER b.s. ’74, J.D./MBA ’77
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zachary zaharek BS ’91, J.D./MBA ’95
An MBA can also add value in government service, including the bench. Holl found his MBA helpful when he became an administrative law judge after 20 years as a trial lawyer in a personal injury firm. As a judge for the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Holl hears cases on labor issues before the Employment Development Department, the largest taxing authority in the state after the Franchise Tax Board. Working with “hardworking public service lawyers and judges dedicated to a community service ideal,” he adjudicates tax appeals in addition to labor, unemployment, and disability cases.
RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
WHOM YOU KNOW Zaharek says that one of the greatest benefits of his MBA is networking opportunities. “Going to law school with other MBAs helped me meet people in business and establish contacts in the business world.” Spending their entire second year in business school allows students to not only focus more intensely on their business education but also build connections. Zaharek is past president of the Southern California Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel–America (ACCA), the largest in-house bar association in the country. In this capacity, he has had dinner with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (he confirms she has great hair), and interviewed former President Bill Clinton (ditto) in a talk show style format in front of 1,500 legal professionals. Alabanza-Cary, now IP and patent counsel director for the legal department of Juniper Networks, is co-chair for the In-House Committee of the Asian-Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley, which seeks to create a network of in-house counsel for career development and sharing experiences. Networking, she says, “makes you a better attorney.”
Kryder, who claims to be the first graduate of the J.D./MBA program (“‘Andy’ comes before ‘Dan’ and ‘Kryder’ before ‘Mount’”), retired in September at age 57. However, he will soon experience another aspect of the joint degree: you will never retire. Lawyers with business savvy are simply too valuable to the community. Mount says that the business degree means he has more to offer when he sits on boards of nonprofits. With an MBA you “aren’t just singing Kumbaya,” he says. “You understand how to manage affairs. You understand the financial environment and the budgets. You can help raise money.” Mount has served on the University’s Board of Fellows, as well as on the board of EHC Life Services, a nonprofit providing emergency housing for the homeless. Holl, who serves on the boards of Archbishop Riordan High School and City Youth Now of San Francisco’s Juvenile Hall, says, “The skills you learn in business school come in handy. On a board you are always dealing with financial people—accountants, bankers—and it helps to have an understanding of what they are saying.” Kryder already has his nonprofit up and running. Through The Giving Gourmet, Kryder cooks gourmet dinners for nonprofits to auction off at their fundraisers. Recently, he donated two five-course gourmet meals for 10 along with wine pairings, which netted $2,600 for Notre Dame High School. His top server? None other than his rival for the coveted position as Santa Clara’s first J.D./MBA, Dan Mount. Kryder says, “I had to be number one because Dan works for me now!” | Susan V ogel is a frequent contributor to Santa Clara Law. fall 2010 | santa clara law 11
C H A R L E S B A R RY
JEFF HOLL J.D./MBA ’81
By A S A PITT M AN ’ 0 9
The Changing Face of the Legal Profession For more than four decades, female graduates of Santa Clara Law have influenced all aspects of the legal field.
charles barry
FEMALE ROLE MODELS AT FACEBOOK Allison Hendrix ’08, who works on the legal team at Facebook, says she has found a number of female legal mentors and role models in the Facebook management, including her immediate supervisor, Robyn Reiss, and Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. 12 santa clara law | fall 2010
Before the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960s inspired an unprecedented surge in female law school applicants, Santa Clara Law had already admitted several female students and graduated three. Santa Clara’s long-standing support of female attorneys has blossomed into a bounty of alumnae who have influenced all facets of the legal profession. Here, we highlight the accomplishments of a few of the many female graduates of Santa Clara who have distinguished themselves in the field of law. Dean Mary Emery J.D. ’63 Professor of Law, Associate Dean, and Director of the Heafey Law Library at Santa Clara Law
“W
ell-behaved women rarely make history,” reads the quote adorning Dean Mary Emery’s office door outside of Santa Clara Law’s Heafey Law Library. As a woman who in 1963 made history as one of Santa Clara Law’s first female graduates, Emery proudly admits to being a non-conformist: “I was a little odd—let’s face it. The ordinary, average woman didn’t go to law school at that time.” While her decision to attend law school may have seemed unorthodox by 1960s standards, Emery’s choice to pursue a legal career was the fulfillment of her father’s educational plans for her. “My father was very supportive, which is why I thought I could do whatever I wanted as my career,” she said. Like her father, Emery’s husband, John, whom she married a mere six weeks before starting law school, also supported her career plans. “It was never an issue of any kind between us.” She admitted that her positive law school experience was probably atypical compared to that of other women preparing for the legal profession at that time. “Most schools were hostile, or less hospitable to women than Santa Clara Law,” she says. A pre-existing rapport with her male classmates—many of whom she had known since high school and her undergraduate days at Santa Clara University—and the administration’s welcoming spirit facilitated her acceptance on campus. Despite being one of only three women at Santa Clara Law, Emery did not develop close ties with her fellow female classmates, Patricia Stanton and Lois Mitchell, who were married with families of their own. She instead formed “hardy little bands” with her male colleagues. “My closest friends today are guys from that class,” says Emery, who regularly associates with law school buddies Leon Panetta, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Associate Justice Eugene Premo of the California Courts of Appeal, Sixth District.
Women’s Law Stories Santa Clara Law Professor Stephanie Wildman has coordinated two major conferences on women’s law stories including “The Power of Women’s Stories ll: Examining Women’s Role in Law and the Legal System,” held in April. In addition, Wildman, with co-editor Elizabeth M. Schneider, has published a new volume, Women and the Law Stories (Foundation Press, 2010). For more information on these projects, see law.scu.edu/womenlawstories/.
Historical Facts about Female Attorneys 1869 Belle A. Mansfield becomes the first woman formally admitted to the bar in the United States. 1878 Clara Shortridge Foltz, who was originally denied admission to the Hastings College of Law, sued, and argued her own case to gain admission, becomes the first woman lawyer in California.
1879 Attorney Belva A. Lockwood successfully lobbies Congress to allow qualified women attorneys to practice in any federal court. A year later, Lockwood becomes the first woman lawyer to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Source: The Invisible Bar: The Woman Lawyer in America 1638 to the Present, by Karen Berger Morello
fall 2010 | santa clara law 13
Risë Pichon 1976
Hon. Risë Pichon J.D. ’76
Donelle Morgan J.D. ’79
Upon graduation, Emery accepted Dean Leo Huard’s invitation to stay on at Santa Clara Law as director of the law library and as an assistant professor teaching business organizations. In addition to overseeing the law library, during her 47-year tenure Dean Emery has also spearheaded successful efforts to admit more female students and hire more female faculty. But the increased inclusion of women and racial minorities at Santa Clara Law, Emery says, is the development of which she is most proud. “Where we are today compared to where we were in 1960 when I first came on campus—it’s a totally different operation. And I love it.”
based on her gender and race, she says. “It was hard. It was the first time I felt real stress.” While a public defender and later a court commissioner, she combated negative preconceptions with excellent job performance. Her goal, she says, was to demolish low expectations that others might have of her. “I wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone, but I didn’t want to give anyone any excuses to dismiss me,” she says. Her efforts earned Pichon an appointment to the Santa Clara County Municipal Court in 1984. At that time, few women and even fewer racial minorities held the position, she remembers, and the courtroom was sometimes an unwelcoming place for women. “Women did not necessarily enter a room automatically receiving the same respect as male colleagues even though possessing the same education and professional license,” Pichon said. “In many instances [respect] had to be earned, and we [women] were aware of this requirement.” To assure she held the esteem of jurors and attorneys, Pichon polished her courtroom demeanor. “I’ve worked hard on honing my speaking skills and knowing the law,” she says. Today female judges are more prevalent in Santa Clara County, Pichon says, adding “the whole makeup of the bench has changed dramatically.” More women are judges and the racial composition of the bench is reflective of Santa Clara County’s diverse populace. And inter-gender relations among lawyers have visibly improved, she says. Judge Pichon attributes the changes to the pro-
liferation of common sense and attorneys’ desire for peace in the workplace: “It only makes life difficult if you have prejudices.”
Hon. Risë Pichon J.D. ’76 Judge of the Superior Court, Santa Clara County
A
s a student at Santa Clara, Judge Risë Pichon of the Santa Clara County Superior Court experienced the school’s inclusive atmosphere firsthand. After transferring from Xavier University, a historically black college in Louisiana, she initially found Santa Clara’s predominantly Anglo-American campus a “culture shock.” Judge Pichon quickly discovered, however, a community among the women of Santa Clara Law: “There were a significant number of women on campus. We all knew each other and formed friendships.” Not until after graduating from law school and beginning her career in public service did Judge Pichon, who is African-American, encounter prejudice
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Donelle Morgan J.D. ’79 Founding Partner, Morgan Duffy-Smith Tidalgo, LLP
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lthough more women sit on the bench and practice law today than in the past, gender bias has not disappeared from the legal profession, says Donelle Morgan, partner at San Jose law firm Morgan Duffy-Smith Tidalgo LLP. According to Morgan, sexism is particularly pronounced in family law, a practice dominated by women and Morgan’s field of expertise since 1991: “Lawyers who practice family law have really not had the respect of the bar as a whole,” she says. Morgan says that some in the legal profession perceive the emotion-laden nature of family law, a practice frequently involving divorce proceedings and custody battles, as less logical and therefore less prestigious than other practice areas. But many women seem drawn to family law. “It’s a caretaking job. Women are caretakers by nature,” she says. The promise of a nurturing academic environment drew Morgan to Santa Clara Law. “One of the things that attracted me to Santa Clara was a letter I received from the Feminist Law Student Association that invited women to apply,” she says. Once classes began, Morgan encountered professors who demonstrated the commitment to gender parity promised in the welcome letter. In describing the academic climate of the late ’70s, Morgan says, “At other schools I attended, both professors and students did not take
The History of Women at Santa Clara Law February 22, 1955 President Herman J. Hauck petitions the Jesuit Provincial in San Francisco, Carroll M. O’Sullivan, to allow women to attend the Santa Clara School of Law after receiving “two or three applications each year lately from qualified women students.”
March 24, 1955 Fr. O’Sullivan grants permission for women to attend Santa Clara University School of Law. Eleven Easy Pieces flag football
1955 The Law Wives Club is created with the encouragement of the Student Bar Association. The group continues to exist until 1970.
female participation as seriously as they took male participation. At Santa Clara, it was the first time in my life that my intellect was taken seriously.” Occasionally, Morgan’s male classmates at Santa Clara Law, wary of the then-novel ideals of the women’s liberation movement, rebelled against their professors’ progressive attitudes. After men in her class wolf whistled at a female professor as she entered a classroom, Morgan and her fellow Feminist Law Student Association members rallied to support the embarrassed faculty member and raise awareness that female professors deserved the same respect as male professors. Morgan concedes that, in retrospect, the stunt was probably more an act of immaturity than misogyny. “Then I thought those guys were just anathema, but now we’re all friends. Since then we’ve all become lawyers. We’re all equal.” Since becoming a lawyer, Morgan practiced as a solo practioner, then law firm associate, and finally for 19 years co-captained the San Jose civil litigation firm of McManis Faulkner & Morgan. In 2008, she left the practice to co-found the women-owned law firm of Morgan Duffy-Smith and Tidalgo. In a way, Morgan attributes her success in the legal profession to sexism. “I grew up in a world in which the way you overcame [sexism] was by being the best you can be.” Despite her achievements, however, Morgan would prefer a world in which sexism does not exist and women enjoy gender parity. “[Sexism] is more than inconvenience, but less than a barrier. It’s something of which we all need to be conscious.”
1956 Santa Clara Law admits Liane P. Stewart of Honolulu, Hawaii. Stewart did not finish the school year for reasons unknown. 1957 Two women law students are admitted; both later dropped out of the program. 1959 Ruth A. Llorett is the sole woman to enroll in the law school. She left the school after one year to pursue a career in accounting at San Jose State College. 1963 Santa Clara Law graduates women for the first time: Mary B. Emery, Lois Mitchell, and Patricia W. Stanton, wife of Assemblyman William F. Stanton. Shortly after graduation, Emery accepts a position as the director of the law school library, which she still holds. 1971 Law students Joanna Beam ’74 and Patricia Campbell petition Dean George Alexander for the admission of more women law students and request the law school offer a class entitled Women and the Law.
1972 Female enrollment surpasses 100 for the first time in the law school’s history. The Feminist Law Students Association is formed with 15 women and three men.
1973 Santa Clara Law hosts a successful national conference on Women and the Law featuring speakers and legal professionals from around the country.
1974 The Feminist Law Students Association, with the assistance of local attorneys, organizes the Women’s Law Center at San Jose State University; the center offers legal services to lowincome women.
1975 Margaret “Peggy” Holm ’76 is elected the first woman president of the Student Bar Association. Holm is the granddaughter of Dion Holm, a member of the law school’s first graduating class in 1914 and the niece of Thomas N. Holm ’52.
1978 The law school forms a women’s flag football team, Eleven Easy Pieces. In 1984, the name is abandoned, and the team splits into two: Attractive Nuisance and Unfair Competition.
Percentage of Licensed Lawyers by Gender 1980
1991
2000
Male
92 %
80%
73%
Female
8%
20%
27%
(Sources: The Lawyer Statistical Report, American Bar Foundation, 1985, 1994, 2004 editions)
National Percentage Law Students By Gender Academic Year
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
Male
51%
53%
53%
Female
48%
47%
47%
(Source: ABA Section of Legal Education & Admissions to the Bar, www.abanet.org/legaled/statistics/stats.html)
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Mary Beth "Molly" Long 1985
Denise Notzon J.D. ’97
Allison Hendrix J.D. ’08
Mary Beth “Molly” Long J.D. ’82, MBA ’85 Vice President and General Counsel, Dividend Homes
not make. Consequently, firms devised senior associate positions and longer partnership tracks to accommodate working mothers seeking career advancement. The solution was imperfect, says Long: “If you’re a senior associate, you’re not a partner, and there’s a stigma attached to that.” Long says she survived the “pressure-cooker atmosphere” of a large law firm with the help of her husband of 28 years, David. Since her husband was also a practicing lawyer when she was a firm associate, he understood the demands of her career, Long explained, and shared equally in domestic duties so that she could excel professionally.
Denise Notzon J.D. ’97 Practice Group Leader and Associate Director of Law, Genentech
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ootball helped reconcile the sexes when she attended law school in the early 80s, says Molly Long. Flag football was then a campus-wide obsession at Santa Clara University, Long explained, and upon beginning her first year at Santa Clara Law, her football experience as an undergraduate made her a top draft pick for Eleven Easy Pieces, the law school’s team. Although male students did not play on the all-female squad, they participated, she says. “The guys were our coaches and our fans.” Despite her involvement with Eleven Easy Pieces, however, Long did not seek out gender-based social groups as a law student, she says, and does not as a practicing lawyer. She admits that the purpose of women-only legal organizations eludes her. “You’ll join a practice group because it’s what you’re interested in, what your specialty is, or what you want to learn. Other than your sex, what do you really have in common with [other female lawyers]?” When she began practicing real estate law at a large firm, however, Long says that she gravitated towards her female colleagues, who taught her the “women’s path” to partnership. “The path that women take [to partnership] is different from the path that men take,” she said. The traditional partnership track, she explains, requires a time commitment that many women attorneys who act as both the principal breadwinners and caregivers of their families can16 santa clara law | fall 2010
“It’s great being at a company where one of the top officers is a female,” says Allison Hendrix J.D. ’08, associate, platform operations for Facebook. In the early ’90s, Long left the firm to become the in-house counsel at a real estate development and home-building company, Dividend Homes. The move afforded her the scheduling flexibility to develop her career and her familial relationships. “I was my youngest child’s room mother for five years in a row,” she says. She found she could be both an effective room mother and businesswoman. As the primary legal advisor at her company, her three male partners defer to her expertise, which Long finds empowering. “It’s great to know that you’re contributing very directly to the success of your company.”
S
anta Clara Law alumna Denise Notzon agrees with Long that the time constraints of working at a law firm can be particularly burdensome for women with families. When Notzon began her patent law career at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, however, because she did not have a child at home, she happily sacrificed her time for her career advancement. “I didn’t mind working the long hours. I considered it paying dues.” Becoming a solo practitioner, Notzon says, afforded her the autonomy to start a family. “It’s always easier if you’re on top and you’re the boss.” Shortly after Notzon and her partner adopted their daughter, Notzon founded her own biotechnology-focused law firm, Lifetech. In her same-sex relationship, Notzon says, she has taken on the traditionally male role of provider, often working longer hours than her companion to support the family. Notzon, a self-described proponent of “pretty liberal values,” worried when she applied to Santa Clara Law that her perspective would not mesh with Jesuit institution conservatism. While a law student, however, Notzon was surprised to discover during passionate criminal law discussions with Professor Kathleen “Cookie” Ridolfi, that she, not Ridolfi, usually represented the right wing. Notzon said that Ridolfi and another criminal law professor, Ellen Kreitzberg, were among her most influential instruc-
tors at Santa Clara Law. The professors’ intellect, not their gender, Notzon stressed, endeared them to her. “They were some of the more significant people to me not just because they’re women, but because they were great lawyers.” Although she has never felt the need for female role models, Notzon says that an informal women’s mentorship program in the Genentech legal department has been an unexpected benefit of joining the biotechnology developer and manufacturing giant. Despite the prevalence of men in the sciences and patent law, she says, Genentech employs a significant number of female attorneys who support each other professionally, including several Santa Clara Law alumnae. In this female-friendly environment Notzon has flourished, and she recently earned a promotion to practice group leader and associate director of law. The new role requires Notzon to lead a team of attorneys, while continuing to advise senior sales and marketing clients, she says. While Genentech’s open support of its female employees has created an ideal atmosphere for Notzon, she acknowledges that not all women lawyers are as fortunate to practice in such a progressive workplace: “I haven’t experienced sexism personally, but I know that people do. I think it depends on where you are, what company you’re with, and what their tolerance is.” Allison Hendrix J.D. ’08 Associate, Platform Operations, Facebook
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f she had had a female attorney role model growing up, says Allison Hendrix, she might have attended law school earlier. “I didn’t have any lawyers in the family, so it seemed like something that was out of reach.” Within months of graduating from a paralegal training program and entering the workforce, however, she changed her mind. “I was drafting motions and doing all sorts of things that lawyers do. I realized I could be a lawyer.”
Hendrix carefully selected the law school she would attend. “I chose Santa Clara for its status and also its focus on intellectual property. I wanted to go to the best school and Santa Clara was the best one.” At Santa Clara Law, Hendrix excelled in her classes and availed herself of the school’s many opportunities to study intellectual property. In her privacy rights seminar professor, Hendrix found her female attorney role model. “My biggest legal mentor was Dorothy Glancy,” she says. “She noticed some of my strengths and really tried to work with me.” Despite a flailing job market, shortly after graduation Hendrix landed a position at the social networking Web site phenomenon, Facebook. “What I learned in Professor Glancy’s privacy class carries over here [at Facebook],” says Hendrix. As part of Facebook’s legal staff, her job is to protect Facebook members by creating and promoting policies for using Facebook Platform, tools that enable third-party applications and Web sites to access content on behalf of Facebook users. “It’s about making sure that developers don’t disregard or circumvent users’ privacy settings,” she says. Although intellectual property is largely a male-dominated practice, among the Facebook management Hendrix found a number of female legal mentors and role models, including her immediate supervisor, Robyn Reiss, and Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. Just as her lack of acquaintance with female lawyers once discouraged Hendrix from becoming one, she says, Sandberg’s presence on the Facebook executive board has encouraged her to excel as an attorney. “She motivates me to want to take on more leadership roles. It’s great being at a company where one of the top officers is a female,” says Hendrix.
Santa Clara Law Enrollment Statistics Year
Female enrollments
Total enrollments
1959
1
111
1960
0
108
1961
7
117
1962
11
113
1963
8
126
1964
8
148
1965
7
173
1966
8
190
1967
13
234
1968
14
260
1969
16
288
1970
39
463
1971
66
640
1972
104
743
1973
127
802
1974
183
906
1975
212
864
1980
360
939
1985
365
841
1990
459
931
1995
535
902
2000
502
917
2005
472
966
2010
494
1048
(Source: SCU Office of Institutional Research)
| Asa P ittman ’ 0 9 is a frequent contributor to Santa Clara Law. Prior to law school, she worked as an editorial assistant at a magazine. While she has written on many topics, she especially enjoyed working on this article. “It was a pleasure interviewing the alumnae of Santa Clara Law. Everyone seemed to have fond memories of their law school days, and, to my surprise, candid commentary about the challenges of being a female attorney in a traditionally male-dominated profession. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet each of these outstanding women.”
fall 2010 | santa clara law 17
By Susan Vo gel | Ph otos b y Philip J ime ne z
Committed to
Japan For 30 years, Santa Clara Law has partnered with top Japanese attorneys and scholars to train U.S. law students in the intricacies of the Japanese legal system and culture.
“He looked at me as if I’d put a dead fish on the table,” said Philip Jimenez, Santa Clara Law professor and director of its summer abroad program in Tokyo, of a lunch meeting with a Japanese law professor. The two of them had made a rainy day trip to a shrine in Nikko the previous day, and both had left their umbrellas on the train. On his way to lunch the next day, Jimenez bought his friend an inexpensive fold-up umbrella, thinking it would be a considerate and practical gift. Upon arriving at the restaurant he placed the umbrella on the table. Oddly, “the professor was very cold to me during lunch,” says Jimenez. Bewildered, he later told a Japanese colleague about it. He learned that in Japan, the value of the gift expresses your esteem for the recipient. Jimenez says now, “I might as well have given him a dead fish.” Jimenez, who has directed Santa Clara Law summer programs in Asia over 31 summers, has many stories of the surprises that he and the students have experienced while learning about cultures that are completely different from that of the United States, says Jimenez. Cultural knowledge is one of the benefits of studying in Asia. Students also learn the basics of substantive law and legal systems, international law and IP law, and get a taste for working in a law firm or corporation that does business in Asia. Jimenez believes experience in Asian cultures can also change a student’s way of thinking, giving them a broader perspective on the world. 18 santa clara law | fall 2010
Three decades in Asia In 1977, Santa Clara Law Dean George Alexander established the Tokyo summer program in conjunction with Notre Dame Law School. Jimenez took over as director in 1979. Over the next eight years, as Asia’s role in world trade grew, Jimenez assisted with the establishment of summer programs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, and Cambodia. Tokyo remains the most popular of the programs in Asia, with approximately 20 students attending each year. Jimenez says he was instantly captivated by Japan. The Japanese culture reminds him of his father’s family in Aguascalientes, Mexico. “Very formal, very kind, and very considerate,” he says, adding that he continues to be impressed by “the integrity of the Japanese people, their civility, respect, and formality.”
Mutual respect Jimenez expects the same respect from Santa Clara’s summer students. He is very protective of the relationships that have been built in Japan—relationships crucial to the program’s future. The program attracts students to Santa Clara Law. Thirdyear student Dan Albert, who has lived in Japan and hopes to practice law there, says, “One of Santa Clara’s greatest draws for me was the summer program in Tokyo.”
ASIA REUNION—JULY 3-6, 2011 Next July, Santa Clara Law will host a reunion in Tokyo for Santa Clara Law alumni, including an estimated 600 alumni of the Tokyo summer program. For more information, email Phil Jimenez at pjimenez@scu.edu or call 408-554-4084.
Jimenez and Marcus Kosins, the on-site program director and an alumnus of the program, make sure that students properly represent the university. Third-year student Alexis Dunlap, a 2010 summer student, says that students arrive at the Asia Center of Japan, where they live and attend classes, “very well prepared.” They have been educated on Japanese customs, including that only bare feet or socks are allowed to tread upon tatami, which are the woven mats that cover some floors. Male students are forewarned that they are required to wear dress shirts and ties to all off-site visits and internships and women must wear business attire. Each year, says Jimenez, a male student asks, “I have shoulder length hair; do I have to cut it?” His answer: “Yes.” Once the retort came, “But this is America!” “No it isn’t,” Jimenez said. Kosins, says Jimenez, is one of the keys to the success of the program. An attorney with an immigration practice in Tokyo, he gives students his cell phone number and invites them to call him day or night. “He is completely dedicated to the program,” says Jimenez. “He has a deep understanding of the culture—his wife is Japanese—is well connected, and understands the need to establish a good network.”
The finest law faculty in Japan During the first three weeks, students take a four-unit class, Doing Business in Japan, taught by three of Japan’s most cel-
ebrated legal scholars. “These professors,” says Jimenez, “are the finest law faculty in Japan. Not only are they all prominent scholars but they are very much involved in current legal issues and practices.” The first week, Yasuhei Taniguchi, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, provides an introduction to the Japanese legal system. Professor Taniguchi was president of the WTO dispute resolution body and currently is of counsel at Matsuo & Kosugi, one of Japan’s most prominent law firms. During the second week, Mitsuo Matsushita, professor emeritus at Tokyo University, who was present at the founding of the WTO, teaches students International Trade. Professor Matsushita is of counsel at Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu. Students spend their final week of class studying Japanese intellectual property law with Teruo Doi, professor emeritus at Waseda University and a top IP scholar who has published more than 20 books in the field of intellectual property. Professor Doi also takes students on a tour of the Japanese Diet (legislature) and the Patent and Trademark Office. He is currently of counsel at Kashiwagi Sogo Law Offices. “Among the things the students learn,” says Jimenez, “is that in Japan, in a contract there is no need for consideration. You can sue on the basis of only a promise. That demonstrates the impact of culture on the legal system.” The professors, confirms Alexis Dunlap, are impressive. “Their stories are definitely the highlight of classes,” she says. fall 2010 | santa clara law 19
Albert knew of all three by reputation before entering the program, as their careers have been marked by some rather wellknown exploits. “For example,” says Albert, “some years ago Mr. Matsushita was a negotiator for Japan during trade talks between Japan and other nations regarding opening up Japan’s hard liquor market. He is known for bringing bottles of shochu [distilled potato spirits] to one meeting to make the point that shochu—at 25% alcohol—was not a ‘like product’ with vodka. Unfortunately, other members of this and other negotiation teams began to drink the shochu and, as Professor Matsushita famously pointed out, ‘Once you drink too much, all alcohol becomes a like product.’” Another outstanding teacher in the program is Yoshiyuki Inaba, a practicing attorney of immense experience, and the “I” in TMI Associates, one of Japan’s top three patent firms. Students can take his optional evening course, Japanese Patents and Trademarks, during their internship.
MORE ON SANTA CLARA LAW’S SUMMER ABROAD Approximately 200 students from 50 U.S. law schools study in Santa Clara Law summer abroad programs every year. Summer programs are currently offered in Geneva/ Strasbourg, The Hague, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Shanghai, San Jose (Costa Rica), Oxford, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Vienna/Budapest, and Munich. Internships are available in about 20 countries in Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and Latin America, including Japan, China, India, Korea, and many others. Scholarships, including the Gerald Moore Scholarship, are available. For more information, visit law.scu.edu/international.
Interactive Course Visit the law magazine online to read more about a special course created by Jimenez, International Business Negotiations, in which Santa Clara students negotiate a simulated technology transaction with law students in Japan. Alumnus Gerald Moore ’97 has funded the students’ travel to Japan to meet their colleagues. See law.scu.edu/sclaw. 20 santa clara law | fall 2010
Internships at top firms During the last week of June, students receive their internship placements in Japanese law firms and corporations, including many specializing in intellectual property and in international transactional work. For many students, the internship is the high point of the program. Albert, who has a master’s degree in Japanese Studies from the University of Washington, hopes his internship with a Japanese law firm will build contacts and lead to work with either an American or Japanese firm. After several weeks in the internship, Jimenez says, he sees a transformation in the students. In meetings with the Japanese firms, the student intern will come to the office, pause, and bow. The internships can also transform students’ careers and lives. Scott Shipman ’99, Associate General Counsel and Global Privacy Leader for eBay, says that without his internship at Honda, “It’s hard to say where I would be. The internship was unbelievable,” he says. “As a native English speaker—the default language for their contracts was English—and aspiring lawyer, they brought me in on negotiations with huge multinational companies. For me it sparked two real big interests—the love of in-house practice and of IP law, which became a passion. When I came back, I took every IP and high tech class I could take. That was the origin of my career.” Christian Jacobson attended the program in 1979. His internship convinced him that he wanted to live in Japan, where he taught English for five years after college. “It confirmed to me that there was a practice to be done [in Japan] and set my focus on the fact that I probably would be coming to Japan after law school.” A student at McGeorge School of Law, he accepted a position in a Japanese firm after graduation and has been in Japan ever since. He currently is of counsel at Bingham McCutchen, handling international commercial, corporate, and financial matters.
A lasting impact Most students, says Jimenez, describe their experience in Japan as life-changing. “The Asian experience,” he reflects, “shows another side of life, another human dimension. Because of the Confucian culture, it’s completely different. It changes peoples’ lives because it broadens their horizons. In their legal practice and beyond, they can incorporate the Asian style and manner of thinking, which enables them to, as we say, ‘think outside the box.’”
Long-term committment After 34 years in Tokyo, Santa Clara remains the only U.S. law school with a summer program in Tokyo. “The fact that our program has been able to continue all these years,” says Jacobson, “speaks volumes about its efficacy and the energy and dedication of Professor Jimenez!” Jimenez credits the program’s success to Santa Clara Law faculty and administration, the Japanese professors, and Kosins. “The program,” says Jimenez, “has always enjoyed the support
of our deans beginning with George Alexander, of the Center for Global Law and Policy, and of the faculty, including Bob Peterson, Howard Anawalt, Richard Rykoff, and Jiri Toman — whose old European elegance the Japanese love,” says Jimenez. Japanese professors and attorneys who have provided crucial assistance and support over the years, says Jimenez, include Professors Yutaka Tajima, Akio Shimizu, Zenichi Shishido, and Toru Kitagawa, and Shigeo Ohshima, Esq., and Kenneth Mazzer, an American lawyer who was Marcus Kosins’ predecessor. “Long-term commitment in Japan is important,” says Jimenez, “because it demonstrates your sincerity. It establishes your legitimacy.” Over the years, as Santa Clara Law has put great effort and resources into the program, it has gained the support of top Japanese professors and members of the legal community. The key, according to Jimenez, is “you have to treat everyone with the greatest respect.”
Thanks to the reputation the program has earned in Asia, Santa Clara Law has been able to expand its summer program into Seoul, Korea, where students from the Tokyo program have been interning in law firms for the past ten years. “This year three of our students are interning at the top three Korean law firms, Kim and Chang; Bae, Kim and Lee; and Barun Law Offices,” says Jimenez. Jimenez believes the lessons he has learned from Japan have changed the way he teaches and how he approaches his personal life. He learned from the Japanese that the Paper Chase model of teaching through intimidation is not effective. “The only thing that works is mutual respect,” he says. In personal relations, he has learned, “It’s much easier to make a friend than an enemy.” And now he makes sure that he does not slap dead fish onto the tables of his friends. | Susan V ogel is a frequent contributor to Santa Clara Law.
Gerald E. Moore ’97 funds International Human Rights Scholarships
I
t was August 1994, and the first-year Civil Procedure class sat expectantly and nervously as Professor Philip Jimenez looked down his glasses at his class roster. Gerald E. Moore’s name stood out, and he was the first student to be called on. The case was Pennoyer v. Neff. Moore says he never quite recovered from the hour-long grilling that day, going on to take virtually every class taught by Jimenez over the next few years. He studied the materials thoroughly, engaging and challenging Jimenez over the application of the cases. A lasting friendship grew between Jimenez and Moore. Moore has led a successful law career, first with Bank of America, then as general counsel and vice president of Worldwide Asset Management, and eventually as the founder of a highly successful firm engaging in debt management. Since graduation Moore has funded many opportunities for law students to study abroad. In recent years, the Gerald E. Moore International Human Rights Scholarship has enabled many students of international human rights law to gain academic and experiential skills overseas. The Moore Scholarship, now in its fifth year, enabled two students to study and intern overseas in the summer of 2010. The generous scholarship provides round-trip airfare plus tuition and a substantial stipend for the first-place recipient, and roundtrip airfare for the second-place recipient. This summer’s first-place winner, Charles Bracewell ’12, completed an academic program in Singapore and then moved on to intern at the U.N.-supported Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, where he worked on such issues as sentencing practices in international criminal tribunals, and operating procedures for an international tribunal where
an accused person or detainee dies in custody. Bracewell’s commitment to human rights work dates back to 2006 when he taught children of Karenni refugees from Burma. Bracewell writes, “My experiences in Mae Hong Son—a province in Thailand bordering Burma—were life-changing. The refugees I met there were remarkable. From Buray, the ex-rebel soldier and land mine victim with whom I would often go fishing, to Kyaw, the multilingual founder of the school, each of these people inspired me in a different way and exposed me to issues facing refugee communities. My interest in international law stems from my desire to make a contribution to communities such as those I found in Mae Hong Son.” This summer’s second-place scholarship winner, Sharan Dhanoa ’12, completed her academic work in Singapore followed by an internship in India. Dhanoa has spent the last ten years working in non-profit agencies, including substantial involvement in Kolkota, India, where she worked to provide technical and life skills to women and girls at risk of being or already forced into prostitution. Dhanoa says, “While conducting research, it became clear that the gaps in legislation and the legal loopholes lead into a brick wall with regard to prosecuting traffickers and protecting victims. The legal relations between countries also play a major role in the lack of enforcement against trafficking and human rights. Hopefully, by working in international law, I will be able to play a more active role in filling those legal gaps and unifying the fight against trafficking.” Moore’s continuing generosity enables students of international law such as Bracewell and Dhanoa to further their goals and passions while raising social consciousness and bringing justice to the international community. fall 2010 | santa clara law 21
By D o nald J . P olde n a n d J U L I A Y A F F EE
MAPPING OUT Santa Clara Law’s Strategic Plan
As Santa Clara University School of Law’s Centennial celebration unfolds, we will be launching and implementing the school’s strategic plan—a road map for the next century. Santa Clara Law is starting its second century with a vibrant and ambitious plan for its future. A group of distinguished graduates, judges, lawyers,
administrators, and faculty members comprised our Strategic Planning Committee, co-chaired by Gordon Yamate ’80 and Professor Brad Joondeph. The group met for more than a year to articulate a plan for the law school’s future. Educating law students for the roles and responsibilities they will undertake in today’s increasingly complex workplaces will require more
Santa Clara Law Goals and Strategies for 2010-2020
Strengthen the educational program to meet the challenges of a changing world. Santa Clara Law will provide an excellent and pertinent foundation so our students will meet the emerging challenges of tomorrow’s practice settings. In addition, to prepare our graduates for the challenges of tomorrow’s practice of law, we will provide robust opportunities for our students to acquire and develop the key lawyering skills necessary to competently, ethically, and effectively represent clients and serve the community.
22 santa clara law | fall 2010
Attract and retain a highly diverse and talented student population.
Attract, retain, and inspire a faculty of distinguished teachers and scholars.
We will maintain our commitment to a highly diverse student body. The school’s future will be built on our ability to educate a socially engaged group of men and women who are committed to improving society and their communities. In an increasingly global workplace, Santa Clara Law must increase students’ ability to work with a highly diverse group of peers. We will seek to enroll an increasingly talented student body that is attracted by the strength of the faculty, the breadth of the curriculum, and the values of the University.
Consistent with Santa Clara University’s teaching scholar model, our talented faculty will continue to balance the demands of teaching, scholarship, and service. Santa Clara Law will provide our faculty with the resources necessary to expand the world’s store of knowledge and to engage with the pressing policy issues of the day.
Our FUTURE than a change in the law school curriculum. It will require a faculty with a broader reach of teaching and research interests and abilities, and an educational infrastructure that will permit and foster a bolder vision of educating lawyers for tomorrow’s law practice. Students will need facilities that permit the development of a wider range of skills and abilities—including leadership, communication,
innovation, cross-cultural competencies, and teamwork—that their employers and global legal systems will require. Santa Clara Law will address these challenges from a position of strength, with the wisdom of a century of experience in educating men and women for competent, ethical, and engaged leadership and service.
For a link to the full text of the strategic plan, visit law.scu.edu/sclaw.
S A N TA CLARA L AW
Integrate Santa Clara Law with its communities and constituents.
Develop the physical and financial infrastructure to support Santa Clara Law.
Santa Clara Law’s unique location, relationships, and connections in Silicon Valley provide a powerful portal to a global community. This law school is well positioned to advance the values of Santa Clara University through civic engagement and community service. Santa Clara Law draws strength from the communities that support or are served by it—indeed, this institution embraces the Silicon Valley ethos of innovation, hard work, and collaboration.
Our future demands the best learning environment for our students, including a physical plant that fosters greater opportunities for student/ faculty interaction and provides space for skills development, group projects, and creative thinking. The use of technology plays an essential part of preparing students for a world characterized by collaborative work environments, global communication, and continuous learning and change. Recognizing the foundational role that facilities and technologies play in shaping our future, Santa Clara Law will build state-of-theart facilities, integrate innovative technology into teaching and learning, and secure funds to support these initiatives.
1911-2011
A Century of Educating Lawyers Who Lead
fall 2010 | santa clara law 23
Law Strategic Initiatives Fund Aids Recent Grads in a Tough Economy
By M I K E WA L L AC E
Jessica Seargeant graduated from Santa Clara Law in 2009 during the worst economic downturn since World War II. “The job market was really, really tough,” she said. “Most of the openings were asking for people with three to five years of experience.”
24 santa clara law | fall 2010
After months of fruitless searching, she was happy to receive a notice that Santa Clara Law had launched a new program offering paying fellowships for recent graduates. The fellowships allow grads to work in the legal field, receive mentoring and continue to take classes to enhance their legal education. She applied and was one of 15 accepted to the program in January of this year. She has been working with Professor Kathleen M. Ridolfi on the Northern California Innocence Project, reviewing allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in appellate cases between 1996 and 2009. Her research, along with that of others in the project, will appear in a paper now being prepared for publication. “I’ve gotten to do some good research and learn about an important issue while developing my skills,” Seargeant said. “The fellowship has enabled me to continue thinking legally and continue to learn. It’s been very helpful.”
Graduate fellowships such as hers were made possible for the first time this year by the success of the Law Strategic Initiatives Fund (LSIF). The new fund was created a year ago at the behest of Dean Donald J. Polden to replace the annual fund as the primary vehicle for raising unrestricted funds to support the school’s mission and objectives. So far it’s been highly successful; as of early June, contributions to the LSIF were 40 percent higher than the prior year’s contributions to the annual fund. In addition to the graduate fellowships, LSIF funds will be used for scholarships and financial aid, technology and resources, learning programs and scholarly endeavors, and alumni services. Dean Polden said all these things work toward the larger strategic goal of attracting and retaining the best faculty and attracting a highly qualified and diverse student body. “We decided to invite our donors and friends to invest in our strategic initiatives—to consider the key issues
we’re looking at and identify with them,” said Dean Polden. “Our donors are very interested in how their funds will be used, and most of them have confidence that they’ll be used in the best way possible. When we first presented this to prospective donors, they could see the benefit at the front end.” Jacqueline Wender, Senior Assistant Dean, Administration, said that 37 percent of the students in the law school receive school-funded financial aid, and that the LSIF funds will be an important source of that aid. The graduate fellowships, which she administers, are consistent with Santa Clara Law’s goals of continuing education and support of alumni, she said. The program is expected to cost $83,000 this year. Other projects alumni are working on under the fellowship program include
preparing a casebook on doing business in China, teaching constitutional law in high school classes, working with the Law Career Services office to improve alumni services, and compiling a detailed database on the California Bar Exam. “These programs show how valuable the LSIF funds are,” she said. “Their importance can not be overstated.” Polden said he has high hopes for the continued success of LSIF as a way of raising critical funding for the law school. “Our donors have an interest in accountability and stewardship,” he said, “and this will be one of the most important ways our friends and supporters can help make a difference at Santa Clara Law, consistent with our mission.”
Donations to the Law Strategic Initiatives Fund support graduate fellowships, student scholarships and financial aid, technology and resources, learning programs and scholarly endeavors, and alumni services—all of which help attract and retain the best faculty and students.
DONOR PROFILE
After spending years building up his firm, Habbas, Nasseri Omar Habbas graduated from Santa Clara Law in and Associates, which specializes in personal-injury and tort law, 1985, and even with the passage of a quarter-century, he has Habbas said he looked at the idea of a significant gift to Santa a fond recollection of the caring, almost familial relationship Clara Law and involved his family in the decision. His son Tarik between the school and its students. is now attending Santa Clara as an undergraduate “The classes were intense and rigorous, as “I’d really encourage and his daughter Alexandria began as a freshman they had to be,” he said, “but the accessibilother alumni to step this fall. His wife, Rita, was highly supportive of ity of the professors and the dean for anything forward,” says Omar contributing to the Strategic Initiatives Fund. you wanted to talk about, including personal Habbas ’85. “It’s time The Law Strategic Initiatives Fund appealed to concerns, was remarkable. The office door was them because of its unrestricted nature, and because to be more selfless open, and they took an interest in how you than ever before. If we of their belief in the judgment of the people at the were doing in that demanding environment.” A desire to see the law school continue its all do, it will enable the law school who will be administering the fund. “Santa Clara cares about traditional values and has tradition of providing support to students and students there now to a good track record in the use of funds,” he said. alumni played a large part in Habbas’ decision thrive as we did.” “They’re in a much better place to determine the to become one of the major lead donors to needs of the school and the community than I am.” the Law School’s Strategic Initiatives Fund. He was particularly Even though times are tough, Habbas said he hopes other attracted by the fund’s support of the Graduate Fellowship graduates will give generously. “I’d really encourage other alumni Program. “Highly qualified graduates, who 10 or 20 years ago to step forward,” he said. “Regardless of the amount, it will be would have been snapped right up by some law firm, are findvalued. Regardless of the tough economy, it’s time to be more ing themselves unemployed,” he said. “This program lets them selfless than ever before. If we all do, it will enable the students sharpen their legal skills and be involved in the community there now to thrive as we did.” without having a gap in their résumé.”
fall 2010 | santa clara law 25
S A NT A C L A R A L A W
Reunion Weekend “It had been 35 years since I had seen most of my classmates who were at the reunion. I was excited about attending because, as a reunion committee member, I had contact with several of my former classmates by phone before the reunion and had the opportunity to talk with them about life as we knew it while in law school. It was wonderful to see them and to catch up on our experiences since law school.” —Cheryl Poncini ’ 75
Gordon Yamate ’80 presented a check to Dean Donald Polden on behalf of the Santa Clara Law alumni who made gifts and pledges in honor of their reunions this year. Each class set fundraising goals, and more than $228,000 (and counting) has been raised for law school scholarships and programs. It’s not too late to make your own reunion gift or pledge to enhance academic excellence at Santa Clara Law! For details, visit law.scu.edu/alumni/reunion-weekend-home.cfm.
SCU President Michael E. Engh, S.J., Rolanda Pierre-Dixon ’80, and Professor Cynthia Mertens enjoyed the Friday evening class receptions held in the Mission Gardens. More than 400 alumni and friends participated in the 2010 Law Reunion Weekend.
Miriam Ortiz ’05, pictured here with classmate and fellow committee co-chair Mike Renzi ’05, spoke enthusiastically about her experience saying, “The strength of our network and solidarity as a class was truly evident in the massive number of participants. Seeing all my classmates again was a reminder of where I came from and how connected we all are.” 26 santa clara law | fall 2010
“The reunion weekend provided an excellent opportunity to reconnect with the friends I made in law school. I thought it was gratifying how supportive we were to each other as we shared our varied experiences, especially on how we attempt to balance our careers and personal lives. I also felt the reunion weekend provided us a time to reaffirm our relationship with each other as being a family of Santa Clara Law graduates. If you missed the reunion this year, I hope you can make —Andre Gibbs ’ 00 the next one.”
Members of the Class of 1960 received special medallions commemorating their 50-Year Reunion. Pictured here with their medallions are Bradley Stoutt, Hon. Allan W. Nicholson, Elliott Chielpegian, Hon. John A. Marlo, and Philip Bianco.
“It was an amazing experience to see old friends and make new ones while on the beautiful and inviting Santa Clara University campus. Seeing and catching up with so many professors and staff was also really great. I am so glad that I was able to attend—all the way from Iraq!” —Captain Dan Dow ’05 Captain Dan Dow ’05, pictured with Dean Polden and Assistant Dean Larry Donatoni, served on his class reunion committee via conference call while serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq. When his leave coincided with Law Reunion Weekend, Dan was able to join his classmates in person for the celebration.
Randy Gard ’90, Janet Craycroft ’90, Hon. Adrienne M. Grover ’90, and Christopher Morales ’90 all served as leaders and volunteers on their class reunion committee. Special thanks to the 120+ volunteers from 10 reunion classes who helped plan and promote this year’s Law Reunion Weekend.
Alan Russell ’80 and John Schlosser ’80 took a few minutes to relive their law school days courtesy of the “Gilbert,” a yearbook-style publication. Classmate Hon. Eileen A. Kato ’80 has saved her copy for 30 years and brought it to share at the event.
Photo s By Nancy Martin fall 2010 | santa clara law 27
CL A S SA C T I O N
Alumni 50-YEAR
61
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
45-YEAR
66
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
70 Gary Shara practices
business and corporate law in San Jose. Since 1996, he has hosted and produced a weekly half-hour interview program called “Minding Your Business” on Comcast Cable 15, which airs at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, and also airs on demand at www.creatsj.org. He teaches business law as an adjunct professor at California State University, Monterey Bay. He is a member of the Rotary Club of San Jose and the Board of Fellows at SCU. He has six grandchildren. 40-YEAR
71
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
74 John Cruden is on the
senior leadership team of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He has served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the division since 1995. He previously served as chief of the division’s environmental enforcement section and as special counsel to the assistant attorney general for the Civil Division. He has extensive experience litigating complex environmental cases and has served as acting assistant attorney general. He served as an attorney in the military, and was chief legislative counsel for the Army. Raymond Iwamoto has 28 santa clara law | fall 2010
been elected to the board of governors of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. Gregory Morris is a national consultant for Leader Services, an information technology company that is a division of LDP Inc and is located in West Hazelton. He has more than 30 years of experience in public policy law. Ronald Souza is a partner at Lynch, Gilardi & Grummer in San Francisco specializing in employment law. He is a member of the National Association of Trial Advocates and a contributing author/speaker for CEB’s employment law seminars and publications.
75 Scott Macey is of counsel at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., where he advises clients on employee benefits and executive compensation. Previously, he was senior vice president and director of government affairs at the Somerset, N.J., office of Aon Consulting. Justice Steven M. Vartabedian retired from the Fifth District Court of Appeals after nearly 29 years as a jurist. 35-YEAR
76
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
79 Stephanie West Allen
co-authored an article “Atticus Finch Would Not Approve: Why a Courtroom Full of Reptiles is a Bad Idea” in the May issue of The Jury Expert, a publication of the American Society of Trial Consultants. She spoke at the annual conference of the Solo and Small Firm Section of the Florida Bar, and spoke on mindfulness practice for lawyers at the Denver and Colorado Bar Associations.
She is on the planning committee for a conference on mindfulness in the law to be held at Boalt Hall in October. She blogs at www.idealawg. net and www.brainsonpurpose.com. Paula Amanda is director of Garson Studios, a soundstage facility at the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico, the only professional movie studio on an American college campus. She is also president and founder of the New West Media Foundation, a non-profit that integrates documentary film with the educational system. James Leet was included in Superlawyers.com’s 2009 list of “Northern California Super Lawyers” for McDonough Holland & Allen. He serves as chair of the board, and has more than 25 years of tax law experience. He advises clients on all aspects of corporate, partnership, and personal income tax planning. Margaret Leonard B.S. ’76 retired from law practice, and is now an adventure guide. Her company, Slow Adventure (www.slowadventure.us), takes hikers and walkers on a four-day, 40-mile journey along Monterey Bay with stops each night in luxury beachfront hotels. She lives in Santa Cruz with her spouse, Clare. They have been together 25 years. Jonathan Willis retired from the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office in Nov. 2009. There he was the Director of Special Prosecutions. He has opened a private criminal defense office in El Centro. He is on the board of governors of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and serves on its programs committee.
80 James P. Baker B.A.
’75 is a partner in the San Francisco office of Winston & Strawn. He focuses on ERISA litigation and counseling employers on employee benefits and executive compensation. Previously, he was co-chair of Jones Day’s employee benefits and executive compensation practice. He has been recognized as one of the nation’s 40 best ERISA attorneys by the National Law Journal, and Chambers USA named him one of America’s leading lawyers for ERISA litigation. He acted as lead attorney in five ERISA stock-drop class action cases resulting in client victories. He is a contributing editor for Benefits Law Journal, and a volunteer attorney for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. 30-YEAR
81
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
82 Jeffrey Janoff was
included in Superlawyers. com’s 2009 list of “Northern California Super Lawyers.” He practices with the San Jose personal injury firm of Bostwick & Janoff. Rebecca Veltman is enjoying retirement, and her first grandchild, Roman, 4. She travels, and plans to volunteer in local courts that are suffering cutbacks.
83 Debbie Kovac is on
the faculty at the University of Toledo College of Law, and plans to develop a postconviction course of study with a clinical program. She continues her criminal appellate practice on a part-time basis. Lisa Almasy Miller was reappointed to the Board of Directors of the
Professional Liability Fund by the Oregon State Bar’s Board of Governors. She served on the PLF Board from 2003 to 2007, and was chair in 2007. She has a full-time mediation and arbitration practice. Robert G. Yabuno has been appointed a superior court judge in San Bernardino County by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Previously, he was lead deputy district attorney for the county and also was a private attorney at Borror, Dunn and Scott for three years.
84 Julie Culver B.S. ’82
has been appointed a superior court judge in Monterey County by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She has been general counsel for Shop.com since 2006. Previously, she was a sole practitioner, and had been a deputy district attorney for Monterey County. Kathryn Meier is chief legal counsel at EMQ FamiliesFirst, California’s largest children’s services agency. She joined the agency after serving 14 years as its outside counsel. She previously was at Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel.
85 Bret Hillman has
been appointed a superior court judge in Tulare County by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Previously, he was a partner at the Hillman & Lew Law Firm, and at Stringham, Hillman & Lew. He was an associate at Stringham & Rogers from 1986 to 1990.
25-YEAR
86
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
86 Rob Buechel is general
counsel of Imagine Group Holdings Limited in Bermuda, a post he’s held for nearly three years. Imagine Group is a holding company for a group of insurers and reinsurers. He has lived in Bermuda for ten years, along with his wife, Olga, and their three children. He tries to enjoy swimming and watching the sunrise each day. He saw classmate Charlene WalkerDrummer during a brief visit last October. Matthew J. Durket is the managing partner for the employment practices group of Murphy, Austin, Adams & Schoenfeld in Sacramento. Previously, he was founding shareholder and president of the Heritage Law Group, practicing in both the San Jose office and in El Dorado Hills. He has extensive trial experience and focuses his practice on advising and defending businesses in employmentrelated matters. JoAnne McCracken was elected a superior court judge in Santa Clara County.
87 Vanessa Zecher B.A. ’84 was elected a superior court judge in Santa Clara County.
89 Kathleen O’Connell
Polanowicz is a district representative for Congressman James P. McGovern in Massachusetts. She handles immigration casework, transportation, energy, and the environment. She previously practiced law in the offices of Harold
Naughton. She is a former member and chair of the Board of Selectmen in Northborough, and currently serves as the chair of the Northborough Housing Authority. She resides in Northborough with her husband, John, and two children.
90 Robert Burns was
appointed a judge of the Kings County Superior Court by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Previously,
he had worked in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office since 1994, and had been chief trial attorney since 2006. He worked as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County from 1990 to 1994. Christopher Morales, a state bar-certified specialist in criminal law, practices in San Francisco. He is the author of a book, The Top Ten Celebrity Crimes of 2009.
SANTA CL ARA UNIVERSITY
2010/11
President’s Speaker Series SERIES FIVE: T HE L AW AND O UR C HANGING S OCIETY Leon Panetta ’60, J.D. ’63 Director of the CIA October 8, 2010 Mayer Theatre, 8 PM
Rosalyn Higgins
Former President, International Court of Justice Feb. 24, 2011 Mission Church, 7:30 PM
David Drummond ’85
Chief Legal Officer at Google April 13, 2011 Mayer Theatre, 7:30 PM
Tickets are required. For more information about the series or to order tickets, visit www.scu.edu/speakerseries or call 408-554-4400. This series is co-sponsored by SCU’s Center of Performing Arts and SCU School of Law.
www.scu.edu/speakerseries scm_SpeakerSeries poster_11x17_r1.indd 1
8/12/10 10:58 AM
fall 2010 | santa clara law 29
CL A S SA C T I O N
20-YEAR
91
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
91 Ellen Wheeler is social
policy director on the state board of the League of Women Voters. Social policy encompasses health care, juvenile justice, and education from pre-kindergarten through community college. She is in her eighth year as a school board member for Mountain View’s Whisman School District.
92 Andrew Bassak shared
an award for California Lawyer magazine’s “Attorney of the Year” for 2010 for his environmental legal work that helped prevent the building of what would have been the nation’s largest water bottling plant at the base of Mt. Shasta in Siskiyou County.
94 John Eyrich has
formed a new partnership, Schindler Eyrich, and continues to focus on trust, estate, and fiduciary matters, and related civil claims and appeals. The firm has offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
95 Jeanine DeBacker is
an employment law litigator with Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel in San Jose. She helps employers prevent litigation through crafting policies, staff trainings, and informal dispute resolution. She counsels businesses on human resources and employment law issues and defends them in sexual harassment, race and age discrimination, wrongful discharge, wage and hour, bonus and commission, and other employment 30 santa clara law spring 2010
and compensation-related claims. Her practice also includes employee benefits issues. She is a member of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists and the Society of Human Resource Management. 15-YEAR
96
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
97 Sara Finigan, a partner
at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass in San Francisco, has received the James T. Caleshu Award from the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights for her pro bono work in the LCCR’s Legal Services for Entrepreneurs Program. Eric Fromme is senior counsel in the Trial Section and Bankruptcy/Financial Practices Group of Rutan & Tucker. He represents companies that are restructuring their financial affairs and creditors in their dealings with financially distressed companies. He also represents private equity funds, hedge funds, and other buyers. Previously he was counsel with Hughes Hubbard & Reed. Thomas Gray is a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in Irvine. Colin McCarthy is a partner at Robinson & Wood in San Jose, where he is a member of the products liability litigation practice. He previously worked for Bergeson.
99 Jennifer Adams is an
owner of Klein, DeNatale, Goldner, Cooper, Rosenlieb and Kimball, where she has worked since 1999. She works in the business counseling, transaction, and tax department. Neda Mansoorian has been hon-
ored as a “Woman of Influence” by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. She is one of 100 honorees. She also received a Tribute to Women and Industry Award from the YWCA of Silicon Valley. She is a partner and chief legal officer at McManis Faulkner in San Jose and serves on the Board of Governors of California Women Lawyers. In her legal practice, she handles high tech litigation, as well as professional negligence, products liability and general negligence, divorce, employer liability, wrongful termination, real estate disputes, and breach of contracts.
00 Alison Choppelas is
vice president of business affairs of the media services group for Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. She joined the company in May 2007 as director of legal affairs of the media services group. She oversees legal matters in the group, most notably the studio, exhibitor, and vendor negotiations for digital cinema deployment. Previously, she represented entertainment and technology companies in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. She is also an active volunteer in the Junior League of Los Angeles, and has served in a variety of leadership roles for the organization. 10-YEAR
01
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
01 Jaremi Chilton is
an equity shareholder at the Houston office of Chamberlain Hrdlicka. He specializes in cross-border transactions, and handles
matters pertaining to international, immigration, and tax issues. H Texas magazine recognized him as a “Professional on the Fast Track” in 2009 and a “Texas Rising Star” in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Eli Greenstein is a partner at Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins in San Francisco.
02 Richard Bone, a patent
attorney, is a partner at Virtual Law Partners. Previously, he was at Fish & Richardson. He also worked as a scientist and developed software for computer-aided molecular design. He was named a Northern California “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine in 2009. Celine Cordero is deputy mayor of legislative and intergovernmental relations for Los Angles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa. She oversees federal, state, and local legislative efforts. She has worked for the mayor for seven years, and previously was associate director of the mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security. Michael Warren is a partner at Littler Mendelson.
03 S. Garrett Patricio and
his wife, Ashley, announce the birth of their second daughter, Peyton, on March 20, 2009. Garrett is the vice president of operations and general counsel for Westside Produce, a family-owned grower, packer, and shipper of cantaloupe and honeydew melons in California and Arizona. Amber (Smith) Crothall B.A. ’94 works part-time as a real estate attorney. She and her husband, George Crothall B.S. ’94, live in San Diego County and have two daughters, ages three and five.
Alumni Events Calendar 05 Mike Buhler has
been appointed executive director of San Francisco Architectural Heritage. Previously, he was director of advocacy for the Los Angeles Conservancy. From 1998 to 2006, he was regional attorney for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in its San Francisco office, where he delivered field services in California, Washington, and Idaho, and was the Trust’s liaison on legal issues for eight western states. Suzanne Nusbaum LL.M. is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. 5-YEAR
06
REUNION
Sept. 9-11, 2011
06 Sheeva Ghassemi
and Mark Vanni ’09 married on Oct. 24, 2009, at the Los Gatos Opera House. Courtney Minick is on the board of directors for Death Penalty Focus, which advocates the abolition of capital punishment.
08 Sara Beede is an asso-
ciate at the San Francisco office of Tucker Ellis & West. She focuses on mass tort and product liability. Sophia Davies passed the Feb. 2010 Washington State Bar. Shiry Tannenbaum is a business litigation attorney at Connor, Fletcher & Williams in Irvine, and a mentor for a student at the new University of California, Irvine, School of Law.
09 Matt Sorensen received the Michael E. Haglund Award from the Multnomah (Oregon) Bar Association for volunteer legal work. Lauren Vazquez is co-founder and director of the Silicon Valley
chapter of Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group for medical cannabis patients and providers. The group successfully lobbied the San Jose City Council to allow medical cannabis dispensaries in the city.
10 Brian Holzer is work-
ing for Deloitte in Arlington, Va., as an international policy consultant for the new Joint Strike fighter airplane.
In Memoriam 48 Hon. James Hardin,
March 6. He was a retired Tuolumne County Superior Court judge. He was the only judge on the bench for much of his tenure, and handled 1,800 cases a year, prompting state officials to acknowledge him as the busiest judge in the state. Prior to serving as a judge, he was in private practice. He enjoyed Italian cooking. Survivors include his wife, Alice, five daughters, two sons, and a sister.
59 John Forrest Cronin
B.S. ’53, April 18. He was a deputy district attorney in Orange County for 31 years. Survivors include his wife, Elisa, three children, and six grandchildren.
61 Louis Oneal, April 8.
A graduate of Stanford University, he served in the Marine Corps for two years. He began private law practice in 1962 with the Rankin Oneal firm, which was started by his grandfather, and was a trial defense attorney, specializing in medical malpractice. He was admitted to the American College of Trial
2010 Wednesday, November 3 Santa Clara Law Diversity Gala Friday, November 5 High Tech Law Event † Exhaustion and First Sale in IP Conference Friday, December 3 Law Career Services Opening Your Own Practice for Alumni
2011 Thursday, February 3 Spring Diversity Lecture † Angela Riley, UCLA School of Law The Future of Indigenous Peoples Thursday, February 17 Spring 2010 Visiting Practitioner Sonia Mercado (Sonia Mercado & Associates) Actualizing Your Passion for Social Justice Through the Private Practice of Human Rights Law Friday, March 4 High Tech Law Event † 47 U.S.C. § 230: a 15-Year Retrospective Friday, April 15 Center for Social Justice and Public Service Half Day Symposium † Friday, May 20 Commencement Baccalaureate Mass Saturday, May 21 Commencement Ceremony and Reception Monday, June 20 13th Annual Justice Edward A. Panelli Golf Classic Location TBD Friday, September 9 Law Reunion Celebrations for Classes of 61, 66, 71, 76, 81, 86, 91, 96, 2001, 2006 Sunday, September 11 Vintage Santa Clara Celebration Friday, September 23 Benefit for Justice wednesday, September 28 Seventh Annual Jerry A. Kasner Estate Planning Symposium † Location TBD For more information on Regional Law Alumni events and other activities, visit law.scu.edu/alumni or call (408) 551-1748. † MCLE available All events on campus unless specified
fall 2010 | santa clara law 31
CL A S SA C T I O N
Attorneys and was a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, which is limited to 500 active members in the United States. He enjoyed spending time at his ranch outside San Jose. Survivors include his wife, Shirley, a son and daughter, five grandchildren, and a brother.
team at SCU. He served on the Sunnyvale Parks and Recreation Board, was a member of the Santa Clara County Republican Central Committee, and taught real estate law at West Valley College for several years. He is survived by his partner, Ana Bruch, and her children.
62 James Gilbert Lea,
64 Jack Ludwigson, Oct.
March 27. Born in Little Rock, Ark., he grew up in Seattle, Wash., and graduated from the University of Southern California. He practiced law in Sunnyvale. During the 1950s, he was a runner, and set the world record in the 440-yard dash at the Modesto Relays in 1956. While in law school, he coached a fledgling track
31, 2009. He worked for the King County Prosecutor’s Office in Washington and later went into private practice in Bellingham, Wash. He enjoyed his family, and spending time at a cabin on Orcas Island and fishing the San Juans. He is survived by his wife, Sarah, son Eric B.S. ’90, and daughter Susan Coberly B.A. ’92.
69 Thomas W. Allen, April
5. He grew up in Santa Ana, Calif. He served as city attorney in many Orange County cities, including Stanton, Los Alamitos, and Lake Forest. His lifetime passion was the sea. He was a member of the Avalon Tuna Club, the Balboa Angling Club, and the Catalina Conservancy. He is survived by his wife, Pamela, a son, and a brother.
69 Randall Hays, May 19.
A graduate of San Jose State University, he worked as a city attorney for many years, in Ukiah, Redding, and Lodi. He later moved to Coos Bay, Ore. He enjoyed deer hunting, motorcycles, and race cars. Survivors include his wife, Doretta, two sons, and four grandchildren.
In Memoriam | Hon. Mark Thomas ’56
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longtime friend of the law school, retired Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Mark Thomas ’56 died on July 18. Judge Thomas was well known throughout the Santa Clara Law alumni community for his many activities, including authorship of a history of Santa Clara Law, From Promise to Prominence. At the time of his death, he was working on several activities related to the Santa Clara Law’s Centennial, including taking oral histories of Mark Thomas being robed by Superior Court James Wright members of the Santa Clara Law community. upon his 1975 appointment Judge Thomas served on the Law Alumni Association to the Sunnyvale-Cupertino Board, the Board of Visitors, the Centennial Celebration Municipal Court. Committee, and was a mentor to numerous law students. “His enthusiasm influenced us to take special pride in Santa Clara’s past accomplishments, especially as we prepare for our Centennial this year,” said Julia Yaffee, senior assistant dean for external relations. “I will miss his good humor and generous nature, as will the many students he mentored.” Judge Thomas graduated from Stanford University in 1951 and served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. After law school, he started his own personal injury and family law firm in Willow Glen, called Thomas, James & Pendleton. He was appointed as a judge in 1975, and retired in 1991. He worked for JAMS in San Jose from 1995 until 2010. He is survived by his wife, Marjolie, four children, and seven grandchildren.
32 santa clara law | fall 2010
75 Clem Bosch, Jan. 19.
He was born July 20, 1938, in Istanbul, Turkey. He was a graduate of UCLA, and worked as a corporate lawyer. Survivors include his wife, Vicki, four stepsons, two stepdaughters, three grandchildren, and a brother.
78 Theresa Pfeiffer B.A. ’72, Feb. 25. For more than 30 years as an attorney, she was an advocate for the “little guy.” Her keen intellect and sense of justice allowed her to speak candidly for the underprivileged and put others before herself. She enjoyed reading, traveling, the outdoors, languages, and opera. Survivors include her husband, James Jeffers, two daughters, her parents, and siblings. 00 Michael Miller, March 1.
He attended Menlo School in Menlo Park, and majored in political science at Purdue University. He loved to fly, and acquired private and commercial licenses. He lived in Manteca, and worked as a law clerk for the Hon. Thomas Holman in the federal bankruptcy court in Modesto and Sacramento. He later worked in San Francisco as a staff attorney for Customs and Border Protection, a division of Homeland Security. Survivors include his parents and a sister.
Send us your news! Email your news to mjshort@scu.edu or send to Law Alumni Office, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053.
CL O S I N GA RGUM E N T S
Santa Clara Law—Looking Back, Looking Forward By Mary D. Hood B.A. ’70, J.D. ’75
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s we begin our Centennial celebration, we are reflecting on our roots. A longtime librarian here, I have been combing through the archives, discovering, or in some cases rediscovering, parts of our history. Santa Clara Law was founded as the Institute of Law, the seventh Jesuit law school in the United States. In September 1911, a full-time program was launched with classes offered in the evening, the faculty consisting primarily of local practitioners. The school’s first classes were in Senior Hall, now called O’Connor Hall. Becoming the College of Law in 1927, the law school grew on campus and to several off-site locations. By 2009 the school expanded to all of Bannan Hall, thus consolidating the law school into three central buildings on campus— Bergin, Heafey, and Bannan. In the 60s, under the leadership of Dean Leo Huard, the school gained a more regional presence, and in 1962, the part-time program was instituted. The first female graduates earned their Santa Clara Law degrees in 1963, thus beginning the school’s now well-known commitment to diversity. Huard continued to strengthen the program by adding key faculty members including Jerry Kasner, Mary Emery ’63, Howard Anawalt, and Father Paul Goda. For most of its first 60 years Santa Clara Law remained a local school with strong ties to the community. Class size remained small until the late ’60s. The entering class of 1969—125 students—was the largest to date. With the ’70s and the arrival of Dean George Alexander came rapid growth—the school grew from a student body of around 200 to
almost 900. The most recent entering class demonstrates that Santa Clara Law has evolved from a local school to one with global impact, having applicants from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 29 foreign countries. The class statistics also show the impact of our commitment to diversity—47 percent women and 48 percent students of color.
Dean Mack Player, sitting at a desk on the lawn outside Heafey, appeared on the cover of the first edition of this magazine in fall 1994.
The location of Santa Clara Law has been instrumental in allowing faculty and students to take advantage of the wealth of technological innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit in Silicon Valley. By the late ’70s, courses in computer law were introduced and became the seed of our highly regarded High Tech Law Institute. Santa Clara was an early adopter of technology, subscribing to Lexis (in 1975) and Westlaw (in 1980) as soon as they were made available to law schools. The school is now fully networked in both the classrooms and the law library. In 1975 the school launched its first summer abroad program under the direction of Professor Dinah Shelton. The program focused on international human rights and was held in Geneva/Strasbourg. From that
beginning the school now has 12 summer programs in 21 locations. Each dean has brought many changes and improvements. Dean Gerald Uelmen helped to give the law school financial stability. Under Dean Player’s watch, the school created the High Tech Law Program. Dean Polden continues to strengthen these programs as well as spearheading a Leadership Initiative. As part of a Jesuit institution, the law school has always embraced its mission to educate lawyers with an emphasis on ethics, social justice, and community involvement. In the early ’70s the first legal clinic was opened, providing an important practical opportunity for students and offering legal services to those who could not afford them. The law school now boasts many highly active and effective entities, including the Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center, the Northern California Innocence Project, and the Center for Social Justice and Public Service. All the members of our community—current and former faculty, staff, students, and alumni—have reason to celebrate, because together we have made Santa Clara Law what it is today. From a local school that offered LL.B. degrees to a school that has a global perspective and offers J.D., J.D./MBA, J.D./MSIS and three LL.M. degrees, Santa Clara Law has advanced into the 21st century while continuing its commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. | Mary D. Hood B.A. ’70, J.D. ’75, began working at the Heafey Law Library in 1968 as an undergrad student employee. She earned an MLS from San Jose State University in 1979. fall 2010 | santa clara law 33
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PHOTO B Y GERALD F RE N CH
“LAW HOUSEWIVES” That was the headline that ran with this historic photo in the Oct. 27, 1960 edition of the San Jose Mercury News. The original caption read: “George A. Strong, associate professor of law at University of Santa Clara, is confronted this fall by something unusual but not rare in law education: prospective women attorneys. Law students are (left to right) Mrs. John F. Emory [sic], Mrs. Lois L. Mitchell, and Mrs. William F. Stanton.” For more photos and stories from our first 100 years, visit our special Centennial web site:
www.law.edu/100.