Dayton Lawyer - Winter 2006-2007 by University of Dayton

DAYTON L AW Y E R

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They

learn to serve faith in problem solving

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all in the family

C O N T E N T S

2 News & notes First class of summer-start students have faith in problem solving, cybercrime conference warns of impending disasters in your office, and new book offers societal solutions to dying while black.

14 Faculty news Fran Conte looks at whose rules rule the EU. 16 Alumni news Alumni Weekend award winners and photos from the festivities.

18 Roundtable A Ford man by family association now negotiates the automakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major transactions.

Feature 8 Quiet acts of kindness

Students learn to serve their communities through the new pro bono pledge.

The Dayton Lawyer is published twice each school year by the University of Dayton School of Law in cooperation with the office of public relations. Send comments and Roundtable notes to: University of Dayton School of Law, Dayton Lawyer, 300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469-0228. Fax: 937-229-3063 E-mail: lawyer@udayton.edu Web:http://lawnews.udayton.edu Roundtable notes will appear in print and online versions of the magazine. Editor: Michelle Tedford tedford@udayton.edu Art director: Lisa Coffey Photographer: Larry Burgess Cover photo: Connie Klayko by Larry Burgess

Give thanks and dig in Law school students, faculty and staff, along with their families, gathered to share their bounty of food and cheer during a Thanksgiving potluck Nov. 16 in the Keller Hall atrium. Photo by Andy Snow

D E A N ’ S

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What we have been given

The recent Thanksgiving weekend brought to mind how much we have been given at the University of Dayton School of Law. You are sending your children and friends to us. You are supporting students with new scholarship funds. Your generosity heartens and strengthens us. This year brought some sad transitions, including the passing of Dean Braun, our friend Mrs. Dreety and one of our youngest faculty colleagues, Ramzi Nasser. Professors Dickinson and Wohl, who each rendered stellar service to the School and students for more than 25 years, are retiring. They each inspired us to be better teachers, lawyers and agents of justice for our communities. The year has also brought tremendous blessings in the form of five talented new faculty members. They come from prestigious jobs and clerkships, with some excellent practical experience and a passion for scholarly writing. They bring new ideas and enthusiasm to extend our traditions to a future generation of lawyers. One of the Catholic and Marianist traditions we teach about is the importance of serving others, particularly those without access to justice. The University of Dayton was ranked among the top three universities nationally this year in terms of public service. Our law students have aided this effort, forming the Volunteer Student Law Project and devising a system to recognize exceptional student dedication through the Pro Bono Commitment to Community program, profiled in these pages. I am so proud of this student leadership and the accomplishments of our alumni. The School has gained national recognition this year for its innovative Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum. Many law schools are moving to highlight problem solving and experiential learning, including Harvard and Stanford. Dayton is a trailblazer, as it was with the nationally honored programs in legal profession and law and technology. We could not reach such heights without your support. Thank you. On behalf of the School’s faculty and staff, I wish you God’s blessings during this holy season.

Lisa A. Kloppenberg Dean and Professor of Law

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In the News

UD’s five-semester JD program was highlighted in U.S. News & World Report’s “Rethinking Law Schools,” which appeared in its America’s Best Graduate Schools 2007 issue. The story quoted Deepak Kulkarni, 26, who worked in literacy education for several years before applying to 11 law schools; he chose Dayton largely because it allows him to get back into the labor force sooner rather than later. “There’s definitely not going to be any room for senioritis,” he told the magazine. In May, National Jurist featured a story on the accelerated program, noting that the program may be one reason the School’s applications are up. “It’s not for everybody,” Dean Lisa Kloppenberg told the reporter, adding, however, that the program helps avoid “third-year burn-out.” In October, Dayton’s WDTN-TV aired a story on the intrasession focusing on client interviewing skills.

The use of National Security Letters to gain private information was the focus of a July 6 front-page story in USA Today. “People have no idea how much of what they probably consider their private information is readily available to government,” professor Susan Brenner said, adding that the letters raise the question: “How do we balance law enforcement’s needs with what’s left of privacy in an age where technology permeates everything?” In a June story in the Denver Post, Brenner applauded the persistence of Rocky Flats, Colo., grand jurors who wanted to disclose what they said was prosecutorial misconduct in a probe concluded 14 years ago. Brenner also discussed grand juries in July on the BBC radio show “Law in Action.” The state has been promising changes, professor Richard Saphire told the Associated Press for an April 21 story on Ohio’s Stewart v. Blackwell voting rights case: “The state claimed, ‘We’re doing it, we’re going to be good this time, this isn’t going to happen anymore.’ I hope this time they’re serious about it,” said Saphire, who, with other ACLU attorneys, filed the suit in 2002. After the U.S. Supreme Court declined in May to hear an appeal in a tribal land-claim suit in New York, professor 2 D A Y T O N L A W Y E R

Blake Watson told the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal that the Eastern Shawnee tribe would have difficulty winning its lawsuit for land, hunting, gathering and fishing rights in Ohio, the tribe’s historic home. Comair could face additional bankruptcy issues after one of its planes crashed in Lexington, Ky. But, professor Jeff Morris told the Associated Press, “If pilot error is ultimately determined to be the cause of the crash, that might not cause a long-term impact on the airline if it isn’t seen as a systemwide problem.” More than 60 outlets, including MSNBC. com, Newsday, The Miami Herald, Forbes. com, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Baltimore Sun, BusinessWeek and CBSNews.com, picked up the Aug. 29 story. Morris was also quoted in an October Toledo, Ohio, Blade story on bankruptcy filings, saying that despite new barriers to filings posed by the bankruptcy law changes, he expects to see an increase in filings after the Christmas shopping season. In a May Associated Press article about John Allen Muhammad representing himself in a Maryland courtroom, professor of lawyering skills Lori Shaw said, “Most people who have some familiarity with the criminal justice system would not dream of representing themselves. The hurdles are absolutely huge. Let me put it this way: The person who knows the rules wins the game.” In a story about Florida’s “shoot first” law, professor Tom Hagel told the National Law Journal, “It’s just kind of the mood of the country.” The article also appeared in the Palm Beach Daily Business Review and New York Law Journal. A story on the far-reaching influence of anti-smoking legislation ran in the Sept. 27 Dayton Daily News. “More and more people are bringing these issues up in custody fights, and courts are having to consider it,” professor Vernellia Randall told the paper. Randall also commented for a Sept. 24 story in the Akron Beacon Journal on Summit County, Ohio’s health divide, which indicates black residents die 9.3 years sooner than their white counterparts: “We are quite literally dying

New curriculum attracts 40 summer starters

Having faith in problem solving

mar Tarazi knew for a long time that he wanted to go to law school, but the husband and Omar Tarazi father of a young family first had to resolve the issues of cost and time. His academic credentials earned him acceptance to several schools. He chose the University of Dayton because its new Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum will allow him to complete law school in two years and because he shares Dean Lisa Kloppenberg’s interest in Appropriate Dispute Resolution. The new curriculum requires at least one ADR course. “I’m interested in faith-based alternative dispute resolution, in how you respect people’s faith-based requirements in law and in how the law deals with the whole human being,” he said. “Ending a dispute by a legal judgment is not the same thing as truly resolving conflict. Resolving conflict uses the law as a starting point but then considers all of the extraneous factors necessary to craft a solution that gives the two sides in the dispute the best possible chance to reconcile peacefully or go their separate ways peacefully.” Tarazi, who commutes from his home in Columbus, Ohio, was one of about 40 from being black.’’ Randall also appeared on the March 21 airing of “And Justice For All?” produced by Dayton’s ThinkTV. In October, an interview with Randall about her new book Dying While Black aired on 17 stations of the American Urban Radio Network; seven stations are among the nation’s top 50 mar-

NEW FACES LOOK TO FASTER FINISH FOR LAW SCHOOL

Photo by Andy Snow

Tyler Suttle could lay claim to being one of the nation’s busiest students. In one week, he took final exams, participated in the University of Dayton School of Law’s orientation, graduated from Eastern Kentucky University and started law school. Suttle is among 40 students who signed on for the summer start and new Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum that has helped spur a 13.42 percent increase in applications, including summer and fall starts, from the previous year. Nationally, applicants to law schools were down 6.3 percent. “Two years of courses is really appealing,” Suttle said. “Why wait? I can get into the workforce quicker. I’d be bored sitting at home working a job I probably wouldn’t like,” he added. For others like Lubirda Allen, “time is of the essence.” Allen, 60, said she intended to go to law school in her 20s before being sidetracked by a divorce and raising her four children. “I want to be able to do something with a law degree,” Allen said. Maxim Maximov was in Riga, Latvia, teaching Judaic studies and living around the corner from a law school. While researching law schools, he found UD’s two-year option and decided to look into it, realizing he’s “not a spring chicken.” As soon as he wrapped up his Latvian school year, he jumped right into law school halfway around the globe. Brendan Neal didn’t want to wait either. After graduating from Eureka College in May 2005, Neal spent six months coaching baseball in Switzerland. He said the summer program was very influential in his choice of law schools. “This is very convenient,” Neal said. “If I had waited until the fall, it would have been too big of a break. Maybe I would have lost some study habits.” Lori Shaw, dean of students, said the summer start allowed students to avoid the rush of everyone returning to campus in August. Faculty can dedicate more time to the needs of one class for three months. “It helps their transition to law school,” she said. Janet Hein, assistant dean and director of admission, said this group is one of the highest academically ranked, most interesting and diverse classes to recently enter the law school. Hein said curricular changes that emphasize community service and real-world learning, as well as provide an option to graduate in five semesters instead of the traditional six, are most likely the factors that fueled the increase. n

students who started law school this summer, taking advantage of the American Bar Association’s change that allows students to complete a law degree in five semesters rather than six. While every entering law school class has had students who might be described as nontypical (the School has enrolled ballet dancers, airline pilots and convicted felons), “I suppose I’m even more nontypical,” Tarazi said. An American born in France, Tarazi grew up in Kuwait, moved to the U.S. in 1990 during the first Gulf War and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. For the past five years, he taught Islamic studies at a local Islamic school and has given local lectures on Islamic law and current events. The intersection of religious law and civil law intrigues Tarazi. He sees decidedly democratic opportunities in developing resolution techniques to address America’s “tapestry” of faith-based legal and ethical traditions and backgrounds. ADR also can provide the framework for a divorced couple to live peacefully or for at-odds business partners to have positive kets. She has spoken about her book to more than a dozen audiences and media outlets from Boston to Houston. A July Ohio Supreme Court decision affects a city’s ability to use eminent domain to encourage private development

dealings in the future. “The adversarial court process tends to destroy relationships,” he said. “Developing comprehensive dispute resolution systems will be critical for maintaining

successful international business relationships and ventures in the global economy.” —Deborah McCarty Smith smithd@udayton.edu

or revitalization, professor James Durham told the Dayton Daily News. “The court found that you can’t take property solely based on financial gain.”

seeking names of priests accused of child molestation, the St. Paul, Minn., Pioneer Press turned to professor Fran Conte for comment. “It (the lawsuit) asserts the conference has a duty to reveal the information, but I’m not sure what that duty is based on. From what I see, it is a fairly diffuse claim.”

When a Wisconsin family sued the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

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Barbara Frederiksen shares tips on how your law office can survive disasters.

Cybercrime conference:

Plan for the worst “The good news is that we’re all on a level playing field. The bad news is the level playing field has already far exceeded what was ever imagined.” —Katherine Spelman, with Cobalt LLP in Berkeley, Calif., speaking on the legal problems caused by open source computer code. She suggested lawyers go through the five stages of open source — just say no; no one will ever know; don’t Spelman ask, don’t tell; deal with it; and, finally, joy — in order to help their clients both protect themselves and make the technological innovations possible with open source.

Flood, fire, bird flu and cyberterrorism are no problem for Barbara Frederiksen, who put her disaster preparation plan through the ultimate test — the washing machine. She can attest that a flash drive containing all the encrypted information needed to reconstitute her law office came through swimmingly. Frederiksen, senior managing consultant with Johnson-Laird in Portland, Ore., gave the keynote talk “Hurricanes and Bird Flu: How Can You Run a Business Without Employees Coming to Work?” June 9 during the UD School of Law’s 16th annual seminar of significant developments in computer and cyberspace law. Among her disaster preparation suggestions: • Update your contingency plan and distribute it to your employees. • Fill a red emergency box with plans, instructions, maps, insurance documents, flashlights and walkie-talkies. • Give satellite pagers to key people. • Create a disaster e-mail account with a Web-based company like Hotmail, share the login and password with all employees, and use it as a central communications bulletin board during emergencies. She also warned of the danger of creating a disaster while preparing for a disaster. While running a drill, make sure data and paper files can still be accessed by office staff, she said, and that drill copies are encrypted and secure. n

“Being in compliance with a law and having good information security are different things.” —Joseph Burton, managing partner, Duane Morris LLP, San Francisco, speaking on new frontiers in data risk. The 1970 UD accounting graduate pointed out that, in a world where data is increasingly accessible online and housed by online data warehouses, companies need to have increased concerns about transmission, storage and privacy responsibilities. For example, he said that a spreadsheet stored on your computer is protected by the Fourth Amendment. When that spreadsheet moves online, such as one shared on Google spreadsheets, it is out of your possession and therefore is not guaranteed the same protection.

Burton 4 D A Y T O N L A W Y E R

Legal genius behind the airplane More than a century after the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, N.C., the limelight turned to the man who, behind the scenes, made airplane innovation possible. Harry Toulmin, a Springfield, Ohio, attorney who handled five patents for the brothers, was honored Oct. 5 during the century celebration of the filing of the Wright’s stabilization system patent. A bronze statue of Toulmin was unveiled in

Whose law rules the information superhighway? The following is an excerpt of “Whose Law Rules the Information Superhighway?” by attorney Tim Hatton and UD law student Molly L. Buckman. The article originally appeared in the January/February 2006 issue of GP Solo, Vol. 23, No. 1, and is reprinted with permission. © 2006 by the American Bar Association It has been said that the Internet knows no borders, and this is true. Once a site is running, it can be accessed from anywhere in the world. This raises many issues that you must consider when advising clients about potential pitfalls and liabilities related to their Web site. For example, if your client’s site is hosted in Illinois, could a California user sue her? Must she comply with the strict privacy laws in effect in the European Union? Your first advice to any client considering operating a Web site is that they permit you to draft and implement a terms of use agreement and that their Web site requires each user to signal acceptance of that agreement prior to completing any transaction on the site. But what if the client comes to you after already being sued in a foreign jurisdiction? Most courts faced with this situation have relied upon the minimal contacts requirements of basic due process set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington. Under International Shoe, a three-pronged test is used to determine whether minimal contacts exist. You need to recognize that even in the absence of an actual commercial transaction, your client’s Web site may collect certain information regarding visitors to the site. There are no reported decisions in the U.S. courts wherein a company has been held liable for violations of any European privacy directive, or where a judgment against a company has been enforced in a U.S. court. As long as your clients are truly doing business only in the United States, they would appear to be safe from enforced compliance with the European directives. The trend in the United States, however, is to move toward stricter privacy laws, with the European model becoming the de facto standard. Your clients should be advised to consider voluntarily complying with the European directives if their business model permits. The most important provision to comply with concerns traffic data — the collection of information about the user done automatically when the user connects to the Web site (usually via a cookie). At a minimum, in order to comply with the European Union directives, your client must take steps to make certain that the information collected becomes either anonymous or erased upon the termination of the user’s session. Your client must also have a “privacy policy” published on its site, which informs the user of the type of information collected and its intended use. Billing information may be retained only so long as the transaction may be challenged. Buckman (buckmaml@notes.udayton.edu) continues to perform case research for Hatton while completing her law studies and working for the Greene County, Ohio, Prosecutor’s Office. Hatton (tim@hattonlawyer.com) is an attorney based in Hendersonville, Tenn., who specializes in civil and criminal litigation (http://lawyerhatton.spaces.live.com).

Springfield’s downtown plaza. John Fitzgerald Duffy, professor at the George Washington University Law School, said that the Wright brothers’ claim reveals both a masterful invention and a masterful lawyer. “We don’t read it because Toulmin was a great lawyer, because he was, but because it was the marriage of a great lawyer and a great creator,” said Duffy during an evening panel discussion in Keller Hall, “A Century After the Airplane Patent: The Lawyer’s Role in Innovation.” Walter Rice, U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Ohio, introduced the panel with a string of “who’s first” quips. “Remember, Dayton is where the Wright brothers returned, after they’d been blown about in the North Carolina winds, to perfect the airplane,” Rice said. Each panelist spoke on an aspect of patent law. Bill Neukom, former general counsel for Microsoft, discussed the opportunities for nations to move themselves from consumer economies to creator economies by establishing a stable rule of law in which competent lawyers, a fair judiciary and inspired inventors can work together for the benefit of society. “You can, as a government, see fit to create this, I say, irresistible incentive spiral to get people to take the interest in invention and drive the economy,” said Neukom, president-elect of the American Bar Association. There is a tension, though, between lawyers enforcing executable patents and those looking to make a buck for clients who never intend to produce a product. Jesse Jenner, a partner with the Fish & Neave IP group of Ropes & Gray, evoked the Grimm brothers as he told tales of these “patent trolls” who stifle economic vitality. The patent review system can also stifle creativity, said John Doll, U.S. commissioner of patents. He discussed the impending 1 million patent application backlog and suggested a tiered approach to the review process. Such a “suite” of patent products would make short order of some patents — such as for reincarnation or spaceship anti-matter propulsion Continued on top of Page 6 W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 5

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Continued from Page 5

Law, Italian-style

Beaches, beautiful countryside and Italian law. For 20 UD law students, summer included two weeks of study abroad courses in Sorrento, Italy. Professor Dennis Turner arranged the law school’s first study abroad trip through UD’s Interdepartmental Summer Study Abroad Program. “All 20 spots were filled in a week,” Turner said. Classes immersed students in comparative law, showing them the differences among American, British, French and Italian law practices. “The biggest, most exciting academic event was when our students did a mock trial, ‘American style,’ for Italian judges and attorneys, and then the students tried the same case ‘Italian style,’” Turner said. He noted that Italy has no jury system and that judges play a much more active role in trials, while American law spends considerable time selecting jury members and relies on lawyers to dictate the pace of trials. Turner got the idea for the program when he attended the UD Sorrento trip on culture and nutrition in 2004. “I was so impressed with the school there, Sorrento Lingue, and its location. Their organization was great, they took care of housing and dinners, and they put me in contact with Italian judges and lawyers who helped teach the classes,” he said. Turner was also impressed with his students’ work while in Sorrento. “They did a great job trying the case with not much experience behind them. They had the added pressure of not only representing UD but also America, so they prepared well,” he said. One student on the trip, third-year Kyle Bowers, is planning an international law career. “The experience of learning law in Europe made it feel so real, since we weren’t just in a classroom anymore,” he said. For one assignment, students interviewed everyday Italians and found out how they perceived their law system. “Many Italians think that their law system is too slow and tend to mistrust judges, while over here in America it’s lawyers that people often mistrust,” Bowers said. Top prosecutor Montgomery County, Ohio, This summer, students can again learn comparative law in SorProsecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr. is president of the 7,000rento or attend the new law school trip to Winchester, England, member National District Attorneys Association, which that Turner is heading. represents 30,000 prosecutors nationwide. His goals Having taken three sabbaticals to England, Turner has many during the one-year term, which began in July, include contacts for the program. Students will meet judges and barristers retention of prosecutors and recruitment of minorities. He from London, Winchester and Portsmouth. They will also serve said he has actively recruited an office of ethnically and “mini-pupilages” with British professionals, including barristers, culturally diverse attorneys by working with law schools, solicitors and judges, who will give them an opportunity for an including the University of Dayton, and through the Triinsider’s perspective of the British courts. State Diversity Recruiting Program. —Caroline R. Miller ’07 “It is imperative that all members of my staff be able millercr@notes.udayton.edu

devices — and allow a team of patent reviewers to investigate the most worthy cases to assure the inventor that, in case of a challenge, the license would hold up in court. The courts also need a new approach to understanding patent litigation, said Chief Judge Larry McKinney of the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. “When technology enters the courtroom, it usually enters in a hurry. ... There’s the need for a good judge to recognize early a bad case,” he said, stating a need for technology education for judges. The discussion’s moderator was A.P. Carlton, a 1973 UD M.P.A. graduate. The partner with Kilpatrick and Stockton and past president of the ABA left the audience with a note of respect for the patent system which supported the Wright’s initial “flying machine” patent through two decades of disputes. “In the spirit of Harry Toulmin, I would suggest we need to treat the system as a client and, if we did, we would give it the attention, balance, virtue and patience we give our clients.” n

to work with and interact with victims of all backgrounds and cultures,” he said. “It is also important due to the large number of minority defendants who are involved in the criminal justice system.” Heck, a friend of the School and husband to municipal court judge Cynthia Haddad Heck ’79, said he also intends to address witness intimidation and child pornography, family violence, child abuse and elder abuse, and increase awareness of potential vulnerabilities of children who frequent chat rooms on the Internet. ■

In Memorium... Dick Braun, the dean who helped restart the School of Law in 1974, died Aug. 14 in Raleigh, N.C., at the age of 88. He served as dean until 1980 and helped the School receive its American Bar Association accreditation. In 1980, the School of Law gave Braun its first Honorable Walter H. Rice Honorary Alumni Award for demonstrating extraordinary commitment to the community, profession and the School of Law. The award’s citation said, in part, “Given his stellar military, academic, governmental and business background, his selection as the first dean proved to be most fortuitous.” ■ To remember colleague and friend Ramzi Nasser, professor Fran Conte requested a T-shirt of Nasser’s: “Recalling our fishing trip last spring to Cooley Howarth’s pond — with Arvin Miller, David Dudley, his Penn friend, and Cooley, which delighted Ramzi — I asked for a T-shirt with a print of a bass across the front and under it the words, ‘I’m a Keeper.’ He was a ‘keeper,’ taken from us far too soon.” Assistant professor Ramzi Nasser died Sept. 10 after a battle with cancer. He was 31. Conte and Dean Lisa Kloppenberg attended the funeral and visited with his family in California, where Nasser’s sister, Reema Kahn, distributed his personal belongings to friends. “Professor Nasser loved being a law professor,” Kloppenberg said. “He was extremely dedicated to the poor, particularly those needing representation in the criminal justice system. He helped build a criminal law clinical course at the law school.” On Nov. 17, a campus memorial ceremony was held for Nasser, who came to UD in 2004. A scholarship is being established in his memory. Previously, Nasser was a trial and appeals attorney for the Federal Defenders of San Diego, where he represented low-income people in federal court from arraignment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Nasser was also a federal court law clerk for James Giles, the chief judge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. ■

No need to whisper

With a strong cybervoice, the School’s Zimmerman Law Library is talking about social justice issues, including poverty, environmental and labor law. The library began its own blog, Vox Bibliothecae (http://www.voxbibliothecae .blogspot.com), in February 2006. “Blogs are just starting to hit the legal world,” said blog co-founder Sarah Glassmeyer. Glassmeyer and Maureen Anderson, reference librarians who initiated the blog, see the topic as a natural fit since the University and the School of Law both emphasize service to the community and concern for the common good. Glassmeyer and Anderson update the Web site daily. Also contributing are Tom Hanley, director of the library; Susan Elliott, head of public services; and Jessica Drewitz, a teaching assistant. “Instead of opinions, we give research tips,” said Glassmeyer, who includes links for readers interested in further research. Vox Bibliothecae is for anyone interested in social justice issues. The blog’s mission is to bring attention to important issues and allow readers to form their opinions about them. “We hope that people will catch something they normally wouldn’t have seen and think about it,” Anderson said. For example, the Third World Traveler’s Web site is featured, which offers an alternate view to the mainstream media about democracy in America. Vox Bibliothecae is open to guest posts. Send post questions and topic suggestions to maureen.anderson@notes.udayton.edu. —Sarah Barnidge ’07 barnidsa@notes.udayton.edu

Dean Lisa Kloppenberg tees off on the first hole of the Dean’s Classic and 17th Annual Honorable Carl D. Kessler Golf Tournament, held Oct. 6 at Yankee Trace golf course south of Dayton. This was the first year for the combined event, which raised $10,000 in scholarship funds. The tournament was played in memory of George J. Gounaris, a retired Montgomery County probate judge who died March 27, 2006. Gounaris started the tournament in memory of his friend and colleague, Judge Carl Kessler. Kloppenberg’s team included Judge Anthony Capizzi ’79, Kelly Henrici ’94 and Mark Zunich (pictured). Winning the tournament was a team of first-year students, Jason Basil, Aaron Hill, Craig Shamburg and Roddy Stieger. W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 7

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Dying while black As a lawyer, a scholar and a nurse, professor Vernellia Randall takes a personal look at a widespread problem — inequities in the U.S. health care system that have created a crisis she calls “dying while black” — in her new book by the same name. She writes, “[I]n a racist society such as ours, the effect of race is paramount and pervasive. Race also affects the way that health care institutions provide services. … Health care institutions must be more than affordable; they have to be based on equity and distributive justice.” Her chapters build on government health statistics that illustrate the title. For example, in 1990, there were 1.32 black deaths for every white death. In 2002, for each death from maternal mortality among white women, there were 4.8 such deaths among black women. The book, published in October 2006, also includes glimpses of the personal impact of the “black health deficit” as Randall uses her family’s experience to illustrate the reality of the statistics: “In 1957, when I was 8 years old, my mother died of cancer. The last time I saw my mother, my father took us up into the hospital through a back stairway into a dark room that smelled funny. It was a women’s ward and, while Pennsylvania did not have Jim Crow laws, all the patients ‘just happened to be’ black. It was my first experience with discrimination in the health care system. It would not be my last.” To repair the black health deficit, Randall suggests reparations that go beyond giving money to those who have been injured and instead using money to repair the harm. “Under this view, reparation restores hope and dignity and rebuilds the community,” she writes. “It does so because before reparations can be undertaken there must be a clear acknowledgement and assessment of the harm. Reparations for blacks, conceived as repair, can help mend this larger tear in the social fabric for the benefit of both blacks and mainstream America. This view allows responsibility and action by all parties. It allows healing to begin by cleansing the souls of blacks and whites.” More information on her book, published by Seven Principles Press, is available at http://sevenprinciplespress.com. n

New faculty Eric Chaffee, a visiting professor teaching advanced criminal law and business organizations, worked at Jones Day in Cleveland in the areas of corporate litigation, securities regulation, bankruptcy, intellectual property and criminal law. Jeannette Cox joins the faculty to teach and write in the areas of civil procedure, employment law and disability law. She formerly clerked for Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, a U.S. appeals court judge in Portland, Ore. Pamela Laufer-Ukeles teaches family law and interviewing, counseling and negotiation. Before joining the faculty, she was a litigator focusing on international arbitration, securities arbitration and general litigation at law firms 8 D A Y T O N L A W Y E R

in New York City and Israel. Tracy Reilly teaches intellectual property and property courses. She was most recently a partner at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago where she worked in the areas of intellectual property, entertainment, advertising, Internet and e-commerce law. Kristen Safier is teaching legal profession classes. She previously was a litigation associate at Taft, Stettinus & Hollister in Cincinnati and taught at Miami University. Julie Zink, a 1999 UD alumna, is teaching full-time in the legal profession program. She taught Legal Profession III while an associate at Faruki Ireland & Cox in Dayton. She specialized in intellectual property litigation at Oliff & Berridge PLC in Alexandria, Va.

You’re invited... Feb. 17

Harlem Exchange: A Journey

of Friends Across Three Decades Performance of the play written and directed by professor Dennis Greene, 8 p.m., Sears Recital Hall, Jesse Philips Humanities Center. Free.

Feb. 24

Alumni basketball game and reception UD Flyers v. Xavier Musketeers UD Arena. Details: Lee Ann Ross, 937-229-3793.

April 7

Admitted Student Law Day Details: 937-229-3555.

May 18-19

Alumni Weekend

Luncheon, CLE course, dinner and receptions for the Classes of 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002. Details: Lee Ann Ross, 937-229-3793.

Photo by William P. Cannon/Observer-Dispatch

All in the legal family

n Oct. 16, the family of John Snyder ’98 stood behind his petition to be admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. They also stood beside and in front of him, as nine members of his family rose out of black leather chairs to become one of the largest family groups ever to be admitted together. Chief Justice John Roberts had one question for them: “Nobody wanted to be a doctor?” “That really diffused the tension and got everyone laughing,” Snyder said from his office in Utica, N.Y. The Snyder clan of 35 had piled into cars for the seven-hour drive to D.C. to fulfill the dream of his father — Donald Snyder — a man with family on his mind even before they were born. The elder Snyder first thought of seeking admittance to the Supreme Court in 1966, the year he passed the New York bar exam. His wife, Mary Therese Snyder — the only woman in the Albany Law School of Union University Class of 1964 — was also a lawyer. Why not add a few more to the petition? So he sat back and watched his family of attorneys grow. “They always spoke up for themselves, and they would defend one another,” Donald Snyder told the Utica Observer-Dispatch. His daughters agreed. “Around the dinner table, certainly we would hold our turf,” Elizabeth Snyder said. “If John got sent to his room one of us would come upstairs and advocate for him so he could come back down and play,” Mary Snyder Radel said. While John Snyder said he doesn’t remember being sent to his room, he does remember his parents supporting the activities of all their children, including when an eighth-grade John was a finalist in a statewide Optimist oration contest. “I think as I got older I wanted to be a litigator. I wanted to be challenged to think and react while on my feet,” said Snyder, whose practice includes insurance civil defense and workers’ compensation. As a litigator, he’s used to pressure. But he was sweating a bit as his four young children navigated the security checkpoint to get into the Washington courtroom. This is a very important place, he told them. There are rules. No running. No screaming. Even 4-month-old Donald John got the message and sat quietly while Philip Fortino, boyfriend of Elizabeth Snyder, stood before the justices and read the motion to admit. Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court William Suter allowed him to deviate from the formal script, instead signifying each attorney by familial title — father, mother, brother, daughters, son, sons-in-law and family friend Jill Skretny — admitting 10 in all. While John Snyder had wandered away from his family in the 1990s — to attend law school in Dayton and join the Binghamton, N.Y., office of Levene Gouldin & Thompson LLP, a couple hours south of Utica — he says he’s back where he belongs, in a town where weekly family dinners require at least 20 place settings. “I always thought I would end up working for him,” Snyder said of his father. “Now, I rent space from his office, and instead of him paying me, I pay him. It’s worked out pretty well for him.” n

Among the Snyder family to be admitted to the Supreme Court are five general practice attorneys (father Donald, mother Mary Therese, sister Graceanne, uncle Gerry, brother-in-law Patrick Quinn), a judicial clerk (sister Mary Snyder Radel), a public interest lawyer (sister Elizabeth) and a general civil litigator (brother-in-law Patrick Radel). John Snyder ’98 is pictured back row, third from left.

UD among Princeton Review’s top law schools “High-tech classrooms,” a “notable program in intellectual property law,” “approachable” faculty and a “tightknit” community contribute to a positive UD School of Law experience, according to student responses in The Princeton Review’s newly published Best 170 Law Schools. The Princeton Review said the law school’s facilities garner unanimous student praise. Respondents described the School of Law as an “architectural jewel.” “There is no more state-of-the-art law school than the University of Dayton School of Law,” one student said. UD’s evaluation also mentions the school’s new Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum. “We chose schools based on our high regard for their academic programs and offerings, institutional data we collect from the schools, and the candid opinions of students attending them who rate and report on their campus experiences at the schools,” said Robert Franek, vice president of publishing at The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review also made note of UD’s legal writing program, which has been nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Best 170 Law Schools contains two-page profiles of the schools with write-ups on their academics, student life and admissions, plus ratings for their academics, selectivity and career placement services. —Shawn Robinson srobinson@udayton.edu W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 9

For years, students have been serving the community in silent ways, impacting individual lives and larger causes. Participation in the new pro bono student pledge will shout volumes about what they do for the community, as well as institutionalize experiential

Quiet learning opportunities

and cultivate a culture of volunteerism.

acts of

kindness

by Michelle Tedford tedford@udayton.edu

As a bankruptcy paralegal, Juliette Gaffney Dame processed client forms and passed judgment: Clients got in trouble because they spent too much money. She changed her mind after meeting Meredith. Meredith (a real person, but not her real name) walked into a Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project bankruptcy clinic for indigent clients with her head bowed, her shoulders slouched. She sat down with Gaffney Dame, then a first-year UD law student volunteer, to fill out the forms and share her story: two boys, aspirations for a better job, an abusive marriage and the hope that bankruptcy would help her make the break. “She was trying to make life better for herself and for her kids,” said Gaffney Dame, still getting choked up when talking about Meredith. “The tears flowed but, by the end, she was sitting taller.” Meredith showed Gaffney Dame the person — the story — that lies at the heart of a legal case. As a 2006 graduate and member of the School’s new pro bono social justice recognition committee, Gaffney Dame hopes to formalize the volunteerism process through the new pro bono pledge that students can choose to sign. By committing to volunteerism, she said students will learn new skills, be more aware of community needs and taste the impact lawyers can have in the lives of their clients and in benefit of society.

The pledge This fall, all students received a copy of the pro bono pledge, which states that students recognize the obligation of lawyers to seek improvement of the law, access to the legal system, the administration of justice and the quality of service rendered by the legal profession. The pledge is an outgrowth of the Volunteer Student Law Project, started by Gaffney Dame and other UD law students three years ago as a way to organize service opportunities for students. “Everyone comes from some sort of community and, while when you come to law school you join a new one, you never lose where you came from,” Gaffney Dame said. For example, students have spent their summers volunteering for public defenders in their hometowns and have joined campus service groups that have raised thousands of dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims. Students at any time can choose to sign the pledge, which for first-year students requires a minimum of 50 hours of service during their three years of law school. Second and third-year students must complete 40 and 20 hours respectively before graduation. Of the hours, all but 10 must be used in legal service to Left: Connie Klayko walks through downtown Dayton on her way to meet prisoners at the Montgomery County jail.

others. Students completing the minimum requirements will have their pro bono service listed on their transcripts and will wear a purple cord at graduation. The process will acknowledge students already engaged in service, encourage others to begin service activities and provide a public record of student accomplishments, said Dean of Students Lori Shaw. “We want to make the community aware of the quiet acts of kindness our students undertake,” Shaw said.

See a need and fill it While current upperclass students can count past service, future volunteer hours must be completed in pre-approved service activities, such as staffing living will clinics sponsored by the Volunteer Student Law Project or in writing briefs for pro bono criminal attorneys with Ohio’s Second District Court of Appeals. Students log their hours, which they turn in at the end of the term for recording, and fill out a program evaluation. Shaw said this ensures activities are providing both quality community service and positive learning experiences for students. Shaw said she hopes that the bank of approved activities will grow and act as a resource for future students looking to target their legal service with particular issues or organizations.

A roof over their heads Megan Brady sat in a Chicago eviction courtroom last summer alongside a family of five, evicted because of the city’s strict guidelines on the yearling public housing recertification process and a “one-strike” policy on drug arrests. “That was the only case I really saw us lose,” she said after her summer internship. “It was really sad.” Brady, now a third-year law student, worked for the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic in Chicago. It was an opportunity to see her career in action. “I wanted to go into public interest, and housing’s a big issue in Chicago. I wanted to prevent people from being evicted,” she said. As a participant through Equal Justice Works, a program organizing service-minded law students across the nation, Brady was able to help the clinic assist individuals and families avoid homelessness, displacement and forced neighborhood relocation. In the courtroom, Brady solved housing voucher disputes by working alongside supervising attorneys. She prepared part of an argument for a hearing. “The hearing officer ruled to re-instate our client’s voucher because, once she heard the facts of our client’s case, she realized that our client had not deserved to have her voucher terminated in the first place,” she said. “I left the hearing with a tremendous sense of selfaccomplishment. I wanted to continue to help people in this capacity after graduation.” Brady was one of five students who this fall were awarded $1,000 to $4,000 social justice scholarships for their work in the community, part of the School’s effort to highlight lawyers’ responsibility to public interest. Other recipients were Elizabeth Alberico, Deepak Kulkarni, Aaron Pinon and Laura Spellecy. Brady said that she had not worked with the poor before and was motivated by her experience working one-on-one with individuals in need. “The most rewarding part was interacting with the clients and being able to actually use my law school education to help people in a substantial way,” she said. —Johnnie Kling ’09 klingjoc@notes.udayton.edu

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Connie Klayko, a second-year law student, is hoping to make the Buckeye Forest Council one of those organizations. Her interest in environmental and social justice law led her to call the environmental organization this past summer and offer her services. She spent 40 hours researching, comparing and contrasting state and federal laws concerning forest protection for the council’s pro bono attorney. She said she hopes to continue

prison and decrease recidivism, she said. Volunteer work for Klayko, who has a 15-year history helping the Ohio Historical Society, is cause and effect — you see a need and you fill it. “Volunteering also allows you to do things you’d never expect to be able to do and get paid for,” she said.

More than selling Snickers

Daniel Craine, who was part of the first summer start class, sees the pledge as another indication that wanting to be a lawyer goes beyond monetary aspirations. “It’s nice to be able to look outside the box,” he said, motioning to the law school, “to see that we are people in a special position, being given specific knowledge that will help others.” He is one of 40 first-year students who, by six weeks into the fall semester, had signed onto the Volunteer Student Law Project. He regularly donates blood and volunteers with his wife, Lea, at St. Christopher Catholic Church in Vandalia, Ohio, both of which can be counted toward his 10 non-legal hours. He said his sense of community service stems from his father, who had a business entertaining children. Craine and his Juliette Gaffney Dame ’06 hopes to grow the list of wife took over the family organizations students can serve. business, which he finds the work through the fall and solidify the more fulfilling than the job he originally School’s connection to the organization. went to the University of Cincinnati to Klayko signed the pledge as soon as complete: graphic design. it was sent out, she said, because her law “I didn’t feel I was serving the public school routine already includes more volgood being a graphic design co-op, where unteer hours than required. I helped sell Snickers candy bars or make For example, she and three other you pick an issue of Seventeen magazine students volunteered this summer for the off the rack,” he said. “I want to go into Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project, estate planning, where I’m helping people drafting a pamphlet for female prisonprotect their livelihood, their assets, their ers. The information on temporary child lives. I do that and I’ll be able to sleep at custody, tenant rights and social services night.” is intended to ease their transition from Shaw said that, in addition to making 1 2 D A Y T O N L A W Y E R

the students feel good about using their new skills to help the public, pro bono activities make students more attractive to employers. “Employers are looking for people who care,” she said. “Most firms are engaged in pro bono (work) so they’re looking for people who have the same kind of commitment. It also says that this is a balanced person who can relate to the world as well as the classroom.”

Filling ‘free time’ For Melinda Warthman, a balanced life is a daily goal. On the way to class each morning, she drops Maggie, 3, at day care and Mariell, 8, at school. As a wife and former instructor in the UD communication department, she enrolled in the accelerated Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum to enhance her skills and finish on the accelerated schedule, which requires 18 credit hours a semester. Before she signed the pledge, she counted how the volunteer hours would fit into her life. She figured the three to four hours a week the pledge requires could fit into her “free time,” those few hours a week when she finds herself sitting on the couch reading or watching the news. “The public sees the lawyer as the expert, an extra pair of hands to help in a problem situation,” she said. “Even after a semester, you start thinking in a different way, a way that can help people find the

Funding pro bono The pro bono pledge is one part of the School’s plan to increase awareness of and recognition for community service. At the 2006 Alumni Weekend, a pro bono services auction organized by students raised $2,500 to support summer stipends for students doing public interest and pro bono work. The collection taken during the Sept. 24 Red Mass at the Immaculate Conception Chapel added more than $700 to the fund, and Dean Lisa Kloppenberg said other opportunities to grow the fund are being explored. Dean of Students Lori Shaw said the School is looking at other ways to support service, including loan forgiveness programs.

Purple, the color of commitment to community Long before the pro bono pledge was conceived, students have been serving their communities. At graduation May 13, 2006, 10 students walked down the aisle wearing purple cords as part of the inaugural class of the pro bono commitment to community award winners; their names and accomplishments are listed below. Students were nominated and completed an essay outlining their accomplishments. Future awards will be tied to hours logged through the pro bono pledges.

resources to solve problems.” The 50 hours sounds reasonable to Warthman. It’s the number of pro bono hours a year the American Bar Association suggests lawyers aspire to, and it’s a number the School decided on after reviewing pro bono programs at other law schools. Shaw said there’s a debate happening in the nation’s law schools about whether to make service mandatory. UD decided to keep it optional. “Once you make it a requirement, you’re taking away part of the blessing,” Shaw said. Warthman, who already logged hours preparing and delivering lunches to a local homeless shelter, said that the nice thing about the pledge is that she’s agreeing to do her best to reach 50 hours: “I’ll give it the old college try. … Experientially, there’s something to be said for practicing law by doing it, and if you can couple that with service, it’s good.” Just as the Volunteer Student Law Project grew from the ideas of a few students, Gaffney Dame hopes the pro bono pledge builds to where the pro bono service recognition committee of a few faculty,

Photo by Andy Snow

Work toward the pro bono pledge can include non-legal volunteerism, such as packing lunches for The Other Place.

Sarah Brown is founder of the Volunteer Student Law Project, which works with local attorneys to provide free legal assistance to community members in need. She spoke about student pro bono organizations at Equal Justice conferences. Walter Castro volunteered through the Society of St. Thomas More student organization. He assisted bankruptcy clients through VSLP and worked on eviction cases through an internship at the Dayton Legal Aid of Western Ohio office. Carrie Chaille was involved in bankruptcy and living will cases through VSLP. She provided assistance to the Colorado Court-Appointed Special Advocates program. As an officer for the Student Bar Association, Chaille helped charitable organizations including a local homeless shelter. Juliette Gaffney Dame helped to create VSLP, where she worked on bankruptcy and living will issues. Through the criminal pro bono program, she worked with the public defender to assist indigent clients with their criminal cases. Max Eckstein, a founding member of VSLP, served as vice president and a training coordinator. He helped clients with bankruptcy, divorce and living will issues. Eckstein also served as Student Bar Association president and vice president. Jennifer George served as secretary/treasurer and president of VSLP. She represented VSLP at the 2006 Equal Justice conference. George helped with bankruptcy cases and served as an interpreter for client interviews. Aimee Herring, a member of the St. Thomas More Society, raised funds for several charitable organizations and helped coordinate food, clothing and blood drives. She served as president of the Women’s Caucus student organization. Judy LaMusga worked with the Disability Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides financial planning options for people with disabilities. She was founder and president of the Elder Law and Estate Planning Society and a member of VSLP. Maureen Marshall worked for the Chicago Center for Disability and Elder Law. She worked on a pro bono domestic violence case in South Bend, Ind., helped homeless clients in Dayton and was a founding member of the Elder Law and Estate Planning Society. Sasha Alexa VanDeGrift, a law clerk for the Federal Public Defender’s office in Dayton, worked with indigent clients and participated in several felony trials. She also served as a volunteer law clerk for the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals and founded the Criminal Law Association.

staff and alumni cannot keep up with the demands. “It’s practice beyond the case book, beyond moot court. ... This is someone going through a divorce, someone going through a bankruptcy. This is someone

you have to look in the eye and connect with.” She said if she can help students experience a connection like she felt with Meredith, she’ll be proud of her classmates’ legacy. n W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 13

F A C U L T Y

N E W S

Whose rule rules the EU? Professor Fran Conte wants his students to understand that European Union law can be relevant, even if they never plan on practicing abroad. “The EU is probably the major competitor at the moment, economically, with the U.S.,” Conte said. “As an economic unit, it’s an international force in international trade. Many businesses do international business and need to be aware of those laws.” As a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, Conte first became interested in analyzing the contrasts and comparisons of the U.S. Constitution and the Canadian Charter. His curiosity spilled into the realm of EU law, which he has been researching for the past five years.

Publications & presentations On May 1, Susan Brenner, NCR Distinguished Professor of Law and Technology, presented “Distributed Security: Law Enforcement and Cybercrime” and was a panel chair for “Cybercrime: Identity Theft, the Convention on Cybercrime and Other Issues” at the First International Conference on Legal, Security and Privacy Issues in IT held in Hamburg, Germany. In May, she presented “The Fourth Amendment in Cyberspace” at the U.S. Secret Service Briefing Session 1 4 D A Y T O N L A W Y E R

and at the Dayton Infragard. This summer, Brenner presented “Cybercrime Offenses: An Overview & The Fourth Amendment in Cyberspace” at the Jack Rabbit Bar Association at Jackson Hole, Wyo., at the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys’ Institute and at the Miami-Dade Police Training Institute in Miami, Fla. In spring 2006, Brenner’s article “Cybercrime Jurisdiction in Crime, Law and Social Change” was published in Crime, Law and Social Change,

He brought his knowledge to the classroom where he twice taught an experimental course on EU law, exposing students to the functions of different institutions and treaties. Under the new Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum, Conte created a onecredit intrasession in October on key elements and institutions. The intrasession was an intensive course that reduced EU law to its essentials, focusing on institutions, the court and approaches the court takes to provisions of its treaties, he said. Conte has found his EU research to be useful in teaching other areas of law. “I’m able to talk to my students about particular things like supremacy and preemption in the EU,” he said. “It’s often helpful to draw comparisons and contrasts between EU principles and U.S. Constitution principles. It serves as sort of an insight into U.S. law and our constitutional system.” In Conte’s latest article, “Reinforcing Fran Conte Democracy, Sovereignty and Union Efficacy: Supremacy and Subsidiarity in the European Union,” he discusses the issue of the primacy of EU law whenever it conflicts with a member state’s law. It has been

and her review of Digital Evidence and Computer Crime: Forensic Science, Computers and the Internet, written by Eoghan Casey, was published in Jurimetrics. She also published “Law in an Era of Pervasive Technology” in the Widener Law Journal; “Distributed Security: Preventing Cybercrime” with co-author Leo Clarke in the John Marshall Journal of Computer and Information Law; and “State-Sponsored Crime: The Futility of the Economic Espionage Act” with co-author A. Crescenzi in the Houston Journal of International

Law. Brenner is chief editorial adviser for the International Journal of Cyber Crimes and Criminal Justice. Professor Rebecca Cochran presented “Another Role for LRW Faculty: Casting LRW Faculty as Doctrinal Faculty” at the Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference in Tucson, Ariz., in March. This spring she was appointed to the Ohio State Bar Association Appellate Law Specialty Board. She has drafted and continues to draft questions to be used in the Appellate Prac-

accepted for publication in the University of Miami Law Review. The EU consists of 25 member states, each with its own systems of laws, police and courts. It is not a federal government; therefore, it lacks a constitution. The EU’s many treaties act, in a way, as its constitution, he said; though occasionally EU legislation conflicts with a member state’s laws. The question then arises, which law do you apply? “Everyone needs to be applying EU law in essentially the same way,” Conte said. In the United States, the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution establishes federal law as the supreme law of the land as long as the federal law is constitutional. “Should the same kinds of principles about preempting state law apply to EU law?” he asked. In discussing primacy, he added that federal law pre-empts state laws in a federal system to ensure consistency in the application of laws intended for all the states. If not for primacy, treaties and EU laws could not be carried out, and the federal system — the EU — would be ineffective. Conte’s many travels to Europe have enhanced his study of EU law. Last year, he attended a conference in Germany where he met with officials and visited EU institutions. “I enjoy most how the U.S. Constitution enables us to live fuller lives in fairness and equality and so forth and the basic duty to protect our rights as citizens,” Conte said. “I enjoy that in EU law as well.” —Anna E. Sexton ’07 sextonae@notes.udayton.edu

tice certification test. In August, she attended a working meeting of the National Conference of Bar Examiners in Madison, Wis. The conference has obtained new data that will help shape ongoing bar passage efforts. Director of the legal profession program and professor of lawyering skills, Maria Perez Crist published “Preserving the Duty to Preserve: The Increasing Vulnerability of Electronic Information” in the November South Carolina Law Review. In June, she presented at the Legal

Teaching Center. The Pathfinder Project was a four-week immersion course in 2005 where six African-American UD students studied African-American history and then taught the material to high school students from the Dayton Early College Academy. Dean Lisa Kloppenberg published “Reforming Chinese Arbitration Law and Practices in the Global Economy,” which she co-wrote with professor Zhao Xiuwen of Renmin University of China School of Law, in the spring 2006 issue of the University of Dayton Law Review. In April, Kloppenberg, a member of the American Bar Association Law School Development Committee, went to the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law for an American Bar Association site visit. In May, she was a panelist for NCORE Transforming Higher Education Institutions at the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education held in Chicago. She was a panelist for “The Tired Paradigm of American Legal Education: Are We Teaching Lawyers the Skills They Need?” at the June International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

Writing Institute biennial conference in Atlanta on “Anonymous Grading in the LRW Curriculum: How and Why.” In July, Crist presented “The Ohio Lawyer’s Guide to the Internet” in Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland for the Ohio State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Institute.

In March, assistant professor of lawyering skills Sheila Miller gave a presentation on “Using Quizzes to Fortify the Base of Bloom’s Taxonomy” at the Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference in Tucson, Ariz. During the summer, she also developed an intrasession class on human trafficking.

Professor Dennis Greene presented “Passing on the Legacy of Leadership with the Pathfinder Project” Sept. 5 for the faculty exchange series at UD’s Ryan C. Harris Learning

Professor Richard Saphire’s article “The Voting Rights Act and the Racial Gap in Lost Votes,” co-written with professor Paul Moke of Wilmington College, appeared in the fall

Hastings Law Journal. Saphire is continuing his work as co-counsel for the plaintiffs in Stewart v. Blackwell in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the judgment of the federal district court and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. In July, the Sixth Circuit granted the defendants’ motion for en banc review and Saphire worked on the plaintiffs’/appellants’ en banc brief. He is currently working on an article with co-author Paul Moke, “The Ideologies of Judicial Selection,” on the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments for and against the popular election and merit selection of state judges. Lori Shaw, dean of students and professor of lawyering skills, received a national award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for the second year in a row. She continues to write her regular column on professionalism for the Student Lawyer; and the second edition of A Federal Grand Jury: A Guide to Law & Practice, which Shaw and professor Susan Brenner worked on together, will be published at the end of the year. In May, associate professor of lawyering skills Susan Wawrose sat on a panel at the American Association of Law Schools Conference on Clinical Legal Education in New York, and in June she sat on a panel at the Legal Writing Institute Conference in Atlanta. At both conferences her panel presented the results of a national e-survey of legal writing faculty to determine how they collaborate with their colleagues in clinical, externship and pro bono programs. In the July 2006 issue of TRIAL magazine, Wawrose reviewed Lifting the Fog of Legalese: Essays on Plain Language, written by Joseph Kimble. W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 15

Francis J. Conte Special Service Awards

Mary Donovan Mary Louise Dreety David Greer

Kelvin Dickinson

Their lives

and actions

have enriched

the

School of Law. On May 12 and 13, alumni said,

Kelvin Dickinson clasps his hands behind his head and sinks into his office chair, reflecting on his dual roles of associate dean of academic affairs and a member of the faculty since 1979. In both roles, his constant compass is the students’ best interest. Dickinson has called them to his office to discuss disciplinary violations and police reports. Students have sought his advice on course selection and bar examination preparation. He also is a sounding board for their personal issues. “Some students come to me with human needs — problems with a spouse, child or significant other and concerns about money, health or reputation,” he said. His influence permeates the School. He helped develop the Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum that combines substantive courses with skills development and experiential learning. He also served on the faculty committee that proposed the nationally acclaimed Legal Profession Program, which helps students build research, analysis and writing skills in the context of the evolving technology used in law practice. In the end, the alumni gauge his success in both roles. “There is just nothing like the feeling that you get when a successful lawyer — and former student — says, ‘You were the one who really made a difference in my life,’” Dickinson said. Mary Louise Dreety showed her support for the law school in a special way: she baked cookies. Her daughter-in-law, Louisa, said Mrs.

‘Thank you.’

Alumni ’06Awards

Dreety was a fine cook and loved to give food. “She used to send a tray of cookies to the law school every Christmas, but when she realized that not many people were there during that time she switched to Valentine’s Day so more people could enjoy them,” she said. Mrs. Dreety was awarded the Francis J. Conte Special Service Award for the many ways she had helped the School. Tim Stonecash, assistant dean for external relations, said Mrs. Dreety was important in establishing the Meyer Dreety Scholarship Fund, named for her late husband, a 1934 law school graduate. “Meyer always felt that he was well prepared for his job as an attorney. He attributed that to the fine education he received at UD,” Louisa Dreety said. Mrs. Dreety passed away Oct. 11. Her presence at school events and her positive attitude were also recognized during the award ceremony. “There is an inclusiveness about her that is remarkable,” Louisa Dreety said. “She has never seen color or economic status as anything that divided people. She gets along with everyone.”

Honorable Walter H. Rice Honorary Alumni Award

David Greer has dealt with everyone from axe murderers to widows trying to figure out what to do with their millions. “Every case I have worked on has been interesting to see where different people fall into the human comedy,” he said. Since 1962, Greer has worked as a trial lawyer for Bieser, Greer and Landis in Dayton. He has been rated No. 1 in Ohio Super Lawyers magazine and was listed in Best Lawyers in America in the categories of personal injury and business litigation. “Surviving as a trial lawyer for 45 years is probably my greatest accomplishment,” Greer said. “You have to be born fighting and be ready to fight every day.” A graduate of Yale Law School, Greer said he supports the UD School of Law because he has seen students become exceptional lawyers. Many UD graduates work at his law firm and his son, James Greer, graduated from the law school in 1990. Greer is also adept at instructing a dif-

by Kathleen Miller ’07 millerkk@notes.udayton.edu

1 6 D A Y T O N L A W Y E R

ferent kind of student — traditional jazz aficionados. His whiskey baritone voice and Ome banjo strumming pace the Classic Jazz Stompers, the traditional jazz band he fronts, and he precedes each tune with a tidbit rooted in America’s history. “Dayton is a wonderful, vibrant, alive community that has all sorts of indigenous arts that are available,” he said. “I’m happy to contribute through my music.”

A man convicted of three counts of felonious assault and sentenced to 17 years behind bars appealed his conviction on the basis of errors that were committed. It was up to Judge Mary Donovan ’77 of the Ohio Second District Court of Appeals to review the entire record of the trial to determine the man’s fate. “One of the most challenging parts of my job is the fact that I am called upon every day to make decisions that impact the livelihood and freedom of human beings,” she said. Donovan also impacts people as president of the board of the Volunteer Lawyer Project, an attorney-driven pro bono program that provides free services to people with limited financial resources. She also participates on the board of PowerNet, the prison advisory board and the Ohio Jury Instruction editorial board, and she chairs the Ohio Supreme Court Task Force on Certification of Court Reporters and the Notre Dame Club’s Excellence in Teaching Conference. Donovan credits her commitment to public service to her Catholic education and upbringing. “Giving back to the community and helping the less fortunate is part and parcel of a Catholic education,” she said. She in turn supports Catholic education, having employed about a dozen UD law school graduates and students as staff attorneys and interns since she became a judge. Among the other roles Donovan fills are Sister Mary Hubert from Nunsense and the judge from Here’s Love — characters she’s performed for Dayton Playhouse and Beavercreek Community Theatre. About all her activities, Donovan said, “At the end of the day, I want to know that I’ve used the talents God has entrusted to my care.”

Alumni Weekend 2006

Distinguished Alumni Award

From the first pitch at the Dayton Dragons baseball game to the last toast at the alumni dinner, more than 300 alumni, friends and family members rekindled old friendships and made plans for future get-togethers during Alumni Weekend 2006. Among the attendees were 21 members of the Class of 1978, who celebrated their 25th reunion (shown below, left). Photos by Andy Snow

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R O U N D T A B L E

A Ford man

“I’m a third generation Ford person,” said Peter Sherry, secretary and associate general counsel for the Ford Motor Company. His grandfather left the Pennsylvania coal mines to come to Detroit “to work for the $5 a day the great Henry Ford offered beginning in 1914” said Sherry, whose father was a human resources professional with the company. Sherry received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from UD in 1977, but started looking at other options as graduation neared. Law school was the most attractive. “The things that influenced me the most in law school were the corporate law classes I took, and I became interested in working on the corporate side rather than in litigation,” said Sherry, who still follows the Dayton Flyers. “I had very good professors, and the classes were very stimulating.” Sherry joined Ford in 1980 as a staff attorney. During his career, he’s held a variety of positions and lived outside of London from 1989 until 1993, traveling throughout Europe to address various legal issues. Today, as corporate secretary, his responsibilities include board of directors and shareholder meetings, corporate governance activities, proxy statements, and relationships with stock exchanges. Sherry’s duties as associate general counsel include Securities and Exchange Commission filings and compliance, executive compensation issues, corporate compliance matters, mergers and acquisitions, supplier purchasing matters, and maintaining relationships with auto dealers. He also manages a staff of approximately 30 attorneys and legal assistants, as well as a few administrators. It’s a hefty workload, but Sherry loves his job and credits his team for the overall success of his group. “It’s very intellectually challenging,” he said. “No two days are ever the same. I enjoy the people, the variety, the magnitude and complexity.” Indeed, Sherry has worked on some key legal transactions. For example, in 1999, he was the lead attorney and a lead negotiator when Ford purchased Volvo’s car business in Sweden — a $6 billion transaction. The following year, he led the legal team and was a lead negotiator in Ford’s $2.6 billion purchase of Land Rover from BMW. “These negotiations are invariably complicated and very difficult,” Sherry said. “It becomes very much a 24/7 event. When we worked on the Land Rover purchase, we spent over 30 days in a hotel in London and we worked every one of those days. Then you come back here, tell everyone what you did, get some direction and head back over. It means every day is a challenge.” —Kristen Wicker ’98

Peter Sherry Jr. ’80

1 8 D A Y T O N L A W Y E R

’70s

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’80s

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Purely for the plaintiffs

Victoria Pugh changed his life. The 23-year-old was beautiful, 5’6”, with a determined voice and an ambitious nature. Derric Crowther ’96, a trial attorney who was defending an asbestos manufacturer for Evert & Weathersby in Atlanta, had interviewed upwards of 200 witnesses in cases related to the health effects of asbestos. Most of them had been men in their 70s with visages of death. As Crowther watched Pugh walk into the deposition room, he said to himself, “This is the most frivolous lawsuit I’ve seen in my life.” But within 10 minutes of questioning, Pugh’s breath began to fail and her head slump until, exhausted, she lay on the table, trying still to answer questions about how such a young woman could have contracted mesothelioma, a rare, incurable form of lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure occurring decades earlier. “She looked up at me and said, ‘I wanted to be a lawyer, just like you,’” he said during a phone interview from his Atlanta office. “I can see her right now as I close my eyes. “It touched me and affected me to the core. I was really moved by her. I just wanted to help her while she lay there.” Two months later, Pugh died. On her deathbed, she relayed a thank you to Crowther for showing compassion and cutting short that day’s deposition. “My heart just wasn’t in it to do it anymore, to defend these big companies,” he said. “I know I should be helping folks get justice instead of finding ways to deny them justice.” In 2002, Crowther began representing only plaintiffs, first through Evert & Weathersby, and then with Henry, Spiegel, Fried & Milling. He left the firm in 2003 to attend Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyo., on which he has been a staff member ever since. “Doing plaintiffs’ work can be very draining at times, emotionally, physically and even spiritually, depending on whom you’re sitting across from,” he said. “It (Trial Lawyers College) is an opportunity if nothing more than to recharge your batteries around other people who are trying to get justice for people.” Crowther started his own practice in 2003 and took on a partner, Solomon H. Ashby Jr., this June. Their caseload includes medical malpractice, product liability and toxic tort cases, with Crowther consulting on medical malpractice and toxic tort cases nationally. Crowther, who at UD was on the mock trial team and was president of BLSA, sees his job as giving a voice to those who are underrepresented. He donated funds to support diverse students at the UD School of Law. Such diversity is important for all students, he said, since lawyers are required to understand the cases of people of all backgrounds. “We require, at the very least, exposure to folks of different backgrounds so we don’t come off not knowing, as we often do,” he said. To better know his clients, Crowther invites them over for dinner with his wife, Dr. Freda McCarter, and visits with them and their families at their homes. “If I’m going to go to court and represent them, I need to be their voice, and so I need to know them.” —Michelle Tedford

Derric Crowther ’96 Photo by Bonnie Heath/Daily Report

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W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 19

R O U N D T A B L E

Representing the U.S.

Kim Jagodzinski ’93

Familiar faces across the aisle are common in aviation’s legal community. Just as familiar are heartbreaking cases of sudden loss that set the legal machinery of liability and damages litigation in motion. Take, for example, a woman whose last sight of her husband was of him on fire walking through an airplane fuselage. The woman was one of about two dozen survivors of a plane crash in Guam in 1997 that killed her husband and more than 200 others, many of them Korean nationals on vacation. Kim Jagodzinski, an attorney specializing in aviation tort law, deposed the grieving widow, other survivors and the families of the dead as part of the process of settling damages claims arising after the accident. “Some of it is cathartic for them. For many, it’s the first opportunity they’ve had to tell their story,” said Jagodzinski, who earned both her law degree and a master’s in political science from UD. “These damages are not there to raise the dead. No amount of money could make up for the tragedy they have gone through. Our goal is to determine what is fair using established guidelines.” It’s a specialization she developed during four years in the aviation and admiralty litigation section of the U.S. Department of Justice and then in private practice as a partner at Wilson Elser in New York City. Jagodzinski began her legal career in the public sector with the Department of the Navy, a job she landed after a lead from a customer in the cheese department of a D.C.-area Dean & DeLuca. She was working there while earning her LL.M. at Georgetown University when the customer, a regular, offered her his business card when he found out she was a law student. He turned out to be general counsel at the Navy. Her first case was a multi-billion dollar lawsuit related to contracts for building the A-12 Stealth bomber. After four years at Wilson Elser, the draw of the public sector has again proven too hard for Jagodzinski to resist. In November she left her partnership in New York to take a position in Washington, D.C., as a senior attorney for the Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security. She said the public sector offers a combination of responsibility and autonomy that’s more appealing to her at this stage of her career. “You’re given cases and there’s not always someone looking over your shoulder. I can have a conversation with someone without having to worry about, ‘OK, how can I bill this?’ I’m going back to a more pure form of practicing law. “There’s something to be said about being able to say you’re representing the United States and making a difference.” —Matthew Dewald dewald@udayton.edu

2 0 D A Y T O N L A W Y E R

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’90s

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Nancy Michaud ’80 entered UD Arena one chilly

Saturday morning, she wondered how many

warm bodies would join her for the law school advisory council meeting. She had served on other volunteer boards where weekend-meeting absenteeism was high and nodding heads were mistaken for participation. “There was fantastic turnout. Law school advisory council members are among the busiest in the Dayton Bar Association and come from around the country, and there was full and enthused participation,” said Nancy, who has served on the advisory council since 2001. “It was one of the best meetings in terms of focus, energy and discussion. Members of the advisory committee come to interact and contribute for the advancement of the law school. They don’t sit, nod, look at their watches and leave. There is total engagement, passion and caring.” A similar spirit has maintained her 20-year relationship with Huffy Corp. Nancy, Huffy general counsel, said that management and employees have remained loyal to the company and involved in the community — echoed, she says, in the words on a plaque hanging in the law school’s library. Through matching gifts from The Huffy Foundation, Nancy has leveraged her own support for the Dean’s Fund for Excellence. Her gifts show both appreciation for her education and her commitment to prepare future generations to positively impact their communities and our global society.

Join

Nancy today by giving

the Dean’s Fund for Excellence.

Call 888-253-2383 or log on to http://supportud.udayton.edu. Or send a check to: Dean’s Fund for Excellence University of Dayton School of Law 300 College Park Dayton OH 45469-2710

%FBO T 'VOE &YDFMMFODF GPS

Photo by Julie Miller-Walling

Prayer for a balanced life

Lawyers, judges, police officers and members of the University community gathered Sept. 24 in the Immaculate Conception Chapel for a Red Mass, to pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit. Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk and Father James Heft, S.M., presided. Heft’s sermon reflected on lessons in wisdom found in Isaiah 11:1-4, 1 Corinthians 12:4-13 and Luke 4:16-22. “These three reflections — that most of us in the professional communities tend to live unbalanced lives, that wisdom requires living a balanced life and that wisdom is the habit of making right judgments — these three reflections underscore the need we have to live in such a way that our professional lives will reflect our daily lives and will, most importantly, embody a wisdom that will, through our judgments, bless the entire community, beginning with the poorest and most vulnerable. That is one very big challenge.”

University of Dayton

300 College Park Dayton, OH 45469-1681

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