First Monday - April 7, 2003

In this issue:

• Clinic Students and Faculty Earn Praise from Federal Courts
• Law School Programs Reach Beyond Moscow
• Loyal (and Generous) Alumni Push Annual Fund to New High
• Students Excel in Annual McNichols Moot Court Competition
• "Law by Day, Jazz by Night" Attracts Potential Law Students

Clinic Students and Faculty Earn Praise from Federal Courts

Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, have gone on record with commendations to students and supervising faculty for the quality of representation provided to clients of the College of Law legal aid clinic. Recently, in Valdez v. Rosenbaum, 302 F.3d 1039 (9th Cir. 2002), the federal appellate judges thanked Idaho clinic students for their "excellent work." At the trial court level, in Mathews v. State (D. Idaho, September 30, 2002), Judge B. Lynn Winmill noted the clinic's "outstanding work in this matter." Such commendations are becoming a tradition at the clinic. Laudatory remarks have appeared in seven other Ninth Circuit opinions issued from 1991 to 1998. Details about the cases, the students, and the faculty can be obtained from Professor Maureen Laflin, Clinic Director, at mlaflin@uidaho.edu.

Law School Programs Reach beyond Moscow

Taking advantage of the innovative "Idaho Model" of legal education - which combines a residential learning experience in Moscow with the opportunity to pursue a "Semester in Practice" in a metropolitan area -- eight third-year students are now spending their spring semester in "real world" practice environments of the Treasure Valley . This year's "Semester in Practice" placements include the offices of the U.S. District Court and Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; state prosecutors' offices of Ada County and Canyon County; and the office of counsel for St. Luke's Regional Medical Center. In addition, summer externships are expected to place approximately 50 law students across Idaho (and beyond) in 2003. Last year's externship locations included Blackfoot, Boise, Caldwell, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Lewiston, and Moscow, as well as Colfax and Vancouver, Washington. The "Semester in Practice" and externship programs are administered by Lee Dillion, Director of Outreach Programs, in Boise. Lee can be contacted at dillion@uidaho.edu.

Loyal (and Generous) Alumni Push Annual Fund to New High

Defying a sluggish economy, the annual giving program at the College of Law has broken its previous record, with four months still remaining in Fiscal Year 2003. Annual giving -- which provides resources for faculty professional development, adjunct instruction, special speaker programs, student initiatives, and other enhancements through the Law Dean's Fund for Excellence - grew steadily from $36,823 in Fiscal Year 1995 to $154,440 in Fiscal Year 2002. In Fiscal Year 2003, the Annual Fund has built upon this foundation by posting a remarkable new increase, reaching a record of $191,735 at the end of February. Total giving (which includes major gifts and pledges of $5,000 or more) also has risen remarkably. As of the end of February, 2003, total giving has reached $469,742, exceeding the full-year total of $456,597 for Fiscal Year 2002.

Students Excel in Annual McNichols Moot Court Competition

Displaying a high level of interest in developing professional skills, 38 students participated in the 2003 McNichols Moot Court Competition. The competition, named for the late Hon. Ray McNichols, is the College's principal intramural advocacy event, and it features an award funded by law alumnus Mike McNichols. Organized by the Board of Student Advocates (Roger Kraft, President) and faculty advisor Elizabeth Brandt, the 2003 competition encompassed brief-writing and several rounds of oral argument on the timely topic of affirmative action in law school admissions. The finalists, Amy Dutson and Bradley Richardson, appeared before a panel of judges consisting of Idaho Supreme Court Justice Daniel Eismann, Wyoming federal district judge William F. Downes, Idaho federal magistrate Larry Boyle, Dean (and former Idaho Court of Appeals judge) Don Burnett, and Mike McNichols. Ms. Dutson emerged as the winner, with the judges unanimously declaring both finalists' arguments to be "outstanding".

"Law by Day, Jazz by Night" Attracts Potential Law Students

In a unique outreach to minority undergraduate students interested in legal education, the College of Law attracted 26 participants from Idaho and Washington colleges to its 2003 "Law by Day, Jazz by Night" program. After a day-long experience of visiting actual law classes, attending conferences on law admissions and the legal profession, and observing a special moot court argument by McNichols competitors, the visiting students were treated to dinner and an evening at the 2003 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. This year's program was underwritten in part as a diversity initiative by the firm of Holland & Hart.