First Monday - May 3, 2004

In this issue:

• Idaho Court of Appeals Hears Arguments at College of Law
• Law Advisory Council Charts Ambitious Agenda
• College Marks 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
• Law Students Assist Low-Income Taxpayers

Idaho Court of Appeals Hears Arguments at College of Law

Faculty, staff, and students warmly welcomed Chief Judge Karen Lansing, Judge Darrel Perry, and Judge Sergio Gutierrez to Moscow, as the Court of Appeals devoted four days (April 20-23) to hearing oral arguments in the law school courtroom. The cases, which included appeals handled by faculty-supervised students in the College's Legal Aid Clinic, attracted area high school students and teachers as well as audiences within the law school. Members of the Court also met individually with faculty and students in a variety of settings, and participated in a planning session designed to assist first-year law students in selecting upper division courses relevant to their career paths.

Law Advisory Council Charts Ambitious Agenda

In a day-long meeting on April 9 at the University of Idaho Boise Center, the Law Advisory Council - a group of 26 distinguished lawyers and judges from Idaho, Washington, Nevada, California and Virginia -- created working groups to address the College's future physical facility needs in Moscow and to advocate for better funding of higher education in Idaho. The facility group will include former U.S. Senator Jim McClure, of Boise and McCall; Law Advisory Council chair Jim English, of Hayden, Idaho; and Cynthia Larsen of Sacramento, California. The group, in cooperation with the law faculty, will study the office space and classroom implications of plans for adding faculty to advance the College's strategic directions as well as to improve the faculty-student ratio; facilities for future clinical education needs; technology requirements for state-of-the-art legal education; and other needs. The higher education advocacy group, to include United Heritage Financial Group & Life Insurance Co. President/CEO Dennis Johnson and Boise practitioner Trudy Fouser, will coordinate with other UI constituencies in helping new University President Timothy White make the case for greater investment in higher education - especially, for funding the UI at a level commensurate with its unique statewide missions in law and other disciplines. (The urgency of the funding issue is demonstrated by a six percent budget holdback recently announced at the UI for upcoming Fiscal Year 2005.) In addition to setting a future agenda, the Law Advisory Council also met with students in the "semester in practice" program at Boise; reviewed law school operations with College administrators; and heard reports from UI Provost Brian Pitcher as well as UI Foundation President Jim Hawkins. Further information about the Law Advisory Council.

College Marks 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

Faculty and students gathered on February 25 to discuss the historical and current significance of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954). Leading the discussion were a civil rights scholar, Professor and Associate Dean Cedric M. Powell of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, and Washington State Bar President David W. Savage, a partner in the Pullman firm of Irwin, Myklebust, Savage & Brown. Professor Powell addressed the "Process, Results and Unfulfilled Promise of Diversity," while President Savage spoke on "Why Diversity Matters: Reflecting the Public We Serve." Further information about the program is available from Dean Burnett at dburnett@uidaho.edu.

Law Students Assist Low-Income Taxpayers

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has awarded the College of Law a grant of $71,582 to continue the operation of a low-income taxpayer clinic this year. The grant was announced (fittingly) on April 15. The tax clinic, started in 1999, gives students an opportunity to represent clients from six western states in controversies with the IRS. Visiting Associate Professor Pat Costello supervises the students, who represent clients before the U.S. Tax Court and other federal courts as well as before the IRS itself. Further information is available from Professor Costello at costello@uidaho.edu.