First Monday - July 5, 2004

In this issue:

• National President of Legal Services Corporation to Deliver 2004 Bellwood Lectures
• Northwest Institute Receives Enthusiastic Reviews
• College of Law Sponsors Professionalism Program

National President of Legal Services Corporation to Deliver 2004 Bellwood Lecture

The leader of America's legal services program for the poor, Helaine M.Barnett, will deliver the Sherman J. Bellwood Memorial Lecture at the University of Idaho on October 21, 2004. Barnett was named to the top legal services position last January by the Legal Services Corporation Board of Directors, who are appointed by the President of the United States. The LSC, a federal nonprofit organization established and funded by Congress, will mark its 30th anniversary this year. It supports 158 independent local legal aid programs around the nation, including Idaho.

A graduate of Barnard College and the New York University School of Law, Barnett has devoted her distinguished career to equal justice under law. Prior to her presidential appointment, she was the attorney-in-charge of the Civil Division of the Legal Aid Society of New York City. In the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, she mobilized the nationally acclaimed 9/11 Disaster Assistance Initiative. Earlier she created the Legal Aid Society's homeless family rights project and oversaw creation of a citywide health law unit. She is a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates, and a former member of the ABA's Board of Governors and Executive Committee (the only legal services lawyer ever to hold those positions). She is a past chair of the ABA Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

Further information about the Bellwood Lecture and related events may be obtained from Dean Burnett at dburnett@uidaho.edu.

Northwest Institute Receives Enthusiastic Reviews

The College of Law presented the eighth annual Northwest Institute for Dispute Resolution in Moscow on May 17-21, 2004. The Institute encompassed "Basic Family Mediation" taught by Bob Collins, a founder and former president of the Family and Divorce Mediation Council of Greater New York; "Basic Civil Mediation" taught by Lela Porter Love, Professor of Law and Director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; "Advanced Mediation" taught jointly by Donna Silverberg, owner of a mediation and facilitation firm in Portland, Oregon, and Charles B. Wiggins, Professor of Law at the University of San Diego; and "Effective Advocacy in Arbitration" taught by Merlyn W. Clark and P. Craig Storti, senior partners at the Boise office of Hawley Troxell Ennis & Hawley. Each of the instructors received warm praise and a rating of 4.8 or higher on a 5-point scale from attendees, comprised of lawyers, judges and other dispute resolution professionals from Idaho and adjacent states. More information on the Northwest Institute is available from Professor Maureen Laflin at mlaflin@uidaho.edu.

College of Law Sponsors Professionalism Program

The Idaho State Bar's annual meeting, to be held in Boise on July 14-16, 2004, will feature a full afternoon program entitled "The Essentials of Professionalism," presented by the College of Law. Scheduled for the annual meeting's opening day, July 14, the program will include a presentation by Dean Burnett on "Emerging Issues in Professionalism and Ethics." The program then will focus on "Giving Back: Philanthropy and a Lawyer's Professionalism," with remarks by James E. Rogers (the lawyer-businessman named by Time Magazine as one of America's twelve most important philanthropists) and Carroll Stephens, past Associate Dean and Vice President for Development at Yale Law School. Finally, members of the College of Law faculty will take a look at the future with a series of presentations entitled "New Directions in Legal Education: The Impact on Practitioners." D. Benjamin Beard will discuss the growing importance of international practice and electronic commerce in Idaho; Douglas Nash will describe the emergence of tribal and American Indian law as essential elements of a practitioner's expertise; and Pat Costello and Lee Dillion will discuss the deepening partnership between law schools and the legal community in teaching practical lawyering skills. Further information about the annual meeting is available from the Idaho State Bar.