First Monday - March 7, 2005

In this issue:

• Symposium Explores Controversies in International Cooperation
• Conference Illuminates Probate, Estate Planning Issues in Indian Country
• Rosholt Roundtable Will Feature One of Idaho's "First Fifty"

Symposium Explores Controversies in International Cooperation

Through the efforts of Professor Russell Miller, aided by former UI law faculty colleague Rebecca Bratspies, the College of Law presented the Third Annual International Law Symposium, entitled "Progress in International Organization,” on March 3-5 in Coeur d'Alene. The program, featuring presentations by a wide array of international scholars, opened with a retrospective look at the landmark debate in 1931 between Senator William E. Borah and Harvard Professor Manley O. Hudson on the role of international law in controlling and preventing armed conflict. (The debate marked the founding at the University of Idaho of the William Edgar Borah Outlawry of War Foundation.) Providing the retrospective commentary were Abraham D. Sofaer, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and Jordan Paust, Foundation Professor of Law and Director of the International Law Institute at the University of Houston. Barry Carter, Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, delivered a keynote address on “International Law and Institutions in a New Era.” Faculty from nine other American universities made presentations, along with scholars from the University of Toronto, University of Saskatchewan, the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and the Fudan University in China, as well as the Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic. Presenters from the University of Idaho College of Law, in addition to Professor Miller, included Professor Monica Schurtman and Visiting Professor Raul Sanchez. In a feature unique to Idaho’s annual international symposia, selected UI law students (Luke Davis, Daniel Luker, and Kelly Parker) also made scholarly presentations to the distinguished gathering.

Conference Illuminates Probate, Estate Planning Issues in Indian Country

The College of Law conducted its Second Annual Indian Law Conference in Moscow on February 16-17. Organized by Professor Douglas R. Nash, James E. Rogers Fellow in American Indian Law, the conference focused on Indian probate and estate planning. Central to the program were presentations on the history, development, content and implementation of the Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004. In addition, current developments in the field of Indian law were reviewed and an update on the fuel tax litigation was provided. Professor Nash and Professor Dennis C. Colson provided a description of the Indian Estate Planning Project which is being administered by the College of Law under a two-year grant from the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. Law students who worked on the project over the past summer described their experiences providing estate planning services to tribal members on reservations in Washington and Idaho. A total of 85 individuals attended the Indian Law Conference and heard from 14 speakers. Participants included tribal officials and tribal members, tribal and legal services attorneys, administrative law judges and attorney decision-makers from the Department of the Interior, Office of Hearings and Appeals. The participants came not only from the Northwest states but also from as far away as Minnesota, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona.

Rosholt Roundtable Will Feature One of Idaho’s “First Fifty”

The Fourth Annual John A. Rosholt Roundtable for Visiting Professionals, to be held on March 9, will feature Lucinda Weiss ’73, recently retired corporate counsel to the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Ms. Weiss, the first female corporate lawyer in the tire industry, has served as a mentor to women in business and corporate law practice. She focused her career largely on real estate issues, international trade issues, and Goodyear’s global ethics and compliance program. During the Rosholt Roundtable, Ms. Weiss will engage law students in a discussion of their professional development and opportunities in commercial and corporate law. On the following day, March 10, Ms. Weiss will be recognized in Boise as one of the first fifty women admitted to the Bar in Idaho. The Idaho State Bar will conduct a dinner and special program to recognize this pioneering group of women lawyers and their families. The dinner will be preceded by a reception cosponsored by the Bar and the College of Law. Further information about the Rosholt Roundtable is available from Anne-Marie Fulfer (amfulfer@uidaho.edu) at the College of Law. Information about the “First Fifty” program is available on the Idaho State Bar website.