First Monday - May 7, 2007

In this issue:

• College of Law Welcomes Extraordinary Array of Visitors

College of Law Welcomes Extraordinary Array of Visitors

During April an exceptional group of distinguished speakers and guests visited the law school. Each visit would be worthy of an essay, but here are the highlights, arranged chronologically:

• Hon. Mary Robinson, past President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. On April 2, Ireland’s first woman president, visited the College of Law as part of the annual Borah Symposium, co-funded by the College. Speaking to a capacity audience in the courtroom, President Robinson recounted her own career in the law and described the worldwide calling for lawyers to be champions for human rights. She was introduced by Professor Monica Schurtman, who will be teaching a human rights seminar at the law school next year. President Robinson’s appearance at the law school was sponsored by the Student Bar Association, International Law Students Association, and Women’s Law Caucus, with assistance from the dean’s office. President Robinson later presented the keynote address of the Borah Symposium at the UI Student Union Ballroom. Further information about President Robinson and the Borah Symposium is available on the College of Law website.
• Stephen G. Hanks, President and CEO of Washington Group International, Inc. On April 5, the Fifth Annual John A. Rosholt Roundtable for Visiting Professionals featured Steve Hanks (UI Law ’78). Mr. Hanks leads a transnational, Idaho-based enterprise with approximately 25,000 employees in forty states and more than thirty foreign countries. The company provides integrated engineering, construction, and management solutions to customers in the transportation, defense, energy, environmental sciences, mining, industrial, and process markets. Mr. Hanks spoke to a “roundtable” of law students interested in international law and business. In addition, he delivered a guest lecture to a general student audience and served as a guest commentator in a joint meeting of business law-related classes taught by Professors Jack Miller and Michael Satz. The Rosholt Roundtable, established by John A. Rosholt (UI Law ’64) and his wife Karen, brings professionals in business, the legal profession, the judiciary, and other disciplines to the College of Law in order to interact personally with students and to enhance their understanding of diverse career opportunities available to holders of the Juris Doctor degree. Further information about the Rosholt Roundtable and Mr. Hanks’ visit can be obtained from Anne-Marie Fulfer, Director of Career Development at the College of Law: amfulfer@uidaho.edu.
• Idaho Supreme Court. April 5 also was a red-letter day for another set of distinguished visitors, as the state’s high court held oral arguments in the College of Law courtroom. Chief Justice Gerald Schroeder, Justice Linda Copple Trout (UI Law ’77), Justice Daniel T. Eismann (UI Law ’76), Justice Roger S. Burdick (UI Law ’74), Justice Jim Jones, and Supreme Court clerk Steve Kenyon (UI Law ’00) further participated in a dinner-dialogue with the faculty on law school strategic planning and in a reception with law students. The Supreme Court, which -- along with the Court Appeals (see below) -- visits the College of Law annually, conducted this visit in the spring semester because the law school courtroom will be undergoing renovation in the summer and fall. At the end of construction, the courtroom is expected to feature technology equal to that found in advanced state and federal courts around the country.
• Aaron Tax, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. On April 9, Mr. Tax joined UI law professor Alan Williams in a debate/dialogue on the future of the military’s statutory “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy. The program was sponsored by the Sexual Orientation Diversity Alliance, a law student organization. Mr. Tax, an honors graduate of the George Washington University Law School, is a former special assistant United States attorney who served three years as a lawyer in the Department of the Army, including two years as a Presidential Management Fellow. Professor Williams, an honors graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, came to the UI law faculty in 2006 from a career in the United States Marine Corps, where he served as a military judge and presided over more than 200 trials. Further information about the debate/dialogue can be obtained from Professor Williams at afwilliams@uidaho.edu.
• Chief Justice Gerald F. Schroeder, Distinguished Jurist in Residence. From April 11 through April 25, the College of Law welcomed a return of Idaho’s chief justice – this time as a distinguished jurist in residence, inaugurating the “Justice Alfred Budge Visiting Jurist Program” established by the late Hamer Budge (UI Law ’36). In a remarkable career, Justice Budge served 35 years on the Idaho Supreme Court, from 1914 to 1949. His son Hamer had an equally remarkable career, serving as an Idaho district judge, as a member of Congress from Idaho, and as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Before his death, Hamer decided, along with his wife Jeanne, to honor his father in a unique way by establishing an endowment to cover the out-of-pocket travel, housing and per diem expenses of Supreme Court justices or other Idaho state judges to spend time in residence at the College of Law. The stated purpose of the visiting jurist program is “to enhance understanding of the judicial function in a democracy grounded in the rule of law, and to encourage research on improving the administration of justice.” During his service as the law school’s first jurist in residence, Chief Justice Schroeder undertook research on a work of scholarship, guest-taught classes in civil procedure and professional responsibility, met with University of Idaho President Timothy White, participated in the McNichols Inn of Court, and engaged in a busy schedule of consultations with students, faculty, and other visitors to the law school. Further information about the visiting jurist program is available from Dean Burnett: dburnett@uidaho.edu.
• Idaho Court of Appeals. On April 10-12, the College of Law received another visit from appellate judges, as the Court of Appeals held three days of oral arguments in the courtroom. Chief Judge Darrel Perry (UI Law ’79), Judge Karen Lansing, and Judge Sergio Gutierrez were joined by retired Supreme Court Justice and former Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jesse R. Walters (UI Law ’63), serving as a judge pro tem. Like their Supreme Court counterparts, the judges participated in a dinner-dialogue and in a student reception during their visit.
• State Board of Education. On April 17, Dr. Stuart Tennant, Chief Post-Secondary Academic Officer of the State Board, participated in a meeting with selected law faculty and administrators on the law school’s programs and statewide mission. On April 19, while the State Board was in Moscow, the College of Law provided a tour for a delegation including Board members Blake Hall of Idaho Falls, Sue Thilo of Coeur d’Alene, and Richard Westerberg of Preston. The tour included the newly expanded Legal Aid Clinic, the renovated first floor of the law library, and several areas in the law school where technology has been upgraded or where new technology will be installed this year. In total, the College of Law is making nearly $1.5 million in improvements to the 34-year-old Menard Law Building. Major classroom and courtroom technology projects recently were approved by the State Board, acting as the University of Idaho’s Board of Regents. The projects are supported by a combination of state funds, law student professional fees, and private giving. Further information about the projects can be obtained from Professor Richard Seamon, Associate Dean for Administration and Students: richard@uidaho.edu.
• Law Advisory Council. On April 19-20, the College of Law Advisory Council, a group of distinguished alumni and friends of the law school, convened in Moscow to conduct a meeting devoted specifically to long-range strategic planning and the law school’s statewide mission. Further information about the ongoing strategic planning process will appear in future issues of “First Monday.” The College of Law is grateful to the following Council members who devoted time, and paid their own expenses, to come to Moscow: Tim Hopkins, Idaho Falls, chair of the Council, Robert Alexander (UI Law ’64), Twin Falls; James Bevis (UI Law ’74), Boise; Hon. Linda Copple Trout (UI Law ’77), Boise; James Dale (UI Law ’82), Boise; Hon. Bart Davis (UI Law ’81), Idaho Falls; Allen Derr (UI Law ’59), Boise; Trudy Fouser (UI Law ’81), Boise; Mary Giannini (UI Law ’84), Spokane, Washington; Dennis Johnson (UI Law ’79), Meridian; Hon. Karen Lansing, Boise; Cynthia Larsen (UI Law ’78), Sacramento, California; William McCann (UI Law ’69), Lewiston; Hon. James McClure (UI Law ’50), Boise/McCall; John Mitchell (UI Law ’85), Coeur d’Alene; Nancy Morris (UI Law ’83), Washington, D.C.; Jon Oliver (UI Law ’97), Charlottesville, Virginia; William Parsons (UI Law ’57), Burley; and Hon. John Stegner (UI Law ’82), Moscow. Further information about the Law Advisory Council is available from Dean Burnett: dburnett@uidaho.edu.