First Monday - July 2, 2012

In this issue:

• Business Law Scholar-Practitioner Joins Faculty in Moscow
• Acting Director Named for Clinical Programs in 2012-13
• Foundation Pledges $100,000 Scholarship Endowment for Law Students
• “Under 40” Faculty Recognized for Contributions to Idaho Business Community  

Business Law Scholar-Practitioner Joins Faculty in Moscow

As part of its plan for enhancing statewide legal education, the College of Law is adding faculty in Moscow in order to offer sections of high-enrollment upper-division courses.  Last year, sections were created in Evidence and Criminal Procedure, resulting in an improved faculty-student ratio in the classroom. This year, sections are being created in Business Associations and Professional Responsibility, utilizing the expertise of a new faculty member who has joined the academic community this summer: Sarah C. Haan.

Professor Haan earned her baccalaureate degree in history from Yale College, where she received the Edwin W. Small Prize and the Clarence W. Mendell Prize. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University, where she was Articles Editor of the Columbia Law Review and was named a James Kent Scholar and Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. She has engaged in the private practice of law in New York City and has been a law teaching fellow at Columbia. Most recently, she held a teaching position at Pace University Law School in New York. Her teaching responsibilities at the University of Idaho will include Business Associations, Professional Responsibility, and business-related courses. Her scholarship agenda is expected to embrace business law and international commerce.

Additional information about the College’s faculty and curriculum can be obtained from Professor Michael Satz (msatz@uidaho.edu), Associate Dean for Faculty.

Acting Director Named for Clinical Programs in 2012-13

While Professor Maureen Laflin, Director of Clinical Programs, is on sabbatical leave in 2012-13, veteran clinical professor Pat Costello (see photo) will assume the director’s duties in addition to teaching and mentoring students in his own clinical courses. The College, recently ranked 13th out of approximately 200 law schools for clinical opportunities in relation to the number of students, will continue to offer multiple clinical courses in Moscow as well as in Boise.

A graduate of the Boston University School of Law, Professor Costello came to the College’s clinical faculty in 1999, following a career of law practice, service in state government (counsel to two Idaho governors), and service on the bench as a state court magistrate. In collaboration with Professor Laflin, he has generated the external grant support responsible for the growth in clinical education opportunities for our students. Professor Costello also collaborates in teaching, and coaching professional skills competition teams in, negotiation and mediation. In addition, he has been active in the American Bar Association’s global Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI). He served as a consultant to the judiciary and legal profession of Jordan in 2008 and as a consultant in Kosovo during 2010.

Further information about the College’s clinical program for 2012-13 is available from Professor Costello (costello@uidaho.edu).

Foundation Pledges $100,000 Scholarship Endowment for Law Students

The College of Law has received a $100,000 student scholarship gift commitment from the J. A. Wedum Foundation of Minnesota. The Foundation made the commitment upon the request and recommendation of a member of its board of directors: Gary D. Slette (Law ’84), of Twin Falls. The scholarship fund will be endowed at the rate of $25,000 per year for four years, the first installment having already been received.

The fund will benefit students at the College of Law who are enrolled full time, can demonstrate financial need, and have completed at least five years of work experience since earning an undergraduate degree. Gary, who decided to attend law school after working several years beyond college, wanted to see this scholarship help those students who have had experienced the “real world” before deciding to pursue a law degree. Gary himself worked as a planning and zoning administrator in Blaine County before deciding upon a career in law.  Today he practices with Robertson & Slette, focusing on real estate issues and transactions.

The College of Law is grateful for the philanthropy of the Wedum Foundation and for Gary Slette’s laudable interest in advancing opportunities for law students. Further information about law student scholarships and philanthropy is available from the College’s Director of Development, Terri Muse (see photo), who can be contacted at tmuse@uidaho.edu.

“Under 40” Faculty Recognized for Contributions to Idaho Business Community

The phrase, “University of Idaho Means Business,” took on visible meaning in June, when the Idaho Business Review recognized young professionals who have compiled a record of exceptional achievement in business, or have made noteworthy contributions to Idaho’s statewide business community.  Among those recognized for such contributions were College of Law professors Wendy Gerwick Couture and Stephen Miller (see photo).

Professor Couture received plaudits for excellence in teaching business law and for creating “Business Law Gems”, a website at which law students, under Professor Couture’s guidance, post summaries of important federal and state cases dealing with business law issues. This service to business lawyers and the business community is available free of charge as an outreach function of the University of Idaho. Professor Miller received commendation for starting the College of Law’s economic development clinic in which students, under his supervision, assist Idaho communities in creating legal frameworks for successful, job-creating economic development projects. More information about the Economic Development Clinic.