June 2, 2014 - First Monday

In this Issue:

• Thank You
• New Dean at the College of Law
• 2014 Spring Commencement
• Law Advisory Council and Faculty Members Tour Idaho Law Justice and Learning Center
• Save the Date! Snake River Basin Adjudication Completion Celebration

Thank You

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the College of Law community for a great year while I served as the Interim Dean of the College. This has been an exceptionally busy year for us,  and we achieved many successes due to the commitment of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni. 

Working together, we were able to bring the College to the precipice of achieving our long-anticipated expansion of our Boise campus by adding a second-year program to the already existent third-year program; we increased our College’s enrollment at a time of dwindling law school enrollments and are poised to do the same thing again this year; we improved our graduates’ job prospects; increased our outreach to the College’s alumni base, and improved the College of Law’s visibility and ranking nationwide.

I would like to specifically thank Associate Deans Seamon, Dodge, and Dillion, and Professor Barb Cosens for their hard work and dedication to moving the College of Law forward in the areas of faculty, staff, and student climate and success. I would also like to thank Sande Schlueter and Linda Kiss for their amazing ability to make sure that the trains kept running on time at the College, both internally and within the University. And the College’s Assistant Dean of External Affairs, Terri Muse, for working so hard with our external constituencies to improve our development and alumni relations efforts.

Externally, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Law Advisory Council outgoing-Chair Tore Beal Gwartney and to the entire Law Advisory Council for all of the support that the College and I personally received from the Council. And lastly, I’d like to thank President Chuck Staben, former Interim President Don Burnett, Provost Kathy Aiken, and Special Assistant to the President Joe Stegner for all of your strong support given to the College of Law during this challenging transition period.

As you will read in this edition of First Monday, our new Dean, Mark Adams, takes the helm on June 23.  I have been working closely with Dean Adams on transition issues, and you can rest assured the College of Law will be in good hands as we move forward. Dean Adams is a strong leader who thoroughly understands the legal academy, and he will serve Idaho well. The future is indeed bright for our College of Law. I will be joining our faculty at the College’s Boise campus as part of our planned expansion, and I look forward to continuing the many strong relationships throughout the state and the nation I have built during my tenure as Interim Dean.

And, as always—Go Vandals!

Mike Satz

New Dean at the College of Law

Professor of Law, Mark Adams, earned his B.A. from Williams College, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago. He comes to College of Law from his position as Vice Dean at Valparaiso University School of Law, in Valparaiso, Indiana. Adams spent many years teaching and serving as a dean at other institutions of learning, including Indiana University-Indianapolis McKinney School of Law, and Northwest School and Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle, Washington. In 1998, he published Labor Law through Aspen Professor Series, and has countless other articles and publications. Mark Adams is filling the position that has been vacant since Don Burnett stepped down more than a year ago to fill the University Interim President's position. Professor Michael Satz has been filling the role of Interim Dean of the College of the Law over the past year. Satz plans to return to his faculty role in Boise. Mark Adams will take on his new role June 23.

2014 Spring Commencement

The College of Law Spring Commencement was held on Wednesday, May 7, in Boise, and on Saturday, May 17, in Moscow. Our graduates and their families and friends celebrated this exciting event along with several alumni, student and faculty award honorees. The commencement address was given by former law dean and University of Idaho Interim President, and current law professor Donald Burnett. Justice Linda Copple-Trout ’77 was recognized at both the University-wide commencement and the College of Law commencement as recipient of the 2014 University of Idaho Alumni Hall of Fame Award.

College of Law Faculty Selected Awards

The Faculty Award of Legal Merit was given to Georgia Yuan ’85. This award recognizes the outstanding contribution of an Idaho law graduate whose career exemplifies the best in the legal profession. Ms. Yuan served as the general counsel for the University of Idaho for 13 years. From 2010 to 2013, she served in the Obama Administration as deputy general counsel and later as deputy under secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. She is a search consultant with ABG Search in Washington, D.C.

The Sheldon A. Vincenti Award for Exemplary Service, which is selected by the faculty and recognizes individuals who have given exceptional service to the College of Law, was awarded to Judge John Stegner ’82. Judge Stegner is a District Judge in Idaho’s Second Judicial District. He has served the College of Law in many ways, including as a member of the tenure and promotions committee, and as an adjunct professor.

The Faculty Award of Legal Achievement went to graduating student Matthew George Bennett. This award goes to the graduating law student with the highest cumulative grade point average, honors success, and dedication to academic excellence.

Peter E. Heiser Award for Teaching Excellence was presented to Professor Wendy Couture. This award is determined by a vote of the graduating class and recognizes outstanding dedication to students by a faculty member at the College.

Law Advisory Council and Faculty Members Tour Idaho Law Justice and Learning Center

On Friday May 9, members of the College of Law Advisory Council and law faculty toured the Idaho Law Justice and Learning Center in Boise. In 2010, the Idaho Department of Administration had named the historic Ada County Courthouse on the Capitol Mall the “Future Home of the Idaho Law Learning Center.” The building project is a joint effort between the Idaho Supreme Court and College of Law. Over the past four years, the State of Idaho Permanent Building Fund has made annual allocations to fund infrastructure upgrades to the building. Work continues and is currently slated for completion by summer 2015.

The College of Law has engaged in private fundraising efforts to fund tenant specific improvements to the facility to transform the building into the College of Law in Boise. The completed facility will be home to the Idaho Supreme Court State Law Library, Supreme Court judicial education offices, the College of Law in Boise, and public civic education programs. For more information about the project development or making a contribution to help complete the tenant improvements, contact Terri Muse, Assistant Dean for External Relations at tmuse@uidaho.edu. (208) 364-4044.

Save the Date! Snake River Basin Adjudication Completion Celebration

The College of Law, Idaho Supreme Court and Kempthorne Institute will host an event on August 25 and 26, 2014: “Understanding the SRBA Resolution: A Foundation for Idaho and National Water Policy.”  The event will include a full-day conference on Monday featuring nationally renowned water law experts, followed by a reception and dinner with a special keynote address and ceremonial signing of the final unified decree. Tuesday morning will conclude the event with a water law policy panel hosted by former Governor Dirk Kempthorne and the Kempthorne Institute. Questions may be directed to Terri Muse, Assistant Dean for External Relations tmuse@uidaho.edu or (208) 364-4044.View the Understanding the SRBA Resolution flyer.