Celebrating the tradition of Red Mass: Hundreds of people, including judges, alumni, faculty and friends of the law school gathered for the annual Red Mass, the traditional blessing the judiciary and the legal profession, earlier this month. A reception afterward honored the legacy of longtime King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng. Here, Dean Clark and Provost Isiaah Crawford lead members of the judiciary and the faculty to St. Ignatius Chapel. Read more and view photos. (Photo by Jennifer Richard)

Center honors legacy of Adolf A. Berle, Jr.

The School of Law will host a symposium and naming ceremony to marking the launch of the Adolf A. Berle, Jr. Center on Corporations, Law and Society.

Adolf A. Berle, Jr. (1895 - 1971) was a practicing lawyer, a teacher, a scholar, and a public servant extraordinaire. His life is an example of the very best that a lawyer can hope to achieve over a lifetime of service in society. He was a member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "brain trust" and was influential in shaping New Deal legislation to reform banking, the stock market, the bankruptcy system, and railroading. He became an expert on Latin-American affairs, serving as ambassador to Brazil, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs under Roosevelt, and Chair of President Kennedy's Advisory Task Force on Latin American Affairs.

As a scholar, Berle is most remembered for “The Modern Corporation and Private Property” (1932), co-authored with Gardiner Means. In that work, Berle set out a compelling critique of the profound changes wrought by the modern business corporation. Berle saw that corporations would become the dominant institution in society. Moreover, he foresaw that corporations would be loosely united by common goals and interests into a force that would compete with the modern state for influence and power. Berle spent the rest of his career as a scholar working out these understandings as the corporate system continued to evolve and change.

The symposium,  In Berle’s Footsteps, will bring together corporate law scholars from around the country and the world on the weekend of November 7-8.

Learn more about the Berle Center.

Legal Writing Institute celebrates 25 years; founders honored

The Legal Writing Institute, which was founded at Seattle University School of Law, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Professor Laurel Oates, now director of the law school’s top-ranked Legal Writing Program, and Chris Rideout, associate director, founded the institute.

Oates and Rideout will be honored and will speak at a symposium on Legal Writing in November as part of a 25th anniversary celebration at Mercer University School of Law, which has housed the institute since 2003.

Oates will receive the 2009 Rombauer Award, named for Marjorie Rombauer, one of the founders of the field of Legal Writing who taught at the University of Washington School of Law for more than 30 years. Rombauer is the author of “Legal Problem Solving: Analysis, Research and Writing,” first published in 1970, and was an author of Legal Writing in a Nutshell.

Rideout will be the first recipient of the Mary Lawrence Award, established in 2009 in honor of Professor Emerita Mary Lawrence of the University Oregon School of Law. It will be periodically awarded to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of legal writing by demonstrating the qualities that Professor Mary Lawrence personifies: innovative teaching, pioneering scholarship, and consummate professionalism.

The Legal Writing Institute, with more than 2,100 members, has become the world center for information and guidance on teaching legal writing and legal analysis. It publishes a newsletter, a journal, and holds a biennial conference. LWI has sponsored conferences on legal writing in Eastern Europe, East Africa, and Turkey, as well as an international conference series on applied legal storytelling.

Dean search underway

Members of the Dean Search Committee will begin preliminary interviews with potential semifinalists later this month. The committee, chaired by Janet Ainsworth, the John D. Eshelman Professor of Law, and David Skover, the Frederic C. Tausend Professor of Law, is conducting a national search for the next dean.

Committee members are hearing from students, alumni, faculty and staff as part of the process. Finalists will be brought to the law school early next year, with the goal of having a new dean start July 1, 2010.

Read more about the committee, the process and the dean search prospectus.

Professor Rafael Pardo testifies before Congress

Professor Rafael Pardo testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law in September at its hearing on “Undue Hardship? Discharging Educational Debt in Bankruptcy.” 

An expert in bankruptcy law, much of Pardo’s research explores the relationship between educational debt and financial distress, particularly within the bankruptcy system. His recent research has also analyzed bankruptcy courts and their institutional role within the federal judicial system.

Professor Pardo is a frequent presenter at conferences and has participated in educational programs organized by the Federal Judicial Center for bankruptcy judges and other bankruptcy court officials.

View video from his testimony (beginning at about 1:16) and read a transcript.

He is just one of the many faculty members whose scholarly work has garnered national attention. Read more news about the outstanding faculty members.

Law school leads on promoting diversity

Distinguished deans and aspiring deans from around the country gathered at the law school in September for a groundbreaking national workshop, Promoting Diversity in Law School Deanships.

The only program of its kind in the country, it was specifically designed to encourage and assist members of underrepresented groups in exploring the path to deanships and other university and law school leadership positions. It was sponsored through the law school’s Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, partnered with the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT).

Among the outstanding lineup of deans who shared their expertise and experiences were Blake Morant (Wake Forest), Gail Agrawal (Kansas), Kent Syverud (Washington University), Kevin Washburn (New Mexico), Jennifer Rosato (Northern Illinois), Linda Ammons (Widener), Phoebe Haddon (Maryland), LeRoy Pernell (Florida A&M), Joan Howarth (Michigan State), Lawrence Ponoroff (Arizona), and John Valery White (UNLV) and Kellye Testy (Washington).  The organizers of the workshop, Professors Robert Chang and Tayyab Mahmud, specifically chose these deans because they share the values of inclusivity and diversity and because they are committed to helping nurture and form the next generation of law school leaders.

The first day of the workshop was devoted to examining such topics as the nature of the dean’s job, the key areas of decanal responsibility, the joys and challenges of deaning, how to prepare for and succeed in the selection process, negotiating once an offer has been made, key first steps for a new dean, how deans interface with their university and external constituencies, and opportunities to move into other university leadership positions such as provost or president.  The second day was dedicated to looking at institutional priorities and the budgeting process, how to secure and enhance revenue streams, development and advancement strategies, deaning during tough times, and how to work with search committees and search teams.

Read more about the conference.

Law school hosts workshops to encourage pro bono work

The School of Law will host a workshop on pro bono work and honor Bill Gates Sr., recipient of the prestigious ABA Medal, on Friday, Oct. 30.

All lawyers, paralegals and law students interested in making a difference in the community are invited to a day of pro bono workshops on how to get involved in local pro bono activities, the basics of setting up a pro bono practice and working with pro bono clients. The event is part of the American Bar Association’s “Celebrate Pro Bono Week.” It is cosponsored by Washington’s Celebrate Pro Bono Coordinating Committee, Seattle University School of Law and the University of Washington School of Law.

Speakers include Salvador “Sal” Mungia, president of the Washington State Bar Association and a leader in the equal justice community, and Harry Schneider, Jr., who was pro bono co-counsel on the Guantanamo habeas corpus case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.

A reception will honor William H. Gates, Sr., co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who won the ABA Medal, for exceptional and distinguished service to the legal profession and the justice system. Mr. Gates was founding Chair of the LAW Fund Advisory Council, served as Co-Chair of the WSBA Long-Range Planning Committee whose report led to the establishment of our state's Access to Justice Board and served as president of the WSBA and Seattle-King County Bar Association.

More information and registration.

Social Justice Week packed with activities

The law school’s annual Social Justice Week brought together students, faculty and members of the legal services community for panels on subjects ranging from the death penalty to climate change, brown bag lunches with professors, a CLE on poverty and the legal system, and other events designed to foster students toward working for justice.

Visiting Professor Jay Kesan also presented a lecture as part of the Influential Voices series on “Social Justice in Unexpected Ways: Revealing Existing but Underemphasized Connections Between Intellectual Property and Technology Regulation and Social Justice.”

The weekend ended with the Day of Service, during which students and professors volunteered at organizations throughout Seattle, including Food Lifeline, Downtown Emergency Service Center, Justice Works and Books to Prisoners.

Social Justice Week is a collaboration of many student organizations, the office of Student Affairs, the Access to Justice Institute, administrative offices and the faculty.