EVENTS
17th Annual Public Interest Law Week
Honored by the ABA/Law Student Division for their efforts, Southwestern's
Public Interest Law Committee has scheduled several exciting events for the
17th Annual Public Interest Law Week (PILW), October 25 - November 2. The week
of activities is designed to raise both awareness and funds for public interest
law opportunities and summer grants in this area. This year's event offers
some new fundraisers: The Trivia Bowl Challenge, a Variety Show, and Dean Garth's
Elliptical-a-thon.
This year, Mitchell Kamin, CEO/President of Bet Tzedek, will deliver the
keynote speech, "Paying It Forward - The Human Dimension of Pro Bono Work," at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30 in BW390. Mr. Kamin, an
influential figure in the public interest law community, began his legal career
as a Skadden Fellow at the Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS)
of Harlem. Upon completion of his two-year fellowship, he was hired as a supervising
attorney. While there, he represented clients in the areas of public housing,
civil rights, family law and criminal law. During his four years with NDS,
Mr. Kamin took a six-month hiatus to work in the capital punishment project
of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Read more about Mr. Kamin.
The Public Interest Career Fair will take place this year
on Thursday, October
25. A variety of public interest organizations will be on the Promenade
from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. to chat with students about opportunities within their
organizations. "This
is an excellent chance for students to network with lawyers and find out
about a variety of practice areas," said Gary Greener, Assistant Dean for Career Services. "Public
interest organizations provide a variety of opportunities in almost every
area of the law, including: labor and employment, tax, probate, torts, family,
immigration, international, property, landlord/tenant, civil rights, appellate,
criminal, constitutional, environmental, and many, many more." He advises students: Don't
be shy. Walk up to the organizations and find out about what they
do, any summer positions or volunteer positions available, and how you can
help
them out while gaining experience.
On Friday, October 26, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Southwestern
chapter of the General Relief Advocacy Project (GRAP) will train students to
be advocates
for indigent residents of Los Angeles. In the afternoon, students
will go to the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) with a GRAP supervisor
to apply their newly acquired skills to help the homeless in receiving public
benefits.
For two days, October 29 and 30, students will have the chance to buy treats (donated by students, faculty and staff) at the Bake Sale. Autumn/Halloween-themed baked goods will be available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the front steps of
the Westmoreland Building.
Teams of three (including various groups of students/ clubs/faculty and staff)
will test their pop culture and law school knowledge at the Trivia
Bowl Challenge on Wednesday, October 31 at 12:30
p.m. in the Student Commons. Winners will be immortalized with their names
inscribed on the Trophy
of Champions.
Members of the Southwestern
community can pledge money for each lap (1/4 mile) that Dean Garth completes
in the Fitness Center during the Dean Garth Elliptical- a-thon at
12:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 1. A conditional pledge
may be made to pay a lump sum if the Dean reaches a certain benchmark, to
be determined. Dean
Garth will be matching pledges dollar-for-dollar up to $800.
The Live Auction will take place on Friday, November
2 from 6 p.m. to 9 pm.
in the Louis XVI Room. Talented students, faculty, and staff will
take the stage and perform in this year's new Variety Show at
the always-popular auction event.
Student volunteers
are needed for a variety of events, so if you are interested in joining the
efforts, contact Doug Baek. For more
information about Southwestern's Public Interest Law Week events, or to contribute
an auction
item, contact the Student
Affairs Office or
Doug Baek.
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Speaker
to Discuss Updates on the Madrid Protocol
Southwestern is hosting a presentation by the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO). Alan Datri, Senior Counselor, Office of the Assistant
Director General for WIPO, will present "WIPO Comes to California:
Updates on the Madrid Protocol" on the law school's campus at
5 p.m. on Monday, November 5. The Education, Computer Law, and Trademark
Committees of the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of
California are sponsoring the presentation.
The Madrid Protocol is
a treaty that facilitates the international protection of trademarks.
Under the treaty, a trademark owner in a
signatory country can have its trademark protected in several countries
by filing a single application directly with his own national or regional
trademark office. It has significantly changed the way in which trademarks
are registered globally. Read
more.
1L Table Days Are Coming!
To assist first-year students in selecting their course for the spring
semester elective, faculty members will be available on the Promenade to answer questions
during the 1L Table Days on Tuesday, November 13 and Wednesday,
November 14 from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m. Learn
more about Legal Profession, Copyright Law, Public International
Law, Constitutional Criminal Procedure, and Defenses in the Law.
WebAdvisor help and general academic counseling will be available
as well.
"The Digital Earthquake: Groundbreaking Changes Affecting Entertainment and Media Law" to be discussed at MLRC/Biederman Institute Conference
Without a solid knowledge base and creative coping strategies, any entertainment and media lawyer or business affairs executive risks being swallowed up by the "digital earthquake" that is shaking the industries they work in. Existing business relationships need to be re-evaluated and re-structured among owners, producers, distributors and talent. New relationships need to be forged with consumers who may also serve as content providers and producers. Old legal concepts must be adapted to new realities, and new laws need to be interpreted and understood. In three panels, the Fifth Annual Media Law Resource Center/Southwestern conference examines how to survive and prosper amidst the turmoil. The event, offering four hours of CLE credit, will take place on January 31, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. on the Southwestern campus. More information will be available online in the coming weeks.
Don't Forget! BAP to Hear Cases at Southwestern
The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) will hold a session
in Southwestern's Julian Dixon Courtroom on Wednesday, October 24.
Cases will begin at approximately 9 a.m., and are scheduled to run
until 12 p.m. Students are welcome to attend. Case materials will be
available in the library prior to the event.
CAREER CORNER
Orange County Law Firm Practice Day
The 14th Annual Orange County Law Firm Practice Day will be held
on Saturday, November 3 at Chapman University School of Law in Orange.
Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. There will be
panels of lawyers talking about careers within different areas of the
law. Panel topics will include: Corporate/Securities; Criminal Law;
Elder Law/Family Law; Entertainment Law; Environmental/Real Estate/Land
Use; Intellectual Property (Copyright, Patent, and Trademark); Labor
and Employment; Personal Injury; and Tax. There will also be a networking
lunch at 12 p.m.. The event is free and open to all Southwestern students.
For more information about schedules for the day, please stop
by the Career Services Office.
Career Services Office (CSO) Open House
The CSO will be hosting its annual "Open House" on Thursday,
November 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in W323. Stop by, grab a
snack and get acquainted with the valuable resources available to you.
How to Start Your Own Practice
Ever thought about starting your own law practice? Even if you don't
want to go "solo" right after law school, if it is a possibility
at some time in your career, then don't miss "How to Start Your
Own Practice" presented by Professor Ira Shafiroff. This seminar,
jam packed with useful information, will be presented on Tuesday, November 6 at 4:45 pm in W311. Professor Shafiroff, Southwestern alumnus
and former sole practitioner, will talk about how to set up your own
firm, obtaining clients, marketing, and other useful tips.
Besides OCIP, How Do I Get a Job?
Dean Greener will talk about other
programs and methods for obtaining a job on Tuesday, November
13 at 12:30 and 5 p.m. in W311.
Resumes for 1Ls
Learn how to draft a resume and a cover letter
on Thursday, November 15 at 12:30 and 5 p.m. in W311. Particular
attention will be paid to 1Ls who might not have any law-related
experience.
AROUND CAMPUS
New Staff/Transitions
Melissa Gonzales, Faculty Services Assistant
Ms. Gonzales earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology Administrative
Studies with a concentration in Marketing from University of California,
Riverside. While a student, she worked in UC Riverside’s Library Special
Collections unit as a student services assistant, where she helped preserve
and archive documents, books, letters and artwork. At Southwestern, she will
be assisting faculty with printed materials, exams, letters of recommendation
and other clerical/support needs.
Transitions
- Doug Snyder - Media Technologies Specialist and Assistant
Director of Administrative Services
Magazine Seeks Nominations for CLAY Awards
California Lawyer Magazine is now accepting nominations
for its 12th annual CLAY (California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year)
awards. Those submitted for nominations must be California attorneys
who have made significant contributions during 2007 to "the law,
the profession, a particular industry or the general good of the public." The
submission deadline is December 3. Go to www.californialawyermagazine.com and
click on the nomination form on the lower left side of the page to
access a nomination form, which has more than 20 categories to choose
from and nominate a Southwestern alum or faculty member!
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
"W.A.Y." - Who Are You & Why Are You here?
This month - Michael Maguire, Second-Year SCALE Program
Throughout his career, Michael Maguire has played many roles: Wall Street
broker, Broadway star, international concert soloist, and restorer of historic
homes. Although he continues to sing and restore homes when he can, he
has put those passions on the backburner to do something he has always
wanted: pursue a law degree.
The second-year SCALE student has never been one to take the stereotypical
path. An undergraduate of the Oberlin Conservatory with a master's degree
in opera from the University of Michigan, Maguire decided not to wait tables
while auditioning for shows when he moved to New York. "I had trained
in opera, but I thought I should study acting before I started performing
in musical theater," he said. "So I had a two-part plan: to work
on my acting and make enough money to get me through the early acting years."
Maguire grew up in Virginia and was a strolling troubadour in Williamsburg,
where he first began buying and selling stock. He parlayed that early experience
into becoming a Eurodollar broker in Manhattan. This was in the early 80s,
and Maguire pursued this lucrative niche while studying acting, Brazilian
marshal arts and dancing. "I worked 10 hours a day and then went to
classes, but I didn't do what lots of people normally do to struggle (for
success in show business). I had my own form of struggle." And when
he finally knew that he was ready for the stage, he didn't exactly receive
a groundswell of support from his Stock Market cronies. "Everyone
who knew me thought I was nuts to leave being a broker to go into musical
theater."
But it paid off. Maguire was eventually cast in the original Broadway
production of "Les Misérables," playing Enjolras, a student
revolutionary. He won the Tony Award for his work and is also featured
in "Les Misérables - The Dreamcast in Concert." Maguire continued
to perform on stage and in film, eventually settling in Los Angeles. Until
he started at Southwestern, he was an international symphony soloist (over
300 symphonies) who also restored homes in the Hancock Park area where
he lives with his wife, Shelly Smith, and children. The second home he
worked on was a historic landmark, and his work on the house won him a
Los Angeles Restoration Award in 1999.
Law school is a full-time job, especially for SCALE students who are finishing
their J.D. program in two years. So Maguire has put his touring schedule
on hold for a while. "The first three months were difficult making
the transition to being a student again. This was a challenge, but as I've
caught on, my grades have gotten better. I've always been the kind of guy
who likes to figure out how to do stuff. The learning has been a joy." After
going through a difficult divorce years earlier, Maguire wants to practice
family law. "I want to assist people who are going through this to
help them calm down, not spend all their money and not ruin their kids
in the process. Southwestern's professors focus students on how to help
their future clients. They teach you it's all about the people that you're
working for and what you can do for them."
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FACULTY ACTIVITIES
PROFESSOR MICHAEL EPSTEIN
- Spectrum Set-Asides as Content-Neutral Metric: Creating a Practical Balance
Between Media Access and Market Power, HOFSTRA LAW REVIEW (forthcoming)
PROFESSOR DAVID FAGUNDES
- Presenter, "Property Rules, Property Talk, and the Public Domain," Fifth
Annual Works in Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, Program on Information
Justice and Intellectual Property, American University, Washington College
of Law
PROFESSOR JAMES FISCHER
- Panelist, "Insurance and Ethical Issues in Representing Policy Holders," Tort
and Insurance Section, ABA Annual Meeting, San Francisco
- CLICK HERE FOR MORE FACULTY ACTIVITIES -
FACULTY
Southwestern Mourns the Loss of Beloved Professor Emeritus Lawrence
Sullivan
Professor Lawrence A. Sullivan, a member of the full-time faculty
at Southwestern since 1991 and an internationally recognized authority
on antitrust law whose Handbook of the Law of Antitrust has been cited
in hundreds of U.S. Supreme Court and other federal court opinions,
passed away on October 7. He was 84.
Beloved by his family as a warm and giving man, valued by students for his
gentle but passionate and precise teaching, and esteemed by faculty as a generous
and nurturing colleague, Professor Sullivan's contribution to legal education
and the profession were celebrated at the "Antitrust and Intellectual
Property in Global Context - A Symposium in Celebration of the Work of Lawrence
A. Sullivan" presented by the Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade
in the Americas in February (2007). Members of the bench, attorneys, Southwestern
colleagues and professors from esteemed law schools nationwide gathered to
speak about the reach and impact of his work on antitrust law.
"Larry Sullivan embodied all the values that law schools seek in a professor.
Southwestern is a far better place today because of his legacy," said
Dean Bryant Garth. Read
more.
STUDENTS
Southwestern Set to Open Children's Rights Clinic
Southwestern has established a new Children's Rights Clinic that will
begin operating during the spring semester to provide legal assistance
to underserved children. Law students who participate in the Clinic
will work on all aspects of school discipline and special education
cases and will have the opportunity to work on other education-related
issues that may arise in the course of representing the Clinic's clients.
The children will primarily be youth who are involved with either
the dependency or delinquency system. Southwestern's new Children's
Rights Clinic is one of the only legal clinics in Southern California
and the first at a Los Angeles law school to focus its representation on children in
school discipline cases.
Professor Julie Waterstone, Director of the Clinic, will teach the new one semester, five-unit
clinic course. Clinic students will have an opportunity assist children
in school discipline proceedings and stand for those with disabilities
in special education proceedings, or work with community groups to
advocate for better and more equitable educational opportunities. "We want to ensure that all children have the resources they
need," said Professor Waterstone who recently joined Southwestern's
faculty to serve as the Clinic's director. "Our students will
play an integral role in the process of assisting these children while
gaining invaluable advocacy skills."
The Clinic will provide representation to low-income children and
will be staffed by law students who will work with clients under Professor
Waterstone's supervision. "Professor Waterstone was chosen to
run Southwestern's Children's Rights Clinic because of her expertise
in clinical legal education and her substantive skills that are crucial
to making the clinic a success," Dean Bryant Garth said. Read
more.
TAHP Selects Junior Advocates
The Trial Advocacy Honors Program (TAHP) is proud to announce the
Junior Advocates for the 2007-2008 year. They are
Armen Amirkhanian, Andrew Caple-Shaw, Aaron Case, Vanessa Chavez, Sylvia Chiu, Danielle Daroca, Lindsay Gardner, Robert Glassman, Matthew Goodman, Kenneth Holdren, Fritzgerald Javellana, Hillary Levun, Gerralynn Owen, Maryam Parsioon, John Perry, Heshanthi Rohanath, Cory Scott, David Ziegert and Christopher Zwink.
SBA Announces Students Representatives
The Student Bar Association is proud to announce the Class Representatives
for the 2007-2008 school year.
- First-Year Day, Section A - Tony Rowley
- First-Year Day, Section B - Omote Ekwotafia
- First-Year Day, Section C - Lila Seif
- First-Year PLEAS - Heather Walters
- First-Year Evening - Chad Derby
- Second-Year, Day - Remy Bickoff
- Third-Year, Day - Aric Isaacson
- Third-Year/Fourth-Year, Evening - Charles Fairchild
- PLEAS - Heather Walters
- SCALE® I - Nathan Gabbard
- SCALE® II - Kevin Rosenberg
The Grammy Foundation's Ninth Annual Legal Writing Contest
Write your way to money, music and a chance to hobnob with the hippest
names in the entertainment industry. For its tenth annual Entertainment
Law Initiative (ELI), the GRAMMY Foundation is accepting submissions
for its Legal Writing Contest. The first place winner will receive
$5,000 and four second-place winners will get $1,500. All will receive
tickets to the GRAMMY Awards Show, hotel accommodations, and a ticket
to MusiCares Person of the Year Dinner, which is honoring Aretha
Franklin this year. Southwestern students have done very well in
this competition and have been selected as finalists. The contest
invites law students to submit a 3,000-word essay, which should cover
a "compelling legal issue facing the music industry." Submissions
must be postmarked by Dec. 20; winners will be announced on Feb.
1, 2008. Winners will also have the opportunity to present their
papers during GRAMMY week at the ELI luncheon on February 8, 2008,
which is attended by record label executives and prominent entertainment
attorneys. For complete contest rules, email eli@grammy.com,
visit www.grammyfoundation.com or
download the pdf here.
ALUMNI
Pioneering Alumna Vaino Spencer Retires from the Bench
A
trailblazer for women and African Americans in the legal profession,
the Hon. Vaino Spencer '52, Presiding Justice of the California Court
of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division One, retired in
September after a distinguished 46-year career on the bench. She was
the third black woman in California to pass the State Bar exam and the
third to open a law practice in Los Angeles. However, it was her
appointment to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1961 that confirmed
her status as a true pioneer - when she became California's first black
woman judge, and the third in the nation. She went on to the Superior
Court in 1976, and four years later was elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Justice
Spencer was active in the Civil Rights movement and a leader in the
community. She is also recognized for her groundbreaking efforts in
support of gender equity in the legal profession and to increase the
numbers of women appointed to the bench. In the 1970s, she founded the
Black Women Lawyers Association, and co-founded the National
Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) with Justice Joan Dempsey Klein.
This year, NAWJ will award the first Justice Vaino Spencer Leadership
Award in her honor. Read more.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Q: Southwestern brought you to Los Angeles, but you've worked and gone
to school on the East Coast. Where are you originally from and how are
you liking Southern California living?
A: I grew up in South Florida - in Miami and West Palm Beach, with a very
brief stint in Clewiston, a sugarcane farming town. I love the weather
in LA, which is even better than where I grew up, and I like that things
are more cosmopolitan here. Other than the driving, I can't find much to
complain about!
Q: What piqued your interest in writing about issues of workplace attire
and makeup?
A: My life and activism in the LGBT community as an undergraduate is what
first got me interested in the importance of attire, makeup, and other
forms of appearance manipulation in our lives. For me, negotiating my place
in both the LGBT community and the larger community manifested in a lot
of experimentation with my appearance: I spent an inordinate amount of
time dressing up in college! This was a lot of fun for me, but for the
transgender persons in my community, exercising those rights wasn't always
as simple. It could be a daily struggle, and coercion to appear a certain
way took forms ranging from workplace rules to doctor's orders to hate
crime.
Q: You won the John Meeker Prize for creative writing when you were an
undergraduate at Yale. What was your winning story about?
A: It was a nonfiction story that was quite sad, about watching my piano
teacher's health decline as she grew older.
Q: Do you ever have the opportunity to use your mathematical skills in
your professional life?
A: Some kinds of law involve more math than people realize: A complete
understanding of many forms of discrimination, such as gerrymandering,
stereotyping, and actions that are facially neutral but have discriminatory
effects, requires at least a basic understanding of certain concepts in
statistics. But it's not often that I'm actually doing any mathematical
or statistical problem solving myself, as a law professor.
Q: What is your favorite law school memory?
A: Graduation! It was pouring rain and unseasonably cold in New Haven,
but it was wonderful to gather one last time with all my close friends
before we moved to various parts of the country.
Q: Because you have such a strong background in writing, what would you
tell students is the most important aspect of writing for the legal profession?
A: Using precise language is key. There are times when an argument that
seems to be reaching becomes one that seems undeniably persuasive simply
by choosing words with just the right connotation. For instance, is it
better to say that someone's privacy rights are being invaded, or to say
that they are being intruded upon? If I were speaking of the right to privacy
in the sense of a need for isolation and seclusion, I'd probably use the
word “intrude.” But if I were speaking of privacy in the sense
of a need for control or jurisdiction over private spaces - such as control
over one's body or home - I'd probably use the word "
invade."
Q:
Although you served as a clerk for the Hon. Sidney R. Thomas after graduating
from law school, your career has been firmly rooted in academia.
If you were ever to go into practice, what specifically would you be interested
in doing?
A: I had the good fortune to spend a summer during law school working at
a wonderful organization in New York City called the Urban Justice Center.
UJC does public interest legal work that aims to be client driven, rather
than driven by the elites who tend to direct organizations doing impact
litigation. They accomplish this by engaging in outreach at locations where
clients are likely to be, such as homeless shelters, food banks, and soup
kitchens. If I were practicing, I would want to do similarly client driven
public interest work.
Q: If your students could only take away one piece of knowledge from your
classes, what would you want it to be?
A: I would want them to remember that the law evolves and that it is a
great privilege of lawyers, from time to time, to have some influence over
its direction and import.
Q: What is the biggest misconception law students have about their professors?
A: I think most students are pretty savvy about their professors, actually.
They tend to have healthy skepticism toward our opinions, but sensible
respect for our knowledge. If there is anything approaching a common
misconception, I think it would have to be that we don't know when they
are distracted, unprepared, or surfing the web in class. I find it unhelpful
in most instances to draw further attention to those students, but I
do know what's going on; it is really easy to tell!
Q: Because your scholarship is focused on employment discrimination and
employment law, in a perfect world, what is something that every employer
would be legally obligated to do for its workers?
A: I don't know that there is anything every single employer should be
legally obligated to do because I'm not sure that a one-size-fits-all approach
works for employment law. But I do think everybody should be treated humanely
and with respect. What that requires in different workplaces could be very
different, however.
Q: What are you favorite legal-themed TV shows and movies?
A: The Thin Blue Line is a documentary that I love about the erroneous
conviction and death sentence of Randall Adams. I'm also a big fan of
a much less well known film, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc. It's a silent
movie made by Carl Dreyer about Joan of Arc's trial and execution for
heresy.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I love cooking, going to movies, and doing the cryptic crossword in
the back of Harper's magazine.
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