UPCOMING EVENTS

Greetings,

Connecting Arizona Law students and recent graduates to potential employment has never been more critical than in this dynamic and volatile job market. 

We will not grasp the full effects of the pandemic for some time. 

But regardless of the impacts, and as has long been true, our alumni, friends of the college, and leaders in the legal community will remain a lifeline for our students.

Please consider working directly with our Career Development Office to devise new, creative opportunities for our students and graduates. Please talk with us about ways in which students might aid you in your work this summer and beyond.

Geography is no barrier: Whether you are in San Francisco or Los Angeles, Prescott or Portland, Washington State, Washington, DC, or New York, we have superb students whose plans have been changed and who would welcome the chance to put their skills to use from wherever they will be.

Until the footnotes,
 
Marc
 
Help Pave the Way to Student and New Grad Employment

The Arizona Law Career Development Office (CDO) team is focused on helping students continue to make professional connections and prepare for their futures.

As the effects of the pandemic continue to unfold, one consequence is that some students have seen their summer positions cancelled, and the number of permanent positions available for the Class of 2020 greatly reduced from previous years. 

New SBA President 
Sarah Myers
New SBA President Sarah Myers
(2L) says that she is hearing from classmates who have had their summer job either modified or cancelled entirely, or who had not yet secured a summer job prior to the crisis and are seeing opportunities evaporate. 

"For many of these students, a major concern is that this lack of summer employment may negatively impact chances at employment in the future." 

Even if this is never realized, Sarah says, students are concerned about losing the opportunity to enhance crucial practical skills and make meaningful connections within the legal community. 

"For first year students, there are additional concerns --they will lose the chance to discover new interests, to be intrigued by a question that inspires their substantial paper topic, and to experience real legal work in various settings before applying for second-year summer jobs."


Responding to the Changes in Employment Opportunities

The CDO has already undertaken extensive efforts to be responsive to the short-term and long-term effects on students' employment prospects and hosted multiple information sessions to help students develop alternative summer and post-graduate plans.

Shannon Trebbe ('10), Assistant Dean for Career Development, says that the CDO's strategy centers on:
 
Open office hours. We want to give students a chance to talk over their summer and post-graduate plans with our office without having to make an appointment.
 
Honest and direct communication. We know students are facing difficult situations. We are here to listen, advise, and process the full spectrum of circumstances both with individual counseling sessions (which we have seen triple in past weeks) and larger events and strategy sessions for different class levels.
 
Skill development. Above all else, we want students to be prepared for any work environment and we will continue to guide students toward opportunities to help them succeed either through traditional employment or other means.
 
Community connection. Our community is our strength and our students need you now more than ever.

 
Reaching Out to Alumni and Employers
 
A significant number of students have seen their summer positions cancelled and the number of available positions has decreased dramatically. We need your help in providing our students with opportunities to build their skillsets both this summer and after graduation, either through externships or post-graduate employment.

2013 graduate and Board of Visitors member Matt Walker, with the City of Tucson Prosecutor's Office, describes how his decision to take on several additional summer externs will benefit both his office and students:
 
"When I approached my co-supervisors about the prospect of the Criminal Division taking on additional externs, we identified an opportunity. 

Tucson City Court is essentially closed for the spring and our office expects a heavy workload this summer, so we were excited to have the capacity to give externs meaningful work that they could do remotely. 

At the same time, it was important to me personally to reach out to the College of Law and see if there was anything our organization could do to help. I am a recent enough graduate that I remember the uncertainty that accompanies being a law student, and that was without a global pandemic."
 
Asst. Dean of Career Development Shannon Trebbe
Assistant Dean Shannon Trebbe reinforces the importance of these positions for students and graduates:
 
"As a member of the Class of 2010, I graduated in the middle of the worst legal market in recent memory. I remember acutely our struggles and anxieties as we attempted to navigate a shrinking legal market with the clock ticking on six figures of student loan debt. 

Those who were the most successful in a bad market were generally those who were flexible and able to see creative pathways to their eventual dream job. I want to emphasize that, in markets like the current one, any legal experience helps students and graduates in their careers."

Shannon adds:

"Second jobs are always easier to come by than first jobs. Some employers hesitate to reach out because they may not feel that they have the perfect job to offer, but it's clear that, just like with any investment, time in the market beats timing the market: it is better to obtain experience early rather than wait for the optimal opportunity. This is true for summer experience as well as permanent employment -- part-time, remote work may be all that is available for some students this summer. Those experiences still teach students valuable skills and give them a leg up when applying for future positions."
 

New Limited Practice Rule

Employers have an additional incentive to hire recent law graduates under the Arizona Supreme Court's new limited practice rule (and similar rules in other jurisdictions). 

The court's recent amendments to Rule 39(c) permit graduates to practice law, with limitations, under the supervision of any attorney and upon certification by the court before taking the Arizona bar examination. Once certified, limited practice students can engage in enumerated practice activities similar to a clinical law student under the supervision of an attorney. 

Under these recent rule amendments, new graduates can begin helping employers with a greater range of services immediately, even before they take a bar examination. 


Help Connect Students with Opportunities

We need your help in giving our students and recent graduates professional legal experience! 

If you could use assistance from a recent law graduate practicing under the new Arizona limited practice rule or a similar provision in your state, please reach out to the CDO's Assistant Director for Employer Engagement, Shannon Walker, at sawalker@arizona.edu.
 
If you'd like to find out more or to discuss a paid or unpaid summer employment opportunity for a 1L or 2L law student, please respond to this survey, or email Shannon Walker at the address above.
 
Around the College
 



Alumni are the heart of our Arizona Law family. 

Day in and day out, you provide advice to students, give talks, help create professional networks, and offer insights to faculty and staff.
 
The college's Alumni & Development Office is building a slideshow of good wishes for our graduates this year since we can't be together to celebrate them in person. We would love for you to contribute a message. 

Please complete this short form by Friday, May 1, to be included.

Bear Down!

 
Professor Melissa Tatum Selected for Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award
 
Tatum, Melissa
 
Regents Professor and chair of the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program
Rob Williams writes with some good news:
 
It gives me great pleasure to announce that our IPLP colleague, Professor
Melissa Tatum, has been selected as one of two winners of the distinguished Teaching and Mentoring Award for Graduate Education given by the Graduate College. Congratulations Melissa!
 
Graduate College Associate Dean Maggie Pitts informed Melissa (and the IPLP program, which nominated her) of the award in a letter noting her "steadfast support" and "dedication to raising critical awareness of current challenges indigenous peoples face."
 
Associate Dean Pitts went on: "Your compassion for your own students and for the communities which they wish to serve is clear in the letters of support provided. You have created a supportive environment for graduate students to explore, falter, rise up, and succeed!"
 
While normally Melissa would have received the award and been honored at this year's UA Annual Awards of Distinction, that event has been postponed due to the coronavirus campus closure, and will be rescheduled, hopefully in the fall. But in the meantime, please join with me and her colleagues in the IPLP Program in congratulating Melissa for this well-deserved recognition of her commitment and dedication to our students here at the UA. Well done and thank you, Professor Tatum!

 
Fegtly Moot Court Competition Results 
 

On April 16, the college held the final round of this year's Samuel M. Fegtly Moot Court competition via Zoom. 

Finalists Glynnis Anderson (2L) and Nate Goodman (2L) argued in front of a panel of three distinguished judges: Justice Clint Bolick, Arizona Supreme Court; Justice James Beene ('91), Arizona Supreme Court; and Judge Michael Liburdi, United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Students, faculty, and staff also watched the argument via Zoom.
 
Following the argument, Assistant Director of Legal Writing, Professor Tessa Dysart announced the winner of the competition and other awards at a Zoom awards ceremony. 

Glynnis Anderson won the F. Britton Burns Award for giving the best oral argument in the final round.
 
The following students (all 2Ls) also won awards:

Semifinalist Certificates
Zeke Peterson and Vince Redhouse
 
Moot Court -- Excellence in Brief Writing
Zeke Peterson
Vince Redhouse
Rafaella Safarian
Natalie Trouard
Changfang Xu
 
Suzanne Rabe Award for Best Brief
Glynnis Anderson
 
Moot Court -- Excellence in Oral Argument
Glynnis Anderson
Stephen Bagger
Timothy DesJarlais
Zeke Peterson
Vince Redhouse
Natalie Trouard
Katrina Wilkinson
 
Samuel M. Fegtly Award 
(best combined score for brief writing and oral arguments in the preliminary rounds):

Zeke Peterson
 
Congratulations to all of our winners!
  
Thanks go to all of our judges, many of whom are College of Law graduates. Thank you also to Scott Burns ('76) and his law firm Burns & Burns for sponsoring the awards for the competition in honor of his father, F. Britton Burns, Sr. ('41).

Fuel the Response


Students, if you are experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19, please check your emails to learn more about the Student Emergency Fund, and apply for this resource.
 
Arizona Law community, if you are able to help fuel the response for Arizona students, and make a gift to the Arizona Student Emergency Fund, please click the link below.
 

In the News

Law.com, quoting Dean Marc Miller
 
Internet Speech Will Never Go Back to Normal
The Atlantic, co-authored by professor Andrew Keane Woods
 
Law Schools Hit by Financial Fallout From COVID-19
Law.com, quoting Dean Marc Miller

My Final Thoughts on Moot Court in the Age of Coronavirus
Appellate Advocacy Blog, authored by professor Tessa Dysart
 
The pandemic is exposing the vulnerabilities of the U.S. service economy
The Washington Post, authored by School of Government and Public Policy professor (and College of Law professor by courtesy) Jeffrey Kucik
 
American Constitution Society Blog, authored by professor Justin Pidot
 
The Techlash Adapts to Life In a Pandemic
Bloomberg, quoting professor Barak Orbach
 
And in case you missed it:



We have always relied on our alumni and friends -- to expand educational opportunities, to mentor and counsel, to help open employment opportunities, and to support our college, helping keep the cost of education down.
 
We need that support now more than ever -- even as we recognize that challenges extend far beyond our walls.
 
Thank you for keeping the Class of 2020 and all our current students in mind -- both as a resource and as a new generation of professionals in need of your mentorship and encouragement.

Warmly,

 
 

 

 
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