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Greetings,
Today is the day! Our incoming 1L
students have arrived for orientation, along with new
students in the LLM, SJD, and MLS
programs.
I'm sure many of you recall your own law
school orientation. For most it is a time filled
with excitement, discovery, and a little anxiety.
Next week I will share some information about
our incoming students, an extraordinarily diverse and
talented group. For now, I can tell you that,
having just welcomed more than 165 new students, their
excitement and anticipation was
electric.
While our new students have a few steps
to go until they join the ranks of alumni, they will
benefit now as we continue to grow the alumni
directory. This morning, all remaining classes
received their invitations to join the directory.
If you have not yet received an invitation, please let us
know. This week, we
profile alumnus Peter Chase Neumann ('64), who has
already made plans to return to Tucson for
Homecoming-Centennial Week in October. While here,
he will guest teach a 1L torts class and speak to our
students about his practice as part of our Civil Justice
Initiative.
Until
the footnotes,
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Peter
Chase Neumann
('64) |
While Peter Chase Neumann was a UA undergraduate,
one of his fraternity brothers, a young man named Jim
Rogers (yes, our namesake, James E. Rogers, class of
'62), encouraged Peter to attend law school.
According to Peter, Jim made a compelling
case.
Peter graduated from Arizona Law in 1964 and began
his practice in Tucson. After three years he took
a one-year assignment with the Pima County Attorney's
Office, where he tried approximately 35 jury trial cases
in one year.
Peter had plans to open his own practice in Tucson,
but a decision to go on an international holiday changed
everything. Having not been on a vacation since he
was a child, Peter headed to Austria to learn how to ski
(daily rate to rent a room in 1968 Austria: $1).
In Austria he met Renate Renk, a native German who
was living in midtown Manhattan. Upon returning to
the United States, Renate and Peter started "dating by
correspondence," ultimately marrying and moving to Reno,
Nevada, where he opened a personal injury
practice.
Peter retired from the practice of law in 2015,
after a very successful 50-year career. This will
leave more time for hobbies such as flying sailplanes
and for speaking at the College of Law. In July,
Peter was honored by the State Bar of Nevada with its
2015 Presidential Award ( video
here). As luck would have it, I was there to
see Peter receive his award. And, of course, so
was Renate! When notified of his award by the State Bar of
Nevada, Peter had this to say: 
"I am very honored
by this recognition, and it means more to me than any
other milestone in my 50-year journey of practicing law
(five years in Arizona, plus forty-five
more in Nevada). My old law school professor,
Chester Smith, at the University of Arizona, James E.
Rogers College of Law, who taught the ethics course
there for many years, would be proud of me. He
used to tell his classes that, in his opinion, it should
not be necessary to teach a class on 'legal ethics'
because he assumed we already knew what was right from
what was wrong."
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| Peter with Seattle
trial lawyer and alum Jimmy Rogers
('72). |
I asked Peter about his advice for law students and
recent law school graduates as they begin to craft their
own careers.
"Please remember,
always and at every single meeting or phone conversation
with your client, that he or she is likely to be as
worried about the legal problem for which you are being
consulted, as any medical patient
would be who has just learned from a physician that he
or she has a serious, possibly life-threatening,
disease. Treat your clients accordingly, and you
will soon have a reputation for truly caring about
your clients, and that can only bring you more clients!
As my old torts law professor, Tommy Hall, liked
to say: 'Remember that as a lawyer, you are really a
fighting dog for your client.' And although
lawyers get called lots of unkind names, being called a
fighting dog for your client is not an unkind name.
It is a badge of respect."
Well said, Peter (and
Tommy). |
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Centennial
Snapshot -- Back to School, Way Back When
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What memory stands out from your first days
at Arizona Law?
For many, one of the most
enduring memories from that time was meeting the other
members of their small section. Here are a few choice
images of small sections from the fall of 1983, courtesy
of the scrapbooking efforts of the College of Law
librarians of that era.
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| Professor Hegland's
Contracts small section,
1983-84. |
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Professor and former
Dean Livermore's Criminal Procedure
small
section,
1983-84. |
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Professor Robison's
Contracts small section, 1983-84.
Yes, that's
Dean Marcus on the right.
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| Professor Schuessler's
Civil Procedure small section,
1983-84. |
Do you have photos or memories of your time
at Arizona Law? We would love to hear from
you. Please contact Emily McGovern, Centennial
Coordinator, to share your images and stories and to
participate in the digital time capsule
(see below).
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Call
for Contributions to the Digital Time Capsule
Do you remember your first small section
get-together? Your favorite study group? A
moot court victory? How about your first throw at
the Gutter Bowl? Or even your first professional
event as an attorney? We want to show the
relationships that come from being an Arizona Law
alum.
We are looking for a photo of you with another
Arizona Law alum. It could be a photo from law school.
It could be a recent snapshot. From the bar
convention to the intramural fields, we want your
photos. The photos do not have to be work related,
but they can be.
We will display the photos and collect additional
contributions on-site during the Homecoming-Centennial
Week celebrations in October, after which we will add
these visual memories to the College of Law archive as a
digital time capsule.
Check through your albums, scour Facebook, and
please email us a copy of your
favorite photo. Please include your name,
graduation year, and short description of the photo
(who's in it and roughly when it was taken) in the
email. |
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Homecoming-Centennial
Week, October 18-25
Make plans to return to Tucson and connect with
your fellow alumni during this year's special Homecoming-Centennial
Week! Highlights will include:
- McCormick Society Lecture, United States Supreme
Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Tuesday, Oct. 20,
5:30 pm
- Arizona Law Lifetime Achievement Awards Ceremony,
Thursday, Oct. 22, 4:00 pm
- All-alumni Centennial Reception in the courtyard,
Friday, Oct. 23, 6:00 pm
- All-alumni Homecoming-Centennial Barbecue, prior
to football game, Saturday, Oct. 24
- Arizona Law group seating at Arizona v. Washington
State, Saturday, Oct. 24
- All-alumni Brunch with former deans, hosted by
Dean Miller, Sunday, Oct. 25
- Reunion-year events (Classes of 1965, 1970, 1975,
1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and
2010)
Visit https://law.arizona.edu/arizona-law-centennial-celebration to
learn more and register! |
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Please remember to log on to the alumni
directory. If you have any problems gaining access
or have questions about how to use it, our alumni team
is standing by to help.
TIP
If
this is your first time logging in, your "Account Email"
will be the email address where you received your
Welcome Email. Once you have set up your
password, feel free to change your account email by
going to the "My Account" tab and
then to "Account Preferences" on the
left-hand side of the page.
In parting, please join me
again in welcoming the newest student members of our
Arizona Law family! Share the joy!
Warmly,
Dean
& Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law
Shaping
the next century of legal
education
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