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As is true
almost every week, there is a lot to celebrate this week
at Arizona Law -- from student accomplishments on the
national stage to memorable gatherings to prestigious
alumni awards.
Don't
forget to get your tickets for the 42nd
Annual Law College Association Appreciation Dinner
on April 16 at the Arizona Historical Society Museum.
Early ticket pricing ends in one week, on March 16. It
is going to be outstanding event to honor six
individuals who have made lasting impacts on the
profession and the community.
Until the footnotes,
Marc
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1L Jovan Ruvalcaba
was recently elected president of the National Association of Law Students with
Disabilities (NALSWD), and also launched the
Disability Law Club at Arizona Law. Jovan, who was
diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, is a Fulbright
Scholar, a Gilman Scholar, and is fluent in four
languages.
Assistant Dean
Tracy Mueller recently caught up
with Jovan to learn more about his work. Here is an
excerpt from the full Q&A.
What are
your responsibilities as president of the
NALSWD?
I
serve as the main contact between the American Bar
Association's Commission on Disability Rights and any
other group or organization working to advance
disability advocacy projects, especially those seeking
to increase access and support of students and
professionals with disabilities in the legal profession.
Why did you
choose Arizona Law?
I
am a native Tucsonan, and while I will say that
Arizona's resident tuition got my attention, it was the
college's collegial atmosphere that convinced me to
stay. I must also add that as a student with
disabilities, the nationally recognized
Disability Resource
Center here at the University of Arizona,
together with the incredible support of faculty and the
dean of students, made staying home an easy
choice.
Can you tell
us about the Disability Law Club that you recently
started?
We
want the club to take on disability advocacy and
awareness projects for the law school at large. We would
like to have disability rights attorneys give
presentations on pressing issues, but we would also like
to partner with community organizations that serve the
handicapped and see how we can use our legal training
and resources to increase accessibility around campus
and the Tucson community. It is important to remember
that an understanding of disability is as important for
lawyers who practice civil rights law as it is for those
who practice tort law, healthcare law, administrative
law, tax law, employment law, etc.
What is
something that most people don't know about disability
rights?
People tend to forget that disability is an
equal-opportunity transgressor. You can be born with a
disability or acquire it at any point in your lifetime.
We should not wait for disability to affect us
personally to work on ways to make the spaces and places
we live in more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
If you catch yourself thinking of a person with a
disability, do not focus on how inspirational they are
for living with limitations; instead think of one thing
that if different would make their life easier. Advocate
for that change, and you will have become an activist.
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Judge McNamee ('69) Receives
John Roll Award
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Congratulations,
Judge McNamee. On Friday, March 4, Judge Stephen M.
McNamee ('69) received the Judge John M. Roll Award at
the District of Arizona Annual Conference held at the
Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel. The award was
presented to Judge McNamee by Chief Judge Raner Collins
('75, above right) and included video tributes from
Senator John McCain, former Senator Jon Kyl ('66), and
Kenneth Starr, among others. Judge McNamee was
surrounded by current and former judicial assistants and
law clerks, several of whom are College of Law alumni,
as well as his wife, Elizabeth.
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With former clerks at last
year's
Annual LCA
Appreciation Dinner in Tucson (l-r):
Shruti Gurudanti
('15), Judge McNamee, Nicole Ong ('08),
Alison Bachus
('05), and Brandon Espinosa ('12).
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Legal Skills Competition
Wins |
National
NALSA Moot Court Competition
Arizona Law's
Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) team
made a strong showing over the weekend at the National
NALSA Moot Court Competition, going up against more than
60 teams from law schools across the country. The UA
NALSA team was: Anna Hohag (Bishop Paiute, 2L), Lisa
Wrazidlo (Bad River Ojibwe, 2L), Alex Mojado
(Pala/Cherokee, 2L), and Jacob Metoxen (Oneida, 1L).
Lisa and Anna
advanced to the Elite 8.
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Anna Hohag, Lisa Wrazidlo, Jacob Metoxen,
and Alexandra Mojado (l-r).
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Of the experience,
Anna says:
"It was an honor to
represent on behalf of the University of Arizona, the
IPLP program, our local NALSA chapter, but most
importantly to represent on behalf of our tribal
communities. We'd like to especially thank our moot
court coach, Pilar Thomas, for dedicating her free time
to prepare us for the competition."
In this very small
world, Pilar Thomas has been connected to my family for
almost 40 years, though I only met her in person for the
first time two years ago. (To solve this riddle, talk
with me or Pilar.) I share in Anna's gratitude for the
time Pilar spent helping the team to hone their skills.
Thanks also go to those who
served as guest judges for the team's practice sessions:
Amanda Lomayesva (General Counsel, Casino Del Sol),
Virjinya Torrez ('06, Assistant Attorney General, Tohono
O'odham Nation), Professor of Practice Jim Diamond
('14), John Hinderaker ('96, Partner, Lewis Roca
Rothgerber Christie, LLP), Professor Barbara Atwood
('76), Professor Robert Hershey ('72), Chase Velasquez
('15), Michelle Cook, and Sidney Larson.
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National Appellate
Advocacy Competition
The Arizona Law team
of James Carlson (3L), Kate Hollist (3L), and Ryan Pont
(3L), was one of four teams to win last weekend's San
Francisco regional and advance to the national round of
the American Bar Association's National Appellate
Advocacy Competition (NAAC), one of the most prestigious
and competitive interscholastic legal skills
competitions in the country.
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Back row, l-r: Kate Hollist, James
Carlson, and Dan Roberts.
Front row, l-r: Ryan Pont, Erica Morris,
and Briana Campbell.
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"After three
preliminary rounds, a semi-final round, and a final
round -- all against impressive competition -- the
Arizona Law team advanced to Nationals. It was a
dramatic victory: going into the elimination rounds as
the #16 seed, Ryan, Kate, and Jim took out the #1 seed
in round four and delivered a decisive victory in round
five against an excellent pair of advocates."
Please also join me
in congratulating Briana Campbell (3L), Erica Morris
(3L), and Dan Roberts (3L). These fierce competitors
made it to the final round of the regional competition
and only narrowly missed advancing to nationals.
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Kate, James, and Ryan show some Wildcat
spirit
(the clipping reads, "Can a 16 Seed Take
Down a 1?").
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Both teams enjoyed
excellent preparation and advice from several Arizona
Law faculty members, including Lorraine Gin, Vanessa
Buch, Kathie Barnes, David Marcus, Sylvia Lett, Suzanne
Rabe, Jane Bambauer, Jason Kreag, and our own Dean Marc
Miller.
Several alumni (and
former Arizona Law NAAC team members) also served as
practice judges, including 2011 NAAC team alums Nick
Knauer ('11) and Katie Callahan ('11); 2013 NAAC team
alum Johnny Anderson ('13); and 2014 NAAC team alums
Kristine (Alger) Doubleday ('14), Hope (Sullivan) Bielat
('14), Jon Loe ('14), and Will Pew ('14). Pima County
Public Defender Steve Sonnenberg, his Chief Assistant
Kevin Burke, and Assistant PDs Walt Palser ('98) and
Efthymios Katsarelis ('08) also judged a practice round,
as did Assistant U.S. Attorney Rui Wang
('05).
Congratulations again
to both teams.
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Gutter
Bowl IX was a resounding success. The Bowlmor in
Scottsdale was taken over by sixteen teams of alumni and
friends, representing the bench and bar, and the young
and not-so-young. Thanks to all who made it out last
Friday.
Here is a rundown of the
awards -- and I use the term "awards" loosely:
Highest Team Score - Overall:
Jones, Skelton & Hochuli
Highest Team Score - Average:
Quarles & Brady
Team Gutter Bowl: Class of 2005
Highest Individual Score: Dillion
Steadman (Jones, Skelton & Hochuli)
Individual Gutter Bowl: Rachel
Peters (Snell & Wilmer)
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Las
Vegas Alumni Reception, March 10
Are you headed to Las Vegas
this week for the Pac 12 Men's Basketball Tournament? If
so, please join me, Professor Billy Sjostrom, our
Distinguished Scholars, and fellow alumni at our annual
Las Vegas alumni reception.
When: Thursday, March 10, 2016, 4 - 6 p.m.
Where: Pub 1842 (located inside the MGM),
3799 S Las
Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109
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IPLP Speaker, March 11
The next
IPLP speaker is
Angela Riley (Citizen
Potawatomi Nation), Professor of Law at UCLA School of
Law. Professor Riley is currently serving as the Oneida
Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law
School. In 2003 she was selected to serve on her tribe's
supreme court, becoming the first woman and youngest
justice of the Supreme Court of the Citizen Potawatomi
Nation of Oklahoma. In 2010, she was elected as Chief
Justice.
Professor Riley will discuss her research on
the many doctrinal puzzles presented by
implementation of the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA)
and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act
(VAWA), and the larger implications for tribal
governance raised by jurisdictional changes in Indian
Country.
When: Friday, March 11, 12 - 1:15 p.m.
Where: College of Law faculty lounge (room
237)
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Tucson
Festival of Books, March 12-13
Arizona Law will again have a
booth at the Tucson Festival of Books, March 12-13. We
hope you'll stop by and say hello.
(There may be a little something for you if you
show up in Arizona Law apparel!) We will be at
booth #460, a little west of Cherry Avenue, on the main
mall. This is a great event for Tucson and the college,
so drop by and enjoy it with us!
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On Saturday, April 16,
the Law College Association will host the 42nd Annual
Law College Association Appreciation Dinner.
Please join us for the
presentation of awards honoring and celebrating the
remarkable achievements of Ryan C. Flynn ('06), C. Max
Killian ('49), Peter W. Likins, the Honorable Roxanne
Song Ong ('78), Nicole F. Stanton ('00), and Gary L.
Stuart ('67).
When: Saturday, April 16, 2016, 6 -
9 p.m.
Where: Arizona Historical Society
Museum
1300 North College Avenue, Tempe, AZ
85281
$125 per person ($150 after March
16)
$1100 for a table of ten ($1500
after March 16)
Register
Early
For more information and to
purchase tickets, please visit
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Online
Alumni Directory
Please take the time to join
your online alumni directory. We are creating
a shared resource to support our students and our
alumni. If you need us to resend your personalized
invitation, please email or
call (520) 621-8430.
The latest weekly Arizona
Law T-shirt drawing winner from among new directory
members Julie Wilson-McNerney ('13). Congratulations,
Julie, and thank you for joining.
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The impressive accomplishments of our trial
teams taste even sweeter when we recognize the part
played by alumni, faculty, and friends in their
preparation.
As a community, we all -- fellow students,
alumni, faculty, staff, administrators, and the many
friends of the college trained at other law schools
(yes, there are other law schools) -- contribute to such
successes and join in the celebration of every Arizona
Law win.
Warmly,
Dean & Ralph W. Bilby
Professor of Law
Shaping
the next century of legal education
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