 |
Greetings,
This
week we shine the spotlight on two Phoenix-area alumni
whose work has had profound professional and community
impacts, Nicole Stanton ('00) and Max Killian ('49). We
will honor their accomplishments in just ten days at
the 42nd
Annual LCA Appreciation Dinner
.
We also announce the
finalists in this year's Grand Closing Arguments
Competition,
with our thanks to
the generous donor who afforded our students this
opportunity.
Until the footnotes,
Marc
|
Nicole France Stanton graduated from
Arizona Law in 2000. She is a broadly experienced
litigator and corporate attorney, a committed civic
servant, and a 2016 recipient of a Professional
Achievement Award from the UA Alumni Association.
Nicole was named managing
partner of the Quarles & Brady Phoenix office in
2013. She is a senior member of the firm's Professional
Liability Team and the associate general counsel of
Quarles & Brady as a whole -- a long-established
firm anchored in the Midwest, with more than 475
lawyers.
Nicole has worked to
create greater workplace flexibility and productivity at
the firm. She says, "These changes have made Quarles a
more family-friendly employer, but more importantly,
they have allowed the firm to retain great talent that
might have gone to a competitor or not returned to work
at all."
By all accounts Nicole is
a master at seeing all sides of the story and
successfully resolving disputes. She has served as
defense counsel for several local and national law firms
and represented accounting firms, financial
institutions, and insurance brokers. She also counsels
clients on real estate matters, land disputes, breaches
of contract, and franchise law. In 2015, she was elected
to the American Law Institute and listed in the top 25
Female Attorneys by Southwest Super Lawyers.
Nicole is prolific in her
work on behalf of the Phoenix community through
organizations including the Women's Metropolitan Arts
Council, Charter 100 AZ, Valley Leadership, Arizona
Women's Employment and Education, Inc., and a statewide
anti-bullying initiative called Stop Bullying AZ, which
she founded in 2012.
Her community service has
been recognized time and again. In 2011, she was honored
by the YWCA as a leading woman business leader (
watch interview). She was listed
among the Phoenix Business Journal's Most Admired
Leaders in 2014. In 2015, she was elected to the Arizona
Equal Justice Foundation Board, received a GLSEN Phoenix
Ally Award, and received a Positively Powerful Woman
Award. Most recently, in 2016, she has been selected as
one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona by Arizona
Business Magazine (she also made this list in 2015) and
named an Arizona Business Leader by AZ Big Media.
Nicole has taught and
written articles on topics such as professional
responsibility, ethics, social media, and bullying.
If you know Nicole you know that she has
two beautiful children and is a huge basketball fan.
Here she is with one of her children at a Phoenix
Mercury game:
|
Our 1949
alumnus C. Max Killian is an expert real-estate and tax
attorney who has practiced in Mesa for 67 years. Over a
long and distinguished career, he has handled some of
the most complicated real-estate matters in the Phoenix
area. We recognize him this year with a UA Alumni
Association Professional Achievement Award.
Max grew up as
part of an extended farming family, with roots in Graham
County and Maricopa County, as well as Colorado, but
decided as a young man to pursue an education in the
law. After earning his law degree, he began a solo legal
practice in Mesa. He later partnered with U.S.
Congressman John J. Rhodes, as Rhodes & Killian.
Eventually, the firm became Killian, Nicholas, Fischer,
Wirken, Cook & Pew.
His background
in agriculture has been inextricably linked to his legal
career. He has represented farmers and the Arizona Farm
Bureau on a wide array of business, water, and land use
issues. (Read a Farm Bureau interview with Max and his
farming family here:
"Meet Arizona Agriculture's Killian
Family.")
|
|
|
Three generations
stand in front of a citrus orchard that was first
planted in Mesa, Arizona, in the 1930s. From
left: Max Killian, Nathan Killian, Phillip
Killian, Matthew Killian, and Mark
Killian.
Photo and caption
courtesy of AZFB.org.
|
Max's vast
experience in real estate was developed in part through
his family's interest in Sunny Mesa Citrus Growers, a
packinghouse begun by many of the early citrus growers
in the Mesa area. Max eventually assumed responsibility
for the legal activities of Sunny Mesa Citrus Growers.
He also used his legal and business acumen to develop
numerous large cattle ranches in North and South America
that benefitted his church's welfare program through
their beef production.
Former Killian
firm partner and UA Law alum Chas Wirken ('75)
observed,
"Having grown up in
Mesa and worked with Max for over two decades, I know
that the East Valley would not be what it is today
without his vision and wisdom."
Max
has an uncanny ability to negotiate deals and
transactions, bringing key participants together with
the utmost integrity, bringing benefits to his clients,
and, at the same time, positively impacting the
community.
|
|
|
Grand Closing Arguments
Competition Results |
|
|
|
The five finalists (l-r): Matt Ashton,
Sarah Levine, Jonathan Leitenberger,
Troy Anderson, and Jim Carlson.
|
The final round of
the 16th Annual Richard Grand Closing Arguments
Competition was held March 28. The event is an oral
argument competition emphasizing the presentation of
damages evidence in personal injury cases. Student
finalists presented mock closing arguments on the issue
of how much in damages should be awarded in a civil
lawsuit.
Join us in congratulating
the five finalists:
1st place ($2,500 prize): Jim Carlson
2nd place ($1,500 prize): Matt Ashton
3rd place ($500 prize): Sarah Levine
4th place ($250 prize each): Troy Anderson
and Jonathan Leitenberger
The competition is funded by the late
Richard Grand, a 1958 graduate of the University of
Arizona College of Law and a 2002 recipient of the UA
Alumni Association's Professional Achievement Award.
Richard passed away in April 2013. His generosity to the
law school continues through the support of his wife,
Marcia Grand, and the Richard Grand Foundation.
|
Calling
All IPLP Alums to FedBar, April 7
This Thursday the
Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program
(IPLP) and the University of Arizona Native American
Legal Students Association (NALSA) are hosting an alumni
reception at the Federal Bar Association Indian Law
Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Last year IPLP had a
great turnout, and faculty and students look forward to
the chance to catch up with family and friends at the
reception. In addition to fellow alumni, faculty, staff,
and students, Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian
Affairs Lawrence Roberts will be in attendance.
When: April 7, 2016, 5-7pm
Where: Talking Stick Resort, Roadrunner
Room C
9800 E. Indian Bend Rd.,
Scottsdale,
Arizona
If you are interested in
attending please email Justin Boro
or call 520-626-9224.
|
|
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
$150 per person
$1,500 for a table of ten
Register
Today!
For more information and to
purchase tickets, please visit
|
|
|
|
Seeking
Internships for BA in Law Undergrads
If your organization, law
firm or business could use some support this summer (or
during the school year if you are based in Tucson), let
us help you recruit an undergraduate student
intern.
Students who are
pursuing the BA in Law are receiving a top-notch legal
education from Arizona Law faculty, taking undergraduate
courses in property law, contracts, torts, procedure,
and criminal law and procedure, among others. They are
eager to apply their knowledge in paid or unpaid
internships. Since such experiences are meant to prepare
them for law-related careers (rather than JD internships
meant to prepare students to work as attorneys),
internship providers have more flexibility in the work
that these students can be assigned, so long as they are
gaining an educational benefit.
For more information,
please contact Najwa Nabti, Director of the
Undergraduate Law Program (nabti@email.arizona.edu or
520-626-8373).
|
|
|
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 is Karen Mais ('03). Congratulations, Karen, and
thank you for joining.
|
|
|
As the days
get longer and the temperature begins to warm, we enter
a part of the annual academic cycle marked by the last
month of classes, celebratory dinners -- headlined by
our annual LCA dinner and awards -- and thoughts of
graduation (for some) and summer work just over the
horizon.
This is also
the time of year when prospective students regularly
visit the college. Nothing is more valuable to them than
talking with the people who live the College of Law
experience -- the current students, alumni, staff and
faculty.
Thank you to everyone for the community
effort to bring together another spectacular class, a
long tradition that produces leaders for the legal
profession and society like C. Max Killian and Nicole
France Stanton.
Warmly,
Dean & Ralph W. Bilby
Professor of Law
Shaping
the next century of legal education
|
|
|
| |
| |
.gif){kind=small}
