| UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
JAMES E. ROGERS COLLEGE OF LAW |
February 23, 2022 | | |
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Greetings,
Today we share – and celebrate – the news of a generous gift from alumni and friends. This gift is a substantial step toward educating future generations of advocates.
Until the footnotes,
Marc
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Rusing Lopez & Lizardi $50,000 Gift Supports Courtroom Rebuild at University of Arizona Law | |
Arizona business law firm Rusing Lopez & Lizardi, PLLC has contributed $50,000 to the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in support of the college’s "A New Day in Court" initiative to transform our advocacy program.
The firm’s gift will go toward remodeling University of Arizona Law’s existing courtrooms to create two modern, flexible, dual-purpose practice courtrooms and classrooms, one of which will house the Rusing Lopez & Lizardi Judge’s Bench.
The $6 million “A New Day in Court” initiative is raising funds for capital projects, faculty expansion and student experiential learning. The initiative also includes renaming the program the Thomas Mauet Advocacy Program, in honor of Professor Emeritus and renowned trial expert Thomas Mauet, who stepped down as advocacy program director in 2016.
“To have a premier firm like Rusing Lopez & Lizardi join us as supporters speaks to the importance of creating top-of-the-line advocacy spaces for students here at the University of Arizona,” said Barbara Bergman, director of the advocacy program. “Our students have long benefitted from having Rusing Lopez & Lizardi right in our own backyard here in Tucson, and this generous contribution ensures students will continue to benefit for years to come.”
|  | UA President Robert "Bobby" Robbins & Mick Rusing | |
Mick Rusing and University of Arizona alumnus Pat Lopez ('78) founded Rusing & Lopez, PLLC in Tucson in 1992. Oscar Lizardi, a 1995 graduate of University of Arizona Law, joined the firm in 2000. The firm has grown to 24 attorneys, including fellow equity partners Timothy Reckart and double Wildcat Jonathan Saffer ('99 & '02), and added a Scottsdale office in 2018.
"We contributed to this project because we believe in the power that legal education has to transform students’ lives and the lives of the clients and communities they will serve," said Oscar Lizardi. "We have confidence that the projects and faculty expansion being funded by this initiative will continue to bring the best and brightest students to Tucson."
In addition to the $4 million needed for building reconstruction, the "A New Day in Court" initiative is raising $2 million for an endowed chair of advocacy, an endowed professorship, and an endowment fund to support student experiential advocacy activities, such as travel to trial competitions.
The Rusing Lopez & Lizardi gift brings the total amount raised for “A New Day in Court” to more than $2.25 million.
For more information, including fundraising goals and how to donate, visit law.arizona.edu/court or contact Senior Director of Development Megan O’Leary.
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Paint the Strip Red at the Men's PAC-12 Tourney
Arizona Law will be helping paint the Las Vegas Strip red and blue during the men's Pac-12 basketball tournament, March 9 -12.
Please also plan to join Arizona Law and the Eller College of Management for a special alumni reception in Las Vegas on Friday, March 11 at 11am. More details to come!
Let us know if you’ll be there, as we celebrate our #2 ranked men's team and cheer them on to the championship!
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Faculty and Alumna Appointed to Civil Rights Advisory Panel | |
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Professors Tessa Dysart and Heather Whiteman Runs Him, along with alumna Melissa Ho ('04) have been appointed to serve on the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Advisory Committee for Arizona.
"State advisory committees help inform the commission on civil rights issues specific to that state," Tessa said, "Arizona, with its 22 federally recognized tribes and vast reservation land, certainly has its share of unique civil rights issues. As a native woman who has taught Constitutional Law and thought deeply about these issues, I am excited to serve our state in this role."
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Prof. Heather Whiteman Runs Him | |
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Advisory committees across the country have recently examined water affordability, school discipline disparities, policing practices, mental health and the criminal justice system, legal financial obligations, fair housing, hate crimes, voting rights, maternal health, and solitary confinement.
In addition to advising the national commission, advisory committee reports have contributed to policy changes at the national, state, and local levels. Heather looks forward to helping shape those policies.
"It is an honor to be selected to help the U.S. Civil Rights Commission fulfill its important mission in our state through the Arizona Advisory Committee. I’m excited to do this work with such a wonderful and diverse group of colleagues." she said.
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Health Law & Policy Program Credits Extraordinary Faculty for Providing Needed Legal Education to the Future Health Workforce | |
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Our Health Law & Policy Program has a team of 22 dedicated part-time Professors of Practice with a range of expertise across the health care sector. Many of them invest their time in the classroom while also balancing full-time leadership positions at global companies, serving as elected officials in the Arizona State Legislature, or collaborating with us from other UA colleges.
The Health Law & Policy graduate certificate program now has 180 enrolled students and 62 graduates, up from 15 students when the program first launched three years ago. The program offers high-level, specialized training across the health care sector from data privacy and drug development to liability and business practices. More than half of current students (57 percent) already hold graduate degrees. Enrollment is nationwide and growing outside the U: three countries and 21 states are represented in the current student body.
"We're incredibly proud to be building a program that has already garnered international attention from industry leaders in a such a short time," said Professor Tara Sklar, who directs the program and also teaches Advanced Health Law Research and Law and Aging & the Law.
Course trailer previews with our Professors of Practice, alumni testimonials, and recorded webinars are all available on the Health Law & Policy YouTube Channel.
A full list of the Health Law & Policy Faculty, along with their biographies and courses, is available here: https://law.arizona.edu/health-law-faculty.
Thanks to the Fall 2021 Professors of Practice whose extraordinary efforts on behalf of our students were deeply appreciated.
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Kirin Goff (’17), Regulatory Science Colloquium
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Kathryn Huber, Technology and Aging: Legal & Ethical Developments
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Huong Huynh, Drug Discovery, Development & Innovation to Reach the Marketplace
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Stephen Karpen, Regulatory Science Case Study Project
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Chase Millea, Data Privacy & Cybersecurity in Health Care
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Tracy Nuckolls (’70), Legal and Regulatory Aspects for Health Care Delivery
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Vignesh Subbian, Introduction to Biomedical Informatics
For more information, please email: law-healthcare@arizona.edu
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Class of 2020 Set to Celebrate on March 5
All rise for the Honorable Class of 2020!
It is (finally) time to celebrate our graduation, take photos, and recognize our accomplishments with friends and family. Please see the information below for more details. We'd love to see you all there!
Karen Donderewicz
Student Bar Association President
Class of 2020
Saturday, March 5, 2022
Ceremony starts at 1:30 pm, College of Law (RSVP)
Reception at 3:00 pm, Culinary Dropout, 2543 E. Grant Rd. (RSVP)
Graduates, family, and friends may attend both the ceremony and reception but should RSVP for each event separately. Alumni should have already received an email with details. If you graduated in August '19, December '19, or May '20 and have not received an email. please contact Nancy Stanley.
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Our college thrives with financial support from alumni and friends, such as the firm of Rusing Lopez & Lizardi, and from the commitment of alumni and friends who develop and teach courses in highly specialized areas, including the many pathways in health law and policy, broadly understood.
And our full time faculty give their time and services and support to people and institutions outside the University of Arizona – illustrated here by the work on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Advisory Committee by Professor Dysart and Professor Whiteman Runs Him.
The common theme is support for others, and an appreciation of the larger profession and society of which we are a part – for which we are always deeply grateful.
Warmly,
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