 |
 The
hallways of Arizona Law are buzzing and -- today! --
students are back in class.
I am extremely pleased to announce the speaker for
the McCormick Society lecture on February 15, 2016, will
be U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena
Kagan.
Date: Monday, February
15, 2016
Time: 5:30 - 6:30
p.m.
Location: Crowder Hall,
at UA School of Music, 1017
N. Olive Rd., Tucson
Until the footnotes,
Marc |
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New York Reception and AALS
Meeting |
Arizona Law visited
the Big Apple last week to meet with local alumni and
participate in the Association of American Law Schools
(AALS) annual meeting.
At the AALS, among other activities, I discussed
the status of the new BA
in law program at a deans-only plenary
session.
On Friday, January 8, we held an alumni reception
at Whiskey Park. Attendees included Sean Kelly
('15), Ling Zhu ('01), Jed Mullens ('98), Sean
Estrada ('14), Wanglin Rao ('15), Jen Dang ('12), Sagan
Beder ('13), and Christine Swanick ('95).
Our hearty thanks goes out to these great New York
alumni for visiting with us and strengthening our ties
in the Big Apple. If you'd like to connect with them,
visit the online alumni directory or write to us at
alumni@law.arizona.edu.
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Enjoying the company
of
Jed Mullens
('98).
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Sagan Beder ('13) and
Sean Estrada ('14).
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With Susie Salmon
and Sean Kelly ('15).
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With Bob
Mundheim.
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Wanglin Rao ('15)
and Jed Mullens.
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The
Wildcat scene.
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Alumni Profile -- Sean
Estrada ('14) |
One of our alums in
New York is Sean Estrada ('14). Sean
says that he has great memories of Arizona Law. Most of
them center around the strong sense of community that
has been fostered at the school.
As a student, I
loved dealing with the administration, faculty, and
fellow students outside of the classroom. I think that
is what drew me to get involved in the Student Bar
Association. I was fortunate enough to be elected
President of the SBA for 2013/2014. I had an amazing
group of students working with me that year and it made
the job exponentially easier. I also loved serving on
the editorial board of the Arizona Journal of
International and Comparative Law. We worked very hard
to put out a great product while not taking ourselves
more seriously than we should.
Overall just being
with my friends and classmates for all the events we put
on made my time at Arizona Law three of the best years
of my life. And I definitely miss tailgating on
Saturdays before football games.
Sean moved to New York City last year after
accepting a job with the National Football League. He
now works in the NFL Management Council as a Labor
Operations Manager. His department is responsible for
the NFL's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and in
charge of every team's salary cap and the approval or
disapproval of all player contracts and
transactions.
Sean says that there is great variety in his
day-to-day activities during different times of the
league's year. Further,
I spend some days on
the phone with the front office personnel from different
clubs going through varying salary cap situations or new
cap accounting rules that are coming into effect this
year. Another day, I can be crafting contract language
that is tailored to a specific player performance
incentive, or I could be investigating a club for
potential CBA violations. It's not strictly a "lawyer"
job since it's a hybrid between business, law, and
football, but it's a job that I was lucky enough to be
uniquely suited for.
Before attending Arizona Law, Sean earned a
business degree at the University of Pennsylvania and
also played professionally for the San Francisco 49ers.
I never had the
honor of serving in the military, but I come from a
family full of vets, so learning about the problems
returning vets face was an important lesson for me.
Because of my experience in the clinic I still try to
stay abreast of current legislation affecting vets and
the ramifications it might have on the good work the
clinic has been able to accomplish.
Sean does a great job staying in contact with his
law school friends even though they are spread out
across the nation. They are already planning to return
to Tucson for homecoming next year. He and fellow
Manhattan-based Arizona Law graduate Jen Dang ('12),
also a former SBA president, get together for the big
Arizona sporting events and to reminisce about Tucson's
Mexican food.
We'll see you again in the fall,
Sean!
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Richard Grand Legal Writing
Competition |
 Professors Lorraine Gin and Suzanne Rabe recently announced the four
finalists for this year's Richard Grand Legal Writing
Competition: Jillian Andrews (2L), Kayla Bernays (1L),
Max Bradley (1L), and Julie Pack (1L). These finalists
were selected from 31 entries.
Professor Rabe writes, "This year, we were
particularly impressed by the high quality of the
submissions. Selecting the four finalists was unusually
difficult, and we warmly commend all who
wrote."
Four outside judges will determine the final order
of the awards. This year's judges are: The Honorable
Michael O. Miller, Division Two, Arizona Court of
Appeals; The Honorable Wayne Yehling, Pima County
Superior Court; Janis Gallego, ASUA Student Legal
Advisor; and Timothy Eigo, editor, Arizona
Attorney magazine.
The awards reception will be held on Wednesday,
January 27, at 12:15 p.m. in the Faculty Lounge. The
final order of the awards will be announced at that
time.
We are most grateful to Marcia Grand for continuing
to inspire and fund this competition in honor of her
late husband, attorney Richard Grand
('58).
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Transactional LawMeet®
Team |
Professor Billy Sjostrom and alumnus Will
Pew ('14) have selected six students to compete
on this year's Transactional LawMeet
teams.
The two teams are as follows:
Dallas
Southwestern Region,
February 26, 2016
Dami
Oguntade (3L)
Michael
Mohler (2L)
Jordan
Hartman (2L)
Coached
by Will Pew
Denver
Western Region, February
26, 2016
Margo
Cassleman (2L)
Ricardo
Robinson Bours (2L)
Storm
Byrd (2L)
Coached
by Professor Sjostrom
The transactional competitions provide students
with the opportunity to work on real-world business
problems such as indemnification agreements,
renegotiation of stock purchase agreements, and
executive compensation agreements. In addition to skill
development, students gain visibility with some of the
top business law firms in the country who sponsor the
competition.
Prior to the competition, our teams will work with
coaches to dissect a problem and draft an agreement. On
the day of the competition, they will negotiate and
revise their agreements with the goal of a
resolution.
Pew says:
I am really enjoying
the opportunity to coach this semester and am looking
forward to the competition in February (and hopefully
April 1 at the national competition). I think we have
two incredibly strong teams, and it was fun to see the
enthusiasm and interest of the entire
class.
We look forward to great results this semester!
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In
Memoriam
 Arizona
Law alumnus, professor of practice, and Tucson
practitioner Doug
Newman ('81)
passed away on December 24, 2015. Doug was maverick in estate planning and business
law while remaining heavily engaged in the local Bar and
the College of Law. He was an ardent supporter of legal
education and students.
As a dear friend to the college, he will be missed.
In lieu of flowers, his family has asked for donations
to Humane Society of Southern
Arizona. |
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First
Spring IPLP Speaker on January 15
John Borrows, Canada
Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of
Victoria Law School "Learning from the Land: Teaching
Indigenous Law in Context"
 Understanding how
Indigenous peoples can practice law as a land-based
activity should be experienced by every law student.
Indigenous law contains important insights for making
decisions about lands and broader relationships. While
some of this instruction can occur in classrooms, walls
can hide important legal resources. Participation and
immersion in out-of-doors contexts, even for short
periods, can be very beneficial for communities and
students engaged in the practice of
law.
Date: Friday, January
15
Time: 12 - 1:15 p.m.
(with lunch)
Location: Faculty Lounge
(Room 237)
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Tucson
Fellows Reception on January 22
On January 22, 2015, Arizona Law will hold a
reception to thank to all of our Tucson Arizona Law
Fellows. These loyal donors contributed $1,000 or more
in 2015.
We are excited to share the great things in store
for the year and to celebrate the success of the Fellows
program and the significant contributions to Arizona Law
in 2015. Watch for your invitation via email.
Date: Friday, January
22
Time: 6:00 - 8:00
p.m.
Where: Lewis Roca
Rothgerber Lobby, College of
Law, 1201 E.
Speedway,
Tucson
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Please take the time to join the online alumni directory. We are creating
a shared resource to support our students and our
alumni. The directory is only valuable if alumni
participate. If you need us to resend your personalized
invitation, please email or
call (520) 621-8430.
The newest weekly drawing winner from among new
directory members is Tom Dillof
('08). Congratulations, Tom, and thanks for
joining! |
The holiday break is a great chance to wrap
up the last semester and prepare for the next -- to take
a deep breath. But all of the break points to today, and
one of the great joys of teaching, and a source of more
than a little anxiety and an electric sense of
anticipation is to walk into a room of new students,
rested, focused, and eager to learn.
Warmly,
Dean
& Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law
Shaping
the next century of legal
education
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