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mapping, evidence-based policing, strategies to reduce gun violence and the challenges facing felons reentering society. The occasion garnered lots of local media play from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KSDK-TV, KMOV-TV.
Judicial Reception H onors J udges Bright and M cMillian On Sept. 25, federal judges – including the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals judges, the district court judges, magistrate judges and the bankruptcy judges – were invited to a reception to see the new law school building. Dean Michael Wolff took the occasion to honor two Eighth Circuit Judges who have had a special relationship with SLU LAW: Judge Myron H. Bright and the late Judge Theodore McMillian. President Johnson appointed Bright to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1968, where he was the first Jewish member of the court. He is now the longestserving judge in the history of the Eighth Circuit. During his time on the bench, Bright has heard more than 6,000 cases and has written notable decisions in cases involving employment discrimination law, environmental law, criminal law and evidence. After Bright spoke at SLU LAW in the late 1970s, he created one of the first Jurist-in-Residence programs in the U.S., which brought a sitting judge to the law school for a number of days to speak in classes, give public lectures, and visit on an informal basis with students and faculty – providing a unique opportunity for insight into judicial decision making and the development of U.S. law. He later expanded his relationship with the School of Law when he joined the faculty and taught appellate advocacy from 1985-1995. In recognition of this special relationship, the law school community presented Bright with an Award of Appreciation honoring him for his years of generous service and his friendship to SLU LAW. McMillian graduated from the School of Law in 1949, valedictorian of his class – one of his many firsts. That year he was the first African-American to be inducted into Saint Louis University’s chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu, a Jesuit national honor society. After starting his own law firm, McMillian was hired as an assistant circuit attorney for the City of St. Louis. He subsequently became the first African-American judge appointed to serve on the St. Louis City Circuit Court (1956), the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District (1972) and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (1978 by President Carter). McMillian, who died in January 2006, was a public servant and a community leader whose legacy included his achievement of many firsts, his devotion to civil
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rights, and his support of many individuals who needed a helping hand. With the 20132014 academic year, SLU LAW began the McMillian Scholars Program which gives first-year law students interested in using their law degrees to pursue social justice with a community of social justice allies and leaders at the law school, and offers them the opportunity to develop intercultural competencies and methods of conflict resolution as professional skills. The law school presented an Award of Appreciation plaque to McMillian’s family, acknowledging the inspiration his dedication to St. Louis and unwavering commitment to social justice provided.
Mastering the Art of Mediation Advocacy The Association of Attorney Mediators and the Wefel Center for Employment Law hosted a day-long program designed to help improve mediation advocacy for all practitioners. The Oct. 4 program included plenary sessions on preparation of the advocate, the client and the mediator; making effective opening remarks; making effective use of caucuses, and ethics in mediation advocacy. Breakout sessions covered business, family, personal injury and employment mediations. Presenters included Joan Burger (’76), Association of Attorney Mediators; Jerome Diekemper (‘71), Jerome A . Diekemper, LLC; Susan Fitzgibbon (’84), SLU LAW professor and co-director, Center for Employment Law; Rebecca Magruder (‘96), assistant adjunct professor at SLU LAW; and Carol Needham, professor at SLU LAW.
H ealth Law Scholars Weekend SLU LAW and the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics hosted the 12th annual Health Law Scholars Workshop on Oct. 10-12. The Health Law Scholars Workshop is a collegial forum in which junior faculty who