summations student news
Clinic NEWS
Chuck Hammer is also retiring from the clinic this spring.
Mr. Hammer has directed the clinic’s Low Income Taxpayer Program since its inception in 2001. He has built an exciting program that allows students to learn by dealing directly with the IRS on behalf of their clients. Taking Mr. Hammer’s position will be Jennifer Gellner, a Seattle tax attorney and former student at the Low Income Taxpayer
NAAC Teams Compete in Regional Competition Congratulations to Gonzaga’s two NAAC teams, which competed admirably in the regional competition in St. Louis just before spring break. The team of Joe Brown, Blake Hilty, and Evan Marques advanced to the Above: the NAAC team semi-finals before losing a close round. The team of Dan Gividen, Jennifer Jackson, and Tamera Kelly advanced all the way to the finals, where the three judges split: one for them, one for the other team (Houston), and one tied. The Houston team then won on a tie-breaker (total points).
Kevin Zeck for their outstanding performance during the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition. They competed in the Pacific Super Regional in Santa Clara, California, February 28 through March 2, and won third best brief, losing by one point to first place U.C. Hastings. In the process, Gonzaga’s brief beat other schools in the western region, including Stanford, Berkeley, Davis, USC, UW, Oregon, and Arizona. They also defeated competitors in the oral rounds in which they were paired against Oregon, University of Nevada - Las Vegas, University of New Mexico, and Montana. Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition
Above: Professor Mark Wilson Right: Chuck Hammer
client base continues to be at the forefront of our day-to-day
Major changes are taking place in University Legal
activities. We are seeing a significant increase in housing
Assistance (ULA). One of the most significant of these is the
issues, predominately foreclosure and foreclosure rescue
retirement of Professor Mark Wilson at the end of this semester.
scams. ULA recently forced the return of an eighty-year-old
Congratulations to Gonzaga’s Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court competitors on their outstanding performance in San Francisco, February 8 through 10. Gonzaga fielded two teams for this year’s national IP competition in San Francisco. Team members were Kent Doll, Erik Lamb, Collette Leland, Megan New, Kimberly Pray, Brian Sniffen, Brett Venn, and Peter Wilburn. Their hard work paid off in San Francisco when they competed against some highly-ranked schools in the Western Region: Berkeley, Hastings, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara, and University of Hawaii, to name a few.
The co-creator of ULA, Mark has guided the clinic for thirty-
client’s home. The house had been taken through fraud by
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three years. His vision and steadfast dedication has shaped the
people who promised to help our client when he fell behind
current program, which is responsible for having educated over
on his mortgage payments. A blizzard of paperwork was
1,000 students. Professor Wilson has long championed Native
presented to our client, ultimately resulting in the defendants’
American rights, so it is fitting that as Mark reaches retirement,
owning his home. When the scam artists attempted to evict our
ULA is in the process of establishing a Native American Law
client, ULA was able to stop the eviction and eventually return
Clinic. Funded in part by the Kalispell Tribe, the new program
title of the home to him.
will provide educational experiences for students to directly
Another case involving a landlord who evicted one of our
represent individual tribal members and assist the tribal
clients was tried in March. The case has already been to the
government with transactional and business services. We are
Court of Appeals, and this trial is being held to establish the
very pleased to announce that the director has been hired for
landlord’s financial obligation for placing all of our client’s
the clinic. He is Jay Kanassatega, from St. Anthony, Minnesota.
possessions on the sidewalk, in the rain, during the eviction.
Jay received his B.S. in Special Education from Bridgewater
The appeal, which can be found at Parker v. Taylor, 136 Wash.
State College in Maine, and his J.D. from the University of
App. 524 (01/04/2007), established the landlord’s duty to store
Washington School of Law. Since 1990 he has been with the firm
the tenant’s possessions after an eviction.
Clinic at the University of Washington. Ms. Gellner is relocating to Spokane and will begin working this summer.
The clinic’s on-going responsibility to represent its core
Above: the Jessup Cup team: Coach Prof. Joe Hnylka, Matt Semritc, Coach Prof. Upendra Archarya, Jefferson Boswell, Estee Lewis, and Kevin Zeck Right: the Saul Lefkowitz (IP) Moot Court Team . Back row/left to right: Kimberly Pray, Peter Wilburn, Colette Leland, Megan New, Erik Lamb, Brett Venn. Front row/left to right: Kent Doll, Brian Sniffen
Though disappointed that they didn’t advance to the national rounds, the team members performed very well. They are all accomplished advocates, both orally and in writing, showing an amazing degree of dedication and industry. Each student is a credit to the law school.
Jessup Cup Team at the International Moot Court Competition Congratulations to the Jessup Cup team of Jefferson Boswell, Estee Lewis, Matt Semritc, and
Leonard, Street and Deinard, in Minneapolis.
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Team Leland-Pray-Sniffen-Wilburn beat every other school in the competition on their brief, winning the Best Brief award, and going on to win second best brief in the