IN the NEWS Legal Writing and Research Conference held at GU Law
the appointment of Debra L. Stephens of Spokane to the Division III state Court of Appeals. Her appointment was effective May 14. The investiture was held at Gonzaga Law School, Barbieri Courtroom on Friday, May 11, 2007. “Debra Stephens’ passion for public service and her vast experience with the appellate system will serve her well on the bench,” Gregoire said. “She will make a fine judge.” Debra has focused on appellate practice since 1995, with appearances as lead appellate counsel before the Washington Supreme Court, Washington Court of Appeals, Idaho Supreme Court, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and as counsel of record before the U.S. Supreme Court. Debra has also been very active at Gonzaga Law School as a coach for the National Moot Court team.
LR&W Professors Cheryl Beckett and Kevin Shelley organized the 2007 Northwest Regional Legal Research & Writing Conference: Teaching LR&W in Changing Times, held at Gonzaga on August 10, 2007. Twenty-four LR&W professors from Gonzaga, Seattle University, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, Lewis & Clark, and the University of Idaho attended this day-long conference. Participants presented on several topics ranging from developing mission statements for LR&W teachers, to teaching legal writing in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa.
Marie Soveroski Marie Soveroski, a 1989 graduate of Gonzaga University School of Law and managing director of EarthRights International, spoke at Gonzaga Law School on Monday, September 17, about her work in the area of environmental human rights. Marie lived and worked for fifteen years in Europe, where she served as director of the European Centre for Judges and Lawyers, the Luxembourg-based Antenna of the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), from 2001-2005. Prior to that she worked out of EIPA headquarters in Maastricht (NL) on legal and capacity building projects in the countries in transition in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe. Her focus and passion has been environmental law and protection, as well as human rights issues, which she has pursued both as a lawyer and as an activist. She has an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law, which she earned at the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels (B). She earned her JD at Gonzaga University School of Law as a Thomas More Scholar, a fulltuition scholarship program for persons pursuing a career in law in the public interest. She has bachelors degrees in Biology and Environmental Resource Management, and is a citizen of both the U.S. and the Netherlands. Ms. Soveroski’s talk was sponsored by the Thomas More Scholars.
Welcome Ruthann Miller In May 2007, Ruthann Miller joined our development office as a major gift officer. Ruthann is from Montana and is married with two sons. Following her U.S. Navy service on the east coast, Ruthann moved to Spokane where she earned her business/finance degree from Eastern Washington University in 1995. For the past several years, she was employed by Safeco Insurance as a Northwest Ruthann Miller underwriting manager and as a producer for an independent agency.
Above: Victoria Vreeland receives Myra Bradwell award. Right: Debra Stephens with Governor Christine Gregoire
a distinguished academic career. In the summer of 1975, she was the first Washington State Honors Intern in the United States Department of Justice, where she worked as part of a civil litigation section handling such matters as the May Day riots and the Nixon Watergate tapes cases. After graduation, she served as the first female clerk for the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division III, working for Judge Dale Green. Vicky went on to a distinguished career, first in public service then in private practice. She served as an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Washington from 1978-1982, and from 1982-1983 was chief counsel for the Crime Victim’s Compensation Section, where her work included drafting and successfully proposing the Governor’s Victim’s Rights legislation. In 1983, Vicky entered the high-risk and male-dominated world of civil litigation, where she has been a pioneer and role-model for women trial lawyers. She became a partner with Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell,
Women’s Law Caucus Recognizes Victoria Vreeland Gonzaga University School of Law Women’s Law Caucus presented the 15th Annual Myra Bradwell Award to Victoria Vreeland. Victoria graduated first in her class in 1976, following
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Malanca, Peterson & Daheim in 1985. For several years, her work has focused on civil litigation, primarily sexual coercion, childhood abuse, employment discrimination, and civil rights, as well as some commercial cases, representation of the Insurance Commissioner in insurance receiverships, and fraud and misrepresentation. She has described her area of practice as abuse of power litigation. In a Trial News profile in October, 1997, Vicky explained: “The bottom line for me is that if someone has been truly wronged by one in a position of power—because of that position of power—there must be a remedy for the individual. Those cases should also be beneficial to society in general—to curtail misuse and abuse of power, on behalf of those who are victims of discrimination, retaliation, sexual and physical power, big business or unfair employers.”
93 Years “Young” – Dean “Lew” Orland’s Birthday On September 10, 2007, the Gonzaga Law School faculty and staff celebrated Dean Lewis “Lew” Orland’s 93rd birthday, at the law school. Dean Orland , a member of the Gonzaga Law School Foundation Board, was at the law school for a Foundation Board meeting and the faculty and staff surprised
Debra Stephens Appointed to Court of Appeals
On May 8, 2007, Governor Christine Gregoire announced
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