Mitchell Hamline Law Winter 2018

MITCHELL HAMLINE WINTER 2018

a commitment to

Minnesota 2nd Judicial District Judge SOPHIA VUELO ’98

A Message from the Dean

Dear Alumni, It is impossible to condense into a single magazine a summary of all that is happening at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and I am not going to try to do so in this short message. Rather, I want to take a step back with you to ponder what, working with you and other alumni, our incredible team of faculty, staff, and students has been able to achieve since the combination became effective three years ago.

The bottom line is that we have created a school that is true to the legacies of its two predecessor institutions while at the same time pushing the boundaries of legal education for the future.

In essence, as distilled into a sentence during our recent branding process, Mitchell Hamline offers a rigorous, practice-based experience for motivated students who want to pursue a legal education in a way that fits their lives.

There is a lot packed into that sentence, so permit me to discuss its various elements. I think people sometimes forget how rigorous a Mitchell Hamline legal education is. Our students are challenged to think and analyze in new ways; they are required to develop a significant amount of doctrinal and skills-based expertise. And they have the incomparable experience of matching wits with a law school faculty that is second to none in terms of sheer mastery of teaching skills, not to mention breadth of knowledge and experience.

I think you would all be impressed by the level of mastery we expect from students.

While our students are being challenged in the classroom, they are also being exposed to an incredible array of experiences designed to introduce them to the realities of practice. Whether it is through clinics, externships, residencies, opportunities for “client contact from day one,� the Wheels of Justice (mobile law office), or intensive classroom exercises, Mitchell Hamline students do not need to choose between learning theory, doctrine, and practice. Indeed, they receive distinctive preparation for a legal profession that is constantly changing while also exploring ways to make real their own commitment to service. Mitchell Hamline is, as we like to say, great in theory and even better in practice.

What does it mean to give motivated students (and our students are, indeed, motivated) an opportunity to pursue a legal education in a way that fits their lives? It means students coming straight from college who want to pursue a J.D. full time can do so, but so can single parents who are working full time or entrepreneurs who are trying to balance legal studies with pursuing various investment opportunities. Students at any stage of life will find a welcoming and student-centered environment at Mitchell Hamline that helps them pursue a legal education that furthers their goals.

We are a community committed to student success, helping students use their law degrees in whatever way they are most passionate about, whether by entering practice, going into business, or working in a nonprofit or other form of service.

I encourage you to read on to learn more about the ways that Mitchell Hamline is making all of us so proud! As always, thank you for all you do in enabling us to offer such a supportive pathway for our students, and I invite you to continue to share your thoughts and ideas with me at mark.gordon@mitchellhamline.edu.

Sincerely,

Mark C. Gordon President and Dean

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW VOLUME 2 Published by Mitchell Hamline School of Law 875 Summit Avenue St. Paul, Minn. 55105 651-227-9171 alumni@mitchellhamline.edu mitchellhamline.edu/alumni President and Dean Mark C. Gordon Executive Editor Doug Belden Art Director and Designer Karl Peters Designer John Diebel

District Judge Sophia Vuelo ’98 (HUSL) in her chambers in St. Paul in April 2018 with clerk Lauren Durand ’18 (MHSL). Vuelo made headlines in November 2017 when she was appointed as the first Minnesota judge of Hmong descent and the third Hmong-American to serve as a judge in the United States. “My judicial philosophy is to be compassionate, competent, and community centered,” Vuelo said. “At the core of me is a jurist whose role is to serve the people who live in this community, here in Ramsey County, and to ensure that we are doing nothing short of dispensing justice.” Story, Page 8.

Writers Maja Beckstrom Allison Burke ’09 (WMCL) Nancy Crotti Dick Dahl Todd Nelson Tim Post Photographers Sharolyn B. Hagen Larry Marcus Tim Post Brady Willette BOARD OF TRUSTEES Chair Lisa A. Gray ’86 (WMCL)

A Passion for Spirits Chris Montana left his law firm

4

job to open a craft distillery

First Hybrid J.D. Program Grads Pursue Varied Paths

6

first-of-its-kind Hybrid J.D. program in 2018; here’s a look at what a few are up to

Mitchell Hamline extends its reach as

15

a pioneer in connecting students with hands-on legal work

Expanding Access to Legal Knowledge Professional Legal Education programs fill a niche for mid-career professionals

Secretary Steven J. Kirsch ’76 (HUSL) Treasurer Nicole James Gilchrist ’03 (WMCL)

73 students completed Mitchell Hamline’s

The Clinical Tradition

Vice Chair Frank V. Harris ’75 (HUSL)

20

Brian Batzli ’85 (WMCL) Gregory L. Buck ’87 (WMCL) Christine Chalstrom ’91 (WMCL) Jeanne M. Forneris Judge Donovan W. Frank ’77 (HUSL) Judge Sara Grewing ’03 (WMCL) Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks ’85 (WMCL) Mark A. Hallberg ’79 (WMCL) Dr. Linda N. Hanson Jean F. Holloway James J. Hoolihan ’79 (WMCL) Charles H. Johnson ’75 (HUSL) Christine Kucera Kalla ’94 (WMCL) Frances L. Kern ’13 (WMCL) Richard L. Mack ’93 (HUSL) Former Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson ’76 (WMCL) Former Justice Helen M. Meyer ’83 (WMCL) Dr. Fayneese Miller Christopher Pham ’09 (WMCL) Magistrate Judge Steven E. Rau ’83 (WMCL) Judge Denise D. Reilly ’83 (WMCL) Susan C. Rhode ’85 (HUSL) Ellen G. Sampson ’84 (WMCL) David M. Sparby ’80 (WMCL) Magistrate Judge Becky R. Thorson ’95 (WMCL) Ugo Ukabam ’02 (WMCL) Wendy K. Watson ’97 (HUSL)

Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Peter Knapp teaches an evidence course to Executive J.D. students in Mitchell Hamline’s auditorium on Aug. 20, 2018.

2

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Photograph by BRADY WILLETTE

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

3

4

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

ALUMNI NEWS

A Passion for Spirits Five years ago, Chris Montana ’13 (HUSL) launched

what appeared to be a secure career in a big Minneapolis law firm, Fredrikson & Byron. He’d just received his J.D. from Hamline University School of Law, and landing an associate position at a prominent firm was a great first professional step.

But he couldn’t shake an idea that had taken root in his mind during his days as a 3L. He and a classmate who shared a passion for home beer brewing had begun talking about the changing landscape of Minnesota liquor laws. Two years earlier, the Legislature had passed the “Surly bill,” which allowed craft breweries to sell their beers in on-site taprooms.

What caught their attention, though, was a largely unnoticed amendment to the law that reduced the required fee to start a distillery in Minnesota from $30,000 to slightly more than $1,000.

“So I started doing more research,” Montana recalls, “and within two weeks, I was sold.”

So was his wife, Shanelle, a Stearns County, Minnesota, farm girl with a master’s degree in public policy from American University in Washington, D.C. They pulled together the capital to launch DuNord Craft Spirits in Minneapolis in 2013, a few months before Chris would graduate.

For nearly the next two years, he worked in the law firm by day and devoted the rest of his time to DuNord.

Photograph by BRADY WILLETTE

til ler y

Mo is Chr

nt an al eft A big firm

n to ope

f a r ac

is d t

BY DICK DAHL

“I was putting 100 percent of my mental capacity into trying to grow as an attorney by day,” he recalls, “and then taking whatever was left and coming in here at night and grinding corn and making booze and then going back to work the next day.”

He realized that he had to make a choice, and he left Fredrikson & Byron in the spring of 2015 to commit himself fully to DuNord. That year, thanks to another liberalization in the law, DuNord expanded its operation with the opening of a cocktail room featuring DuNord’s own spirits.

Montana says most of DuNord’s gross revenue now comes from the cocktail room and the remainder from sales of DuNord spirits in liquor stores and bars.

He’s working long hours running his business and handling new duties as president of the American Craft Distillers Association, and he admits he sometimes thinks about the career path he left behind.

“Ultimately though, I’m still happy with the choice that I made,” he says. “If it was just about money, I never would have left the firm. But it’s not just about the money. I think that for a business like this, you’ve got to have some passion for it. Otherwise, you’ll just burn yourself out.”

Dick Dahl is a freelance writer and editor in St. Paul.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

5

First Hybrid J.D. program graduates pursuing varied paths In January 2018, 17 students made legal history by becoming the first graduates of Mitchell Hamline’s Hybrid J.D. program: the nation’s first partly in-person, partly online J.D. program at an ABA-approved law school. In May, another 56 Hybrid J.D. program graduates walked across the stage and got their diplomas.

These 73 new alums finished what was designed to be a four-year program in three years or less. They are now out in the world, in many cases pursuing the career paths that drew them to get a J.D., in others following new paths influenced by their experience in law school.

As of this writing (as bar exam results continue to be finalized), Hybrid J.D. program graduates are licensed to practice in the following jurisdictions: Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Here is a look at what a few of these new graduates are up to

Sara Chapman

Taylor Levy

Ariane Ice

Ashland, Ky. Associate attorney, McQueen Davis in Huntington, W.Va.

El Paso, Texas Legal coordinator for Annunciation House, a migrant and refugee house of hospitality on the U.S.-Mexico border

Exeter, N.H. Working with husband to expand their online legal venture, LegalYou

Sara was a teacher for nine years and had planned to go to law school, “but life got in the way,” she says. She regretted missing out on law school, and when she saw that the ABA had granted a variance for the Hybrid J.D. program, “I knew I had to apply.

The Hybrid program allowed me to work full time as a single mother and take care of my children, while pursuing my dream of becoming an attorney. Without the Hybrid program, I would have never been able to achieve this goal. I am forever grateful to Mitchell Hamline for the excellent legal education I received, and ultimately the opportunity to achieve my dream.”

6

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

“I chose the Hybrid program because it provided me with the opportunity to receive a top-notch legal education while continuing to serve the immigrant community of El Paso, Texas, one of the largest cities in the U.S. without a law school,” Taylor says. Since graduating in May, she has overseen dozens of pro bono attorneys who traveled to El Paso to provide free legal representation to immigrant parents separated from their minor children by recent federal policy.

Those attorneys have provided consultations and representation to more than 400 separated families, and Taylor’s work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and numerous other outlets.

The Hybrid J.D. program allowed Ariane to continue working at her husband’s firm in Florida while pursuing a law degree. Now a licensed attorney in Vermont, New Hampshire, and North Dakota, she has joined her husband in an effort to expand nationally their firm, LegalYou, which she describes as “dedicated to a grassroots solution to the access-to-justice problem by way of technology and unbundled services.” Ariane describes herself as “an outspoken, persistent critic of the systemic bias against pro se (independent) litigants,” and she sees LegalYou as a way to provide greater access to the legal system for middleand lower-income families. To further their goal, Ariane and her husband are working to be admitted to practice in 44 states by the end of 2019.

ALUMNI NEWS

Hybrid J.D. program student kept law school a secret until night before graduation Reagan Wiebelhaus Ainsworth, Neb. Sergeant, Nebraska State Patrol, Traffic Service Division

Reagan planned to attend law school in 1999 but joined the State Patrol instead. He then planned to enroll while employed with the patrol, but life changed. “I was stationed five hours from the closest law school, got married, and had four children,” he says. “I thought my goal of becoming a lawyer faded from reality until I learned of the Hybrid program. Without this program, there is absolutely no way I could have attended law school.”

Reagan plans to work part-time as a solo practitioner while remaining on the patrol for the next few years to attain full retirement benefits.

Jessica Merkel Marshfield, Wis. Elder law attorney, Ruder Ware

Jessica is from rural central Wisconsin, at least three hours from the closest law school. Moving was not an option because of work and family commitments. “My goal in participating in the Hybrid program was to become an elder law and estate planning attorney,” she says. She sought out three externships during law school and now works at a firm that was one of her externship sites.

“I have been growing my elder law practice by expanding legal services into my hometown through both individual consultations and seminars,” she says. She has also referred two co-workers to Mitchell Hamline.

Corey Hoze ’18 (MHSL), pictured in the lower right corner, with family members.

BY MAJA BECKSTROM

How do you celebrate graduation if your family doesn’t know you went to law school?

“I know it’s not normal to not tell your family about these types of things,” admits Corey Hoze, who completed a law degree this spring through Mitchell Hamline’s Hybrid J.D. program and just passed the Wisconsin bar exam. Hoze, vice president of government relations and regulatory affairs for Associated Bank in Milwaukee, only told his boss and a few others his plans.

“The reason I didn’t tell anyone was, number one, I didn’t know if I would finish,” said Hoze, who not only finished but finished in three years. “Secondly, I was 46 when I started and I didn’t want everyone asking me, ‘Why are you doing this at this point in your life?’ Believe me, I was asking myself that question at some point every semester.”

Hoze travels to the Twin Cities for business, so no one noticed when he made extra trips to campus. But as he approached graduation, he wanted to share his achievement. He got his friend Joe Witt, CEO of the Minnesota Bankers Association and a 1993 graduate of William Mitchell College of Law, to write an invitation to Hoze’s family on association letterhead to a nonexistent event in May honoring Hoze. Hoze’s father and stepmother flew up from Texas.

His oldest daughter and her husband came from Florida. His mother and grandmother came from Milwaukee, along with his three younger children.

They gathered for dinner at The Oceanaire Seafood Room in Minneapolis.

“After we’d had our appetizer, I said, ‘I have to admit something. You are not here to see me get any type of award. I’m graduating from law school tomorrow, and I wanted you all to be here to celebrate with me.’”

Hoze’s 92-year-old grandmother started crying, and the rest of the family looked on in amazement.

“I was just really, really shocked,” said his mother, Celeste Hoze. “I said, this boy really tricked me. But it was a good shock. And he’s always doing something to better himself. Always. So I was shocked, but I also knew, well, that’s my son.”

Maja Beckstrom is a writer and journalist in St. Paul.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

7

Judge Vuelo holds a traditional Hmong stitchery artwork made by her late mother.

It was given to her as a gift by a relative to remind her of her mother’s love and devotion to her children after Vuelo’s father died during the Vietnam War. “I keep it in my chambers as a constant reminder of the tenacious human spirit to overcome insurmountable obstacles and the desire to create one’s own destiny,” Vuelo said.

8

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

ALUMNI NEWS

A JURIST’S JOURNEY TO THE COMMUNITY Sophia Vuelo is first Minnesota judge of Hmong descent

BY TODD NELSON

D

istrict Judge Sophia Vuelo ’98 (HUSL) is one of 29 judges in the 2nd Judicial District of Minnesota, which serves Ramsey County. Her foremost responsibility, she said, is the pursuit of justice.

Putting on a judge’s black robe means setting aside one’s personal history and views because of the “high expectation that you’re above all of that,” Vuelo said.

In Vuelo’s case, however, her history involves an extraordinary journey from f leeing war-torn Laos as a child to resettling in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and, after earning her law degree at Hamline University School of Law, practicing law for nearly two decades.

That was before Vuelo made headlines on November 30, 2017, when she was appointed as the first Minnesota judge of Hmong descent and only the third HmongAmerican to serve as a judge in the United States.

“I happen to have had that life experience, but at the core of me is a jurist whose role is to serve the people who live in this community, here in Ramsey County, and to ensure that we are doing nothing short of dispensing justice,” Vuelo said.

It is not lost on Vuelo what her judicial appointment means to others, that a particular milestone has been reached. The significance to the community, however, didn’t strike her until she saw the response at her investiture ceremony.

“It was only in other people telling me what it meant to them that I’ve been able to soak all that in,” Vuelo said.

“People look at me and it gives them a sense of hope that we all have a place at the table where justice is dispensed.”

Vuelo believes it was important to have extensive legal experience before applying for a judgeship. As an attorney, she was in courtrooms regularly and focused on three areas of the law—criminal, family, and juvenile protection.

She has worked in the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office,

Photograph by BRADY WILLETTE

Ramsey County Public Defender’s Office, and managed a solo practice.

Vuelo began thinking about law school as a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in history and women’s studies. She chose Hamline Law because she wanted to attend a school with an emphasis on public law.

“I was raised in a household that emphasized giving back to one’s community, so that has shaped me to serve our community,” Vuelo said.

On the bench, Vuelo tries to be empathetic and efficient.

“My judicial philosophy is to be compassionate, competent, and community centered,” Vuelo said. She has a parting message for some who appear before her: “I tell them I hope they do well so I never have to see them in the courtroom again. I care about the people in our community yet hold individuals accountable where necessary.”

Vuelo typically spends five days a week in court and does research and writes orders on nights and weekends.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” Vuelo said. “But it’s a job that I love.”

Todd Nelson is a freelance journalist in the Twin Cities.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

9

ALUMNI NEWS

Trailblazing HCBA president champions attorneys of color, new lawyers Adine Momoh is first black woman and youngest person to lead 100-year-old association

BY MAJA BECKSTROM

A

s the 100th president of the Hennepin County Bar Association, Adine Momoh ’09 (WMCL) has a challenge for members: “Are you being a champion for anyone?”

The daughter of Sierra Leone immigrants, Momoh is the first black woman to lead the association and, at age 34, also the youngest president. Her own first champions were her parents, who encouraged her childhood ambition of becoming a lawyer.

“They instilled in me a desire to strive for excellence and to not be distracted,” she said.

After graduating summa cum laude from the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business, Momoh graduated magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law, where she served as a managing editor of the law review.

She was hired as a business litigator in 2009 at what was then Leonard, Street and Deinard. There, she learned to network and tackle complicated bankruptcy and securities cases, did pro bono work, and, with the encouragement of senior partners, became involved in the bar association, first as co-chair of the civil litigation section and later as the association’s secretary.

As president, Momoh wants to help others navigate the profession, especially “new lawyers, those who have practiced for less than 15 years, and diverse attorneys.” To that end, she has created a new social initiative called A Table for 10. The association plans to regularly reserve tables for breakfast, lunch, or dinner at minority-owned restaurants in the Twin Cities, where everyone is welcome but the focus is on attorneys of color.

“What I’ve observed in Big Law is that a lot of diverse attorneys don’t always get asked to informal networking opportunities, whether that’s over drinks at a bar or being asked to play golf or to go to someone’s cabin,” said Momoh.

“I want to provide opportunities to connect outside of work in an informal way.”

Momoh, who in 2016 became an equity partner at Stinson Leonard Street, is also making practical changes at the association to welcome new lawyers. She has asked each executive committee member to attend two meetings of the new lawyer section. On her first visit she gave tips on networking.

Momoh serves on the dean’s advisory board at Mitchell Hamline and on the boards of several associations and foundations. But her biggest role as a champion may lie ahead. She and her husband, Vince Baillet, recently became parents of a baby girl.

“I’m already telling her she’s going to achieve great things,” said Momoh. “I want her to know she can do whatever she sets her mind to.”

Maja Beckstrom is a writer and journalist in St. Paul.

10

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Photograph Photograph

by BRADY

by WILLETTE BRADY WILLETTE

Alumni board president: Engagement is a ‘two-way street’ About a year ago, the leadership of Mitchell Hamline adopted a strategic plan to guide the law school. Of significance in that plan is the development and maintenance of strong ties between the school and its alumni.

By “nurturing lifelong, mutually beneficial relationships with alumni,” the plan goes beyond asking how alumni can benefit Mitchell Hamline to inquire how Mitchell Hamline can support and strengthen the lives and careers of its alumni.

I became president of the alumni board of the Mitchell Hamline Alumni Association this fall. In this role, I work with the alumni board, the board of trustees, and the school to strengthen the bond between Mitchell Hamline and its graduates. Among my fellow alumni are those of you who have shared generously of your time, talents, and resources. Thank you, and we hope you remain involved. But, as the school’s strategic plan makes clear, alumni engagement is a two-way street. I encourage you to take advantage of the resources Mitchell Hamline offers to its alumni and ask you to consider how the Alumni Association and Mitchell Hamline can help you. What do you need?

Please reach out to Allison Burke ’09 (WMCL), alumni and donor engagement officer, with your thoughts and ideas. She can be reached at allison.burke@mitchellhamline.edu or 651-695-7608.

Sincerely,

Fran Kern ’13 (WMCL) Assistant Attorney General State of Minnesota

COURSE I Comparative International Business Transactions: Businesses Doing Deals Across the Pond I & II

Mitchell Hamline in London—an opportunity for alumni In July 2019, for the first time in years, we have the chance to include alumni in our study abroad program in London.

Alumni can take one or more of the weeklong courses. Classes meet 9:30 am-12:30 pm and 1-4 pm each day and are taught by Mitchell Hamline faculty along with British faculty from BPP University. Individuals will arrange and provide for their own travel and lodging, but all events and materials are included in the tuition.

Tuition for weeks 1 and 2 is $600 for alums and $700 for non-alums. For weeks 3 and 4, it’s $750 and $850.

Interested alumni should consult with a tax professional regarding potential deductions related to expenses for continuing education.

Dates: July 2–July 5 and July 8–July 11, 2019. Each week can be taken separately, or alumni can enroll in both weeks to complete the full course.

Faculty: Mitchell Hamline professors Leanne Fuith ’10 (WMCL) and Denise Roy Credits: 24 for one week, 48 for both COURSE II Comparative Immigration and Asylum: A World’s Problem Date: July 15–19, 2019 Faculty: Mitchell Hamline professors Ana Pottratz Acosta and Paula Duthoy ’90 (WMCL) Credits: 30 COURSE III Criminal Trial Practice and Procedures: Trial Lawyers, Barristers, and Judges Date: July 22–26, 2019 Faculty: Mitchell Hamline professor John Sonsteng and MN Court of Appeals Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks ’85 (WMCL) Credits: 30

To learn more, email allison.burke@mitchellhamline.edu.

Have the dean speak at your next event Are you part of a civic organization or community group? If so, consider inviting Mitchell Hamline’s president and dean, Mark Gordon, to speak at an upcoming gathering. Dean Gordon has plans to address two Rotary clubs in the next year, and he’d love to add other engagements to his calendar. He wants to connect with groups outside the law school to talk about innovations in legal education and the latest developments at Mitchell Hamline. To arrange to have Dean Gordon speak, please email his executive assistant, Mirdalys Tweeton, at mirdalys.tweeton@mitchellhamline.edu.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

11

ALUM FUNDS PROGRAM

TO ASSESS STATUS OF

FIRST AMENDMENT

Chuck Dietz: Is free speech being eroded?

12

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

ALUMNI NEWS

BY TIM POST

T

o Chuck Dietz ’57 (WMCL), the First Amendment was not only critical to the founding of the nation, its continued health is vital for the future of the country as well.

That’s why Dietz, through a $100,000 gift from the Dietz Family Fund of the St. Paul Foundation, has created the First Amendment Scholars Program at Mitchell Hamline. The effort will focus attention and research on the First Amendment and how it’s being interpreted and re-interpreted today.

“We need to evaluate the status of the First Amendment,” Dietz says. “Is it being eroded or isn’t it?”

Dietz came to appreciate the First Amendment and its protection of free speech throughout his career as an attorney.

After graduating from William Mitchell College of Law, Dietz joined 3M’s Office of General Counsel in 1958. He worked his way up to become chief legal officer in 1976, a position he held until his retirement in 1993.

Since then, Dietz has given his time and support to a number of organizations—with a special interest in those that focus on history and education.

The First Amendment project is a continuation of that work.

Dietz hopes the effort will increase the awareness of students, and the public as a whole, about the importance of having civil conversations around topics with conflicting viewpoints.

“Our country is based upon resolving differences through debate and not through violence,” he says. “What we’re after is more knowledge generally among the public as to what the First Amendment is all about.”

The program, developed by Mitchell Hamline faculty, will support research and scholarly articles by students and faculty that investigate contemporary First Amendment issues.

It will also fund an annual event spotlighting noted First Amendment experts paired with a symposium featuring speakers representing differing points of view on free-speech issues. The first event is expected to take place next spring and will feature the work of Mitchell Hamline professors Marie Failinger, Mike Steenson, Raleigh Levine, Mehmet Konar-Steenberg, and Tony Winer.

Prof. Failinger says the program is a good fit for the law school because lawyers are trained to engage in tough conversations with people who hold different viewpoints.

She says Mitchell Hamline can serve as a good role model on “how you can have these conversations even when there’s profound disagreement and still be a community and treat each other with respect.”

The first event in the First Amendment Scholars Program will focus on Near v. Minnesota, a landmark 1931 U.S. Supreme Court case. In their decision, the justices ruled the Minnesota Public Nuisance Law, which had been used to stop publication of a so-called “scandal sheet,” allowed for prior restraint of the press and represented an unconstitutional attack on the First Amendment.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

13

WHAT’S POPULAR ON FACEBOOK? You like to hear good news about Mitchell Hamline. We know that because our most popular Facebook posts over the past year are about the great things that alumni, students, and faculty have accomplished!

May 17, 2018:

234 graduates receive their Juris Doctor degrees from Mitchell Hamline.

486 likes

March 22, 2018:

Donors who fund Mitchell Hamline’s scholarships meet with the students who benefit from their assistance.

373 likes

March 21, 2018:

Feb. 1, 2018:

440 likes

309 likes

March 26, 2018:

Nov. 30, 2017:

Students Amanda Johnson, Katelyn Steffel, Kathryn Hockin, and Trevor Peterson win first place at the American Association of Justice’s regional tournament in Denver.

The Mankato Free Press profiles Joe Bergstrom ’15 (WMCL), a public defender specializing in juvenile cases in Minnesota’s 5th Judicial District.

377 likes

Brandt Devich ’16 (MHSL) continued to work on a case after graduation that he was assigned in Mitchell Hamline’s Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners Clinic. The best part—he won.

Gov. Mark Dayton appoints alum Sophia Vuelo ’98 (HUSL) to Minnesota’s 2nd Judicial District, making her the state’s first judge of Hmong descent and only the third Hmong-American to serve as a judge in the U.S.

143 likes More than 5,200 people follow Mitchell Hamline on Facebook; we have more than 18,000 followers on LinkedIn; and our audiences on Instagram and Twitter are engaged and growing every day.

14

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Facebook: @MitchellHamlineSchoolofLaw Twitter: @MitchellHamline Instagram: @MitchellHamline LinkedIn: Mitchell Hamline School of Law

LEARNING

BY DOING Mitchell Hamline’s clinical program builds on pioneering work of its legacy schools

BY NANCY CROTTI

I

n 1973, a committee at William Mitchell College of Law was discussing whether to begin a formal clinical program. The members agreed that “‘learning by doing’ was an ideal way to learn the law and the lawyering process,” wrote Professor Roger Haydock 10 years later in a law review article.

Haydock and Professor Rosalie Wahl— who went on to become the first woman on the Minnesota Supreme Court—launched the William Mitchell clinical program in an old house behind the school when it was located at 2100 Summit Ave. in St. Paul. Idealistic students helped with renovations. An office manager with 30 years’ law office experience came on board. Adjunct faculty enabled the program to begin with nine clinical courses. (The Mitchell Hamline Legal Practice Center is named for Wahl, who championed practical legal education through the American Bar Association.)

Photograph by BRADY WILLETTE

“We just always had good, strong, committed people to either work in the clinic or work with students,” Haydock said in a recent interview. “The clinic was there to work with people, changing the law one person at a time.”

Three miles away and five years later, Professor Dick Oakes began the criminal defense clinic at Hamline University School of Law. By 1981, Hamline Law had added a public interest advocacy clinic. Four years later, Hamline Law’s lawyering skills program director proposed a plan for a progressive sequencing of skills courses, and Professor Angela McCaffrey was hired to direct Hamline Law’s clinical program.

Shortly before McCaffrey landed that post, Professor Ann Juergens joined the William Mitchell faculty. The women struck up a friendship talking about clinical teaching. Juergens co-directed the Mitchell clinical program for more than 20 years with Prof. Peter Knapp,

now associate dean for academic affairs.

McCaffrey was an immigration law pioneer who directed the Hamline Law clinical program until her death in 2010.

Law schools across the state and the country had a lot to learn from the clinical programs at both schools.

Hamline Law launched the nation’s first alternative dispute resolution clinic in 1991, followed two years later by the only clinic in the country to represent the interests of children in Indian child welfare cases. In 2002, Hamline Law started the Innocence Clinic, an offshoot of the Innocence Project of Minnesota, which was founded at Hamline University.

Building on insights gained in the Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners (LAMP) Clinic, Mitchell went on to launch a clinic to aid recently released women prisoners and, flowing from that, a child protection clinic. Hamline Law in 2013 created a practice,

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

15

Among the key figures involved in more than 40 years of clinic work at William Mitchell and Hamline Law, clockwise from upper left: former William Mitchell Dean Douglas Heidenreich along with professors Roger Haydock and Rosalie Wahl; longtime Mitchell clinical program co-directors Ann Juergens and Peter Knapp; Dick Oakes, founding dean of Hamline Law; current Mitchell Hamline clinical program co-directors Brad Colbert and Kate Kruse; and Professor Angela McCaffrey, longtime director of Hamline Law’s clinical program, with Professor Jim Coben.

problem-solving, and professionalism foundational skills course, and later, the Hamline Experiential Progression, which linked entry-level, exploratory, and advanced instruction in problemsolving, advocacy, and transactional planning for students’ entire law school careers. The schools’ long-shared commitment to practical learning made combining their clinical programs following the 2015 Mitchell Hamline combination fairly straightforward, according to Brad Colbert ’85 (WMCL), a resident adjunct professor who co-directs the Mitchell Hamline clinical program with Professor Kate Kruse, a veteran of Hamline Law. The school currently offers a dozen clinics.

“Now that we’ve combined the two, we want to be part of the 21st century practice of law,” Colbert said.

Mitchell Hamline is well on its way to adapting clinical education to

16

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

emerging educational models. Students in the school’s Hybrid J.D. program, who spend most of each semester studying online in their hometowns, can now participate in clinics in Indian law, business law, and immigration law.

Including Hybrid J.D. program students in the business law clinic didn’t require much adaptation. “A lot of our clients, we don’t meet with them in person,” said adjunct professor Davis Senseman. “We meet with them on the phone or Google Hangout or Skype.

I realized that could easily work for the Hybrid J.D. program students, who take their classes that way.”

Juergens and legal writing Assistant Professor Lisa Needham are developing a clinic where students—including those in the Hybrid J.D. program—will design housing-justice chatbots this spring in collaboration with nonprofit organizations and governmental

agencies to field legal housing questions from the public.

Current students and graduates say the clinical programs have been invaluable.

“I think all along, the program has been meant to give students the experience of being the lawyer principally responsible for representing a client,” said Knapp. “There’s something rewarding, challenging, and terrifying about having a client look at you and say, ‘Can you help me?’” n Nancy Crotti is a freelance writer, editor, and speechwriter in St. Paul.

LEARNING

BY DOING

Childhood in Hawaii drives Hybrid J.D. program student’s interest in INDIAN LAW CLINIC

L

aura Galland relished the cultural diversity and general emphasis on culture in Hawaii, where she grew up.

She also noticed how poorly the government treated native Hawaiians regarding their land.

Galland, a fourth-year student at Mitchell Hamline, lives in Arizona now and has been a paralegal in civil litigation for 30 years. When she entered the second cohort of Hybrid J.D. program students in 2015, Galland’s childhood cultural observations spurred an interest in Indian law.

“I’ve found that I really do love Indian law, so a large part of my focus is going to be in Indian law,” she said. “As long back as I can remember, my entire interest in the law was justice, which we know is not equivalent to fairness, but you try to find something close.”

Galland enrolled in Mitchell Hamline’s Indian Law Clinic, where Professor Colette Routel has been guiding the class in researching and writing amicus briefs in three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. One of those cases, State of Washington v. United States of America, centered on Indians’ treaty rights to fish off-reservation in Washington, where government agencies have constructed culverts that have prevented salmon from swimming upstream to spawn.

Some students traveled to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., to gather sources for their research, which included state and federal case law and historical documentation regarding fish obstruction in the 19th century. In June, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the U.S. government and several tribes.

As a Hybrid J.D. program student, Galland contributed to all three cases remotely by doing online research and analysis and submitting material for the briefs. “One of the beauties of legal writing and research is it can be done from anywhere,” she said. “You don’t have to be physically present.”

“There have been times recently that I have spent more than 16 hours doing nothing but working on my research because we’re coming up on a deadline,” she added. “It’s not unusual for me to do that for the clinic. They’re real clients.

That’s exciting to me.”

Galland says she plans to take the bar exam in Minnesota and then become licensed to practice in multiple states.

She also would like to remain involved with the Indian Law Clinic after graduation. “I know I won’t just want to walk away.” n Nancy Crotti

Photograph by BRADY WILLETTE

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

17

LEARNING

BY DOING

3L Scotty Ducharme had a case go to the Minnesota Court of Appeals this fall as part of his work with the Child Protection Clinic. Pictured with him are Natalie Netzel, far left, education and advocacy director of the Institute for Children, Families, and Communities, and Joanna Woolman, who leads the Child Protection Clinic and is executive director of the institute.

Family’s experience with Legal Aid attorney inspires student’s work in CHILD PROTECTION CLINIC

W

hen Scotty Ducharme was a boy in International Falls, Minnesota, he and his four siblings sought legal protection from their father. Ducharme remembers writing affidavits and talking with the police. His older siblings testified in court. It was a frustrating and difficult process that would rule Ducharme’s relationship with his father until he became an adult.

The children didn’t have legal representation initially, but after a year, they were assigned a Legal Aid attorney, David Kuduk of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. That’s when everything changed.

“It was like a night-and-day difference having an attorney who was on the case and dedicated and really good at his job,” Ducharme said. “He just did a phenomenal job representing us.”

That attorney’s work inspired Ducharme to go to law school and into child protection law. He’s now in his third year. Associate Professor Joanna Woolman, who leads the Child Protection Clinic at Mitchell Hamline and is executive director of the Institute for Children, Families, and Communities, became Ducharme’s faculty adviser.

Woolman persuaded Ducharme to begin working with the clinic in his third semester, giving him the opportunity to participate in a criminal case and a civil case involving the same family.

18

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

The criminal case was dismissed. Ducharme and Natalie Netzel, education and advocacy director of the Institute for Children, Families, and Communities, took the civil matter to trial. Ducharme gave the opening statement, examined witnesses, and wrote motions, all with support from the clinic. Their client lost, and Ducharme then argued the case in October before the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

“That was a great experience and not necessarily something I expected, and obviously to go on to the Court of Appeals is a whole other level and a very different ball game in a lot of ways,” he said. “No offense to my doctrinal classes, but there’s no real substitute for the real thing. Clinical work and my externships have been a big part of my legal education so far.”

There’s even more to participating in the clinical programs, according to Ducharme.

“The real advantage of the clinic is they really support you, teach you how to do this,” he said. “You have other classmates who are at your same place in their career development so you’re part of a cohort and you bond as a cohort and establish these really important relationships. That’s a really big feature of the clinic.” n Nancy Crotti Photograph by BRADY WILLETTE

Skills, confidence built in LAMP CLINIC help alum in employment class-action practice

M

ichele Fisher ’00 (WMCL) still has a letter from an inmate she helped through the Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners (LAMP) Clinic at William Mitchell.

Dated May 7, 2000, the letter thanks Fisher for helping him win permission to see his children one last time before he was to be deported.

“Now, next Monday, I go back to Mexico and I will say I am going back happy because I got to see my kids,” the man wrote. “I want you to be proud of yourself and all your hard work.”

Fisher spent two semesters in the LAMP Clinic learning skills that wouldn’t seem to carry over into her career as an employment class-action lawyer, but they did. A managing partner at Nichols Kaster in Minneapolis, Fisher represents thousands of workers in wage-and-hour disputes with large corporations. Earlier this year, she reached a $30 million settlement with Sprint on behalf of 30,000 workers.

“Our theme is, we represent the little guy,” Fisher said.

“It’s actually a really rewarding career because we’re able to help people stand up to big corporations and big employers and help them get the justice they deserve.”

Participating in the LAMP Clinic gave Fisher the confidence to pursue the practice area that would become her life’s work. All these years later, it’s still helping her.

Fisher began representing a foster child last year as a volunteer with the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota.

Employment class-action work has kept her in federal court, and Fisher had no experience in family law court. An old, familiar feeling returned, one she had first experienced working in the LAMP Clinic—Fisher had to practice an unfamiliar area of the law for the first time. She applied what she learned in the clinic and contacted other attorneys for guidance.

“It gave me that confidence that I could be effective in an area that I’m not familiar with,” she said of her clinical experience.

Fisher encourages current law students to take advantage of the clinical education offered at Mitchell Hamline. “It gives you the real-life experience that you don’t get sitting in the classroom,” she said. “You can be book smart and that’s all fine, but as a lawyer you have to be actually able to interact with clients. I thought that the LAMP Clinic provided a good opportunity for that.” n Nancy Crotti

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

19

Professional Legal Education programs seek to expand access to legal knowledge

BY DICK DAHL

W

hen Mitchell Hamline began operations in 2015, the school’s leadership saw an opportunity to move in a unique direction: providing legal training outside the boundaries of traditional J.D. programs.

“Part of our mission is to expand access to legal knowledge,” says Mitchell Hamline’s president and dean, Mark Gordon, “and what we realized was that means not only training people to be lawyers, but training people in the law whether they are going to be lawyers or not.”

The result was a new initiative called Professional Legal Education, designed to provide online certificate programs for people who want to expand their knowledge of the law within their professions. Kathryn Russell ’02 (HUSL) came to Mitchell Hamline to head the effort in 2016, when PLE launched its first certificate program, Cybersecurity and Privacy Law. Since then, PLE has added two more—Human Resources Compliance in 2017 and Law and Leadership in Healthcare Administration in 2018—and plans are in place for a program in Elder Law and Chronic Care in 2019.

“We design programs to fill a real need in the marketplace where we can identify a gap in educational programming,” Russell says.

Each program is offered two or three times per year with durations of 12 to 13 weeks, and each with cohorts of 30 to 40 students. The result, according to Russell, is that over 375 people have enrolled in the programs as of fall 2018. In addition, PLE has awarded 307 Continuing Legal Education and 271 other continuing-education credits.

A clear picture has emerged about the people who are drawn to these programs, Russell says. “We get a range of people in their careers, but they’re definitely kind of mid-career. The average age of our students is about 40.”

Employees in some companies have been particularly active in pursuing the certificates. Keith Nelsen, executive vice president and general counsel at Best Buy, says about half a dozen people from his company have taken the Cybersecurity program.

“Everything that we do has cyber implications,” he says.

“So I think that just expanding the knowledge of the team and getting them more prepared for what they might see was the goal, and I’d say it’s been achieved. It’s a great program; they’re doing a very good job there.”

20

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Bonnie J. Flom, CEO of Billing Buddies, a Minnesotabased national medical and Medicare billing service for health-care organizations and professionals, said taking Law and Leadership in Healthcare Administration has been especially helpful in determining how to manage breaches of protected health information. “HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) breaches are very important for any organization to recognize and report, and this program covers it thoroughly,” she said.

Kate Bischoff ’04 (WMCL) has been an adjunct professor teaching the Human Resources Compliance program since it launched in 2017 and describes the people she’s taught: “Most of them are already working in HR and are trying to enhance the skills and abilities that they have so that they can advance within their organization. Or it’s people who have been working with employees or employers in some kind of capacity and they want to move into a more traditional HR compliance type of role.”

The programs are totally online and asynchronous, meaning students complete the requirements at their own pace within a program’s duration. One of the features, Bischoff says, is a discussion board where students are encouraged to interact with each other by sharing ideas and opinions. She says this has also spurred ideas for new features that can be added to future sessions.

Dean Gordon points out that the development of PLE is a natural outgrowth of Mitchell Hamline’s Hybrid J.D. program, which offers semester-long online coursework followed by a Capstone Week, during which students apply what they’ve learned to real-world simulations.

“This is taking the expertise that we developed in terms of teaching law online and applying it to a different audience,” he says.

“Law is becoming so pervasive in our society that there are many people who need to understand something about the law even though they’re not going to become lawyers. So PLE is a way to further our mission, but it’s also a way to use some of the competitive advantages that we have as a school in developing the techniques of teaching law online. I think we’re a pioneer in this area.”

Dick Dahl is a freelance writer and editor in St. Paul.

CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY LAW

HUMAN RESOURCES COMPLIANCE

HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

21

Mitchell Hamline student Jose Gallardo at the Scholarship Luncheon, March 2018

Valerie Jensen ’96 (WMCL) reflects on unconscious bias in the legal world during a Diversity Day panel discussion, April 2018

AROUND MITCHELL HAMLINE Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant discusses concussions and football during the Health Law Institute’s “Impact on the Gridiron” conference, January 2018

Father Greg Boyle discusses his work with former gang members as founder of the Los Angeles-based organization Homeboy Industries, September 2018

Panel discussion “Moving #MeToo Forward: Policy at Work” at the Women in Law Tea, April 2018 22

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Civil rights activist Josie Robinson Johnson speaks at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., April 2018

Ben Omorogbe ’95 (WMCL) at the Scholarship Luncheon, March 2018

Minnesota Opera performance as part of “Justice, Redemption, and Empathy: The Opera of Dead Man Walking,” January 2018

Hoping to sink a putt at the Alumni Golf Tournament, June 2018

Convocation ceremony for Mitchell Hamline’s incoming class of 1Ls, August 2018 Iain McIntyre ’00 (WMCL) and Intellectual Property Institute Director Sharon Sandeen at the launch of a yearlong look at the internet, September 2018 Photographs by TIM POST

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

23

FACULTY NEWS

Professors in the

edia

Mitchell Hamline faculty are often interviewed for their legal expertise on the news of the day.

Here’s a sampling of recent media coverage featuring our faculty: “That’s where the conflict comes. When there’s silence in a treaty about whether those rights are retained, do the tribes still keep them? Or have they been extinguished?”

COLETTE ROUTEL on a challenge by American Indian tribes in northern Minnesota over an 1855 treaty that doesn’t mention hunting, fishing, and gathering rights, 5/10/18, MPR News

“It’s Warner Bros., so they don’t mess around. Warner Bros. has prior rights in Central Perk. You’ve got to do your due diligence.“ KEN PORT on the closure of a Minnesota coffee shop inspired by the show “Friends” after the owners received a cease-and-desist letter from Warner Bros., 5/5/18, Star Tribune

“You’d think who’s alive and who’s dead would be one of the few questions on which all of American society could have clarity and consistency on.”

THADDEUS POPE on a legal quirk that means a person who is medically brain dead may not actually be considered dead under New Jersey law, 4/18/18, Quartz

“Schools are in a very unenviable position here. They really need to walk this tightrope.”

RALEIGH LEVINE on the gray area schools face when it comes to the First Amendment rights of student groups, 12/8/17, KARE 11

“The current situation is untenable. These former offenders are entitled to be released, yet they continue to be held by local actions that are subverting state law.”

ERIC JANUS on a lawsuit by three convicted rapists awaiting release that challenged a residential ban of sex offenders in Dayton, Minnesota, 1/24/18, Star Tribune

24

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

FACULTY NEWS

Senate confirms Eric Tostrud to federal bench With a unanimous voice vote on Sept.

6, the U.S. Senate confirmed Eric Tostrud ’90 (WMCL) to fill an open seat on Minnesota’s federal bench. He was sworn in Sept. 14.

Tostrud, who became a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Mitchell Hamline in 2015, was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. He’ll fill the seat once held by Judge Donovan Frank ’77 (HUSL), who became a senior U.S. district judge in 2016.

In 1990, Tostrud earned his J.D. summa cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law. He served as a law clerk to Judge George E. MacKinnon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and to Judge Edward J. Devitt of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

In 1992, Tostrud began work as an attorney with the Minneapolis firm Lockridge Grindal Nauen.

Chief Judge John Tunheim, left, administered the oath of office to Judge Eric Tostrud on Sept.

14, 2018. Tostrud’s wife, Laurie, and children, Elsa and Ty, took part in the private ceremony.

Photo: Rebeccah Parks, U.S. District Court

During his time at Mitchell Hamline, Tostrud taught in the areas of federal jurisdiction and federal court procedure.

Mitchell Hamline President and Dean Mark Gordon congratulated Tostrud on his confirmation. “We are honored that our students have been able to

benefit from his deep knowledge of the law, and we appreciate his enduring commitment to service and the rule of law,” Gordon said.

Three join Mitchell Hamline faculty Mitchell Hamline made three additions to its faculty ranks this academic year. Visiting professors Angelique W. EagleWoman and Mary Szto along with Clifford Greene, a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, began teaching this fall.

Before coming to Mitchell Hamline, EagleWoman was dean and professor of law at Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

She has served as a special judge for tribal courts at the district and appellate court level, and she has taught at the University of Idaho College of Law, University of Kansas, and Hamline University School of Law. She is a citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton (Dakota) Oyate.

Szto was most recently an associate professor at Valparaiso University School of Law. She previously taught at Hamline University School of Law and at several other institutions.

Before entering teaching, she practiced law in New York City, representing banks in financing matters. She also co-founded a legal aid organization specializing in immigration law.

Greene is co-founder of the Minneapolis law firm Greene Espel and one of Minnesota’s preeminent trial advocates. His focus has been on civil litigation, public sector representation, and alternative dispute resolution. He has previous experience in the classroom, having taken two sabbaticals from practicing law in the 1980s and ’90s to teach at Mitchell Hamline predecessor William Mitchell College of Law.

Angelique EagleWoman

Mary Szto

Clifford Greene

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

25

FACULTY NEWS

Blair, Larson awarded Faricy Professorship for 2018-19

Allen Blair

David Larson

Project assisted by DRI honored by League of Minnesota Cities A series of community conversations put on with help from Mitchell Hamline’s Dispute Resolution Institute (DRI) was honored this past summer by a statewide local government organization.

The League of Minnesota Cities honored Falcon Heights with a 2018 City of Excellence Award for its Policing and Inclusion Community Initiative.

The effort was in response to the shooting of Philando Castile by a police officer in Falcon Heights on July 6, 2016.

Seeing a need for healing in the wake of the shooting, Falcon Heights developed a task force assigned to hold five community conversations around policing and police-community relations.

Mediation experts from DRI, along with the Bureau of Mediation Services Office for Collaboration and Dispute Resolution and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, helped coordinate and guide the community conversations.

“I was grateful to assist with this important community engagement process and pleased to see the city of Falcon Heights recognized for its efforts,” said DRI Director Sharon Press.

180 residents attended the meetings, and input from the conversations was included in the final recommendations on inclusion and policing that were ultimately adopted by the Falcon Heights City Council.

26

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Professors Allen Blair and David Larson are the recipients of the 2018-19 John H. Faricy Jr. Professorship for Empirical Research in the Law. The professorship is rotated annually among Mitchell Hamline faculty members. It was created by John H. Faricy Jr. ’82 (WMCL), founder of Minneapolis-based Faricy Law Firm, to provide professors with resources to research and test theories and legal

practices using empirical techniques.

Larson’s work will center on the collection of empirical data concerning online dispute systems, and Blair’s project involves analysis of decentralized computing platforms and contracting.

The professorship was held in 2017-18 by professors Laura Hermer and Mehmet Konar-Steenberg and in 2016-17 by Associate Professor Joanna Woolman.

Medical-Legal Partnership receives health award from Ramsey County The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners awarded Mitchell Hamline School of Law and United Family Medicine a 2018 Ramsey County Public Health Award this past spring for the important work being done through their Medical-Legal Partnership. This partnership helps clinic patients address legal issues that affect their health.

Mitchell Hamline students participate in the Medical-Legal Partnership by enrolling in the Health Law Clinic course, which allows them to provide legal assistance to patients under the supervision of attorney and clinical instructor Ana Pottratz Acosta.

Ana Pottratz Acosta (holding award) with students, from left, Hannah Holloran, Julie Le, and April Lande.

Prof. Eric Janus honored by Minnesota ACLU The Minnesota chapter of the ACLU is honoring Prof. Eric Janus with an Earl Larson Award for his commitment to justice and civil liberty work.

Janus received the award—named for U.S. District Judge Earl Larson, founder of Minnesota's ACLU chapter—during a Nov. 28 ceremony in Minneapolis. Larson’s judgments in the late 1960s and early 70s are recognized as helping establish advances in civil rights, the rights of mentally disabled individuals, and people experiencing poverty.

Janus said he’s “humbled and proud” to have been selected.

Eric Janus

“My work, often with the able cooperation of talented ACLU attorneys, has advocated against laws that give aid and comfort to the very principles that Judge Larson’s decisions struck down—the notion that there are groups in our society who are degraded outsiders, not entitled to full civil personhood,” Janus said.

Janus, a national expert on policy regarding sex offenders, established the Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center at Mitchell Hamline in 2017.

Professor emerita works to alleviate poverty in Bolivia For 24 years, Christine Ver Ploeg has offered legal and other assistance to St. Paul-based nonprofit

BY MAJA BECKSTROM

I

n 1994, Christine Ver Ploeg heard from a church acquaintance that a new humanitarian organization working in Bolivia was looking for a lawyer to serve on its board.

“I had four kids still at home and was juggling a career,” recalls Ver Ploeg, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law from 1977 to 2013 whose teaching focused on dispute resolution, torts, and labor law. “But I was on sabbatical and had been feeling I wanted to give back, so I said, ‘How about me?’ I knew nothing about Bolivia. I just knew there was great need and I was ready.”

Twenty-four years later, Ver Ploeg still serves on the board of Mano a Mano International Partners, and the St. Paulbased nonprofit continues to improve the lives of thousands of people in South America’s poorest country.

“We never dreamed we’d have done so much by this point,” said Ver Ploeg. “But we are a nimble organization and our volunteers are totally dedicated.”

Mano a Mano still fulfills its original mission, shipping donated medical supplies from Minnesota to Bolivia, most of which would otherwise end up in landfills. It also supports rural infrastructure projects through partner organizations that employ Bolivians. They’ve built more than 160 clinics, leveled hundreds of miles of road, and constructed dozens of school buildings and, more recently, reservoirs to water crops and improve yields. Some work is done by heavy machinery, the rest by hand.

“We’re talking about people using pickaxes and shovels to build a road or hauling boulders to build a reservoir,” said Ver Ploeg, who has visited the country four times. “It’s hard work, and the community becomes invested.”

Ver Ploeg helps raise funds and pack shipping containers.

But she’s most valued for her legal mind. She helped acquire 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and advised on liability and employment issues. Her law students wrote the employee handbook, and her upper-level seminar at William Mitchell on advising international NGOs led two former students to serve on Mano a Mano’s board—Dennis Anderson ’13 (WMCL) and Matthew Hartranft ’16 (MHSL).

“Chris has been an integral part of everything since the beginning,” said Joan Velasquez, a former Peace Corps volunteer who founded the nonprofit with her Bolivian-born husband, Segundo.

Since retiring, Ver Ploeg hears the occasional labor arbitration case, travels with her husband, and spends time with grandchildren. And, she’s giving even more time to Mano a Mano.

“I have been so grateful to be part of something that counts for so much,” said Ver Ploeg.

Maja Beckstrom is a writer and journalist in St. Paul.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

27

STUDENT NEWS

Stipends help students carve out more bar-prep time Anyone who has taken the bar exam knows the preparation required to pass.

But for many recent graduates, other responsibilities—such as a full-time job or childcare—can make it difficult to spend weeks and months properly studying.

This spring, Mitchell Hamline launched a new stipend program to help graduates buy more time to prepare for the test.

To qualify, soon-to-be grads submitted a proposal on how they would use a stipend to find more time to study for the bar. For some, that was paying for extra childcare expenses. Others said it would help them fund an unpaid leave from work. Participants were required to take a commercial bar-prep course and work with one of the school’s bar-prep specialists. Sixteen graduates qualified for stipends ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

The effort was an acknowledgement that academic assistance isn’t the only way the school can help graduates succeed in the bar exam, especially those who entered law school later in life.

“They have financial needs,” said Maggie Eilertson ’08 (WMCL), director of Mitchell Hamline’s Academic Excellence Office, who worked closely with Dena Sonbol ’08 (HUSL), dean of Academic Excellence, to implement the program. “They have childcare needs, they have parents to take care of, they have jobs they can’t quit. The academics can’t come until the rest of that is taken care of.”

Mitchell Hamline is assessing the program’s effect on bar passage and will use the results to determine the program’s future.

Applications, enrollment up for fall 2018 incoming class With

381 students,

Fall 2018 Incoming Class 1,290 applications

13% increase over 2017

146 of the 1Ls are enrolled in the full-time J.D. program 235 are enrolled in part-time J.D. program 25% are students of color or indigenous students

this fall’s incoming

53% are women

class at Mitchell Hamline

31 students are receiving veterans educational benefits

is not only larger than last year’s but also has

55% come from outside Minnesota

a higher average LSAT score.

Total Enrollment: 1,158

Note: Numbers as of Oct. 5

443 full time and 715 part time

students

49 states and District of Columbia represented 39 foreign countries represented 28

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

STUDENT NEWS

Students get unique residency opportunity at Minnesota Supreme Court

BY TIM POST

K

ari Beaudry and Jacqueline Peña are getting a unique on-the-job experience this fall, one that’s only available to students at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Beaudry and Peña are taking part in semester-long residencies with the Minnesota Supreme Court.

The residencies aren’t your typical internships for law students; they’re essentially full-time clerk positions.

The students are earning a semester’s worth of law school credits while doing research and writing memos for the justices.

They’re also getting a behind-thescenes look at how the court operates, how justices form their decisions, and how attorneys argue cases in front of the state’s highest court.

“I wanted something that could challenge me,” said Peña, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to the Twin Cities a few years ago. A student in Mitchell Hamline’s part-time program, Peña has worked with Minnesota Supreme Court justices David Lillehaug and Paul Thissen during her residency.

The experience has given her a realworld look at the law, something she

“I wanted something that could challenge me.”

— Jacqueline Peña

doesn’t think she could have gotten just by studying in a classroom. “I think there’s no better way to learn how to do something than by doing it,” she said.

Peña is two or three semesters away from graduating, but she’s already thinking about applying for a clerkship job when she gets her J.D., something she wouldn’t have considered before the residency.

For Beaudry, the state Supreme Court residency is helping her forge a path toward a career in public interest law.

Beaudry taught in St. Paul for a decade before starting law school. So far, she’s

“I love being able to research and go more in-depth in areas of the law.”

— Kari Beaudry

Photographs by TIM POST

found her experience teaching English and her passion for writing has come in handy working for the court.

“I love being able to research and go more in-depth in areas of the law,” Beaudry said.

Beaudry hopes to someday work in child protection, an area championed by one of the judges she works with— Justice Anne McKeig.

The push to start the Supreme Court residency program actually came from McKeig, a 1992 graduate of Hamline University School of Law. “It’s been really remarkable for both sides,” she said.

The first student resident clerked for McKeig during the spring semester.

Joshua Weichsel, a 2018 graduate of Mitchell Hamline, now works as a law clerk at the Minnesota Court of Appeals for Judge Carol Hooten.

The Minnesota Supreme Court isn’t the only place where Mitchell Hamline has residencies in place. Students have also had semester-long stints with the Minnesota Vikings and 3M, among other organizations, and the program is expanding.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

29

CAMPUS NEWS

Mitchell Hamline honored for diversity efforts Mitchell Hamline received state and national recognition this fall for its efforts to diversify the legal community.

The school was honored Oct. 3 at the 2nd Annual Minnesota Lawyer Diversity & Inclusion Awards, held at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Minnesota Lawyer created the awards as a way to honor “those in the legal profession that go above and beyond in their efforts to create a more diverse and inclusionary community.”

The school was recognized in part for its creation of the Gateway to Legal Education program, which seeks to introduce undergraduates of color, indigenous students, and first-generation college students to legal education and a career in law.

Also honored was Faith Jackson ’15 (HUSL), for the many and varied ways she promotes diversity in the legal community.

Jackson was cited for several efforts over the years, including: helping the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers secure internships and mentors for students of color, supporting the Open Doors to the Federal Courts program, and helping Mitchell Hamline implement an LSAT prep course for prospective students.

“Access to adequate LSAT preparation is the most significant barrier to admission for prospective law students of color.

Additionally, obtaining meaningful work experience is critical

to future career success. Thus, these initiatives are directly linked to my desire to increase the diversity of the legal profession,” said Jackson, an assistant director of admissions at Mitchell Hamline.

As was the case last year, more than half of Mitchell Hamline’s incoming students are from outside of Minnesota, and the school again welcomed approximately 100 students of color and indigenous students in the 1L class. More than half of the incoming students—53 percent—are women. In Mitchell Hamline’s total student population of more than 1,100, there are nearly 300 students of color and indigenous students.

In addition to receiving the Minnesota Lawyer honor, Mitchell Hamline was one of 10 law schools nationally receiving an EDGE Award in the education category from the Council on Legal Education Opportunity. To mark the organization’s 50 years of working to increase the number of lawyers from diverse backgrounds, CLEO decided to give out 50 awards in each of three categories—education, diversity, and greater equality—to law schools, groups, and individuals.

All 150 awards were handed out in November at CLEO’s Awards Gala in Washington, D.C.

Mitchell Hamline was honored in October 2018 at the 2nd Annual Minnesota Lawyer Diversity & Inclusion Awards, held at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Representing the school were, from left, Professor Carolyn Grose, President and Dean Mark Gordon, Career and Professional Development Assistant Director Rick Petry ’98 (HUSL), Diversity and Inclusion Manager Sharon Van Leer, student Gabriel Ramirez-Hernandez, Blended Learning Assistant Director Delena Price, Academic Excellence Tutor Andriel Dees ’95 (WMCL), and students Nu Vang and Yida Li.

Faith Jackson ’15 (HUSL), assistant director of admissions, who received an individual award, with Minnesota Lawyer President and Publisher Bill Gaier.

30

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Photographs by SHAROLYN B. HAGEN

CAMPUS NEWS

Mitchell Hamline launches Institute for Children, Families, and Communities Mitchell Hamline expanded its role as a leading national voice for best practices in law affecting children and families with the launch this past summer of the Institute for Children, Families, and Communities.

The institute increases Mitchell Hamline’s ability to provide innovative training and experiential opportunities for students and expands the school’s capacity to engage in evidence-based research and legislative policy work.

The new institute includes an expanded Child Protection Program as well as the Zero Abuse Project at Mitchell Hamline, which is dedicated to preventing, recognizing, and responding to child abuse nationwide. The Zero Abuse Project hosted the first of what is planned as an annual conference in St. Paul on Sept. 28, featuring Dr. Bruce Perry, one of the nation’s leading teachers, clinicians, and researchers on children’s mental health and the neurosciences.

Leading the new institute is Associate Professor Joanna Woolman, who has directed the Child Protection Program since its founding. The Institute for Children, Families, and Communities joins a roster of specialized academic programs at Mitchell Hamline that includes the Intellectual Property Institute, the Health Law Institute, and the Dispute Resolution Institute as well as the Indian Law Program and the Center for Law and Business.

Gateway to Legal Education aims to expand diversity in legal profession In the spring of 2019, Mitchell Hamline is launching an initiative meant to expand the pipeline of college students from underrepresented groups who are exposed to law school and the profession of law.

Through the Gateway to Legal Education program, Mitchell Hamline partners with colleges and universities that serve high proportions of students of color, indigenous students, and first-generation college students to offer free, online, law-related courses to undergraduates. In April, Delaware State University became the first school to partner with Mitchell Hamline on the Gateway program.

A second school, Notre Dame College in Ohio, recently signed on.

It’s possible some of the students will choose to go to law school and will pick Mitchell Hamline, “but our fundamental goal is to do all we can to expose a wider

group of young people to the profession of law, which has been among the least diverse of our professional ranks in this country,” said President and Dean Mark Gordon.

The program begins in January with a course in health care law. An introduction to legal education course will be added in the fall. Delaware State students began enrolling in the health care law course in November.

Students are also offered the chance to come to Mitchell Hamline for a weeklong summer program, starting in the summer of 2019, immersing them in the law school experience and legal practice and preparing them to take the LSAT. The effort is being supported by an advisory board of local leaders in law, business, and the community, chaired by Minnesota Vikings Chief Operating Officer Kevin Warren.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

31

CAMPUS NEWS

Branding process brings focus to Mitchell Hamline By the end of 2018, Mitchell Hamline will be three years removed from the combination of Hamline Law and William Mitchell. Many new initiatives have been added that did not exist at either legacy school. To get a detailed picture of what key stakeholders think of the combined school, what’s valuable to them, what’s distinctive, and what they recommend, Mitchell Hamline recently completed a nearly yearlong branding process.

Stamats, a higher education marketing firm, surveyed alumni, students, faculty, and staff with the goal of generating some common language to talk about the school in a comprehensive and authentic way. Also included was a marketplace analysis that compared Mitchell Hamline with several geographic and programmatic competitors.

More than 1,100 stakeholders, including more than 800 alums, responded to an initial survey asking for their perceptions, assessments, and reactions to various positioning statements.

More than 600 stakeholders, including more than 350 alums, later completed surveys asking them to react to various brand promises.

Responses highlighted many of the traditional strengths of both legacy law schools: connection to practice, flexibility, location, accessibility.

In the end—with the help of an internal committee of faculty, staff, and administrators—the school emerged this fall with the following brand promise: Mitchell Hamline offers a rigorous, practice-based experience for motivated students who want to pursue a legal education in a way that fits their lives.

Throughout the fall, the marketing department met with departments across campus to talk about how to apply the new language, and the foundational concepts underlying it, in communication with prospective students, faculty, staff, potential employees, alumni, the legal community, and media.

Three alums join board of trustees The board of trustees of Mitchell Hamline School of Law added three new members and installed new board leadership as of July 1.

The addition of the three trustees—Brian Batzli, Christopher Pham, and Ugo Ukabam—brings the total number of board members to 31.

The new chair of the board as of July 1 is Lisa A. Gray ’86 (WMCL), vice chair and senior legal officer at Cerberus.

She replaces former Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice Helen M. Meyer ’83 (WMCL), who chaired the board for two years.

The new vice chair is Frank V. Harris ’75 (HUSL), retired executive director of Minnesota Continuing Legal Education.

Harris takes over as vice chair from David M. Sparby ’80 (WMCL), retired senior vice president and group president at Xcel Energy.

Steven J. Kirsch ’76 (HUSL), a partner at Larson King, and Nicole James Gilchrist ’03 (WMCL), senior counsel at Thrivent Financial, remain as secretary and treasurer of the board, respectively.

32

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Brian Batzli ’85 (WMCL) senior vice president, shareholder, and chairman emeritus at Merchant & Gould

Christopher Pham ’09 (WMCL) senior associate at Fredrikson & Byron

Ugo Ukabam ’02 (WMCL) director and senior counsel for labor and employment law at General Mills

CLASS NOTES

1960 LLEWELLYN H. LINDE (WMCL) was awarded the 360 Communities 2018 Community Caring Award in recognition of his pro bono work to end domestic and sexual violence in the community.

1969

1975 ppeals.

of Appeals.

CARA LEE T. NEVILLE (WMCL) received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota State Bar Association.

STEVEN P. OMAN (WMCL) joined the Command Center board of directors.

of Appeals.

JOHN W. CAREY (WMCL) received a Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

1971

of Appeals.

JEFFREY D. THOMPSON (WMCL) retired after 19 years as a Winona County judge.

1976 DAVID T. MAGNUSON (WMCL), one of the longest-serving city attorneys in Minnesota, retired after 40 years as Stillwater city attorney.

1972

STEPHEN B. BONNER (WMCL) became chairman of ViZn Energy Systems’ board of directors and assumed the role of president and interim CEO. He has also joined the advisory board of Columbia Care, the nation’s leading medical cannabis company.

1979

ROBERT J. ZALLAR (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

1978

JOHN F. DUWELL (HUSL) was elected to a three-year term on Society Insurance’s board of directors.

of Appeals.

MARK S. RUBIN (HUSL) was awarded the AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell as St. Louis County (Minn.) Attorney.

NICHOLAS OSTAPENKO (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

ANTHONY C. PALUMBO (WMCL) earned the MCAA Johnson Distinguished Service Award, the Minnesota County Attorneys Association’s highest honor.

of Appeals.

JOSEPH J. ROBY JR. (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

1980

ANN L. CARROTT (HUSL) retired after a decade as a district court judge.

KATHLEEN M. GIONIS (HUSL) received a Pioneer Award, which honors the owners of majority womenowned Wisconsin businesses that have operated for 25 years or more.

BARBARA J. GISLASON (WMCL) was named deputy chief editor of Juriste International, a publication of the Union Internationale des Avocats. She received an award for best scientific paper at the Union Internationale des Avocats 62nd Congress in Portugal in November 2018.

STEPHEN L. HOPKINS (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

SUZANNE G. PONTINEN (HUSL) was recognized by the Hennepin County Bar Association with an Excellence Award for Career Contributions to the Profession for her years leading Volunteer Lawyers Network and her dedication to promoting legal services in Minnesota.

of Appeals.

BRUCE L. PAULSON (WMCL) was named a senior client advisor for MRA Associates in the Deephaven, Minn., office.

MICHELLE L. BOUTIN (HUSL) joined Landye Bennett Blumstein at the firm’s Anchorage, Alaska, office.

1983

1981

WILLIAM O. BONGARD (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

1986

1982

ROBERT J. KING JR. (WMCL) joined Ciresi MARGARET L. Conlin as a partner.

WILSON (WMCL) is working in the city attorney’s office in Scottsdale, Ariz., after practicing at the city of Phoenix DAVID M. SPARBY for 15 years. That (WMCL) was information was appointed to the mistakenly assocboard of directors of iated with a ’91 alum MDU Resources. in the Winter 2017 edition of Mitchell Hamline Law. See correction, page 34.

of Appeals.

DOUGLAS J. RILLSTONE (HUSL) received a Bank One ranking from Chambers USA: A Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers.

1985 SCOTT L. BECKER (WMCL) was named to the Saint John’s University board of trustees.

WILLIAM J. EGAN (WMCL) co-founded Avisen Legal.

CLARK D. OPDAHL (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

designation.

RANDALL J. SLIETER (HUSL), an 8th District Court judge from Renville County, has been appointed the 7th Congressional District judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

JANET S. STELLPFLUG (HUSL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

WMCL: William Mitchell College of Law HUSL: Hamline University School of Law

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

33

CLASS NOTES

1987

1991 of Appea

DOROTHY PATRIAS BRADLEY (WMCL) joined Cline Jensen as a general practice associate.

LEO I. BRISBOIS (HUSL) was reappointed to another 8-year term on the U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota.

JAMES P. CAREY (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

1989 THOMAS J. BILSKI (WMCL) was appointed

by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to the position of Buffalo County District Attorney.

SUSAN HEEGAARD (WMCL) has been named president of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, effective Nov. 1.

THOMAS R. LEHMANN (WMCL) was appointed a district court judge in Minnesota’s 10th Judicial District.

1990

DANIEL D. MADDY (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation and was recognized as a Minnesota Rising Star.

BRIAN T. GROGAN (WMCL) was elected to a three-year term on Moss & Barnett’s board of directors.

1988 of Appeals.

SUSAN M. HOLDEN (WMCL) was recognized on the 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers Top 100 list and as a Top 50 female attorney.

34

ARTHUR C. KOSIERADZKI (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

of Appeals.

MARK W. SHEAHAN (WMCL) was named CFO and treasurer of Graco’s Worldwide Applied Fluid Technologies Division.

of Appeals.

ERIC C. TOSTRUD (WMCL) was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a U.S. Ditrict Court judge for the District of Minnesota.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

LEE A. BJORNDAL (HUSL) retired as Albert Lea, Minn., city attorney after nine years.

of Appeals.

ROBERT T. BRABBIT (WMCL) was recognized as a Minnesota Super Lawyer for the 16th time.

of Appeals.

CHRISTINE J. CHALSTROM (WMCL) was named a finalist for a Relativity Innovation Award in the category of Stellar Women in e-Discovery.

1992

of Appeals. of Appeals.

of Appeals.

PAUL K. DOWNES (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

ROBERT M. GARDNER (WMCL) joined Price, McCluer & Plachecki as an associate.

IVETTE D. GARRETT (WMCL) was named 2018 Alumna of the Year for the Thief River Falls, Minn., campus of Northland Community & Technical College.

JEFFREY M. JOHNSON (WMCL) was appointed as a judge in Minnesota’s 3rd Judicial District.

MICHELE R. LOUGHREY (WMCL) was named partner with Johnson/Turner Legal.

1994 of Appeals.

AARON A. DEAN (WMCL) received the Minnesota Subcontractors Association’s 2017 “Champions Award.”

ROBERT R. KANUIT (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

TINA A. SYRING (HUSL) joined Cozen O’Connor as a member in its Minneapolis office focusing on labor and employment law.

of Appeals.

of Appeals.

BARRY A. O’NEIL (WMCL) was elected to a second two-year term on Lommen Abdo’s board.

ANNE K. McKEIG (HUSL) was Hamline University’s 2018 commencement ceremony speaker.

1995

CORRECTION: A class note in the Winter 2017 edition of Mitchell Hamline Law mistakenly said Adrienne K. Wilson ’91 (WMCL) is working in the city attorney’s office in Scottsdale, Ariz., after practicing at the city of Phoenix for 15 years. It should have said Margaret L. Wilson ’83 (WMCL).

1993

of Appeals.

PATRICK W. FLANAGAN (WMCL) was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton as a judge in Minnesota’s 10th Judicial District.

of Appeals.

SHANNON M. KOS (WMCL) was named to the 2019 edition of Best Lawyers in America.

BEN OMOROGBE (WMCL) was appointed group general counsel at Travelers.

STONEY L. HILJUS (HUSL) was elected to serve as assistant chief judge of Minnesota’s 10th District.

of Appeals.

ROBERT J. LIGHTFOOT (HUSL) was included in the 2019 Best Lawyers in America and named Lawyer of the Year for health care law.

STEVEN L. SCHLEICHER (WMCL) was elected partner at Maslon.

ANTOINETTE C. WETZEL (WMCL) was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton as a district court judge in Minnesota’s 7th Judicial District.

1996 THERESA M. CURRY (WMCL) was named executive director of planned giving at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

JOHN J. KASTNER (HUSL) joined Jennings Strouss Salmon at their new Tuscon, Ariz., office.

KATHY S. KIMMEL (WMCL) was presented with the Mitchell Hamline Law Review’s WallaceLerner Award for Excellence in Leadership. Kimmel was highlighted for her work with the Tubman Safety Project, which provides pro bono legal representation to low-income victims of domestic violence seeking protection orders.

CLASS NOTES

MARIA A. MICHLIN (WMCL) was named one of Minnesota’s “50 over 50,” which recognizes Minnesotans over the age of 50 who have made significant contributions to their communities.

MITCHELL R. ORNSTEIN (WMCL) joined Brilliant as practice director in Chicago.

WESLEY W. SCOTT (WMCL) and Mill City Press announced the launch of Scott’s book “Filing Bankruptcy Sucks, Your Lawyer Should Not!”

MICHAEL F. SCULLY (HUSL) received a Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

1997 of Appeals.

CHRISTOPHER J. MORELAND (HUSL) was named partner at Halunen Law. TAMIKA R. NORDSTROM (HUSL) was named partner in the Employment and Labor Relations practice group with Taylor English Duma.

of Appeals.

of Appeals.

PETER M. REYES JR. (WMCL), who serves on the Minnesota Court of Appeals, received the “Latino Judge of the Year” award from the Hispanic National Bar Association.

SOPHIA VUELO (HUSL) was named a Ramsey County district court judge, becoming Minnesota’s first judge of Hmong descent and only the third HmongAmerican judge in the country.

1998 TODD J. KLEMMENSEN (HUSL) was named senior vice president and general counsel of MTS Systems Corporation.

CORY P. WHALEN (WMCL) received a Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

of Appeals.

1999

JEFFREY M. MONTPETIT (WMCL) received a Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

KRISTIN M. NIMSGER (WMCL) joined the Susan G. Komen board of directors. In addition, the Ballmer Group announced in August a $59 million, 5-year commitment to Social Solutions, where Nimsger is CEO, to accelerate the use of data by nonprofits and public-sector agencies.

EVON M. SPANGLER (WMCL) was recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member in the field of law in recognition of her role as managing partner at Spangler and de Stefano.

TODD A. TAYLOR (WMCL) cofounded Avisen Legal.

of Appeals.

of Appeals.

ROBERT C. FRIDAY (WMCL) was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton to Minnesota’s 6th Judicial District bench.

KEVIN GOODNO (WMCL) was elected chair of the board of directors at Minneapolis-based Fredrikson & Byron.

MELISSA A. JENNER (WMCL) joined Munsch Hardt Kopf as a shareholder in its Dallas office.

of Appeals.

KATHLEEN M. LOUCKS (WMCL) was elected to Lommen Abdo’s board of directors.

DANIEL P. STOLFA (WMCL) was appointed managing director and wealth & fiduciary advisor with Evercore Wealth Management.

of Appeals.

JAMES J. VEDDER (HUSL) joined the board of directors of Moss & Barnett as well as the Courage Kenny Foundation.

2000 of Appeals.

TODD J. ANLAUF (HUSL) was inducted into the Minnesota chapter of Lambda Alpha International Land Economics Society.

2001 of Appeals.

ANDREW R. PETERSON (WMCL) received a Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

of Appeals.

LISA T. SPENCER (WMCL) received a Minnesota Super Lawyers designation and was included in 2019 for the fifth time in Best Lawyers in America for family law.

2002

of Appeals.

of Appeals.

MARCIA K. MILLER (WMCL) received a Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

2003 JAPAUL HARRIS (HUSL) was recognized with an Excellence Award from the Hennepin County Bar Association for Improving Access to Justice. He was also appointed as a district court judge in Minnesota’s 2nd Judicial District.

TANYA O. O’BRIEN (WMCL) was appointed to the bench in Minnesota’s 1st Judicial District.

NICHOLAS J. KASTER (WMCL) was elected a shareholder at Moss and Barnett.

2005

TAMARA CABÁNRAMIREZ (HUSL), who runs CabánRamirez law firm in Edina, Minn., received the “Latina Attorney of the Year” award from the Hispanic National Bar Association.

VIRGINIA R. CRONIN (WMCL) joined the Maple Grove, Minn., law firm Henningson & Snoxell.

2004 MICHAEL T. ETMUND (WMCL) was selected for a second term as attorney state chair of the New York chapter of the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.

of Appeals.

ERIK M. DRANGE (WMCL) was made partner with the intellectual property law firm of Christensen Fonder Dardi.

of Appeals.

IMANI S. JAAFAR (WMCL) was honored with the Advocate Award from the Minnesota Justice Foundation.

LAURA H. GILBERT (HUSL) published her book “The Stories We Leave Behind: A Legacy-Based Approach to Dealing with Stuff.”

MARK R. JUNDT (HUSL) was named general counsel with diversified holding company Air T.

WMCL: William Mitchell College of Law HUSL: Hamline University School of Law

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

35

CLASS NOTES

KELLY L. OLMSTEAD (WMCL) was appointed as a district court judge in Minnesota’s 2nd Judicial District.

MATTHEW E. STEINBRINK (WMCL) earned certification as a Minnesota State Bar Association Board Certified Civil Trial Law Specialist.

of Appeals.

SHANNON C. CAREY (WMCL) received a Minnesota Super Lawyers designation.

PATRICK E. MIDDEN (WMCL) joined Reemo Health as a compliance officer.

of Appeals.

SARAH S. WEST (WMCL) was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton as a district court judge in Minnesota’s 4th Judicial District.

DENNIS M. SCANLON (WMCL) was named the United States Hockey League’s deputy commissioner.

FRED J. WILLIAMS III (WMCL) was elected to the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

JOEL A. VORHES (HUSL) received an Advocacy Achievement Award from Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota for his work as a judicare attorney.

PATRICK M. ARENZ (WMCL) received the 2018 ABA Pro Bono Publico award, a prestigious national recognition that is presented to only five recipients across the country each year.

BENJAMIN T. LINDSTROM (HUSL) was promoted to Cass County Attorney in Minnesota.

of Appeals.

CHAD A. STAUL (HUSL) joined Quinlivan & Hughes, practicing labor and employment law.

2008 of Appeals.

CHRISTINE L. EID (WMCL) joined Stinson Leonard Street to practice in real estate and private business.

of Appeals.

ELIZABETH COWAN WRIGHT (WMCL) was sworn in as a magistrate judge in Minnesota.

2007

PATRICK M. FENLON (WMCL) was named to Minnesota Lawyer magazine’s “Up & Coming Attorneys” list for 2018.

of Appeals.

MAX D. HOLMQUIST (HUSL) has joined Jermain, Dunnagan & Owens as an associate.

ERIC S. JOHNSON (WMCL) received a 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers Rising Star designation. of “Up & Coming Attorneys”.

STACY L. LEE (HUSL) was elected to a three-year term with the Prairie Lakes Healthcare System board of directors.

KARL PHARES (WMCL) became partner in the Real Estate/Public Law & Finance division of Stinson Leonard Street.

ZACHARY ROBINS (WMCL) joined the Business Services group in the Minneapolis office of Messerli Kramer.

2009 of Appeals.

of Appeals.

MEGAN E. BURKHAMMER (WMCL) became a partner in the Alexandria, Minn., law firm of Thornton, Dolan, Bowen, Klecker, and Burkhammer.

CEDRICK R. FRAZIER (WMCL) was chosen to fill an open city council seat in New Hope, Minn.

WMCL: William Mitchell College of Law HUSL: Hamline University School of Law

36

of Appeals.

of Appeals.

of Appeals.

2006

of “Up & Coming Attorneys”.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

JUANITA C. FREEMAN (WMCL) was appointed as a district court judge in Minnesota’s 10th Judicial District.

Freeman is the first black district judge to serve in Washington County.

LANDON J. ASCHEMAN (WMCL) was recognized by the Hennepin County Bar Association with an Excellence Award for Mentoring in the Profession.

TERI L. BYLANDERPINKE (HUSL) joined Collaborative Leadership Team as an Agile coach and trainer.

of Appeals.

SARAH L. McBROOM (WMCL) was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton as a district court judge in Minnesota’s 9th Judicial District.

JENNIFER A. McEWAN (HUSL) joined the law firm Falsani, Balmer, Peterson & Balmer as an associate attorney.

of Appeals.

ADINE S. MOMOH (WMCL) was elected president of the Hennepin County Bar Association, becoming the first black woman to lead the 100-yearold organization and the youngest president the group has had.

JOSHUA T. NATZEL (WMCL) was elected to partnership at Ballard Spahr in the Minneapolis office.

2010

ADAM N. HOFFARBER (HUSL) was named partner with SkyWater Search Partners.

BREANNA M. JOHNSON (WMCL) joined Robins Kaplan as chief strategy, pricing, and legal project management officer, based in the Minneapolis office.

WILLIAM T. MONTGOMERY (WMCL) was selected

by Alaska Gov. Bill Walker to serve as a district court judge.

At age 33, he will be the youngest judge on the bench in Alaska and one of the youngest ever appointed in the state.

DONIKA P. PENTCHEVA (WMCL) received the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who.

of Appeals.

KRISTA J. PEZEWSKI (HUSL) was named shareholder with HKM. JANE CAHILL POOLE (WMCL) was promoted to partner with the newly renamed firm Andrew, Bransky & Poole in Duluth, Minn.

of Appeals.

CHRISTIAN J. GIRTZ (WMCL) was named partner at Patterson Thuente IP.

VICTORIA M. TAYLOR (WMCL) was named to the 1st Judicial District bench in Minnesota.

CLASS NOTES

2011

of Appeals. of Appeals.

of Appeals.

MICHELLE L. FISCHBACH (WMCL) was sworn in as Minnesota’s 49th lieutenant governor.

COLE A. HICKMAN (WMCL) joined Hellmuth & Johnson’s Estate Planning and Business groups as a partner.

DARYL T. FUCHIHARA (WMCL) joined the law firm Johnson, Killen & Seiler in Duluth, Minn.

XIAO C. HUANG (WMCL) was appointed co-chair of the Trade Secrets and Interferences with Contracts Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABAIPL) for 2018-19.

LAUREN A. D’CRUZ (WMCL) joined the Minneapolisbased employment law firm Schaefer Halleen.

of Appeals.

BRENNA M. GALVIN (WMCL) was named shareholder with Maser, Amundson, Boggio & Hendricks.

of Appeals.

KATIE M. JARVI (HUSL) was named partner with Johnson /Turner Legal.

KELLY M. SATER (WMCL) was named partner with Johnson/Turner Legal.

2012 of Appeals.

CHRISTOPHER C. ALEXANDER (WMCL) joined Hinshaw & Culbertson as an associate in the firm’s Minneapolis office.

of Appeals.

JOSHUA N. BREKKEN (HUSL) joined the Family Law group in the Minneapolis office of Messerli Kramer.

of Appeals.

JOHN P. KENNEDY (WMCL) joined the Multifamily and Commercial Real Estate Finance team at Moss & Barnett.

ERIK L. ROMSAAS (WMCL) joined Moss & Barnett’s Business Law team and its Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Finance team.

2013 MICHELLE A. BOE (WMCL), Dakota County and Technical College Foundation director, became interim executive director overseeing Inver Hills and DCTC foundations.

of Appeals.

ALEXANDRA L. CONNELL (WMCL) joined Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell as an associate attorney.

KAYLA J. GIESE (HUSL) joined Hellmuth & Johnson as a litigation attorney.

DOUGLAS J. MAC ARTHUR (WMCL) joined Moss & Barnett’s litigation team.

CHELSEA M. MULARONI (WMCL) joined the Banking & Finance group in the Minneapolis office of Messerli Kramer.

SAMANTHA J. GRAF (HUSL) was named partner with Johnson/Turner Legal.

LINDSAY HARTMAN (WMCL) joined Merchant & Gould as an associate in its Minneapolis office.

BRENT A. FISCHER (WMCL) joined Hinshaw & Culbertson as an associate in the firm’s Minneapolis office.

PRINCESS L. GAYE (WMCL) was selected during the December 2017 Direct Appointment Board for active duty service as an Air Force judge advocate.

CHELSY M. JANTSCH (WMCL) joined the Multifamily and Commercial Real Estate Finance team at Moss & Barnett.

JESSICA M. PLOTZ (HUSL) was appointed Assistant Cass County Attorney in Minnesota.

of Appeals.

QUINN P. O’REILLY (WMCL) became an associate with Melchert Hubert Sjodin in the Waconia, Minn., office.

TOU XIONG (WMCL) was elected to the Maplewood, Minn., City Council.

2016

2014 LAURA N. ALEXANDER (WMCL) was promoted to senior vice president, Merchandise, with Regis Corp.

JACOB P. FAUCHALD (WMCL) joined the Forum’s Readers Board in North Dakota.

ALEXANDER C. ROVERUD (HUSL) joined Hammell and Murphy Law Office in Caledonia, Minn.

2015 of Appeals.

SHANNON E. COOK (WMCL) joined the Multifamily and Commercial Real Estate Finance team at Moss & Barnett.

BRIAN A. JESSE (MHSL) joined the firm Rinke Noonan.

of Appeals.

MALINDA A. QUITTEM (MHSL) was appointed Assistant Faribault County Attorney in Minnesota.

2017 of Appeals.

KAREN L. BECKMAN (MHSL) joined Merchant & Gould’s Litigation and Chemical & Life Sciences practice groups.

SARAH ERICKSON (MHSL) received World Without Genocide’s Alice Musabende Award, given to human rights advocates under 30.

JORDAN N. FEIS (MHSL) joined Eckberg Lammers’ Family Law and Personal Injury groups.

of Appeals.

GREGORY L. GUNNERSON (MHSL) joined McKee, Voorhees & Sease.

TREVOR L. HANEY (MHSL) joined the intellectual property firm Westman, Champlin & Koehler.

of Appeals.

CHELSEA J. HELMER (MHSL) joined Maki & Overom as an attorney.

BENJAMIN G. OLSON (MHSL) joined Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell as an associate attorney and mediator in Maplewood, Minn.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

37

CLASS NOTES

ppeals.

MARLEE E. TORRENCE (MHSL) was one of 67 recipients of the 2018 Equal Justice Works Fellowship, one of the most prestigious and competitive postgraduate fellowships in the country.

2018 Appeals.

PETER B. CUDERMAN (MHSL) released a book, “30 & Under: Short Life Advice from Outliers Under 30,” which features profiles of 70 young people from around the world.

of Appeals.

ROGER J. REINERT (MHSL), former Duluth city councilor and state legislator, received his orders to report for duty in Kabul, Afghanistan, as part of a yearlong deployment.

Submit and Read Class Notes Online @ mitchellhamline.edu/alumni 38

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

IN MEMORIAM

Bob Alton was ‘tremendous asset’ in the founding of Hamline Law

BY DICK DAHL

A

lready a successful businessman when he entered law school, Howard R. “Bob” Alton Jr. played a unique role in the group of people who founded what became Hamline University School of Law. Alton, who died at age 90 last December, was a member of Hamline Law’s first graduating class in 1975. He was among a group of people who launched Midwestern School of Law in 1973 and within less than two years affiliated it with Hamline University. In his mid-40s at the time and president of Pan-O-Gold Baking, Alton was a central figure in that endeavor, according to his former classmates and fellow alums.

“He was a tremendous asset as we were just getting going,” said Frank Harris, also a member of the class of ’75 and now vice chair of the Mitchell Hamline board of trustees. “People looked up to him and respected him. Although he was a member of the class, he certainly was more than that.”

Alton donated furniture and provided trucks from his business when the school moved from Minneapolis to the Hamline campus. Through his business connections, Alton was able to bring prominent people onto the school’s first board of trustees.

“He was very dedicated,” said Len Biernat, another of his classmates who is now an emeritus professor at Mitchell Hamline. “He worked hard, despite being in business full time and running a corporation. He was always there; he participated in all the activities.”

For some, Alton’s very presence as a fellow student was a curiosity. Steve Kirsch, currently secretary of the Mitchell Hamline board, was a year behind Alton at Hamline Law and remembers the time he had a chance to ask him a question that had long been on his mind.

“This guy was the president of a very successful bakery.

I was a kid who went to college and then to law school. So I was 23 or 24 when I go up to this guy one day and I said, ‘Why, at this stage of your career, do you want to start law school, when you’re so successful?’ And he looked at me and he said, ‘I will save my company more money than you’ll ever make.’”

“He didn’t go to law school really to become a lawyer,” Biernat said. “He went to law school to become a better corporate manager.”

“He made great use of his law degree,” Harris said. “But he was a big supporter of the institution. He loved what it represented, which was an opportunity for students to go to school in a somewhat different way, like him.”

Photo: Courtesy of the family of Bob Alton

Alton is survived by his wife, Camilla Ann Alton; children Ann L. Alton (retired Hennepin County judge), Jeanine P. Alton-Ryan, Patricia Alton Baker ’90 (WMCL), Michelle Alton Bonomo, and Howard R. Alton III ’87 (WMCL); 13 grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Dick Dahl is a freelance writer and editor in St. Paul.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

39

IN MEMORIAM

1950

JOHN C. HAUGLAND (SPCL), 97, died Feb. 3, 2018.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Dolores Haugland.

1952

FRANCIS JOSEPH HAGEN (SPCL), 96, died March 1, 2018. Survived by his wife, Betty; children Thomas (Cara), Joan Chinn (Bill), Mark (Brenda), Daniel (Colette), and Patrick (Amy); and grandchildren.

1954

JOHN HALL COMBS (MMCL), 94, died Jan. 31, 2018.

Survived by his wife, Margaret, many nieces and nephews, and sister-in-law, Loretta.

1957 MARK G. JORGENSEN (SPCL), 90, died May 13, 2018.

Survived by his wife, Evelyn; his children, Mark (Marlene Werner) Jorgensen, Mike (Ann) Jorgensen, Deb (Jeff) Obey, and Mitch (Karen) Jorgensen; 7 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Dona (Phillip) Andrews; brother-in-law, Allan Hamilton; and many nieces and nephews.

1956

ARTHUR J. NOEHRING (SPCL), 93, died Aug. 13, 2018. Survived by his children, Mary Jane (Stephen) Santele, Patricia (Denis) Montplaisir, Michael (Mary Kay) Noehring, John (Jill) Noehring, Joan (David) Duffy, and James Noehring; brothers, Jerry Noehring and David Noehring; sister, Mary Anne Boos; 18 grandchildren; and 16 greatgrandchildren.

WILLIAM R. OJALA (WMCL), 92, died Jan. 6, 2018. Survived by children Charles (Shelley) Ojala; Mary (Nick) Logan; Kathy (Terry) Wahlgren; and David (Amy Westbrook); 10 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and one great-greatgrandchild.

JAMES J. SCHUMACHER (WMCL), 86, died Sept. 15, 2018.

Survived by wife, Kathleen; sister, Irene (Charles) McConville; children, Terrie (Robert) Ellsworth, Leslie (Jeffrey) Stuart, Barbara Schumacher, Duane Douglas, Susan (Michael) Rands, James (Sarah Nordby) Schumacher Jr., Nikolaus (Leah) Schumacher; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

1959

STANLEY HOLMAN MOBERG (WMCL), 89, died Dec. 8, 2017.

SPCL: St. Paul College of Law MMCL: Minneapolis-Minnesota College of Law WMCL: William Mitchell College of Law HUSL: Hamline University School of Law

40

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

1963

DENNIS CHALLEEN (WMCL), 82, died Aug. 2, 2018. He is preceded in death by his granddaughter, Marina.

1964

1965 GREGG EDWARD ISAACSON (WMCL), 73, died Sept. 6, 2018.

GENE F. HAPPE Survived by wife, (WMCL), 82, died Nancy; daughter & May 1, 2017. Survived son-in-law Melissa by his wife, Joleen; and Michael; children, Julie granddaughter Happe, Laurie (Craig) Savannah; sisters-inGilbert, Gregg law Kim and Mary; (Wendy) Happe, and nieces Rachel Susan (Mike) Whalen, and Michelle. and Doug Happe; siblings, Don, Jack (Geri), Glenn (Jan), Dale (Joan), Elaine Kult, and Sr. Mary Loretta Happe; and six grandchildren.

1975

JOHN E. “JACK” WALSH (WMCL), 86, died Sept. 27, 2018. Survived by daughters Laura (Rob) Rydberg, Julie Pasell, Jackie (Jeff) Brenizer, and Kathie (Tim) Struemke; 12 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; siblings Donna Grady, Mike (Jane) Walsh, Tom (Jeanette) Walsh, Maureen (Mike) Hessler, and Greg (Sue Carlson) Walsh; many nieces, nephews, and relatives.

1969

MICHAEL B. LeBARON (WMCL), 74, died July 5, 2018. Survived by wife, Kaye; children, Jodi, Krista (Andy Letcher), and Nicole (Paul) Happe; grandchildren, Ethan and Devin; brothers, Greg (Lee) and Don (Cindy); and nieces.

1974 JOHN WEYRENS (WMCL), 83, died May 8, 2018. Survived by his wife, Kate; sister Barbara Sura; brother James; children MaryKate, John, and David; and numerous grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

EUGENE J. FLICK (WMCL), 69, died April 25, 2018.

Survived by wife, Debra (nee Vruno); children, Beth Erickson and Katie (Tim) Harris; grandchildren, Carter, Isabel, Taylor, Myla, and Parker.

WILLIAM J. HARGIS (WMCL), 68, died April 10, 2018. Survived by his father, George; sons Mark and Peter; and eight grandchildren.

1976

GEORGE JOHN CLASEMAN (WMCL), 76, died Aug. 14, 2018. Survived by his sons, Jeffrey and James (Susan) Claseman; daughter, Jeannette (Donald) Potter; sister Joanne Claseman; and niece Jennifer (Steven) Beaudette.

IN MEMORIAM

1977 KENNETH PHILLIP KETCHAM (WMCL), 68, died Oct. 4, 2017.

Survived by his wife, Lois; sons Matthew (Jennifer) and Kevin; grandchildren Schuyler, Blake, and Gabriel; sister Mary (Larry) Markes; and brother Tom. ROBERTS HALL “BOB” PACE (HUSL), 67, died Nov. 9, 2017.

Survived by his wife, Jean; four children, Bob (Crystal) Pace III, Libby (Matt) Weimer, Tony Pace, and Christina Pace; five grandchildren; four sisters, Susan Benson, Kathleen (LeRoy) Hodges, Jenny (Jerry) Samples, and Laura (Duncan) McGregor; brother David Pace; and many nieces and nephews.

MICHAEL KENT WALZ (HUSL), 71, died Aug. 4, 2018. Survived by wife, Christy Gay Lueck; children Colleen Marie Walz, Michael Richard Walz (Jaran), Kacy Christine Lueck Walz, and Christopher Michael Lueck Walz; granddaughters Caroline Grace Walz and Margaret Madison Walz; siblings Mark William Walz (Paulette) and Michele Georgia (Walz) Stegeman.

LEO M. DALY (HUSL), 71, died July 1, 2018. Remembered as a faithful father to Nicholas and Timothy and brother to Joe, Mike, Bob, Kevin, and John.

Described as a “warrior, a pilot, a trial lawyer, a teacher, a marathon runner, a skier, a scuba diver, and a traveler.”

After graduating from Richfield High School, he joined the Air Force and fought in Vietnam, where he earned several medals. He was also exposed to Agent Orange and later developed multiple myeloma, which he battled for 18 years. Daly taught for many years as an adjunct professor at Hamline University School of Law.

1978 DEAN LEE McADAMS (WMCL), 69, died Sept. 12, 2017. Survived by his sister, JoEllen (Jodi) McAdams-Radzin, and husband, Danny Radzin; and his brother, Steve McAdams, and husband, Ara Dilanian.

DAVID E. OLSON (HUSL), 67, died April 18, 2018.

1979

MARY ANNA BARTZ (HUSL), 85, died May 4, 2018.

Survived by husband, Richard; children, Christina (M Chad) Mezera, R John (Lori), Steven (Susan), Paul (Cynthia), Thomas (Kari), and James; 16 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild; sister Dorothy Wheeler; brother Richard (Joann) Hemp; and brotherin-law Eugene Bartz.

DARRYL GLEN HORSMAN (WMCL), 69, died Jan. 10, 2018. Survived by his wife, Carol (Kurtz) Horsman; children Brian (Sara) Horsman, David (Andrea) Horsman, and Jennifer (Scott) Criqui; 8 grandchildren; and sisters JoAnn (Glen) Christen and Shari Horsman.

MICHAEL S. POLK (WMCL), 65, died Aug. 28, 2018.

Survived by his wife, Kathy; children, Jesse Polk (Sarah), Lauren Tix (Bill), and Rachel Parker (Dustin); sister, Lisa Ann Fry (Natt); 7 grandchildren; mother-in-law, Dorothy Little; niece and many nephews.

MARY F. SEYMOUR (WMCL), 69, died April 6, 2018.

Survived by her husband, Marshall, and her son, Nghia

1980

SUSAN J. SCARBOROUGH (HUSL), 65, died Aug. 30, 2018. Survived by her brother, Michael (Susan) Scarborough; nieces Quinn (Jeffrey) Veenstra (child Zoe) and Paige Scarborough (fiancé Robert Bruzik); aunt Barbara Lorimier; and cousins Steven (Bonnie) Garman and Lisa (Randy).

MARY S. WARD (HUSL), 69, died Aug. 29, 2018. Survived by daughter Andrea (Andy) Jensen of Hastings; grandchildren Helen, William, Philip, Charlie, James, and George; sisters Anne (Eldon) Miller THOMAS and Shannon (Jeff) FREDERICK Swartz; many nieces TWESME (HUSL), and nephews and 67, died Aug. 4, 2017. other relatives.

Survived by his wife, Mary; son, Jeffrey; daughters, Jeanne (Jim) Stoeckly and Corie Kellerman; mother, Dorothy; brothers, Ted (Mary), and Tim (Lisa); and sister, Kathryn (Gary) MARY S. ALTON Pusateri.

(HUSL), 71, died June 6, 2018. Survived by sons Adam, Joseph, and Charlie.

1982

1981

1984

ALAN R. SARHAN (WMCL), 66, died July 20, 2017. Survived by his wife, Susan; sisters, Julie (Mike) Batchelder and Suzy (Wes) Stokes; brother, Richard Sarhan; and many nieces, nephews, and inlaws.

1985 esignation.

VICKI GIFFORD (WMCL), 71, died Nov. 12, 2018. Survived by her husband, Charles; daughters Alissa (Jeff) Fredeen and Gia Gifford (John Peacock); and grandchildren Annika, Wyatt, and Ollie.

1983

CATHY FEINSTEIN MOLEVER (WMCL), 65, died March 6, 2018. Survived by husband, Jeff; daughter Jamie Greenspan (Eric) and son Ben; grandsons Max and Meyer Greenspan; brothers Lee and Steve (Linda) Feinstein; and many nieces and nephews.

VICKI LYNN BAILEY (WMCL), 62, died Feb. 19, 2018. Survived by her husband, Louis Speltz; daughter, Elizabeth Speltz (David DeWitt); sisters Patty Iverson, Betty Dobson, Nellie Kniseley, and Donna Larson; and brothers Bill and Jim Bailey.

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

41

IN MEMORIAM

Family and friends establish scholarship in honor of Barbara Zurek

BY TIM POST

F

riends and family remember Barbara Zurek ’90 (WMCL) as a “fierce advocate for her clients, a generous and loyal friend, and most importantly a loving wife and mother.”

Zurek died March 28, 2018, at the age of 62. She’s survived by her husband of 30 years, Dr. John Zurek, daughter Dr. Lauren Zurek, son Andrew Zurek, stepchildren Melanie Zurek and Brian Zurek, and a granddaughter.

Born and raised in North Minneapolis, Zurek was a graduate of Patrick Henry High School. She remained a strong supporter of the North Minneapolis community throughout her life and was elected to the Patrick Henry High School Hall of Fame.

After high school, she earned a degree in nursing from Metropolitan State University and worked as a registered nurse at North Memorial Medical Center. After her marriage to Dr. John Zurek, she continued to work full time while attending Mitchell Hamline predecessor school William Mitchell College of Law. She graduated summa cum laude in 1990.

Zurek joined the firm Meagher & Geer in Minneapolis, where she served as a trial attorney practicing in the area of medical malpractice defense. Zurek was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2007 and was considered by her peers to be one of the most successful trial lawyers in Minnesota. She often spoke to health care organizations and providers about issues surrounding professional liability. Zurek was also an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. She was honored with many local, state, and national awards and accolades during her career.

To celebrate her life, friends and family established the Barbara A. Zurek Memorial Scholarship. The annual scholarship will support women law students at Mitchell Hamline.

Zurek’s children and stepchildren said helping others was very important to their mother. “She was an extraordinary woman, not only because of her accomplishments but because of how she treated people,” they said. “We hope that, through this scholarship, we can keep her memory alive by supporting others as they chase their dreams.”

Contributions can be made to the memorial scholarship online at mitchellhamline.edu/giving by noting that the gift is in memory of Barb Zurek. If you have questions, please email Jason Zotalis at Jason.Zotalis@mitchellhamline.edu or call 651-290-6467.

42

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

Photograph by LARRY MARCUS

IN MEMORIAM

1986 LINDA C. KRAFTHEFER (WMCL), 66, died July 26, 2018. Survived by her husband, Brian, son Andrew, and daughter Mary.

SCOTT A. REINHARD (HUSL), 59, died Sept. 29, 2017.

JOANNE M. SCHULER (WMCL), 58, died March 15, 2017.

1989

MICHAEL LANCE ANTOLINE (HUSL), 66, died May 18, 2018. Survived by his wife, Kathleen; sons, Benjamin and Grant; granddaughter, Emma; sister, Marina Antoline; and brother, Tony Antoline.

1994

J. ARON ALLEN (HUSL), 49, died Aug. 8, 2018. Survived by his wife, Shelley; children Andrew, Nathaniel, Elizabeth & Hannah; parents, Jerry & Susan; brother, Joel (Kara); mother-in-law, Dianne Reinhart; brother-in-law, Dan Reinhart; sisters-inlaw, Tricia (Jason) Ritzer & Renae (Tom) Stierlen; and numerous other relatives.

WILLIAM L. BROWN (WMCL), 51, died Aug. 14, 2018. Survived by his wife, Stephanie; children Zachary, Katherine, and Xavier; mother, Sarah Cousins; in-laws, nieces and nephew, aunts, uncles, and numerous cousins.

ROBERT ROY JOHNSTON (WMCL), 81, died Feb. 3, 2018. Survived by his son, Nathan Johnston, Nathan’s wife, Sharon McConnell, and their daughters Rachael and Emily; his daughter, Jennifer Smith, her husband, Charles, and their children Forrester, Soleil, and Lillie; and his sister, Carolyn Mayo.

1995 MARY ANN BOUTA (WMCL), 51, died March 8, 2018. Survived by her father, Alfred (Bud) Bouta; siblings Bonny (Ron) Paetznick, Bruce (Anne) Bouta, and Jerry (Laurie) Bouta; sister-in-law, Julie Bouta; 11 nieces and nephews and their 20 children.

2004

CHARLES WARE (WMCL), 42, died April 28, 2018. He is survived by his wife, Michelle; parents John and Carolyn Ware; children Silas, Naomi, and Lydia; grandmother Dorothy Ware; and sister Rebecca de Luna.

2012 NICHOLAS ALEXANDER KULPA (WMCL), 39, died Sept. 25, 2018. Survived by parents Jack and Peggy Kulpa and numerous relatives.

2014

JAMES L. LEACH (WMCL), 41, died Sept. 24, 2018.

Survived by wife, Lindsey; parents James and Kathie; sister Heather (Chad) Hoffman; MASON V. brother Cory SORENSON (WMCL), Leach (Fazdlee Isa); 44, died May 13, grandmother Janet 2018. Survived by Leach; five nephews parents, Donn and and one niece; and Dawn Sorenson; numerous aunts, former wife Laura; uncles, and cousins. grandmother Susan Sorenson; aunts and uncles; and countless cousins.

2006

2007

MARK J. MRNAK (HUSL), 40, died March 21, 2018.

Survived by his wife, Julia Laskowski Mrnak; his parents, Sue and Wayne Mrnak; his siblings, Mike (Amber) Mrnak, Missy (Justin) Gloege, Mindy (Eric) Thompson, and Matt (Jenny) Mrnak; and several nieces and nephews.

WMCL: William Mitchell College of Law HUSL: Hamline University School of Law

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

43

Reimagining the role of a government attorney

BY DANIELLE SHELTON WALCZAK

I

’d like to redefine what it means to be a government lawyer.

Redefinition, reinterpretation (or even creation) is not incongruent for attorneys like me who have spent an appreciable amount of time litigating. But despite that, we tend to get trapped in assumptions and circumscribed notions about our work. I subscribed to the traditional notions about “government lawyers” until October 9, 2015.

It was my first day as director of the Complaint Investigations division for the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department. The work was varied. My main priority was to oversee a team of attorneys who investigated and rendered legal decisions on claims of alleged discrimination.

As the opposite of luck would have it, my boss would be leaving the next day for a weeklong conference. Her time was concentrated on addressing work that required her physical presence. As a result, my on-boarding was fast and furious.

“We’re what’s called a FEPA, a Fair Employment Practices Agency. We contract with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunities Commission). Through that contract they forward us cases of alleged discrimination that occur in the Minneapolis city boundaries.” I nodded, taking it in. “Every three years we execute a new full contract. We’re in year three.

The contract is due in a couple of days. Your senior investigator can help you complete it.”

I was then handed a rather large stack of papers. “This is housing research. For the past two years, your predecessor has been working with the City Council vice president on the creation and passage of policy to provide protections to public assistance recipients that would be housed in our civil rights ordinance. Additional material has been forwarded to your email. You’ll work with the vice president, the city attorney’s office, and others in moving this forward. These things should keep you busy.”

Little did I know that our contract cases and housing discrimination amendments, and the related policy work that followed, would catapult me past my limits of frustration with legal interpretation and analysis. They would also provide an entree to systematic change that I never thought possible, helping me reimagine what being an attorney in government could be.

Ungracefully, I fumbled through the contract’s execution with help. That ultimately wasn’t the hard part. What was difficult was seeing the high burden plaintiffs had in pursuing

SHARE YOUR STORY This space is for alumni to share reflections about their personal experiences with the profession of law. If you have a story you’d like to submit for “A Life in the Law,” please send about 650 words to magazine@mitchellhamline.edu.

44

MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW

A

Life in the Law

these cases of alleged discrimination. But in the rare instances where we were able to find probable cause for discrimination, we were allowed to ask for policy and system changes, training, monetary costs, plus the ability to monitor our demands as long as we deemed necessary. I could never fathom this level of change in my old career as a litigator in private practice, where I dealt with one case and one courtroom at a time.

The public policy work took the form of a proposed ordinance in Minneapolis to bar landlords from discriminating against tenants who used vouchers. I spent two years researching, drafting language, managing meetings, lobbying, and meeting with proponents and opponents. That work culminated in my presentation in 2017 in front of 13 City Council members, television and newspaper reporters, and a room packed with supporters and detractors. I wish I could say there was a neat and tidy happy ending to the four years of work.

Yes, it passed. However, it was later struck down in litigation.

Now it’s on appeal. But the effort was greater and the potential impact larger than anything I thought I could possibly do, outside of being a politician.

I’m not “the government’s lawyer.”

But I am a government lawyer, and I’ve found many like me in City Hall.We’ve used our legal education, experience, and talent to have profound effects on how people and their families live out their daily lives.

We’d like to see more attorneys join our ranks.

DANIELLE SHELTON WALCZAK ’98 (WMCL) was director of the Complaint Investigations division for the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department from 2015 to 2018. She currently works as co-deputy city coordinator in charge of strategic initiatives for the city of Minneapolis. She lives in South Minneapolis with her husband and their West Highland terrier, Finni.

Photograph by BRADY WILLETTE

Left to right: Alf Sivertson, Marit Sivertson, Anja Sivertson, and Michelle Barrette

A legacy family in practice together Sivertson daughters followed parents to Hamline Law, then into St. Paul firm

BY ALLISON BURKE ’09 (WMCL)

M

arit and Anja Sivertson have memories of playing in their parents’ law office as little girls, pretending to be “torneys.” The girls would grow up to follow their parents, Alf Sivertson and Michelle Barrette, to law school at Hamline, making the Sivertson-Barrette clan one of dozens of legacy families in the Mitchell Hamline community. They took the togetherness one step further and currently all practice together in a firm on St. Paul’s East Side.

Alf Sivertson ’79 (HUSL) and Michelle Barrette ’81 (HUSL) met during Alf ’s first year of law school, when Michelle was a junior in college at Hamline.

She joined him at Hamline Law and became the first person to graduate with both an undergraduate and law degree from Hamline University. Michelle was from the East Side, and the couple chose that neighborhood to set up their office and their home—which for years were just a block apart. They started their practice as newlyweds and new

graduates, incorporating Sivertson and Barrette in 1982 as a firm dedicated to employment law and other civil litigation.

From the time their daughters were small, Alf and Michelle taught them to value advocacy. Marit ’11 (HUSL) and Anja ’16 (MHSL) learned the importance of standing up for people who needed help. When Marit and later Anja expressed an interest in law school, Alf and Michelle encouraged them to explore all their options. They both found Hamline had the feeling of community they were looking for. Professors still knew their parents and were proud to tell stories about Alf and Michelle’s advocacy over the years. The four had several favorite professors in common, including Douglas McFarland, Ed Butterfoss, Joe Daly, and Peter Thompson.

As a family, their experience spans nearly the entire existence of Hamline Law. Alf and Michelle were members of some of the earliest classes to graduate from the school, Marit graduated near

AN INVITATION FOR LEGACY FAMILIES We are planning an event to celebrate our legacy families. If you are a member of a family in which two or more of you attended Mitchell Hamline or any of our predecessor institutions, and you’d like your family to be included, please reach out and let us know. You can contact our alumni and donor engagement officer, Allison Burke, at allison.burke@mitchellhamline.edu or 651-695-7608.

Photograph by BRADY WILLETTE

the end of Hamline Law’s time prior to the combination, and Anja was in the first class to graduate from Mitchell Hamline.

Marit and Anja say they feel blessed to have the chance to build their professional lives alongside their parents. The family is finding new ways to stay connected to Mitchell Hamline. Alf is working with Professor Colette Routel on an issue concerning cranberry farming and treaty rights, and the firm has reached out to Professor David Larson to recommend students who want to clerk at an employment firm. They recommend Mitchell Hamline to anyone interested in legal education. “The long history of legal excellence coming out of the school is really important. And to be a part of that, and to continue that tradition, is something fulfilling to be a part of,” Marit said.

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 1300

875 Summit Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105-3076

Sonali Garg is hooded by her mother, the Hon. Sangeeta Jain, at the May 2018 Mitchell Hamline commencement ceremony.

Jain graduated 30 years earlier, in 1988, from Hamline University School of Law. 01719 2018-12