The magazine of the first law school in the Pacific Northwest | Fall 2023
WILLAMETTE Lawyer
The bar and the bench
Willamette Law’s long-term relationships with local judges benefit students
The magazine of the first law school in the Pacific Northwest | Fall 2023
WILLAMETTE Lawyer 16
Cover Story
THE BAR AND THE BENCH Willamette Law's long-term relationships with local judges benefit students
Departments
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Dean’s Message
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New & Noteworthy
Dean Brian Gallini reflects on the past year and the strength and support of the Willamette Law community. Read about memorable points from the past year: achievements, news and student programs.
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HANDS-ON ADVOCACY
Dean Brian Gallini Editor Sarah Bello
Professor Sheri Buske expands her courses beyond lectures to teach students about essential lawyering skills
Graphic Designer Susan Blettel Photographers KJ Johnson Frank Miller Contributors Sarah Bello Jessica Rotter
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A ‘CRITICAL’ OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS The renewed Clinical Law Program puts students’ knowledge into practice
Leadership Cabinet Nancy Schierhorn JD’86, Chair Robert Saalfeld JD’74, Vice Chair Linda Clapham JD’86 Marie Colmey JD’89 Naomi Haslitt JD’07 Lucy Jensen JD/MBA’13 Cecilia Lee JD’86 Douglas Luetjen JD’85 Josh Lute JD’07 Elise McClure JD’84 Reid Okimoto JD’03 Peter Sheridan JD’88 Martin Wolf BA‘57, LLB’60 Willamette Lawyer is published by Willamette University College of Law. Send comments to: jrotter@willamette.edu Willamette Lawyer Willamette University College of Law 245 Winter Street SE Salem, OR 97301
24 Staff & Faculty Focus See what our faculty and staff have been up to with successes, scholarly work and administrative news.
35 In Memoriam Willamette Law mourns the loss of these alumni.
32 Class Action Catch up with the professional lives of Willamette Law alumni.
Fall 2020 | 1
Dean’s Message
As I reflect on the past year, one of the hallmarks has been our continued emergence as a leader in experiential education. Through our legal clinics, externship program and cutting-edge simulation-based courses, our students are more equipped than ever with the skills and confidence needed after graduation. Our faculty have innovatively added experiential learning components into existing curriculum, while some have also designed wholly new and forward-thinking courses. I am proud that we are growing into our role as a leader in the learn-by-doing space. We have successfully hired our largest new faculty cohort in recent history, welcoming five faculty members who bring a wide range of backgrounds and knowledge to both existing and new courses, as well as our clinics. It has also been a successful year for scholarly research, as our faculty continues to be at the forefront of national and international legal conversations. Coupled with their excellence in teaching, their research has inspired our students and helped shape the future of legal education. Dear alumni and friends: It is hard to believe it, but three years have come and gone in a flash. Throughout my tenure, I am reminded of what a remarkable and dedicated community we have. This year has certainly been filled with growth, change and a great deal of success. I am both humbled and pleased by the remarkable achievements we have accomplished together. First, let me extend to each of you my heartfelt gratitude for the unwavering support and commitment you have given to me and to the College of Law more broadly. From participating in Career Conversations to serving as attorneymentors and providing externship placements, the work of educating and preparing our students to be practice-ready lawyers would not be possible without each of you. Your continued dedication has been instrumental in executing our mission to educate the next generation of problem-solving lawyers and leaders.
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I am appreciative of your continued engagement with Willamette Law and hope to see you at an upcoming event. In the interim, please enjoy reading more in the pages that follow about the accomplishments of some of our alumni, the experiences of our students, and, in particular, our innovative approach to experiential learning. In that regard, our cover story features four current and former Oregon judges on our faculty discussing the importance of teaching and working with students. I hope you will find their reflections of interest. Until next time, please keep well. Warmly,
Brian Gallini Dean & Professor of Law
Welcome, Class of 2026! Since Willamette Law was established 140 years ago, it has been a privilege to watch each new class begin their law school journeys. Our first-year students include a champion golfer, a surfer, super fans of Harry Potter, Star Wars and space, and a conservation biologist. The top undergraduate schools included Oregon State University (10), University of Oregon (5), Portland State University (5), University of Alaska Anchorage (5), University of California, Riverside (5), Willamette University (4), Arizona State University (4), University of Nevada, Reno (4), Western Oregon University (4) and Western Washington University (4). The class is rounded out with one MLS student and two in the LLM program.
Class Size
123 Students
152 Median LSAT
GPA
3.35 Median
25th Percentile
2.96
38
75th Percentile
Oregon Residents
3.59
States Represented
26
%
23
47 % Male
Average Age
Majors Represented
41
Schools Represented
68
53 % Female
Fall 2023 | 3
New & Noteworthy
College of Law receives grant to study bar exam passage rates the period of study. This support will help bar examinees focus fully on their studies and minimize everyday stresses. “Until we have a 100% bar pass rate, there is room for improvement and innovation,” Mac Alpine says. “We want to make sure we are doing what we can to support students to become practicing lawyers, and the bar exam is an important hurdle to cross
T
hroughout the pandemic, most Willamette Law graduates prepared in isolation for the bar exam. Even after a return to in-person instruction, and even with a robust BEAST program and strong faculty support, the school’s administration found that students continued preparing for the exam alone.
Collaborative bar exam preparation became difficult to encourage. As bar exam pass rates have declined nationally against this backdrop, faculty and staff began to wonder if bar passage rates would increase for examinees studying with and being accountable to their peers. An idea began to emerge from the success of 1L students’ cohort structure in their first academic year. What if a similar model was applied to bar prep? Staff began to think about the ideal study environment and how to
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ensure the highest chance of success on the bar. Thanks to a generous grant from AccessLex Institute through its Bar Success Intervention Grant Program, this idea is becoming a reality at Willamette Law. The grant is enabling the school to examine how a cohort-based bar study program impacts first-time passage rates. One of the elements of the program will be the Helix Bar Review by AccessLex. “This grant helps us build off of what we have already been doing with the BEAST
program and our faculty support system,” says Melodye Mac Alpine, associate dean for student affairs and administration. By providing students with the resources they need to study for and pass the bar, the burden and isolation will ease, she says. Willamette Law will have one cohort each in Summers 2023 and 2024. Each participant will receive a stable place to study at the school, faculty mentors, on-campus housing, physical and mental well-being resources, and a stipend to offset living expenses during
before they can get there.” Professor Amy Meyers, Willamette Law’s director of bar preparation, will work closely with the students along with Mac Alpine. As the cohorts progress, Professor Courtney Stevens, who teaches psychology at Willamette University, will assist in research design and program evaluation. The data collected will benefit law schools across the country who may eventually want to replicate the program.
New & Noteworthy
Student strives to make change in law school and beyond B
rooke Trujillo JD’23 always knew she wanted to help people. Following an internship at the California State Capitol, law school felt like a natural next step.
Seeing the ins and outs of a state legislature, Trujillo knew she wanted to be “boots on the ground” to implement real change in her community. Willamette Law felt like an obvious choice so Trujillo could study in another state capitol. But it was the community that really sold her on the school. Beginning her first year in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic added an extra layer of difficulty to the law school transition. “The 1L year was so hard because I only knew my peers as a Zoom square,” Trujillo explains. “My 2L year is where I got to build a sense of
community with in-class interaction.” As an Academic Excellence fellow in her third year, Trujillo made it a priority to offer mentorship and guidance to 1L students, helping build opportunities for community after the isolation of her first year. “She was a model fellow and a go-to resource for 1Ls,” says Professor Kelly Gamble, director of academic excellence. “She is a great listener and adviser, without overwhelming students with information or judgment.” Trujillo found other ways to be involved, becoming the first-ever vice president of
“I wanted to offer a new perspective and let people know that it was okay to ask questions and to learn.” diversity and inclusion for the Student Bar Association, something she calls a highlight of her time at Willamette Law. “I was honored to be selected by my peers for such an important role, but it also opened my eyes to all the work that needed to be done in the school and also in building a community,” Trujillo says. “I wanted to offer a new perspective and let people know that it was okay to ask questions and to learn.” Another highlight of her time at law school was working during her 2L summer at Legal Aid Services of Oregon. In her role, she was provided mentorship opportunities that allowed her to see
— Brooke Trujillo JD’23
what being a practicing attorney would be like. “I was going to in-person meetings, attending court, and really just seeing what life would look like after law school,” Trujillo says. “It helped me to see what kind of lawyer I could be.” After law school, Trujillo is hoping to continue giving back to those around her. Professionally, she looks forward to building a career in state or local government, with ambitions of one day becoming an administrative law judge.
Fall 2023 | 5
New & Noteworthy
Inaugural immersion externship launched
Zach Forrester JD’23
Z
ach Forrester JD’23 was working as a barista in Washington when a customer, a Willamette Law alumnus, encouraged him to look into the school. The serendipitous encounter led Forrester to Salem and on to the inaugural immersion externship in Alaska.
Forrester was initially interested in a number of different areas of law, including a potential career in the federal courts. As he entered into his third year, Dean Brian Gallini proposed an idea: Forrester could finish his final courses remotely in Alaska while completing an externship. Before long, Forrester was connected with Judge Joshua Kindred JD’05, who serves on the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. “I owe this opportunity to Dean Gallini,” Forrester says. “He set this up for me and helped through every stage of the process. What excites me most is getting to see how a federal court works on a day-to-day basis. I get to develop new skills outside the classroom and learn from people on the ground.” After experiencing firsthand how abrupt the passage from academia to professional practice can be, Kindred looks for ways to help ease the transition for law students. That’s a big reason why he wanted to take part in the first immersion externship.
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“When I receive a call from Willamette Law to get involved, I will always answer that call,” Kindred says. “I owe a debt of gratitude to the school for my own education, and I am always eager to help bright and talented future lawyers.” Allowing a student to study remotely, spend dedicated time immersed in legal practice, and build connections with the legal community is something that is unparalleled in terms of experience, Kindred explains. “This is how law school should work,” Kindred says. “Students should learn in the classroom and then have a chance, under the guidance of lawyers and professors, to step fully into what it means to be a lawyer while still in a safe and supportive environment.” Forrester says his law school education provided a strong foundation, but the externship helped develop his skills. “Writing from the point of view of a decision-maker
involves a huge switch,” he shares, “and this allowed me to grow not only as a writer, but in how I think about writing.” He also increased his knowledge on the foundation of law. Depending on the day and the types of cases, he was “working on a criminal law project one day, an insurance issue the next, and a niche rule of federal procedure after that,” he says. Kindred looks forward to seeing Forrester’s career unfold and mentoring him throughout the entirety of his practice. He hopes the immersion externship and the continued opportunities for partnership between Alaska and Willamette Law will help expand and strengthen the legal community there. Forrester plans to remain in Alaska for at least a year after graduation, working as a law clerk for the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage.
New & Noteworthy
Judicial Clerkship Program inspires students to consider career opportunities F
or 23 years, the American Bar Association Judicial Clerkship Program (JCP) has helped diverse law students experience the work of a judicial clerk and connect with federal, state and administrative judges and lawyers. This year, Willamette Law sent two students to New Orleans to spend three days learning firsthand in the JCP. Irma Alvarez Carrillo JD’24 signed up for the JCP to explore career paths after graduation. She always knew she wanted to go to law school and has enjoyed seeing how judges interact with their cases. While she says having judges as professors is significant, the program helped her see how they work and what they look for in judicial clerks.
“The program was particularly interesting to me, because you often hear that these processes can be selective, and if you don’t have a particular background, you can be overlooked,” she says. Too often, historically underrepresented students won’t apply for clerkships because they don’t see others who look like them and come from similar backgrounds, Alvarez Carrillo explains.
Students took part in the American Bar Association Judicial Clerkship Program in New Orleans in 2023.
“An overarching theme of the program was to apply and not take yourself out of the running because you aren’t certain your resume perfectly aligns,” she shares. Jarely Castro JD’23, another attendee, grew up in a small town in Wyoming. Meeting her parents’ immigration attorney inspired her to become an advocate for others. The JCP introduced Castro to fellow law students, lawyers and judges who had similar experiences. By hearing more about their stories, Castro saw she was capable of accomplishing the same goals. “This experience was great,” she says. “I got to learn from the people there, meet judges and
receive feedback from them, and attend oral arguments at the Louisiana Supreme Court. One of the most valuable opportunities was the chance to have my resume reviewed by a judge.” As first-generation students, Alvarez Carrillo and Castro reflected on the importance of finding community, both in law school and in future practice. This is frequently a pivotal aspect in ensuring people accomplish their goals and don’t get lost in the legal profession, they share. “It’s easier to navigate law school and the isolation that can exist by finding people that understand you and your circumstances,” Alvarez
Carrillo says. “It makes a world of difference.” The JCP had a profound impact on how both students are approaching legal education and looking to find judicial clerkship positions. “I am appreciative of this opportunity,” Castro says. “It’s important to continue to provide more opportunities like this for minority and first generation students who come to law school. These resources are like gold for us — they can really inspire and motivate us.” Willamette’s participation in the JCP is made possible in part by a fund established to memorialize the work of former Dean Robert Misner.
Fall 2023 | 7
New & Noteworthy
Preparing trial-ready lawyers with the help of a community E
“You can learn about a trial in the classroom, but to actually practice being a trial attorney alongside talented and knowledgeable members of the bar is a more intentional and valuable way to learn these skills.” — Judge Norman Hill JD’94
very year, law students gather during winter break to participate in a Willamette Law tradition, the Intensive Trial Practice (ITP) program. This weeklong initiative provides students the chance to learn firsthand what it takes to be a trial lawyer. Students hear from local judges and attorneys about preparing for and participating in a trial. The program culminates in a mock trial where local community members play the parts of witnesses and jury members. Started by former Dean and Emeritus Professor Leroy Tornquist in 1978, this hands-on approach to trial practice has continually provided students with a one-of-a-kind opportunity to gain the skills needed to excel in the courtroom. Judge Norman Hill JD’94 co-taught ITP alongside Judge Mary James for five years prior to her retirement last year. Now, he oversees the program, consistently looking for new ways to broaden what students can learn, while simulating the intensity of a real trial.
“There is no born trial lawyer; it is a skill that is developed through trial and error and
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conscious professional development,” Hill says. “This program introduces students to these concepts early on in their career in order for them to come away with a sense of what’s needed to do this work.” Hill says the program truly feels like a real trial but with an added layer of feedback and training that enables students to learn quickly. “You can learn about a trial in the classroom, but to actually practice being a trial attorney alongside talented and knowledgeable members of the bar is a more intentional and valuable way to learn these skills.”
Experiential learning prepares students for practice Noting that most law school classes prepare students for the bar exam, Erin Casini JD’24 appreciated the chance
to learn and practice day-to-day tasks that an attorney must complete. “This was the first ‘experiential’ class I have taken,” Casini says. “Willamette encourages its students to take as many experiential classes as possible, so that once you graduate and pass the bar, you have some idea of what you are doing.” Knowing firsthand the importance of hands-on education opportunities, Janelle Debes JD’21 participated in the ITP program and is, today, a trial attorney. For Debes, ITP was one of her first exposures to trial preparation and documents. “Having this knowledge in the first year of practice allowed me to quickly grasp what was expected of me and anticipate the next steps in a case,” she says.
New & Noteworthy
A strong community’s impact on education An integral part of the ITP program is the community’s involvement in the final day’s mock trial. Members of the Salem community and local high school students participate as jurors and witnesses. This support is vital, Hill says, because they play a part in training future legal professionals. Peter Alotta has volunteered for five years now. He finds the work to be personally rewarding, and he also sees how significant the program is for students. “To have the ear of a judge who will answer questions about the legal process and judicial procedure in an informal setting is precious,” Alotta says. “This is as close as many students will come to an actual trial during law school.” Drew Moneke, a local high school civics teacher, has been bringing students to take part in the mock trial since 2005. “This is a fantastic opportunity for high school students to participate in and see firsthand what they are learning about in the classroom,” he says. The mock trial gives the high schoolers the chance to find
their voice, learn about the importance of honoring others, and to wrestle with what justice truly means, Moneke says. Students come away with a renewed interest in the law and the ability to see that practicing law is an art that can be learned and polished. Hill hopes those volunteers see that they, too, can practice law. “It’s inspiring to not just teach current law students about preparing for a trial, but to also know that this process is getting future generations thinking about law school, too,” he says.
Thinking to the future
and prepare them to be good trial lawyers.
Students participate in a mock trial at Willamette Law.
“In Oregon, in particular, we are in great need of more trial lawyers,” Hill says. “To expose students to trial practice early on can go a long way in filling the current gap.”
ITP has been training lawyers for decades now, but Hill wants to see the program continue to grow in resources, students and volunteers. His goal is to serve more students
Fall 2023 | 9
New & Noteworthy
Student publishes three articles on the intersection of health care and government
J
ulie Parrish JD’23 passed her first piece of Oregon legislation about health care several years ago. She spent many years working in politics, in addition to serving eight years as a state representative. In doing so, she became increasingly knowledgeable about the intricacies of health care policies.
After building a successful career in politics and marketing, Parrish decided it was time to attend law school at Willamette. In many ways, she sees her education as a continuation of the work she has already devoted her life to and an opportunity to learn a new set of skills.
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As a law student, she published three American Bar Association (ABA) articles in 2022 that focus on the intersection of health care and government. “I think, philosophically, we all agree that we need health care — the real question is how?” she explains. “And that question of how we implement health care laws that are affordable and accessible is the focus of my work.” In her first article published by the ABA Health Law Section, “Deciding Bodily Autonomy and Individual Privacy Rights: Should Jacobson v. Massachusetts be Overturned Based on Seminal Due Process Cases Decided
Since 1905?,” Parrish explores the implications of COVID-19 policies on a patient’s fundamental privacy rights. While writing the article, she found it particularly interesting to be dealing with constantly shifting COVID data and information. “Every day, I was reading new articles and sources in order to be accurate before hitting ‘send’ on the final draft of the paper,” she says. “It was exciting to be working on this paper at the same time a new focus of health law was emerging, and all of it happening in real time.” Simultaneously, Parrish was drafting her second article, “Evaluating Compulsory
New & Noteworthy
COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates.” As more information about the pandemic came to light, preparing for publication with the ABA required her to redo parts of the original paper she had turned in for a course grade. She says the additional work made her a better writer. Her editing process for the peer-reviewed articles pushed her to think critically about her sources, where she was getting her information, and to focus on the facts. As her articles were peer-reviewed, Parrish gained a great appreciation for the perspective and feedback of the multiple lawyers involved. “To have these lawyers review my work, make recommend ations, and challenge my perspective made me a stronger legal scholar,” Parrish says. After publishing her third article, “Legal Implications and State Budget Ramifications if Voters Vote ‘Yes’ for Oregon Senate Joint Resolution 12 on Their November 2022 General Election Ballot,” and while anticipating her final semester of law school, Parrish hoped to write more and continue helping people understand more about health care and government. “Not only has my time at Willamette helped me firmly understand the academic side of the law, soon I can go out and practice it and educate others about why this all matters,” Parrish says.
Julie Parrish JD’23
She credits Professor Bruce Howell for challenging her to think beyond the walls of the classroom and explore other ways to get involved in the legal system. It is her goal to encourage others to see beyond their own worldview and learn about the big issues facing the legal system. Her three articles were inspired largely by her understanding that “every thing we learn in law school, any topic we cover, starts across the street at the state capitol.” She shares that “lawyers have an obligation to understand the law and what is going on in our government and to use that understanding in a fair and balanced manner.”
Following graduation, Parrish plans to continue doing the work she already has been focused on, but with an expanded set of tools.
“Not only has my time at Willamette helped me firmly understand the academic side of the law, soon I can go out and practice it and educate others about why this all matters.” — Julie Parrish
JD’23
“I think everyone in law school should push themselves to have an open mind and to see opportunity everywhere,” she says. “Walk across the street, knock on doors, seek out internships and find ways to make change. It all starts with your local government.” Parrish completed her JD in May 2023 with both the Certificate in Health Law and the Certificate in Law and Government.
Fall 2023 | 11
Clinical Law Program provides ‘critical’ opportunities for students to be lawyers Professor Susan Cook JD’96
By Sarah Bello
During the first two years of law school, students learn to think like a lawyer. Willamette’s Clinical Law Program teaches them to be a lawyer, offering the chance to gain practical skills while taking ownership of real legal cases. Students’ work in the clinics is heavily supervised by professors who are active and licensed attorneys. Current clinic offerings include hands-on learning in Immigration Law and Trusts and Estates.
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CREATING ESTATE PLANS FROM START TO FINISH Growing up in a small town, Professor Susan Cook JD’96 spent her summers working as an assistant at a local attorney’s office. When a friend’s parents tragically died, helping with their probate case piqued her interest in the field of estate planning and elder law. Although she attended Willamette Law imagining herself as a tax attorney, her initial interest won out, and she pivoted toward working in public assistance and with underserved populations. Following her graduation, she practiced privately in Salem, then joined Willamette as an adjunct professor teaching the Elder Law course in 2000. In 2012, she began teaching in the Trusts and Estates Clinic. After years of teaching in addition to her practice, she became a full-time member of the faculty in 2021. She now runs the Trusts and Estates Clinic herself.
WORKING WITH THE GRAND RONDE TRIBE Around 2012, Cook was introduced to the Grand Ronde Tribe northwest of Salem. Chief Justice Edwin Peterson, distinguished jurist-in-residence at Willamette Law, had a contact there who was hoping to find members some help with estate planning services.
Willamette Law clinic students meet with clients as part of their experiential coursework.
To begin working with them, Cook had to gain their confidence. She started having students in the clinic take tribal members on as clients, building to about 10-15% of the clinic’s output before 2020.
When a tribal elder learned he had a terminal disease, he knew he
“It’s not easy, because tribal members often don’t trust lawyers or government. They’ve been treated badly,” she explains. “In order to cultivate trust with them, really it was necessary to go to them and be present there, and that takes time, a few years to build up.”
accomplish his goal.
When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, most work with the tribe took a pause. She and her students had to renew the relationship in the Summer of 2022, and since then, it has taken off. Last year, 14 out of 32 plans completed were for tribal members. “Now, except for one or two cases out of 30, all of our cases are tribal,” Cook says, “and we have 60 members on the waitlist.” Being able to get hands-on, practical experience, while also filling the needs of the tribe, was impactful for Justin Roney JD’23. “Probably the biggest question we got was, ‘How much is this going to cost?’” Roney says. “We were lucky enough to say ‘It’s free, you just have to come to meetings and answer some questions.’ They were clients who were really grateful that you were doing something for them.”
wanted to get his estate in order. Without much time, Ryan Foxx JD’23 worked through winter break in 2022 to help him
The clinic helped solidify Foxx’s interest in the Trusts and Estates field of law, while also providing a sense of giving back to others. “Out of my six clients, four were from the tribe. All of them were a joy to work with,” he says. “It’s probably the thing I had the most fun with in law school so far — actually working with clients, getting them what they needed and seeing how happy they were. They mentioned it gave them a lot of peace of mind.”
REAL LAWYERING EXPERIENCE While in the clinic, Roney, Foxx and other students were given multiple clients and held meetings in the first few weeks of class. Their work consisted of drafting wills and durable power of attorney forms, writing advance directives for health care decisionmaking, and creating trusts, if appropriate. Cook says students know they will work harder in clinic than in a normal course.
Fall 2023 | 13
“A lot of asylum law is based on the persecution that occurred during the Holocaust. The idea of helping people seeking a safe life was always part of what I wanted to do to help make the world a better place.” — Professor Beth Zilberman
While she supervises and is there to answer questions, she empowers students to be the lawyers they aspire to be. “This is one area where there’s a lot of value in making mistakes,” Cook says. “I like to say I’m throwing students into the ‘deep end,’ but they have a life preserver. I may let them flop around a little — there’s so much value in that.” Roney agrees with that analysis and says it was the best way to learn, rather than taking baby steps. “We learn how to be a lawyer in class, but we don’t do that practical side of things,” he says. “Class over the last two years has built us up for that, and you don’t think you’re ready until you do it.” As far as students’ willingness to prepare to be a lawyer, clinic offers the time if they are so inclined, Cook says. “These are really self-driven students,” she says, “doing such good work for the world.”
REBUILDING THE IMMIGRATION LAW CLINIC Professor Beth Zilberman joined the faculty in Summer 2022 to launch the Immigration Law Clinic and strengthen immigration course offerings.
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As a student at Boston College School of Law, Zilberman participated in her own Immigration Clinic. After finding the first-year curriculum difficult to engage with, she says it was the best experience. “Immigration Clinic was a pivotal turning point in my law school career,” she says. “A lot of students find that in clinic.” In Willamette’s Immigration Clinic, four to eight students work on humanitarian-based cases. They represent clients seeking asylum for persecution suffered abroad, individuals who have survived domestic violence, or people who have been victims of trafficking. The students conduct interviews, plan a course of action, prepare pleadings, complete research and analysis, and attend hearings, all while under the safety net of Zilberman’s watchful eye. Alondra Duran JD’23 took the Immigration Clinic course last fall to prepare for a future legal career in human rights. “I feel the clinic has given me the practical experience I needed to feel empowered in pursuing a potential career in immigration,” Duran says. “That’s because I had a balance between the independence in handling my own caseload and the guidance from my professor in teaching us how to become the most effective and impactful attorney we can be for our client.”
A student meets with a clinic client at the Oregon Civic Justice Center on campus at Willamette Law.
Although the work is challenging and most cases aren’t completed in a semester, Duran says giving immigrants a ‘jump-start’ to their cases is gratifying.
a San Francisco nonprofit. While there, she observed lawyers helping international clients with gender-based asylum claims after they escaped persecution. She also saw a way she could help the world.
Both Duran and Zilberman say the hands-on knowledge gained in the clinic can be key to students’ eventual success as attorneys, regardless of whether they intend to practice immigration law. The law can be complex, but the skills they use can translate into other areas of law, as well, Zilberman explains.
“A lot of asylum law is based on the persecution that occurred during the Holocaust,” she says. “The idea of helping people seeking a safe life was always part of what I wanted to do to help make the world a better place.”
“It’s critical for them to have some sort of experiential learning opportunity before becoming lawyers. The clinic is a great place to get that before entering the real world,” she says. “Having that firsthand experience where they really are in control sets them up to have more confidence in their abilities in the future.”
At Willamette, Zilberman is pleased that the Immigration Clinic fits squarely into the law school’s goals. Public service and advocacy are at the core of immigration law, and they make up two of the College’s five Signature Strengths, areas in which the curriculum is particularly robust and continuing to grow.
A PASSION FOR IMMIGRATION LAW Zilberman came to Willamette Law after directing and teaching in Immigration Law Clinics at other institutions, including the law schools at the University of Arkansas, where she first met Willamette Law Dean Brian Gallini, and the University of Washington. Originally from the West Coast, she was thrilled to return and share her passion with students in Salem. Her interest in immigration law stems from her personal background as a Jewish woman and a post-undergraduate stint at
The Fall of 2022 included a successful soft launch for the Immigration Clinic, and it has proven so successful that the school will be adding another full-time professor, Sarah Purce, to the clinic in Fall 2023. “From my first visit to Willamette, I felt a strong sense of community, seeking justice and a passion for public service that really excited me,” Zilberman says. “I’ve been so impressed with the students’ capacity for doing good work and doing good work for the world. It’s a perfect fit.”
Fall 2023 | 15
The bar and the bench Willamette Law’s long-term relationships with local judges benefit students By Sarah Bello
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The Willamette Law faculty includes some of the most respected legal scholars in the country. Not only are they nationally recognized for their research, publications and contributions to the law, but they are distinguished by their deep dedication to their students. The comprehensive curriculum taught by the full-time faculty is, however, greatly enhanced by members of the local legal profession who serve as Willamette’s lecturers in law, jurists and part-time faculty. Among those experienced attorneys are a number of judges and justices who bring their experience and perspective to teaching at Willamette Law. Students talk with great affection about the value of hearing firsthand from jurists serving on the bench — though the judges themselves often say they’re the lucky ones. In the pages that follow, hear from just a few who have been involved at Willamette Law for decades.
JUDGE NORMAN HILL JD’94 In 2008, Judge Norman Hill JD’94 finally got the call. “I’ve always had this recurring nightmare that I didn’t really graduate from law school and pass the bar, and they’ll call me and tell me they’ve made a mistake,” Hill laughs. “In 2008, I had been in practice for a while and got a phone message from [then-Dean] Kathy Graham. I thought to myself, this is the call.” Instead, Graham wondered if Hill would return to his alma mater to teach Real Estate Transactions. At the time, he was an attorney in private practice. He agreed, and eventually, began teaching another course and Trial Practice. After becoming a judge in 2012 and developing an expertise in Juvenile Law, he added another course to his repertoire.
JUSTICE JACK LANDAU In January of 1993, Justice Jack Landau started two new jobs. He had already agreed to teach a course on Legislation at Willamette Law when he was appointed to the Oregon Court of Appeals by then-Gov. Barbara Roberts.
Now the presiding judge in Polk County Circuit Court, he teaches two courses each in the spring and fall, in addition to the winter intersession Trial Practice course. Despite the time commitment to both careers, he says it’s incredibly gratifying to teach.
Landau had only just begun teaching when Hill was his student. Now, he’s been at the school for 31 years. Over that time, he has been involved in Moot Court competitions, served as an attorney mentor, published articles in the Willamette Law Review and participated in symposia.
“It’s so much fun,” he says. “For me, as a circuit judge, engaging with the students is an antidote to cynicism. Their energy and enthusiasm is infectious. Some people golf or play tennis for their mental health, but I teach.”
But Landau’s judicial career only grew busier. After 18 years on the Court of Appeals, Landau became an associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court, serving from 2011 to 2017.
In the early 90s, Hill recalls seeing a promotional brochure for Willamette that highlighted the number of Oregon judges who had attended the school. He remembers the message as, “If you want to be a judge, come to Willamette.” Although he did not always intend to become a judge, Willamette prepared him well. He says he had fantastic professors who were judges, including former Oregon Supreme Court Justices Jack Landau and Paul De Muniz JD'75, who still teach. “Having that connection with the bench on the local and state level was integrated into the curriculum,” Hill says. “When I got into private practice, it was my first time arguing in the Court of Appeals, and I walked into the courtroom and Judge Sue Leeson [who also later served on the Oregon Supreme Court] was on the panel, and I was on a first-name basis with her because she taught at Willamette. That gave me a comfort level I would not have had without that experience.”
“I usually arranged to teach my class over the lunch hour so it didn’t interfere with cases,” he says. “Sometimes, I’d be on the bench until just before noon, and I’d throw off my robe, grab a granola bar and head over to teach, then be back on the bench at 1:30. Those were very full days.” Landau says being a judge was a “terrific privilege” and that being a working judge deeply enriched his courses. At the same time, he says teaching profoundly enriched his time on the bench. Splitting his time allowed him to show students the real world implications of what they were studying — making classes less abstract and much more real. “Teaching was my first job out of law school. I always loved it and never wanted to give it up,” he explains. “On the bench, I was stubbornly insistent that I got to do both. I feel really lucky. It’s so gratifying to know that what you’re doing in the classroom makes a difference in the lives of others.”
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She also taught Civil Trial Practice for 10 years, providing students with practical skills that prepared them to advocate for clients in court. Occasionally, she’d wonder how she had the energy for two busy careers. But she felt it was her responsibility to give back. “There are a lot of things you can’t do as a judge,” she explains. “You can’t support political parties and can’t be on the board of organizations that may come before you in court. “I wanted to be useful off the bench and stay engaged in the law in a way that was productive and helped pass the torch to lawyers in training. For me, that was a really important piece to stay connected, and I found the time to make it work.”
JUDGE MARY JAMES Though she attended the University of Notre Dame, Judge Mary James affectionately calls Willamette Law her “adopted law school.” Having spent the last 30+ years as an attorney mentor, appellate competition judge, coach for trial practice, speaker on professionalism and lecturer, it’s easy to see why. James first became an attorney mentor in 1992. After volunteering for two decades, the school needed a new instructor for Pre-Trial Civil Litigation. When she signed on, she had just over a month to prepare before classes started in August. By that time, she had been a judge for nine years and had two decades of litigation experience, and she took it on with gusto.
James says she has learned so much herself from the students she’s taught. The work kept her humble, she says, and she enjoyed spending time with students learning to be advocates for the rule of law. Today, while still mentoring informally, James participates in Oregon’s senior judge program, serving 35 business days a year for five years following retirement. The assignments send her all over the state. She has presided over courts in Clatsop, Multnomah and Umatilla Counties, among others. But she’s never far from Willamette and the opportunity to make a difference with students in Salem. “I feel like I’m an honorary alumni,” she says. “I kind of always felt like I adopted Willamette, and they adopted me.”
Justice Jack Landau leans in as members of the Oregon Supreme Court visit with students at Willamette Law.
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“Many justices have taught [at Willamette Law]. It’s an opportunity for students to get the best of both worlds — hearing from people who are law types but also have practical experience with the law. That’s what judges bring to the teaching position.” — Justice Paul De Muniz JD’75
eventually serving as a presiding judge. In 2000, he was elected to the state supreme court, serving as chief justice from 2006 to 2012.
JUSTICE PAUL DE MUNIZ JD’75 Justice Paul De Muniz JD’75 took a non-traditional path to law school, first enlisting in the U.S. Air Force at 18, serving in Vietnam, then attending college and finishing in just two and a half years. He was admitted to Willamette Law — and after his graduation, it didn’t take long for him to return to the school. Although he never anticipated becoming a lawyer, he has always been grateful for the education he received at Willamette and the opportunities it afforded him in his legal career. The former chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court had only been out of law school for three or four years when he was asked to teach a last-minute class. As a practicing lawyer in Salem at the time, it wasn’t hard to say yes. Following 13 years in private practice, De Muniz joined the Oregon Court of Appeals and was on the court from 1990 to 2000,
Throughout that time, De Muniz continued teaching, as well as participating in the Attorney-Mentor Program, even receiving the Mentor of the Year Award. He didn’t start the tradition of the supreme court’s visits to the three Oregon law schools, but he did help expand the program to high schools throughout the state — a great opportunity to reach young people about the three branches of government, he says. “It was busy, but when you’re doing something you don’t really consider work, it all works out,” he explains. “I think all of us who’ve [taught while on the bench] considered it like a privilege.” After retiring from the court in 2012, De Muniz has now reached nearly 20 years of teaching at Willamette Law. He gets great joy in teaching and making personal connections with students, he says. “I think particularly in the third year, students are very interested in the practical application of law. Willamette has been blessed with closeness to the supreme court with it being just down the block,” he says. “Many justices have taught there. It’s an opportunity for students to get the best of both worlds — hearing from people who are law types but also have practical experience with the law. That’s what judges bring to the teaching position.”
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Hands-on advocacy
Professor Sheri Buske expands her courses beyond lectures to teach students about essential lawyering skills By Jessica Rotter
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Willamette Law is an emerging leader in experiential education. The faculty continue to think innovatively about how to incorporate experiential learning into existing classes and to create entirely new, simulation-based courses. Professor Sheri Buske, for instance, has seen the impact hands-on learning can have on students’ ability to hit the ground running after graduation and wanted to find a way to introduce a practical element into her courses. As she settled into her role at Willamette Law in 2021, she considered how to expand her own skills and get involved in the local community. With that, she became a certified member of the Citizens Review Board (CRB), a program in the court system that reviews the cases of children in foster care. The informative and well-organized training prompted Buske to think about how she might incorporate the same concepts and skills into her curriculum. At the same time, Kristina Elliott, CRB trainer and field manager, noticed the shortage of attorneys who were capable of taking on child dependency and welfare cases in Oregon. Families were experiencing long periods of time unrepresented because of the shortage of qualified attorneys. Elliott thought about how she could work with law students, in her capacity, to inspire them to consider this type of law.
From there, Buske and Elliott worked together to develop a course curriculum where students could attach the CRB training and certification process onto Buske’s Child Abuse and Neglect course. Students who added the CRB component would attend both the weekly lectures and the sessions required for CRB certification. The CRB component included two Saturday training sessions, including a mock CRB review, a court and CRB observation, a variety of online homework modules, and a background check. Adding this experiential learning component to her course was a dream come true for Buske. “The students are up on their feet for most of the class learning, doing actual trial advocacy, and developing the soft skills this type of law requires,” she shares.
DEVELOPING SKILLS This was notable to Buske as she recalls first going into legal practice and being handed a large stack of documents, without any background knowledge on what everything meant. There was a significant amount of paperwork that was not, strictly speaking, legal documents — but was still vital to a case. She quickly realized she would need to understand all of these extra
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“For many families, the problem isn’t a black and white legal issue. There are other dynamics that led to the legal issue, and it’s important to understand that first and foremost.” — Professor Sheri Buske
Professor Sheri Buske works with students in her Child Abuse and Neglect course.
long way in supporting some of the most vulnerable people in the state, she says. Adding the CRB certification to the course encouraged students to consider the non-legal side of practicing law, but it was also a benefit to the state as more qualified, compassionate and well-rounded lawyers will be admitted to the bar, Elliott explains. components about families in the foster care system before even diving into the legal issues. “For many families, the problem isn’t a black and white legal issue,” Buske says. “There are other dynamics that led to the legal issue, and it’s important to understand that first and foremost. Something in the family isn’t working — that is what resulted in a legal response.” Buske wanted her students to leave the class understanding the law — and equally crucial to her — to know how to interact with clients, how to conceptualize complicated issues and dynamics, and how to understand the “social work” component in each case. From her experience, students graduate and go into practice only to quickly discover that this specific area of the law requires soft skills that aren’t taught in the classroom. “These skills take lawyers years to develop,” Elliott affirms. “There is no way to overstate the importance of legal advocacy and understanding complex family systems when lawyers approach a juvenile dependency case.” Elliott was inspired to become a lawyer after serving on the CRB and seeing the role of advocacy in developing real solutions for complex legal issues. Including law students in the CRB can go a
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“We are lucky, at the CRB, that we get the opportunity to have law students involved, because they are coming to this with eagerness, compassion and a long career ahead of them,” Elliott says. “These are the people who will make real change in our state and in the child welfare system, in particular.”
PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE Sarah Levin JD’23 took Buske’s course hoping to learn about the difference between juvenile dependency court and the traditional civil/criminal court system. The CRB component allowed her to delve even more into the role of advocacy in law and how citizens can be involved in making a larger impact on the community. “We aren’t just sitting in a classroom hearing black letter law,” Levin says. “We get to truly consider the individual people involved in a system.” In addition, Levin says she learned from the CRB lawyers that the work is hard, but it is some of the most rewarding and critical work for the community. Hearing from both Buske and Elliott encouraged her to be a creative thinker when it comes to the law. “It’s looking at the totality of circumstances, differing viewpoints and other parties involved,” Levin says.
This course, with the addition of the CRB, was a perfect fit for Jana Baker JD’24, as well, since she was looking for an experiential learning opportunity.
“I am a hands-on learner, and being able to practice and role play, rather than sit in a lecture, helps me to learn [more quickly].” — Jana Baker JD’24
“I am a hands-on learner, and being able to practice and role play, rather than sit in a lecture, helps me to learn [more quickly],” she says. The biggest thing that Baker took away from being immersed in the concepts and components of juvenile dependency work was, quite simply, the importance of it. What resonated most was learning the larger process as a whole and how things are handled — specifically the elements of a dependency case that one may not realize are notable right away. “You may go into a case thinking it is just how to place a child for safety purposes,” Baker says, “but there are a significant number of other considerations that can carry equal weight.” Both Levin and Baker planned to participate on the CRB after they became certified. They saw how transferable the skills they learned in class were to other areas of the law and other courses they took. “I feel more prepared as an attorney, regardless of what area of law I end up practicing in, because I understand how the processes work and how to be more investigative while also considering the client first,” Baker says.
Buske hopes to continue offering the CRB training and certification as a part of her Child Abuse and Neglect course. “Students are beginning to really see themselves as advocates, not just lawyers,” Buske says. “Advocates are what these clients really need.” She is grateful that the CRB and Elliott agreed to participate, and that Dean Brian Gallini believed in her vision for the course. “The stars aligned, and I believe our students, community and the legal profession in Oregon are better for it.”
EXPANDING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Willamette Law faculty members have spent recent years building up their experiential learning offerings. The school’s growing legacy of providing students with hands-on experience began, in part, thanks to Professor Emerita Valerie J. Vollmar JD’75, the first faculty member to introduce experiential learning into her curriculum after joining the law faculty in 1984. Understanding the steep learning curve that law school graduates encounter as they begin their careers, despite having done well in school, Vollmar was inspired to approach teaching differently from traditional law school courses. Throughout her time at Willamette, she saw firsthand the impact that hands-on learning had on students’ understanding of what it means to truly be an attorney. By introducing experiential learning at Willamette Law, Vollmar created a tradition of preparing practice-ready lawyers and leaders through practical learning. Her groundbreaking approach paved the way for Willamette Law’s place as an emerging leader in the space.
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Staff & Faculty Focus
Introducing new faculty members
Five new faculty members joined the full-time faculty for the 2023-2024 academic year. Each plays an integral role in developing the experiential learning course offerings at Willamette Law.
Chinonso Anozie
Jillian Schroeder-Fenlon
Professor Anozie joins the faculty following his time as a visiting assistant professor of law at Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Anozie has a passion for teaching and helping students realize their full potential.
Professor Schroeder-Fenlon spent the first six years of her career in big law firms focused on finance and real estate transactions. After discovering a love for mentoring and teaching, she transitioned into her new career.
“I look forward to working with students and collaborating with the faculty at Willamette to train the next generation of lawyers,” he says.
Most recently, Schroeder-Fenlon was the associate director of the Business Transactions Clinic at NYU Law School, where she taught and supervised secondand third-year law students.
Anozie began his career as an associate in a law firm’s corporate division in Nigeria, where he advised domestic and foreign government agencies on energy, trade and environmental law issues as a foreign legal consultant. Anozie is teaching Property Law, as well as Environmental Law, Energy/Climate Law, and Global Environmental Justice.
“I am drawn to courses with experiential components that allow students to learn and practice the skills they need as junior attorneys,” she says. “I like these courses because I get to work closely with students and provide them with detailed feedback — I find it rewarding to watch students develop their critical thinking skills.” She is teaching Lawyering, Business Organizations, and Contract Drafting courses.
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Staff & Faculty Focus
Emily Poor
Sarah Purce
Antonio Olguín Torres
Professor Poor knew she wanted to be a lawyer after completing college. She worked in several areas of law before finding her way to academia.
Professor Purce was inspired to pursue a law career helping immigrant communities after working with undocumented students through AmeriCorps. When she earned her JD, she worked as a contract attorney for immigration firms in Washington state before focusing on public interest work.
Professor Olguín Torres joins the Willamette Law faculty as an international visiting faculty member from the law department of the University of Guanajuato, Mexico.
Most recently, she completed a clinical teaching fellowship with the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Civil Advocacy Clinic, in which certified student attorneys represented low-income clients in civil matters related to experiencing poverty. For Poor, this was a great way to transition from direct public interest litigation work to the academic community. Poor is teaching courses on Evidence, Gender and the Law, and Criminal Law, with a seminar in Policing. “I’m very excited to be teaching Evidence in the fall,” Poor says. “As a former trial attorney and clinician in a Civil Litigation Clinic, I love the practical aspects of evidence law and helping students navigate the courtroom and figure out how to successfully introduce or oppose testimony and exhibits.”
Most recently, she led the immigration section of a limited-scope defense clinic at Portland Community College, which provides services for low-income immigrant clients facing deportation. At Willamette Law, Purce joins Professor Beth Zilberman in the Immigration Clinic, where she is helping develop the clinic’s offerings. Additionally, she is teaching courses from Immigration Law to Rural Practice. “I remember my clinic experience during law school as perhaps the most formative aspect of my time there,” she shares. “I am enthusiastic about helping students learn the practical skills that lawyers use every day and, hopefully, inspiring a love of immigration law and a commitment to this population of clients.”
Olguín Torres is a member of the National System of Researchers Level 1 of the National Council of Science and Technology and is the author and editor of several books as well as book chapters and articles on Public International Law, Constitutional Law, and International Environmental Law. At Williamette, he is teaching courses on the Law of Mexico, Comparative Constitutional Law, and International Environmental Law. “It is a history of love, I think. I have been to Willamette Law before,” Olguín Torres says. “I know the campus, professors and academics. And of course, I know the wonderful people who live there.”
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Staff & Faculty Focus
Professor appointed director of academic excellence As a child, Professor Kelly Gamble wrote that she wanted to be “maybe a lawyer, maybe a teacher, maybe both.” At Willamette Law, she’s made her musings a reality. “It is really fun and rewarding to see that dream come to life and to be able to make change for other people,” she says. Gamble was appointed director of academic excellence for Willamette Law in the Fall of 2022. Gamble’s appointment is the culmination of her devotion to building communities that
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support students both in the classroom and as they prepare for a legal career. The Academic Excellence Program centers on the principle that the twin pillars to student success are belonging and ability. Gamble’s appointment allows her to continue to strengthen and build up the program. Following a seven-year long career as a high school English teacher, Gamble made the
Staff & Faculty Focus
decision to change careers and attend law school. Now, as a professor of law, she focuses her teaching on 1L legal writing. Gamble was surprised to find herself teaching first-year students as she remembered how difficult her start was as a law student. However, this was, in many ways, what launched her desire to build strong, supportive communities for 1L students.
“People want to make a difference, and I get to help them do that. I get to train up the next generation of lawyers who will fight for justice.” — Professor Kelly Gamble
“I wanted to demystify the law school experience, particularly for first-year students,” Gamble explains. “My goal was to make it more transparent so they could develop confidence.” As she began teaching at Willamette Law, she started to implement peopledevelopment and community-building concepts into her curriculum to better prepare students for a legal career. Her goal was to “support law students, make the entire law school experience easier, and to build a stronger community amongst 1Ls,” she says. When Gamble heard the positive feedback from students in her classes, she thought about what it might mean to bring these experiences and practices to the entire Willamette Law community. It is “connecting people with people that makes this a better place,” she shares. The Academic Excellence Program was formed in 2021 with 2L and 3L students applying to be fellows. A group of faculty members review applications and select about 12 students to serve as leaders.
One Academic Excellence fellow, Teddy Krolczyk JD’23, was inspired to apply because she loves being involved and wanted to be a part of the outreach to incoming students. After joining Willamette Law in the midst of the pandemic, Krolczyk “felt disconnected from the community and wanted to be the person who builds connections for others during their law school experience.”
Krolczyk would like to see the program expand and become a part of the College’s identity. “It makes such a big difference for people, and you don’t see that in other places,” Krolczyk says.
“I hope the program makes people feel welcome and heard,” Krolczyk says. “Law school can be a scary experience, especially if you don’t have a support system. The work Professor Gamble is doing is so important. She is very approachable, and it helps to have someone like that here to make law school less intimidating.” For her part, Gamble says that her mission is for students to feel like they have the ability to succeed academically but also to belong in a community. As the program director, she wants to “make [the College of Law] a better place and continue to think each year about how to make the experience better.”
Since the program began, the fellows have developed an orientation week, created a 1L Field Guide, run the Dean’s Series (a regularly scheduled set of support seminars aimed at first-year students), and generally The program started as a leap of faith, and made themselves available for coffee, lunch now it is growing and will continue to or a listening ear. The impact the program impact more people, she hopes. has had on the 2L and 3L students is just as profound as the impact on 1L students, “People want to make a difference, and I get Gamble says. This is evident in the nearly to help them do that,” she says. “I get to 50% increase in fellow applicants for the train up the next generation of lawyers next academic year. who will fight for justice.”
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Staff & Faculty Focus
Student and professor A team up to draft proposal on streaming royalty for musicians — and Rolling Stone takes notice
s a Willamette Law 2L, Jordyn Wickstrom JD’24 didn’t picture herself behind the scenes of a Congressional Resolution featured in a Rolling Stone article. But that’s where she ended up in the Summer of 2022, after working as a research assistant for Professor Rohan Grey, a primary drafter of a Congressional Resolution introduced by U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and co-sponsor Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) on August 11, 2022.
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Staff & Faculty Focus
“I didn’t know anything about how music royalties are paid to artists and had to do a lot of research to familiarize myself with copyright law and the royalties artists get for their work.”
The resolution proposes a new streaming royalty for musicians, offering payment on a per-stream basis. Although streaming services now provide the main avenue for listening to music, performing musicians are paid very little for their work. Wickstrom became interested in helping draft the resolution and subsequent bill after taking Grey’s Contracts class as a 1L and working with him on Oregon public banking legislation. Despite her unfamiliarity with the subject matter, she dove in. “I didn’t know anything about how music royalties are paid to artists and had to do a lot of research to familiarize myself with copyright law and the royalties artists get for their work,” she says. “I started by drafting a preamble of the resolution and looking into why this was important, comparing with other countries. I also tied in things that have happened that make this a noteworthy issue, such as the COVID pandemic, which caused musicians to earn significantly less.” In addition, Wickstrom worked on the definition section of the bill, identifying terms like “record company” and “performance rights.” To do so, she read laws already in place to ensure the definitions were consistent with how the terms were used there.
Tlaib and other members of Congress, was thrilled with Wickstrom’s work.
— Jordyn Wickstrom JD’24
“Jordyn is talented, driven and always up for a challenge,” Grey explains. “She assisted both with research and statutory language, and participated in strategy meetings with the Union’s campaign team and Congressional staff. She was fantastic, and some of her original text is in the final draft.”
The pay issue came to the forefront for Tlaib after she partnered with the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers.
In the short term, the resolution is making its way through Congress while Tlaib and Bowman look for additional co-sponsors to sign onto it. The full text of the bill is also being finalized in collaboration with legislative counsel and a team affiliated with the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School.
Tlaib says in the Rolling Stone article that when she met with members of the union, it was obvious that the concept of paying musicians fairly was related to the pursuit of justice she was already focused on. The resolution is meant to build awareness, for both those who make the law and those who stream the artists’ music, that musicians aren’t being paid fairly.
Wickstrom and Grey will continue to assist with the legislative drafting process and anticipate the release of the full bill soon.
Although the work is not complete, it is a step forward, she says. She introduced the resolution to Congress in mid-August 2022, with the full bill forthcoming. Wickstrom isn’t sure of her future career plans as an attorney, but she says the experience was valuable. She learned the differences between a resolution and a bill and says the drafting skills were transferable to her work with the public banking working group. She appreciates that Grey, as a professor, always tries to ensure his students have experiential learning opportunities. Grey, who has helped draft various legislative initiatives in collaboration with Professor Rohan Grey
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Staff & Faculty Focus
Students gain international perspective on child welfare worldviews are challenged, and they are forced to reevaluate their own perspectives. She and Cook anticipated that would happen again. “In the beginning, they could only see what wasn’t — the lack. ‘It’s dirty.’ ‘There’s not enough of this.’ ‘Why don’t they just do X or Y or Z?’ It was all filtered through their American experience,” Buske says. “Three weeks later, what I could see in them was they no longer saw the absence or the lack, they saw what there was — the resilience, joy, grit and potential — and they embraced that with everything in them.” Rachel Burns JD’24 was amazed by the programs the group visited. Despite their lack of resources, they used their time, talents and creativity to help vulnerable children, she says. Seeing how they worked to meet children’s needs in a child welfare and child rights context was ‘magic.’
This summer, 10 Willamette Law students, one 2023 graduate and Professors Sheri Buske and Susan Cook flew 10,000 miles “I was stretched personally, professionally, to Tanzania for a three-week learning opportunity in spiritually and academically on this trip,” international child welfare. she says. “I was uncomfortable many times, For Buske, it was the best of many student trips she’s taken. For the students, it was impactful from day one, changing their perspectives on children’s rights and international law as they experienced a different culture firsthand.
work with women’s and children’s rights, a juvenile jail, a Maasai girls’ school and more. They also visited a law school, where they shadowed local law students, hosted them for dinner and held a moot court debate. There were daily class sessions and a final research paper submitted by each student after the trip.
Buske and Cook traveled to Tanzania in November 2022 to pre-plan the students’ work. The trip in June was the culmination “They worked hard. It sounds fun, and the experiential learning was fun, but they of Buske’s International Children’s Rights summer course. It included a safari and were tired,” Cook says. “They were bush camping with Maasai warriors, a grappling with moral and ethical issues, community service project at a rural school, seeing a level of poverty that you and 21 site visits over 22 days. theoretically know exists. But when you see it so acutely, it makes an impact.” The group went to orphanages, a pediatrics unit in a hospital, local schools, nonOn Buske’s previous trips, there has always governmental organizations (NGOs) that been a moment where students’
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but I pushed through the pain and discomfort, and I saw growth in myself.” Buske says the international context provides a place for students to struggle and reconsider who they will be as future attorneys. “I believe that this is the education that law students need and want. This experience provides a face and context to what they are learning in the classroom,” Buske says. “One of the most consistent themes in the students’ final reflection papers is that they spend all this time in law school reading about people and theories, but with programs like this, they have to really grapple with what advocacy actually looks like, and it can be absolutely life-changing.”
Staff & Faculty Focus
Faculty Scholarship Smith returns to scholarly roots with environmental crimes book Professor Susan Smith’s latest research has her returning to topics she first explored years ago. Smith is senior editor of the “Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Environmental Crimes and Criminal Enforcement,” which will be published in 2024. In it, scholars from around the globe discuss environmental crimes and criminal enforcement. Smith will also contribute an
introduction and a chapter on “Defining and Sentencing Environmental Crimes: Environmental Regulatory Systems and Social Norms.” “This project returns me to my earliest scholarship — a comprehensive treatise on Crimes Against the Environment and several articles on the role of criminal enforcement in environmental regulatory systems,” Smith says.
“What I’m really interested in at the moment is the status of our democracy,” she says. One article Maril completed last fall, “When It Happens Here: Reproductive
“These projects fit directly into the core of environmental and natural resources law,” Smith says. “My research is a direct benefit to my students — it keeps me involved in the cutting-edge of scholarly discussion in my field, deepening my understanding of current issues in the topics I teach.”
“Nothing about America necessarily protects us from going this way,” Maril explains. “It’s important to talk about it. It’s a big thing to not take our democracy for granted.”
Maril fights for democracy Over the past year, Professor Robin Maril has frequently written or contributed to op-eds and news articles, in addition to working on law review articles. Most of her work is related, she says, and focuses on nondiscrimination protections and religious freedom.
Another project, her article, “Taming the Deranged Beasts: Harnessing the Global Power of Transnational Corporations to Create a Just and Sustainable Future,” will be submitted for law review publication in Spring 2024. The article expands and revises an idea she published nearly a decade ago. In the piece, she seeks to establish an effective means to control the impacts of large, transnational corporations on people and the planet. They would be required to have an international charter obligating them to comply with human rights and environmental laws.
Autonomy, Fascism, and Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” is forthcoming in Pace Law Review. The article dives into fascist regimes from history and how their past relates to Dobbs (the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right of abortion). Maril says fascist regimes in the past, for example, disseminated a harmful rhetoric that certain minorities were harmful to the health of the state — therefore, the state had to constrain them.
Maril has no plans to slow down with her research. She recently completed another piece that looks at trans rights and abortion rights post-Dobbs, publishing in SMU Law Review this fall. Her newest article will examine the impact of the Dobbs case on the future viability of autonomy claims under the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment. She’s also working on a book proposal. “I’m a queer person raised in northern Oklahoma and really understand the impact of polarization,” Maril says. “You can’t take things for granted and have to be really present and ready to have conversations with people if you want democratically recognized change.”
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Class Action Share Your Success Editorial Goal The ultimate goal of our websites, e-newsletters and magazine is to share both general and specific information that supports and exemplifies the quality of legal education received at Willamette University College of Law. More to the Story Editors of various college website newsfeeds and e-newsletters publish information at their discretion depending upon subject matter, space available and editorial goals for the given period of publication. There is no regular editorial schedule or calendar. The types of stories featured in publications may change from year to year based upon a balance of available information, trends or specific marketing/promotional goals of the law school and the university. Sharing Your News We want to know about your professional successes. Submit an update about your career by emailing law-alumni@willamette.edu.
David Weiner JD’72 joined Jordan Ramis PC in Portland in October 2022 as of counsel. His practice focuses on complex commercial real estate transactions, including IRC Section 1031 Exchanges. Andy Miller JD’79 retired as Washington’s longest-serving prosecutor in December 2022 after serving Benton County since 1980. He joined the county as a deputy prosecutor, working for six years, and then he spent 36 years as an elected prosecutor. He was known for
being “victim-first,” advocating for therapeutic courts, and finding alternatives to the criminal justice system. Clark B. Williams JD’79 received the De Muniz Award from the Marion County Bar Association in 2023. The award recognizes a member who best exemplifies the pursuit of the practice of law as a profession, demonstrating a spirit of public service and the highest possible level of competence, integrity and ethical conduct, and who serves as a role model for other attorneys.
A trailblazer for women Sitting in a 1980s-era conference room with 12 males looking back at her, 31-year-old JoAnne Brandes JD’78 spelled it out to her boss, Sam Johnson, leader of global company, SC Johnson. They were going to open a childcare center for employees — and they were going to do it in four months, at a location she’d found, with space for 200 children. The men turned to see Johnson’s reaction — and to Brandes’ surprise, he began to laugh. “This better work, JoAnne,” he said. As a young attorney and a new mom, she was stunned at how unaccommodating the work world was for those with children. Obsessed with her concerns about the availability of quality childcare, she wanted to do something about it. “I thought, ‘I can hire someone to come into my house, but what do others do?’ I got very concerned about that,” Brandes explains. “I’m a firm believer that you don’t break any
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glass ceiling unless you’re pulling other women up with you.”
secretary of JohnsonDiversey, Inc., responsible
Becoming a mother wasn’t Brandes’ first experience feeling undervalued as a woman. There weren’t many women in her law school class. As she interviewed with firms, she remembers a partner who explained that she was very nice and academically qualified — but she wasn’t going to get a job at any practice — simply because she was a woman.
communications, public affairs and
Realizing she was on her own, she and her spouse left Oregon and went back to her home state of Wisconsin. She quickly got a job at a large firm. Being evaluated on the quality of her work, rather than her gender, was gratifying. When she got a call from SC Johnson, she wasn’t initially interested. After reevaluating, she accepted SC Johnson’s offer to join the company’s law department, focusing on litigation and international corporate transactions. There for over 25 years, she absolutely loved the global work, fast pace and diversity. As a woman, she broke down barriers. “I was the only woman in that law department, one of very few women in any type of leadership at that large company,” she says. “But it was a great career.” Brandes retired as the executive vice president, CAO, general counsel and
for all legal matters, human resources, administration for the company and its more than 65 subsidiaries. That conversation in the boardroom led to SC Johnson being named to the list of the 10 Best Companies for Working Mothers. At the end of its first year, the childcare grew from 78 to 250 children served. Eventually, it began caring for more than 500 annually. “It may seem like a small accomplishment in my career, but for me, it was one of my most significant contributions,” Brandes says. “It felt better than completing billion-dollar acquisitions.” In her retirement, Brandes has stayed engaged at the highest level of business, serving on several large corporate and college boards. “One of my greatest learnings … is that the true success came from doing the right thing on the way to reaching those goals, helping others, keeping my responsibilities and using my potential, while fighting off arrogance, greed and apathy,” Brandes says. “It’s all about the depth of your character, not about the achievement of goals.”
Class Action Mark T. Torok JD’83 was named chief executive officer by Hartman Short Term Income Properties XX, Inc., a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust, in October 2022. He was previously the chief operating officer. He has over 30 years of regulatory, compliance, securities and real estate experience.
Patricia Louise Nelson JD’93 was elected in October 2022 to serve as secretary of ConnectW, a nonprofit organization for central Oregon women that provides business-sharing opportunities and fosters relationships. She founded Two Spruce Law in Bend, where she focuses on probate law and estate planning.
Danny Santos JD’86, associate dean for student affairs and administration emeritus at Willamette Law, was the Marion County Bar Association’s 2023 recipient of the Carson Award for Service to the Community. The award recognizes a member for exemplary service through volunteerism in charitable, cultural, humanitarian or educational endeavors.
J. Christopher Naftzger JD’94 was named interim CEO of Nabriva Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical corporation, in January 2023. He had served as the company’s general counsel and secretary since September 2021.
Peter Sheridan JD’88 was named 2023 president of the Construction Lawyers Society of America. Sheridan is a partner at Glaser Weil’s Construction Law practice, where he has practiced for more than three decades. Renée Rothauge JD’89 was elected president of the Oregon Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates in February 2023. ABOTA is an invitationonly, national association of trial lawyers dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing the right to civil jury trials. Jeffrey Himstreet BS’89, JD’93 was appointed vice president and senior counsel, regulatory affairs, for the Managed Funds Association, the trade association for the global alternative asset management industry. Himstreet has decades of experience in the industry.
Randy Ruaro JD’94 was appointed as the new Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority executive director effective January 2023. Ruaro previously served as Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s chief of staff and special assistant for statehood defense. In his practice as an attorney, he has worked on access issues, permitting and state land rights. Coyreen R. Weidner JD’95 was named a partner of Moore Corbett Law Firm in Sioux City, Iowa, in January 2023. Weidner joined the firm in 2020 and specializes in education law, vaccine injury litigation, employment law and property tax law. From 1997 to 2007, Weidner was a magistrate with the Oregon Tax Court. Gregory Zerzan BA’93, JD’96 was appointed chief administrative officer and general counsel of enCORE Energy Corp. in July 2022. In the announcement, Zerzan was noted as a proven executive and recognized legal expert on public and regulatory policies with over 20 years of
Alumnus challenges order banning WeChat app In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic marched across the globe, closing the borders of countries worldwide. For Keliang “Clay” Zhu JD’00, who is based in the Silicon Valley, that meant communication with his 85-year-old mother, who lives in China, was limited. Instead of visiting in person, they were forced to video call or message each other via the WeChat app, which is widely used in China. But in August, then-President Trump issued an executive order banning both the WeChat and TikTok apps, set to become effective in 45 days. “I used to go to China and could see my mom several times a year, but when the pandemic started and China closed its borders, I couldn’t see her. WeChat was the only way I could see and talk to my mom,” Zhu explains. “I talked to some fellow Chinese-American lawyers, and we decided the day after the announcement was made that we needed to go to court to reverse this decision.” Zhu says the personal nature of the ban was his motivation. Knowing so many clients and colleagues who used the WeChat app, he had to take action. Although he hadn’t worked on any constitutional disputes since law school, he went back to his notes and thought there was a case. After setting up a nonprofit, the WeChat Users Alliance, and raising about $1 million, he and his team challenged the ban in court as U.S. WeChat Users Alliance vs. Trump, ultimately winning the case on free speech grounds. Zhu’s team also forced the U.S. government to pay nearly $1 million in attorney fees for the illegitimate ban. “Banning a social media app is like banning a website or news station or newspaper,” Zhu says. “Those are really key to American values and principles. We were just average users trying to protect freedom of speech, not trying to make it a political case, just trying to vindicate the rights of the U.S. Constitution.” Following the win, Zhu says many in the Chinese American community came to his team to seek legal advice during the height of Asian hate incidents. He set up the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance to help, and continues to work pro bono to vindicate and protect Chinese Americans who are the victims of hate crimes.
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Class Action experience, most recently as the principal deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Kurt Ronnow JD’97 was named special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division at the FBI’s Washington Field Office in May 2023. Previously, he served as a deputy assistant director. He joined the FBI as a special agent in 2002 and was assigned to the Salem Resident Agency, a satellite of the Portland Field Office in Oregon. Rene Gonzalez BA’97, JD’00 was elected to Portland City Council in November 2022 after defeating incumbent Jo Ann Hardesty. He was sworn in on January 13, 2023. During his campaign, he emphasized the struggles that Portland has endured over the past several years, such as rising crime, declining livability and ineffective city policies. James Estes JD’01 was named shareholder at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in Portland in August 2022. Estes is a member of the firm’s Real Estate and Construction and Healthcare and Life Sciences industry groups.
Lee Ann Donaldson JD’09 was elected president of the Oregon State Bar for 2023. She previously served on the OSB’s Board of Governors. She is an attorney with Nichols Law Group in Portland.
Bryant Sutton JD’15 was hired as an associate attorney with the Bothwell and Hamill law firm in Yakima in September 2022. He has six years of experience practicing workers’ compensation and Social Security disability law.
AJ Alley JD’13’s company, A2 Bikes, was chosen as the official bike partner of USA Triathlon for 2023 and 2024. Alley is the CEO and founder of A2 Bikes. The company’s flagship triathlon bike “The Speed Phreak” was named one of the “Best Triathlon Bikes of 2022” by Triathlete Magazine.
Lee Gilgan BA’12, JD’16 joined Tonkon Torp LLP’s Business Department in Portland in November 2022 as an associate. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions.
Keith Andreys JD/MBA’14 was the recipient of the Marion County Bar Association’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award in 2023. Josh Savey JD’14 was named a 2023-2024 John S. Nolan Fellow. The fellows are tax lawyers who are actively involved in the ABA Section of Taxation and have demonstrated leadership qualities and a commitment to the section’s mission. Savey is an associate attorney at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area.
Crystal Miller-O’Brien JD’01 was reappointed to the California Access to Justice Commission in April 2023, on which she has served since 2021. Miller-O’Brien has been of counsel at Glaser Weil LLP since March 2023.
Sasha Petrova JD’15 joined Tonkon Torp LLP’s Litigation Department in Portland in August 2022, where she focuses on appellate law and motion work. Petrova has handled a wide range of appellate and trial court issues at both the state and federal levels.
Carlos Santiago Almeida JD’02 earned a master’s in intelligence and security studies from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, in May 2022. He has worked at the Charleston County Public Defender’s Office for over a decade. He is also a Class Three graduate of the Charleston County Emerging Leaders Program.
Hank Stebbins JD’15 was elected shareholder at Lane Powell in Portland, effective January 1, 2023. Stebbins represents public and private corporations in complex litigation and labor and employment matters in federal and state courts. He was named an “Oregon Rising Star” by Thomson Reuters in the area of Employment and Labor.
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Brooks Westergard JD’16 was named a member attorney of Dickinson Wright in Reno, Nevada in January 2023. Westergard’s practice is focused on commercial litigation. He previously served as a law clerk to the Hon. Justice James W. Hardesty of the Supreme Court of Nevada. Kevin Gleim JD’18 joined the Oregon Department of Justice as an assistant attorney general in its General Counsel Division in October 2022. He previously worked as a public records and special projects attorney for the office of former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. Adin Johnson JD’19 was selected for the Rising Star Award by the Clark County Bar Association. The award is given to attorneys who have practiced for less than five years and is in recognition of outstanding achievements. Johnson is an associate with Philbrook Law Office in Washington. Nicole Hetz JD’20 joined Liska Law in Portland, Oregon, as of counsel in April 2023. She focuses her practice on probate, trust administration and estate planning. Alexandra Hutchinson JD’20 was elected to serve on the
Emerging Professionals Board of the Blanchet House in March 2023. The board is focused on increasing awareness and support of the organization among a young demographic. Hutchinson has been an associate attorney with Miller Nash since March 2022. Marry Karam JD’20 was highlighted in the March 2023 edition of the Multnomah Lawyer by the Multnomah Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Society. As an Arabic-speaking domestic relations attorney at Lissa Kaufman Law in Portland, Karam has played a valuable role in walking her Arab-American clients through domestic relations situations. Stephen Smith JD/MBA’20 joined Campione Law, PA, in Jacksonville, Florida, as an associate attorney in April 2023. Campione Law specializes in personal injury and insurance law. Nathaniel Woodward JD’20 was recently named the chairman for the Carbon County Democrats in Utah, a seat he will hold for the next two years. Alexander Wilde JD’21 joined Seraph Legal, PA, in Tampa, Florida, as an associate attorney in March 2023. He represents consumers against predatory businesses engaged in deceptive and unfair trade practices under Florida and Federal Consumer Protection Statutes. Grace Hoffa JD’22 joined the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office as a deputy district attorney in October 2022. She was first hired by the office in May 2021 as a certified law student working with both the Misdemeanor and Domestic Violence teams.
Class Action
Mary K. Hughes receives Lestle J. Sparks Medallion Inspired by Alaska’s North Star, Mary K. Hughes JD’74 was always going to be a lawyer just like her father, who was her North Star. Hughes’ family values of love, faith and education were instilled from a young age. They and her parents’ nurturing have led her through successful careers and decades of giving back to Alaska and her alma mater.
Murkowski JD’85 and chief administrative officer of her campaign for two elections. Hughes is in her sixth decade of supporting Willamette and has served as a trustee, life trustee emeritus and on the College of Law’s Board of Visitors (now known as the Law Leadership Cabinet). Additionally, she is a regent for the University of Alaska and a director of its Foundation. She recently completed her tenure on the board of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, the first Alaskan to have been elected to the board.
This year, Hughes received the Lestle J. Sparks Medallion. The award recognizes alumni whose lifetime loyalty and service to Willamette reflect the ideals of one of its most devoted alumni, Lestle J. Sparks, Class of 1919. As a law student, Hughes was one of few who had experience in a legal setting. After working in her father’s office since age 12, she knew she wanted to be a lawyer. “He taught me so much about life, about living for community and giving,” Hughes says. “‘It doesn’t matter how many people you help,’ he would say. ‘If you help one person, that’s good.’”
IN MEMORIAM Benton “Ben” C. Flaxel LLB’58 died at home on October 10, 2022, at the age of 88. Flaxel was a lifelong resident of North Bend/ Coos Bay. He attended the University of Oregon, later earning his JD from Willamette Law. During his 50-year law career, he specialized in workers’ compensation, appearing numerous times before the Oregon Supreme Court, influencing the landscape of workers’ compensation law in the state. He married Julie Newell
Hughes appreciated the small community at Willamette Law that reminded her of her hometown. After graduating, she began a law practice that included commercial transactional and litigation work. After 20+ years, she was appointed municipal attorney for the municipality of Anchorage. Later, she was the Alaska state director for the Office of U.S. Sen. Lisa
White in 1966 and was a lifelong Roman Catholic and member of several community organizations. He was an avid duck hunter and fisherman and enjoyed gardening at his family cabin and traveling. James “Jim” Garrett LLB’58 passed away at age 91 on June 1, 2023, after a 14-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was born and raised in Oregon and attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland. He spent two years in the U.S. Army and then attended Willamette Law. During that time, he met
A tireless supporter of establishing the College of Law as “Alaska’s Law School,” Hughes enjoys connecting with students prior to, during and after their law school journey. “It’s really simple,” Hughes says. “I want them to know Willamette.” As far as the award, Hughes never expected to be nominated or win. “I feel there are other people who deserve it more than me,” Hughes says, “but I am thankful and humbled.”
Margaret Bolt, who he married in 1961, and Lee Crawford, a Salem attorney who he decided to partner with. The law firm came to be known as Garrett Hemann and Robertson, and for many years, Garrett was managing partner. As a lawyer, he was known for his ethics and professionalism. He served on public volunteer boards and committees, in addition to being involved in the Boy Scouts. He was a loving father, grandfather and husband, and in retirement, enjoyed traveling, skiing, singing and delivering Meals on Wheels.
The Hon. Kevin W. Midlam BS’61, JD’63 passed away at age 83 on June 21, 2023, in Carlsbad, California, of renal failure. He was born in Ohio, moving to Bend, Oregon, when he was young. He attended Willamette University and Willamette Law, then ventured to San Diego to start a long and distinguished career in law. He was a founding partner in the firm of Ault, Midlam & Reynolds, where he remained until his appointment to the San Diego Superior Court, on which he served from 1988 to 1995. While practicing, he was
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Class Action very active in local and state bar activities. He earned a stellar reputation for fairness, decisiveness and efficiency and was well-known for giving both sides a fair opportunity to be heard. He enjoyed road-tripping with his wife, Cindy, around the U.S., visiting grandsons in Kansas, golfing, reading and completing crosswords and jigsaw puzzles. Edward Lewis JD’64 died January 13, 2023, in Portland, surrounded by his children. He attended Oregon State University, where he met and married Joan Osko. They had three children together before divorcing. Lewis graduated from Willamette Law ranked first in his class. Following law school,
he served in Vietnam. Upon his return, he started his legal career in California, eventually moving to Beaverton, Oregon, to work as a corporate attorney for NW Acceptance Co. and in various roles for Tektronix Inc. over 28 years. Lewis was respected for his fairness and integrity. His grandchildren were one of his greatest joys. He also enjoyed seeing the world by bicycle and loved the outdoors. William F. “Bill” Schulte JD’66, highly regarded domestic relations mediator and attorney, passed away February 14, 2023, from cancer. Schulte graduated from Whitman College in 1963 before earning his law degree. Following two years at a firm in Eugene, he served as a deputy
district attorney in Multnomah County before joining a private law firm that ultimately became Schulte, Anderson, Downes, Aronson & Bittner. He retired in 2019, having received several honors and awards and mentoring many younger lawyers over the years. Known for his sage advice, good humor and kindness, he was a voracious reader and enjoyed crossword puzzles, word games, gardening, biking, walking, golf and travel. Crispin “Cris” Leigh Smith JD’66 passed away at age 81 on September 15, 2022, at his home in Texas. Smith grew up in Whittier, California, and was always happiest playing sports. He graduated from Principia College and Willamette Law,
embarking on a life of service to his country through a career with the FBI. In Houston, he met the love of his life, Linda Anderson, and they later moved to Chicago. Together, they welcomed three children and returned to Houston, where they raised their family. Smith took mandatory retirement in 1999 but continued his service, doing investigative work for another 13 years. He was proud to serve the Bureau for 50 years. He spent his retirement with Linda in Lake Conroe, Texas. Norman Phillips II JD’68 died March 24, 2023, at the age of 80. Phillips was born and raised in Portland. At age eight, he met his future wife, Marilyn, and the later high school sweethearts
Order in the Court This section includes some Willamette Law graduates recently appointed to, elected to or retired from judicial positions, although it is not a comprehensive list. Many Willamette Law alumni serve or have served in judicial positions across the country. OREGON Judge Norman Hill JD’94, who is the presiding judge in Oregon’s 12th Judicial District, was honored with Oregon’s Lifetime Contribution Award in October 2022. Oregon’s previous Chief Justice Martha Walters bestowed the award in recognition of Hill’s achievement in juvenile law and child welfare. Hill has served on the bench since 2012. He also teaches at Willamette Law as a distinguished professor from practice.
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Hill
Muenchrath
Judge Matthew Muenchrath JD’97 was Gov. Tina Kotek’s first judicial appointment as governor, filling a vacancy on the Coos County Circuit Court beginning in June 2023. He served as a part-time municipal judge for the last six years and is a former councilman and mayor of Coquille. He has been a part of the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and Navy Reserve since 1997, where he currently holds the rank of captain. Judge Stephen Hedlund JD’02 was appointed by former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to the Klamath County Circuit Court in December 2022. He filled a vacancy created by Judge Daniel Bunch’s retirement. Hedlund has spent his entire law career in Klamath Falls. He
Queen
previously worked for the Klamath County District Attorney’s Office and in private practice, focusing on indigent defense work. Since 2016, he had served as a pro tem judge for the City of Klamath Falls Municipal Court. Hedlund’s appointment was effective December 31, 2022. Judge Amy Queen JD’04 was elected to the position 14 judicial seat in Marion County Circuit Court in November 2022, with her term beginning in January 2023. She previously served in the Marion County District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted all kinds of crime and was promoted to trial team leader on the Domestic Violence Team.
Class Action were married in 1966, raising three children. Phillips received his law degree in 1968, continuing his education at New York University, where he earned a master’s in tax law. He and Marilyn lived in McMinnville and Portland, Oregon, where he specialized in tax and estate planning before retiring in 2002. Phillips had a strong work ethic and was always up for adventure and mischief. He was an avid fisherman and enjoyed spending time at the beach in Rockaway, as well as in central Oregon and other travel destinations. He and Marilyn shared a lifetime of memories, and he loved his family and friends fiercely. Frank “Peter” De Luca JD’75 passed away at age 76 in Hailey, Idaho. Following his graduation from the College of Idaho, he joined the U.S. Air Force, serving during the Vietnam War. Later, he graduated from Willamette Law and began his career as a labor lawyer, serving as an attorney for the Oregon Public Employees Union, assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice, and administrator of the Labor Relations Division for the State of Oregon. In 1996, he left the practice of law to become the administrator of Oregon OSHA for 10 years. De Luca was an avid outdoorsman, fisherman and conservationist. He had an adventurous spirit and enjoyed skiing, scuba diving, rafting, hiking and traveling. He was the life of the party and never ran out of stories to tell. Marc Winter JD’78 passed away at home on August 29, 2022, at age 69. He attended Linfield College and Willamette Law. After law school, he began a career for the IRS and settled in
Santa Monica, California, where he met his wife, Janet. They were married in 1983 and had two children. Winter formed a Claremont tax law firm, Taylor, Simonson & Winter LLP with two former IRS colleagues. He and his family were involved in the community, and he was an active member of Claremont Rotary Club for more than 20 years. He had a love for music and was a talented bass guitarist and singer, helping form The Amazing Tonebenders, a classic rock band, when his children left for college. After retiring in 2018, he and Janet enjoyed spending time with family and friends, playing with grandkids, traveling and serving at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. Paul Brown JD’85 died February 4, 2023, at age 64. He was born and raised in Roseburg, Oregon, later earning his JD at Willamette Law. While there, he was class president. After law school, he worked for Basco Logging for 26 years. In 2012, he started his own business, Paul Brown’s Mow and Go. He loved his customers and was willing to go the extra mile for them. Brown had a love of God throughout his life and was a member of Sutherlin Family Church, along with his wife, Marsha. They found happiness enjoying life’s simple pleasures. Brown loved sports and long-distance running. He was fiercely loyal to his friends, loved his country, cars and politics, and was an avid volunteer. He had a heart of gold, unmatched enthusiasm and a warm laugh.
Giving back to Willamette Law For three academic years, Cecilia “Cissy” Lee JD’86 traveled to Salem from Reno, Nevada, weekly for 13 weeks, teaching a class as an adjunct professor in Bankruptcy Law. Having always wanted the opportunity to teach, she couldn’t turn then-Dean Curtis Bridgeman down when a professor was needed. In the meantime, she continued running a firm and practicing as an attorney full-time. “I was biting off a lot. It was a lot of work,” Lee admits. “But it was also one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done in my entire life.” As a member of the school’s Leadership Cabinet since 2012, she has long been a supporter of Willamette Law. The members of the Leadership Cabinet assist the dean as a sounding board. They offer advice on future direction, but also move it forward by serving as guest speakers and on alumni panels, connecting with students personally, attending events and fundraising. “I feel very strongly that my life wouldn’t have turned out the way it did but for the advantages and experiences and professors that I felt really set me up for success,” she says. Lee says there is incredible leadership within the group, and she enjoys seeing things move in a positive direction for the law school. Though she is still based in Reno as a newly retired attorney, she makes herself available to local prospective students and alumni to talk through questions they have about Willamette Law. The school’s motto, ‘Non nobis solum nati sumus,’ ‘Not unto ourselves alone are we born,’ resonates with Lee and motivates her to give back to her alma mater. “I think it’s something that is very easy in a cynical world to forget that we didn’t just land somewhere on the planet and find ourselves successful and happy and with accomplishments — there were a lot of things that happened to make that possible,” Lee says. “Certainly in my life, the major driver, aside from my own family, has been my education. So it’s important to me to give back. Willamette has made that very easy for me with the Leadership Cabinet and opportunity to teach.”
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The Hon. John Murdock JD’74 and Mrs. Arlene Murdock in the Bavarian Alps. John and Arlene have generously supported the law school with gifts from their retirement accounts.
