Dean’s Message

As many of you know, I will be serving as the College of Law’s interim dean while the school undergoes a search for a new permanent dean. This is, quite remarkably, my 18th year with the law school, and I have been honored to serve as the associate dean for academic affairs for the past four years. Throughout my time here, I have continually been impressed by our committed and dedicated community. This year has been filled with great successes and changes, both at Willamette Law and in the larger Oregon legal community. I am humbled to be able to help guide this community through what is certain to be another year of great accomplishments.

To begin, let me extend my sincerest gratitude to each of you for your unwavering support and commitment that you have given to the College of Law. From serving as attorney mentors, providing externship placements, and participating in Career Conversations at orientation, the work of educating practice-ready lawyers would not be possible without each of you. I am confident that with your support and dedication throughout the upcoming year, we will be able to execute our mission of educating the next generation of problem-solving lawyers and leaders.

As I reflect on the past year, it cannot be understated how many significant accomplishments our community has achieved. With that in mind, we are pleased to include in the Lawyer magazine all new stories that have not previously been published. The work of our community has been so remarkable that we had more than enough news to share.

I hope you will enjoy hearing about the success of our students, in particular. We have had students publish articles, overcome significant obstacles to achieve their goals, and secure federal clerkships. Our faculty have also had a busy and successful year of publishing scholarly research. They continue to be thinking innovatively about legal education and remain at the forefront of local, national and international legal conversations.

Notably, at the beginning of the academic year, the Oregon State Supreme Court unanimously voted to approve Oregon’s first-ever new pathway to attorney licensure — the Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination. Our 2024 College of Law graduates are eager to pursue this new licensure pathway and begin to immediately make a difference in the community.

The cover story features our “50 Years in the Conflicts Vineyard” Symposium in honor of Dean Emeritus and Alex L. Parks Distinguished Professor of Law Symeon Symeonides. We had the pleasure of welcoming legal scholars from around the world to celebrate the impressive and impactful career of Professor Symeonides in May.

I am appreciative of your continued engagement with the law school, and I hope to be able to see you at an upcoming event. In the interim, I hope you know that my door is always open during this time of transition. Please feel free to schedule some time to connect with me or send me an email. I welcome your questions and comments and look forward to working together to support the law school.