Kudos to our Faculty, Staff, & Students

Kudos to Dean Satz, Dean Dodge, John Hasko, Michelle Boese, Anne-Marie Fulfer, Nancy Luebbert, Terri Muse, Linda Kiss, Sande Schlueter, Cindy Maylott, Ridley Williams, Dean Dillion, Elaine Kempton, Tom Ivie, Anastasia Telesetsky, Annemarie Bridy, Jerry Long, Monique Lillard, Monica Schurtman, Richard Seamon, Stephen Miller, Barbara Lock, Neal Koskella, Nathan Nielsen, John Rumel, Brian Church, Natalie Hoover, Kurt Schwab, & Jack Miller 

… to all of the faculty and staff who collaborated on the logistics of making our 2013 spring commencement in Moscow a successful event: Associate Dean for Faculty Michael Satz, Associate Dean for Students & Administration Jeff Dodge, Law Library Director John Hasko, Faculty Assistant and Special Events Coordinator Michelle Boese (who carried an especially heavy responsibility for the commencement logistics), Career Development Director Anne-Marie Fulfer, Academic Support Director Nancy Luebbert, Development Director Terri Muse, Director of Fiscal & Administrative Operations Linda Kiss, Assistant to the Deans Sande Schlueter, Clinical Services Coordinator Cindy Maylott, and Faculty Assistant Ridley Williams.

… to Associate Dean/Boise Programs Lee Dillion and Boise Administrative Assistant Elaine Kempton, who worked effectively with the University of Idaho Boise Center on the logistics of the University’s commencement event in Boise, where several law students chose to “walk the stage.”

… and to Law Library Serials Assistant Tom Ivie on the issuance of the Spring 2013 edition of The Idaho Librarian, a publication of the Idaho Library Association Tom is the editor of the publication, which can be accessed here: http://theidaholibrarian.wordpress.com/. The linked publication contains both current and archived articles of interest. Tom also deserves congratulations on receiving a 15-year service staff award from the University of Idaho.

… to Professor Anastasia Telesetsky, who has been asked by the American Bar Association International Environmental Law Committee to be a liaison for the Green Economy Community of Practice (an initiative organized by the World Bank to provide research for policymaking in the field of environment and development). The program is affiliated with the Global Forum on Law, Justice, and Development.

… and to Professors Annemarie Bridy and Jerry Long, and to Associate Dean for Students & Administration Jeff Dodge, for receiving and accepting appointment to important University-level committees.

• Professor Bridy will serve on the Intellectual Property Committee, which considers, investigates, and makes recommendations toward resolution of disputes concerning (1) ownership of “maskworks” and copyrightable and patentable materials, and (2) allegations of unauthorized use of copyright infringement of UI-sponsored materials.
• Professor Long will serve on the University of Idaho Academic Hearing Board. The Board hears student appeals from decisions made by college authorities concerning, but not limited to, such matters as (1) eligibility for advanced placement or credit by examination, (2) objectivity or fairness in making, administering, and evaluating class assignments, (3) maintenance of standards for conscientious performance of teaching duties, and (4) scheduling of classes, field trips, and examinations. (The Board does not hear appeals, however, concerning requirements or regulations of the College of Graduate Studies or the College of Law.)
• Dean Dodge will serve as the chair of the Ubuntu Committee, which reviews university policies and programs affecting under-represented and/or under-served students. He will also serve as co-chair of the Student Recruitment and Retention Committee of the President’s Diversity Council.

… to Professors Monique Lillard and Monica Schurtman, who have been notified that the Texas Hispanic Journal of Law & Policy at the University of Texas/Austin has accepted for publication their co-authored article titled "Remedial and Preventive Responses to the Unauthorized Practice of Immigration Law." The Journal informed Professors Lillard and Schurtman that the article exceeds its usual article word limit, but that the limit will be extended in this case “due to the quality of [the] article and the overall contribution to the academic realm ….”

… to Professor Richard Seamon, whose forthcoming, co-authored book on the Supreme Court is already featured on “the” big blog for Supreme Court junkies: SCOTUSblog.

… to Professor Stephen Miller, who made a presentation on economic development and Boise’s 8^th Street commercial district as part of Boise State University’s downtown “urban lunch” series.

… and to Tax Clinic faculty director Barbara Lock on securing a renewal of the Internal Revenue Service grant for the College of Law’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic in 2013-14. Further congratulations to Professor Lock as well as to student colleagues Neal Koskella and Nathan Nielsen, who recently made a joint presentation to the Idaho State Bar Family Law Section on the tax aspects of divorce. Professor Lock also collaborated with Mr. Koskella on an essay he recently published in the “Business Insider” section of the online version of the Idaho Statesman. The essay, “When You Can’t Pay Your Business Bills, Pay [the] Taxman First,” appeared on April 22, 2013. In addition, Professor Lock has formed, and is now facilitating, a network of Low-Income Tax Clinic directors, dubbed the “LITC Intermountain West Network.” The group, consisting of nine directors from Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah, conducts monthly teleconference to discuss common issues and to share resources.

… to Professor Annemarie Bridy, who gave an invited presentation at UC Hastings School of Law at a conference called "Copyright Enforcement in the Digital Age: The Copyright Alert System." The title of Professor Bridy’s presentation was “The Copyright Alert System: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Professor Bridy also was quoted recently in an “Inside Counsel” online article about industry efforts to combat file-sharing.

… to Professor John Rumel and the College of Law Evidence Moot Court team -- consisting of 3L Brian Church, 2L Natalie Hoover, and 3L Kurt Schwab – who, as reported by Professor Rumel, did themselves and the College proud at the 28th Annual Prince Memorial Evidence Moot Court Competition held at Brooklyn Law School. After competing in the two mandatory/guaranteed rounds, the Idaho team, based on the aggregate scores for their brief and oral arguments, advanced to the "octo-round." Only 16  of the 36 teams entered in the competition were selected by the judges to advance, thereby placing the COL team in the top half of the teams competing. Professor Rumel further reports that although the Idaho team did not advance further, they presenting their best combined argument during the octo-round and received high praise from the judges after each of their arguments.

… to Professor Jack Miller, whose article, “Wealth Transfer Tax Planning for 2013 and Beyond,” co-authored with Professor Jeffrey Maine at the University of Maine, has been accepted for publication by the Brigham Young University Law Review. An online version of the article was the nation’s most frequently downloaded tax law publication on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) during the last week of March and several weeks in April, 2013. The article analyzes the operation of federal wealth transfer taxes in the wake of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) of 2012. Further information, and a link to the paper, can be found at TaxProf Blog: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads (April 7, 2013).

Kudos to Michael Greenlee, Jana Gomez, Kinzo Mihara, Angelique EagleWoman, Dean Dodge, Linda Kiss, Eric White, Lucy Page Chesnutt, Micah Runnels, Shayne Nope, Rhylee Marchand, Richard Seamon, Shaakirrah Sanders, Tanya Finigan, Kendra Lotstein, Liz Sonnichsen, Luis Cortes, Stacy Haas, Jack Miller, Jerry Long, Jessica Long, Nancy Luebbert, Kristen Pearson, Jason Lloyd, David Law, Melissa Jacobs, Carole Wells, Anne-Marie Fulfer, Will Gunderson, & Neomi Gilmore

… to Professor/Associate Law Librarian/Boise Law Library Director Michael Greenlee, and to faculty, staff, and student colleagues named below, on the success of the spring 2013 “Love the Law” outreach program.

On March 21, 2013, the College of Law Diversity Committee hosted 27 students from Orofino and Kamiah high schools and the UI College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) as part of the Idaho State Bar Diversity Section “Love the Law” program. These students had the opportunity to attend the Navajo Nation Supreme Court hearing and presentation, to participate in a Q&A session with law school faculty and students, and to receive information on applying to and preparing for law school. Former UI law students Jana Gomez (’09) and Kinzo Mihara (’08) were the Idaho State Bar Diversity section representatives responsible for organizing the “Love the Law” event. “Love the Law” is a pipeline program that exposes students from diverse, minority, and low-income backgrounds, and from underrepresented populations, to the legal profession. It encourages those students to consider pursuing a college education and eventually law school and a career in law. Much of the funding and materials for “Love the Law” was provided to the Idaho State Bar by the law firm of Parsons, Behle, & Latimer.

The following UI law faculty, staff, and students helped to make the spring 2013 “Love the Law: program a success:

• Michael Greenlee as primary coordinator with assistance from Professor Angelique EagleWoman, Associate Dean Jeffrey Dodge, Linda Kiss, Eric White, and Lucy Page Chesnutt, all of whom participated in the planning and organization of Love the Law. Dean Dodge also secured a grant from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) “DiscoverLaw” program to help cover costs for the event.
• Law students Micah Runnels, Shayne Nope, and Rhylee Marchand, who presented an overview of the Neptune Leasing case heard by the Navajo Nation Supreme Court.
• Professors Rich Seamon, Shaakirrah Sanders, and law students Tanya Finigan, Kendra Lotstein, Liz Sonnichsen, Luis Cortes, and Stacy Haase, all of whom participated in the Q&A session. Tanya and Liz also took the high school visitors and their teachers on a tour of the law school.
• Professors Jack Miller, Jerry Long, and Jessica Long, Academic Support Director Nancy Luebbert, and students Kristen Pearson, Jason Lloyd, David Law, and Melissa Jacobs, who attended a lunch with the students to engage in one-on-one discussions.
• Admissions Director Carole Wells and Career Development Director Anne-Marie Fulfer, who gave a joint presentation on applying to and preparing for law school.
• Students Will Gunderson, Neomi Gilmore, and Kristen Pearson, who helped to recruit volunteers.

The College of Law is grateful to all of these volunteers.

Kudos to Monique Lillard & Anastasia Telesetsky

… to Professor Monique Lillard, who has been named one of the University of Idaho’s 2013 “Women of the Year” by Athena, the University’s campus organization supporting the interests of faculty and professional women. This annual award highlights excellence in teaching and service, improving the work environment for women and all employees, and providing mentorship to students and colleagues – all over and above the regular University job expectations. Professor Lillard will be recognized during an Athena-sponsored reception at the home of the University President next Monday, April 22, at 6:00 p.m.

… and to Professor Anastasia Telesetsky, who recently:

• Participated in the University of Maine Law Review Food Law & Policy Conference, “Local Food - Global Food: Do We Have What It Takes To Reinvent the U.S. Food System?” as one of 15 invited scholars from across the nation. Her presentation focused on the nexus between international fishery law and trade law. An article based on this presentation “Follow the Leader: Eliminating Perverse Global Fishing Subsidies Through Unilateral Domestic Trade Measures” will be published in the next edition of the Maine Law Review.
• Participated in the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon as a panelist in a session entitled “Underwriters, Underwater,” where she led a discussion on the role of mandatory emissions insurance in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Participated as an invited speaker at the Gonzaga University Journal of International Law Symposium “International Business and Trade: From Policy to Practice,” where she delivered a presentation to students, faculty, and practitioners on insurance and the role of the private sector in financing and implementing REDD+ (Reducing Emissions in Deforestation and Forest Degradation).

Kudos to Maureen Laflin, Matt Jessup, Dan Jenkins, Rodger Fisher, Adam Becker, Pat Costello, Matt Montgomery, & Eric Vanerburg

… to Professor Maureen Laflin (currently on sabbatical), who recently facilitated a group during a presentation titled "Violence Against Women: What Does Race and Class Have to Do with It?" The presentation, in New York City, was one of several parallel events sponsored by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) during a two-week program known as CSW-57, conducted by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Over 6,000 people this year attended the CSW, which is said to be the largest gathering of people opposing violence against women. The theme of CSW-57 was the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.

… to 2L students Matt Jessup, Dan Jenkins, Rodger Fisher, and Adam Becker, who ably represented the College of Law at the ABA Region 10 Representation in Mediation competition held this month at the University of California-Berkeley. According to team coach Pat Costello, the competition judges and mediators lavished praise on both our teams’ performances against teams from Seattle U., Pepperdine, and Montana, although the Idaho team did not advance to the final round. Professor Costello extends thanks to all four students for the hard work they put into preparing for the event and for performing well at the competition. Thanks also to the many faculty members and staff who volunteered to provide feedback to the teams in their scrimmages prior to the competition.

… and to 2L students Matt Montgomery and Eric Vanerburg, who gave a presentation on music copyrights as part of the activities surrounding the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow. The presentation, titled "How to Live in Perfect Harmony: Copyright Law and How It Affects Musicians," earned plaudits from the Jazz Festival organizers.

Kudos to Annemarie Bridy, John Rumel, Anne-Marie Fulfer, Lee Dillion, Michael Greenlee, Terri Muse, Eric White, Barbara Cosens & Wendy Gerwick Couture

… to Professor Annemarie Bridy, who:

• Was quoted this month in a news article on the new Six Strikes system for cracking down on peer-to-peer file sharing on the Internet.
• Has been cited (again) as an expert on the Copyright Alert System, which has just gone “live” in the United States and is generating media attention. The latest news coverage appears in Intellectual Property Watch, which is “a non-profit independent news service that reports on the interests and behind-the-scenes dynamics that influence the design and implementation of international intellectual property policies.” IP Watch has an international print circulation as well as an online presence. A PDF of the news article is attached because a link will not work (the site is “pay-walled”.)
• Recently moderated a panel on “Section 512 Litigation” at Santa Clara University Law School’s 15-Year Retrospective on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).  While at Santa Clara, Professor Bridy also made a presentation titled “Of Kingpins and Counterfeiters: Civil Forfeitures in the War on Drugs and the War on Piracy” at the Third Annual Internet Law Scholars Works-in-Progress Conference.

… to Professor John Rumel, who was a featured speaker last month at a continuing legal education program ("Tricks of the Trade") sponsored by the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA). His topic was "Rules of Evidence 101."

… to Director of Career Development Anne-Marie Fulfer on earning for the College of Law, for the second straight year, a high mark from the "The Transparency Project," a nonprofit organization devoted to monitoring the accuracy and completeness of information provided by law schools on the job market and employment of law graduates. Article: About half of law schools post incomplete job and scholarship data, group says; Which did best?

… and to Associate Dean for Boise Programs Lee Dillion , as well as Associate Law Library Director for Boise Michael Greenlee, Director of Development Terri Muse, and Development Assistant Eric White, for their collaborative work in organizing a special event held this month in the Boise law library. The event introduced and featured a professionally rendered exhibit on the life and times of William E. Borah (the "lion of Idaho"). The exhibit, produced with funding that included support from the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, will remain on display indefinitely in the Boise law library. It contains materials provided by former Idaho Attorney General David Leroy, including documents, photos, and artifacts from Borah's earlier career as an Idaho lawyer and his historic service in the United States Senate. Speakers at the well-attended event included Lieutenant Governor Brad Little, Idaho journalist and historian Marc Johnson, and Mr. Leroy.

… to Professor Barbara Cosens, who has been notified of her selection to receive the University of Idaho “President’s Mid-Career Faculty Award.” The award will be presented during the University Excellence Awards Banquet in April In a letter announcing the award, President Nellis stated:

"This award was established in 2Ot2 to acknowledge faculty, usually during the early to middle stage of their career, who have demonstrated a commitment to outstanding scholarship, teaching and engagement. As a recipient of this award, you are considered as one of the university's most gifted faculty members who continues to serve as a role model, a source of inspiration for students, and whose scholarship or creative activities contributes to the intellectual development and lives of people in ldaho and globally."

… to Professor Wendy Gerwick Couture, whose essay, “Securities Regulation As Gap-Filler: The Example of Hydraulic Fracturing,” has been accepted for publication in the Securities Regulation Law Journal. The essay – which hardly could be more timely in light of the topic of our Law Review Symposium this week -- argues that, despite the perception of a slow federal regulatory response to hydraulic fracturing, one area of federal regulation has dealt extensively with hydraulic fracturing: securities regulation. In particular, public companies that are engaged in hydraulic fracturing operations must (1) make extensive periodic disclosures under Securities Exchange Act regulations; and (2) comply with the Exchange Act’s regulations regarding shareholder access to company proxy statements. After explaining how the securities laws regulate hydraulic fracturing, albeit indirectly, the essay concludes with a broader discussion about the gap-filling role of securities regulation within the federal regulatory scheme.

Kudos to Shaakirrah Sanders, Richard Seamon, Lola Velazquez, Adrien Fox, & Luis Cortes

… and to Professor Shaakirrah Sanders, who, in collaboration with Professor Lynn Wardle of BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, presented a program with contrasting perspectives on the topic “Same Sex Marriage: Legal and Policy Rationales on Both Sides of the Litigation and Public Policy Debate. The program, held at the College of Law on February 21, was co-sponsored by the Federalist Society and the OUTLaws student organization.

… to Professor Richard Seamon, who joined Professor Robert Garcia Unzueta (University of Utah School of Education, Culture & Society), together with UI law students Lola Velazquez, Adrien Fox, and Luis Cortes in presenting a panel program, “Legal Justice v. Social Justice.” The program, held at the College of Law on February 25, was co-sponsored by the Critical Legal Studies Law Journal and the Latino/a Law Caucus.

Kudos to Brian Church, Michael Earl, Jane Gordon, Angelique Townsend EagleWoman, Stephen Miller, Wendy Gerwick Couture, & Anastasia Telesetsky

... to 3L student Brian Church, who is the ABA Law Student Division Circuit Governor for states (Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska) comprising the 12th ABA circuit.  Brian was the primary coordinator for the Spring Meeting of the circuit, held on February 16 at Gonzaga University.  He was assisted by 2L student and ABA representative Michael Earl. Brian reports that the meeting was "quite a success ....

Not only did our circuit break its own record for attendance at a spring meeting, but the University of Idaho students far exceeded the number of attendees from other schools, including those from the host school, Gonzaga." The program included panel discussions featuring a variety of practitioners, judges, and faculty, on topics of immediate interest to law students entering today's challenging job market.  Our Director of Academic Support, Nancy Luebbert, presented as a member of the panel entitled "Mental Health and Substance Abuse: The Impacts on Law Students," and our Pro Bono Program/Moscow-Based Externships Director, Trapper Stewart, spoke on two panels: "Starting Your Own Firm? Learn About the Business Aspects of Hanging Your Own Shingle!" and "Transition: Law Student to Lawyer."

... and to 3L student Jane Gordon, who was interviewed for an article recently appearing in the "Boise Weekly" about the new Street Law Clinic in Boise. Jane is the University of Idaho College of Law representative and liaison to the newly developed clinic.

… to Professor Angelique Townsend EagleWoman, for her service as conference chair of the 38^th Annual Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference, to be held at the Pueblo of Pojoaque near Santa Fe, New Mexico, on April 11-12, 2013.  The conference theme is “Energy! Enlightening & Invigorating the Practice of Indian Law.”

… and to Professor Stephen Miller, whose essay, “Hydraulic Fracturing and the Emergent Dormant Commerce Clause,” has been published in the February, 2013 edition of the ABA SEER [Section of Energy, Environment & Resources] Constitutional Law Committee Newsletter. The abstract is below:

This essay reviews the increasing prominence of the dormant Commerce Clause in debates over hydraulic fracturing. In particular, the essay is framed around New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s citing of the dormant Commerce Clause as a reason for vetoing a ban on hydraulic fracturing wastewater disposal passed by the New Jersey Legislature. The Governor’s reasoning is compared to analysis in a New Jersey Office of Legislative Services' memorandum indicating the dormant Commerce Clause would not be implicated by the proposed ban. The legal reasoning of the New Jersey dispute regarding the applicability of the dormant Commerce Clause to hydraulic fracturing is then considered in light of other scenarios around the country.

In a related vein, Professor Miller is the faculty adviser to the Idaho Law Review’s 2013 symposium, to be held in Boise on March 29.  The topic of the symposium is “Legal Aspects of Hydraulic Fracturing.”

… to Professor Wendy Gerwick Couture, who --

• on January 29, 2013, published a column in the Idaho Statesman’s Business Insider magazine, titled “Swipe-Fee Surcharges May Have Downsides For Merchants.” 
• and on February 2, 2013, presented a work-in-progress, titled “The Collision Between The First Amendment and Securities Fraud,” at the “Sharing Scholarship, Building Teachers” conference at the Albany Law School in New York.

… and to Professor Anastasia Telesetsky, who –

• on January 31 gave an invited lecture at the University of Hawaii on “Large Marine Ecosystems and Restoration.” The lecture was part of an almost week-long event to honor the intellectual legacy of the late Professor Jon Van Dyke, one of the global experts on Law of the Sea.
• and, immediately following the lecture in Hawaii, traveled to the University of Georgia, where she presented a paper on “Tackling Illegal Coastal Fishing in West Africa” by both artisanal fishing fleets and industrial trawlers.

Kudos to Liz Sonnichsen, Monique Lillard, Shaakirrah Sanders, & Kristi Running

… to the Women’s Law Caucus and Liz Sonnichsen (President) for hosting a panel discussion, followed by extensive audience discussion, on the recent Iowa “irresistible woman” case. The case, Nelson v. Knight, involved a lawsuit brought by a female dental assistant who was terminated by her employer-dentist because the dentist’s spouse was concerned about the potential for a romantic relationship in the workplace. The panelists were Professors Monique Lillard, Shaakirrah Sanders, and Kristi Running.

… to Professor Monique Lillard, who has been re-elected to the Executive Board of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Association of American law Schools.

Kudos to Richard Seamon, Pat Costello, Monica Schurtman, Anastasia Telesetsky, & Barbara Cosens

… to Professors Richard Seamon and Pat Costello on their presentations to Idaho’s district judges during the Idaho Continuing Judicial Education Conference last week in Boise. Professor Seamon addressed judicial decision-making from the practitioner’s point of view, and Professor Costello spoke on policy and ethical issues relating to court-ordered mediations.

… to Professors Monica Schurtman and Anastasia Telesetsky, who have been jointly awarded a University of Idaho FSIT (“Faculty Staff Led International Travel”) grant for research in Costa Rica to develop a new international study program on Human Rights and Environmental Law.

… and to Professor Barbara Cosens, who last week made an invited presentation on the Columbia River Treaty at the Idaho Water Users Association 76^th Annual Convention in Boise.

Kudos to Ashley Ray, Adam Harper, Brianne McCoy, Tony Shallat, Michael Satz, Patrick Davis, Maren Ericson, Ryan Hunter, Annemarie Bridy, Nathan Nielson, Nick Erekson, Tom McCabe, Nels Mitchel, Stephen Miller, Marc Bybee, Joan Callahan, Anna Garner, Jane Gordon, and Nicholas Morgan.

… to the University of Idaho chapter of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) on receiving the BLSA Western Region “Small Chapter of the Year” award. The award was presented during the Western Regional BLSA Conference this month at Los Angeles. In the notice informing the Idaho chapter of this award, the selection committee noted that it was “impressed by your substantive programs and your enthusiasm for engaging communities of color.” The student officers of the Idaho chapter are Ashley Ray (President), Adam Harper (vice president), Brianne McCoy (treasurer), and Tony Shallat (secretary). The faculty advisor is Professor/Associate Dean Michael Satz.

… and to the College of Law’s moot court teams who participated in the National Moot Court regional competition at Gonzaga Law School. The Moscow team of Patrick Davis, Maren Ericson, and Ryan Hunter was coached by Professor Annemarie Bridy. The Boise team of Nathan Nielson and Nick Erekson was coached by Boise attorneys (and adjunct instructors) Tom McCabe and Nels Mitchell. Professor Bridy reported that although neither team advanced to the national competition in New York City, “both teams did us proud and received high praise from the judges for their performances.” Moreover, Ryan Hunter took the prize for third best oralist.

… to Professor Stephen Miller, and to students in the College of Law’s Economic Development Clinic, for completing and issuing a landmark study of “area of city impact” agreements prepared by Idaho communities pursuant to Idaho Code section 67-6526. The participating students (listed alphabetically) were Marc Bybee, Joan Callahan, Anna Garner, Jane Gordon, and Nicholas Morgan. The study, promises to become an important reference work for Idaho cities and counties, as well as for policy-makers, scholars, and attorneys representing public and private interests in local economic development matters. Here is the published abstract describing the project:

Area of city impact agreements, or growth management tools negotiated between cities and the counties, are required by Idaho Code section 67-6526 “to delineate areas of future contiguous growth in order to assure their orderly development and thereby reconcile potentially competing designs for boundary expansion with accepted land use planning principles.” City of Garden City v. City of Boise, 104 Idaho 512, 514 (1983).

In Fall, 2012, the University of Idaho College of Law’s Economic Development Clinic worked with a coalition of partners to review existing area of city impact agreements. The Clinic obtained 125 area of city impact agreements, one of the largest collections of local government agreements addressing growth management ever assembled in Idaho, and likely anywhere in the country. Based upon its research, the Clinic drafted this report with detailed guidance for Idaho cities and counties negotiating future area of city impact agreements. Outside of Idaho, this report will be of use to state and local government law and land use law scholars interested in growth management, smart growth, and extra-territorial powers of cities. The Clinic's guidance document and the original agreements are available in this file.

Kudos to Jack Miller, Annemarie Bridy, Stephen Miller, Monica Schurtman, & Jeff Dodge

... to Professor Jack Miller for his ongoing service in 2012-13 to the Law School Admissions Council. This service, which typically entails more than six national meetings each year, includes the LSAC Board of Trustees, the LSAC Audit Committee, and the LSAC Nominating Committee.

... to Professor Annemarie Bridy, who was quoted recently in a Los Angeles Times column titled "E-Book Restrictions Leave 'Buyers' with Few Rights." Professor Bridy commented on an attempt in the 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act to balance the interests of copyright holders and content users.

... to Professor Stephen Miller, who last month made a CLE presentation to the Idaho State Bar Government & Public Sector Lawyers Section in Boise.  The presentation was titled, "Administrative Law for Idaho Local Governments." Professor Miller also authored a column for the "University of Idaho on Business" feature that appears periodically in the business supplement to the Idaho Statesman. The column was titled "Three Ways Boise Could Get More Green into Buildings."

... and to Professor Monica Schurtman , who has been selected to serve on the University-Level Promotions Review Committee. Such a selection is made by the Provost after receiving nominations from members of the University of Idaho Faculty Senate.

… to Associate Dean for Students & Administration Jeff Dodge, who served as a panelist during the 2013 annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in New Orleans. The panel program, “Outcomes, Measures and Assessment in International Legal Exchange,” was sponsored by the AALS Section on International Legal Exchange. At the end of the program, Dean Dodge was elected chair of the section for 2013. His duties will include planning the 2014 annual meeting program in New York.

Kudos to Barbara Cosens & Dylan Heeden-Nicely

… to Professor Barbara Cosens on publication (“hot off the press”) of The Columbia River Treaty Revisited: Transboundary River Governance in the Face of Uncertainty (Oregon State University Press, 2012). Professor Cosens is the book’s editor and contributing author. The book is a project of the Universities Consortium on Columbia Rivers Governance, a collaborative effort of Northwest universities in which the University of Idaho plays a key role thanks to the work of Professor Cosens and her colleagues in the UI “Waters of the West” interdisciplinary program. View the publisher’s summary of the book.

“Waters of the West” is linked to College of Law’s Natural Resources & Environmental Law emphasis and to the College’s concurrent degree program (JD/Masters in Water Resources) in which one of our students, Dylan Heeden-Nicely, has just successfully defended his thesis: “A Water Balance Model to Assess the Technical, Legal, and Administrative Constraints on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.” Dr. Fritz Fiedler (UI Civil Engineering) was his major advisor; Dr. Ed Galindo (UI Aquaculture Research Institute) and Professor Cosens served on the thesis committee.

Kudos to Richard Seamon, Barbara Cosens, Jane Lear, Ruth Funabiki, & Thomas Ivie

… to Professor Richard Seamon, whose book, Strategies and Techniques for Teaching Administrative Law, is now being published by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (publishing outlet for Commerce Clearing House, Aspen Publishers, and other publishers specializing in materials for legal and business professionals as well as legal education).  The book analyzes the place of Administrative Law in the modern law school curriculum, challenges in teaching the course, approaches to planning and teaching, and methods of assessing students’ learning.

… and to Professor Barbara Cosens, who was an invited speaker/panelist at the 41^st Annual Canadian Council on International Law Conference in Ottawa on November 9. This year’s conference theme was “International Law in Times of Crisis and Emergency,” and the topic addressed by Professor Cosens’ panel was “Crisis and Resilience and the International Law of Sustainable Development.”

… to our Law Library cataloguing/staff assistant Jane Lear, who – after 21 years of service to the College of Law -- will retire effective on January 4, 2013. A reception in her honor will be held in Room 108 at 2:00 – 4:00 p.m., Pacific time, on December 12, 2012. Jane has been described as “unsurpassed” in her service as an interlibrary loan liaison, and in the major role she has played in creating and maintaining the Law Library’s bibliographic records. Jane also has been active on campus in support of the Women's Center and Vox (Voices for Planned Parenthood) at the University of idaho, including a notable performance in the “Vagina Monologues” program. She also has contributed to the cultural life of the Pullman community with performances in community theater productions.

… to Law Library Professor Ruth Funabiki, whose article, “Using Idaho’s Court Assistance Publications to Enhance Public Library Service,“ has been published in the current issue of The Idaho Librarian.  The article, which was subjected to a double-blind peer review, catalogues publications as e-resources and provides titles along with OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) numbers -- enabling public and academic libraries easily to connect to the bibliographic records, and thereby making the publications more accessible to Idaho users.  The article promises to broaden the reach of resources provided by the Idaho Court Assistance Office.

… and to our Law Library serials assistant, Thomas Ivie, who serves as Editor of The Idaho Librarian, on shepherding to publication another issue of the online journal. Current and past issues are available at the The Idaho Librarian. The journal’s substantial audience is demonstrated by nearly 10,000 website visits since last fall.

Angelique Townsend EagleWoman, Native American Law Students Association (NALSA), Barbara Cosens, Wendy Gerwick Couture, & Jack Miller

… to Professor Angelique Townsend EagleWoman, who has --

• Presented her article, Wintertime for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate: Over One Hundred Fifty Years of Human Rights Violations by the United States and the Need for a Reconciliation Involving International Indigenous Human Rights Norms, at the William Mitchell College of Law’s “U.S.-Dakota War Symposium” last month in St. Paul, MN. The article will be published as part of the symposium in the William Mitchell Law Review’s January 2013 edition.
• Been appointed one of four Conference Co-Chairs for the Federal Bar Association’s 38th Annual Indian Law Conference to be held April 11-12, 2013, at the Pueblo of Pojoaque in New Mexico. She will serve as moderator of three plenary sessions and one breakout session.
• Been appointed by University of Idaho President M. Duane Nellis to serve on the newly created Diversity, Equity and Community Task Force to “recommend… a strategy for the future role of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Community with the desired outcome to ensure the University’s and [the President’s] continued strong commitment to strengthening our inclusive and supportive environment for our campus community.”

… and to our Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) as well as to its faculty advisor, Professor EagleWoman, on the organization’s role in commemorating Native American Heritage Month with an event in November at the Kenworthy Theater in downtown Moscow.  The event included the honoring of retired Tribal Judge Fred Gabourie, Sr., Seneca Nation(current co-chair of the Idaho Tribal-State Court Forum); a showing of the film Indian Summer in Geneva on human rights violations of Indigenous communities in the Western Hemisphere; and an oral reading by current law students of the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Student participants included NALSA co-chairs Neomi Gilmore and Micah Runnels, vice-chair Tiffany Justice, treasurer Shane Nope, secretary Alicia Derry, 1L class representatives DeLyssa Begay and Rhylee Marchand, and NALSA members Casey Drews and Ashley Ray.

… to Professor Barbara Cosens, who participated this month in a training program for state judges, conducted by the New Mexico Judicial Education Center at the University of New Mexico. The program focused on Water Law, and Professor Cosens spoke on “Native American Water Rights and the Settlement Process.”

… to Professor Wendy Gerwick Couture, who gave a presentation last month at the Business Law Symposium on “Corporate Law, Then and Now” at Gonzaga University School of Law.  Her presentation, titled “Rule 1.13 in Context,” analyzed the rules of professional conduct governing the representation of entities by placing them in historical context and in context with other potentially applicable standards, including SEC rules governing attorneys who represent reporting issuers and court precedent on establishing an entity’s attorney-client privilege.  The presentation also dealt with creation of an implied attorney-client relationship. The presentation slides are publicly available.

… and to Professor Jack Miller, who recently spoke on the topic, “Accessing Long Term Health Care for the Elderly in the United States,” at the International Conference on Aging & Society held in Vancouver B.C. This annual interdisciplinary conference, hosted in 2012 by the University of British Columbia, brought together health, geriatric care, social work and other professionals from eighteen countries for a wide-ranging conversation about the challenges societies face with the increase of the elderly as a percentage of the total population.

The University of Idaho alumni community annually recognizes students and faculty members through the Alumni Award for Excellence program. Three law students and their mentors were selected for recognition. Congratulations to Jaclyn Hovda, Jennifer Jensen, and Allison Parker. The mentors for each are Professors John Rumel, Richard Seamon, and Annemarie Bridy respectively.

The Alumni Award for Excellence is presented to approximately 40 undergraduate senior level students and an additional 15 graduate and law students who have achieved outstanding academic success and have demonstrated career and professional preparation; campus and community leadership and involvement, or “leaders in the classroom, laboratory, campus and community.”

Congratulations to both the students and mentors that were selected for recognition! I look forward to celebrating this accomplishment with you at the awards banquet on Friday, December 7.

Kudos to Jerry Long, Dale Goble, Stephen Miller & Annemarie Bridy

… to Professors Jerry Long, Dale Goble and Stephen Miller on their collaboration in organizing and presenting the College of Law’s 2012 Natural Resources and Environmental Law Symposium, held in Boise on October 11-13. The symposium, titled “Realizing Sustainable Communities in a Post-Recession West,” utilized a case study from Teton County, Idaho.  The participants, assembled by Professor Long, included academics and land use professionals from Idaho, Montana, Kentucky, California, Wyoming, and Connecticut.

… to Professor Annemarie Bridy , who has been accepted into the 2013 Economics Institute for Law Professors, a competitive summer program conducted by the Law & Economics Center at George Mason University. The stated purpose of the program is to help participants enhance their understanding of economics and broaden their analytical tools in order to introduce greater economic sophistication and policy relevance to their professional work.

Kudos to Angelique Townsend EagleWoman, Trapper Stewart, Mia Vowels, Jeff Street, Will Gunderson, Taylor Fouser, and Jake Bottari

… to Professor Angelique Townsend EagleWoman , who has been appointed as the Consultant to the reconvened Idaho Tribal-State Court Forum. The purpose of the Forum, established by the Idaho Supreme Court, is to address issues affecting both tribal and state courts, including intersystem disputes that arise from concurrent and conflicting jurisdiction.

… to Pro Bono/Externship Director Trapper Stewart, who recently collaborated with College of Law graduate Mia Vowels (UI Law ’02) to make a presentation to undergraduate student leaders during the UI Fall Leadership Week. Trapper and Mia co-presented “Maintaining Ethics and Trust in Leadership,” with emphasis on social responsibility and bystander intervention.

… and, on a lighter note and in recognition of work-life balance, kudos to the College of Law Intramural Ultimate Frisbee team – winner of the championship game in the Competitive Division of the University of Idaho’s Intramural Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Members of the team were Jeff Street (captain), Will Gunderson, Taylor Fouser, and Jake Bottari.

Kudos to Barbara Cosen and Stephen Miller

… to Professor Barbara Cosens –

• Whose co-authored article (in which Professor Cosens was the lead author) has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed online journal Ecology and Society and will appear in a special issue on resilience and law.  The article’s citation is B. Cosens, et al., Resilience and Water Governance: Adaptive Governance in the Columbia River Basin. Ecology and Society 17 (4): 3 (2012). It can be accessed online at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol17/iss4/art3/.
• Who recent made the following scholarly presentations:
  • “The Columbia River in Context,” presented to the Washington Section of the American Water Resources Association meeting on the Columbia River Treaty in Ellensburg. The presentation is available online.
  • “The Columbia River Treaty,” presented to the Pacific Northwest Climate Science Conference, in Boise. The presentation may be accessed at the conference website.
  • “Exploring Legal Operations and New Cooperative Arrangements,” a presentation as an Individual speaker and as a panel moderator at the 4^th Annual Columbia River Treaty Symposium by the Universities Consortium on Columbia River Governance, in Polson, Montana. The presentation was based on a report just released and authored by Professor Cosens along with a colleague on the University of Calgary law faculty. The report, The Future of the Columbia River Treaty, will soon to be available on two websites: The Program on Water Issues and Columbia River Governance The report explores the legal mechanisms for achieving a future shaped by the people of the basin with their input in implementation.

… and to Professor Stephen Miller –

• Whose article, “The Visual and the Law of Cities,” which was accepted for publication by the Pace Law Review this fall, has been listed on a several Social Science Research Network (SSRN) law-related “top ten” lists as well as numerous non-law lists. Download the paper. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2149173.
• Who moderated a panel discussion at the annual conference of the National Trust for Historic Presentation, in Spokane this week. The panel’s topic was “Preservation and Environmentalism: Bridging the Gap.”

The 2012-13 Allan G. Shepard Professorship is awarded to Professor Jerry Long . This award reflects Professor Long's rigorous and innovative teaching across disciplines; his development of interdisciplinary courses; his productive record of thoughtful scholarship; his important role in advancing our curricular emphasis and scholarly reputation in Natural Resources & Environmental Law; his leadership in establishing the JD/Master of Bioregional Planning concurrent degree program; his outreach to external constituents, scholars, and policymakers, as exemplified by the 2012 NREL symposium on land use; and his collegial faculty service on institutional matters including student performance on improvement of bar examinations.

The Allan G. Shepard Distinguished Professor Award is made annually to a faculty member who, as provided in the Shepard endowment agreement, is "highly qualified" and who has a record of "distinguished service to legal education, or to his or her area of expertise." The agreement further provides that that a Shepard Professor must "hold the rank of associate or full professor at the University of Idaho College of Law. The holder of a Shepard Professorship may also hold an administrative position within the College of Law [other than the dean]."

Kudos to Jack Miller, Dale Goble, Angelique Townsend EagleWoman, Jerry Long, Annemarie Bridy, Wendy Gerwick Couture, Shaakirrah Sanders, Sarah Haan, Luis Cortes, Adrien Fox, & Michael Satz

… to Professor Jack Miller, whose co-authored article, Preserving Wealth and Inheritance through Medicaid Planning for Long Term Care, has been accepted for publication in the Michigan State University Journal of Medicine and Law.The article already has become a Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN) “top ten” download on eleven different occasions. The article, written in collaboration with two leading Elder Law attorneys in Seattle, explains the rules and planning techniques relevant to obtaining government funding for the long term health care of an elderly client. Such “Medicaid Planning” poses particular challenges because it involves both a federal law template and a state law implementation system. The article uses the law of the State of Washington to make the analysis concrete and specific, but most of the techniques and strategies described in the article are available in any state because federal law imposes the basic structure of Medicaid.

… to Professor Dale Goble, whose collaborative work on a scholarly article proposing the formation of a state-based national conservation-support network, has been noted in the online publication Science Daily. The proposal itself appears in the November edition of the journal BioScience. The Science Daily report can be accessed online.

… to Professor Angelique Townsend EagleWoman, whose article, “Bringing Balance to Mid-North America: Restructuring the Sovereign Relationship between Tribal Nations and the United States,” has been published at 41 U. Balt. L. Rev. 671-707 (2012).

… and to Professor Jerry Long --

• Whose article, “Overcoming Neoliberal Hegemony in Community Development Law, Planning, and Selected Lamarckism,” has been published in 44 Urban Lawyer 345-398 (2012); and
• Whose essay, “Climate Change-Caused Fires Raise Regulatory Questions,” has appeared in the October 24 edition of the Business Insider, a publication of the Idaho Statesman. The essay can be accessed at http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/10/24/2321094/climate-change-caused-fires-raise.html.

… to Professor Annemarie Bridy, who has received notice that her article, ”Graduated Response American Style: ‘Six Strikes’ Measured Against Five Norms,” has been accepted for publication in Volume 23 of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, a highly regarded specialty journal for IP scholarship. The article should appear around the end of this calendar year.

… to Professor Wendy Gerwick Couture, whose essay titled “Criminal Securities Fraud and the Lower Materiality Standard” will appear in the Securities Regulation Law Journal. The essay argues that the materiality standard is lower under the relatively new securities fraud provision, 18 U.S.C. § 1348, than under the traditional securities fraud provision, § 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934; analyzes the implications of this lower materiality standard; and makes recommendations to market participants, courts, and Congress. 

… and to Professor Coture (again), Professor Shaakirrah Sanders, and Professor Sarah Haan, all of whom made scholarly presentations at the recent Rocky Mountain Junior Scholars Forum at the University of Utah:

• Professor Couture made a securities law presentation, titled “The Collision Between the First Amendment and Securities Fraud.”
• Professor Sanders made a presentation on constitutional criminal procedure, titled, “A Tale of Two Williams.”
• Professor Haan made a presentation titled “Independent Expenditures and Corporate Political Speech Disclosure,” focusing on the intersection of election law and corporate law.

… to the organizers of the fall 2012 annual conference of the Critical Legal Studies Journal (the crit), held in Moscow on October 19-20. The conference, focusing on the theme, “Deconstruction: Deciphering Meaning behind Policies,” attracted interdisciplinary speakers and participants from the University of California/Berkeley, UCLA, the Mississippi College School of Law, Claremont University, Hartnell College, and the University of Idaho. Principal organizer of the conference was law student Luis Cortes, who also made a presentation. Other speakers included the crit’s editor-in-chief, Adrien Fox, and the crit’s faculty advisor, Associate Dean Michael Satz.

Kudos to John Rumel, Richard Seamon, Kurt Schwab, Neomi Gilmore, Jerry Long, Monique Lillard, Jeff Dodge, Nancy Luebbert, & Monica Schurtman

… to Professor John Rumel, who has been notified that his article, “Back to the Future: The In Loco Parentis Doctrine and Its Impact on Whether K-12 Schools and Teachers Owe a Fiduciary Duty to Students,” has been accepted for publication in Volume 46 of the Indiana Law Review in the spring of 2013. Professor Rumel will make a presentation based on the article at the Fall 2012 Annual Conference of the Education Law Association.

… to Professor Richard Seamon, who participated last month in a two-person panel discussion, sponsored by the UI chapter of the Federalist Society, on the United States Supreme Court decision in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius – the “Obamacare” case. Joining Professor Seamon on the panel was Professor Ronald Rotunda, a nationally known scholar on constitutional law and professional responsibility from George Mason University. Kudos also to student Kurt Schwab, president of the UI Federalist Society chapter, and to his student colleagues, for arranging the program.

… to student Neomi Gilmore, who organized the second annual “Native Youth Take Charge” program held this year at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona. The program gives young Natives information about how to get into college. Ms. Gilmore, who organized the inaugural program last year, serves as national Native American Law Student Association’s Area 7 representative, covering Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska.

… to Professor Jerry Long, who has been notified that his recent work – Waiting for Hohfeld: Property Rights, Property Privileges, and the Physical Consequences of Word Choice – has been selected for publication in Volume 48 of the Gonzaga Law Review. This article already has been noted in two Social Science Research Network (SSRN) Top Ten lists: Land Use and the Political Theory: History of Political Thought eJournal. 

… to Professor Monique Lillard, who was a featured speaker at the fall annual meeting of the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association. She spoke on the topic, “Stumbling Blocks to Plaintiff’s Recovery in Idaho.”

… to Professor Anastasia Telesetsky, who was the guest speaker for the British Columbia Ministry of the Environment’s Climate Action Secretariat’s monthly policy meeting in September. She spoke on the potential role of index insurance in financing adaptation of infrastructure damaged by climate change impacts.

… to Jeff Dodge, Associate Dean for Students & Administration, who is the Chair-Elect of the International Legal Exchange Section of the Association of American Law School (AALS) and is expected to become the Section Chair at the next AALS annual meeting in January, 2013. Closer to home, Dean Dodge was a featured speaker at the UI Leadership Conference for undergraduates in September last month. He spoke on the topic, “Leading with Diverse Perspectives.” He also spoke this month at the OUTlunch series sponsored by the LGBT Office of the UI Women’s Center, focusing his remarks on the importance of LGBT people in the legal profession.

… and to Nancy Luebbert, our Director of Academic Support, who has been named to the Bar Passage Committee of the AALS Academic Support Section.

…to Professor Monica Schurtman --

• for participating in a series of panel programs this fall – along with Robert Mather, District Director of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services; Wendy Olson, U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho; Rafael Gonzalez, Deputy U.S. Attorney, and several other assistant U.S. Attorneys; and Oscar Klass of the Idaho State Attorney General’s Office – on immigration-related topics for members of the Latino community, as well as members of Bosnian, and Somali refugee communities, in southern Idaho. The programs, presented in Canyon, Ada, and Twin Falls counties, focused on unauthorized practice of immigration law, the development of capacity-building initiatives to increase high quality legal assistance to immigrants, and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for certain undocumented individuals who entered the United States prior to age 15. Professor Schurtman also made a DACA program presentation here at the College of Law.
• on receiving word that the Mexican government has announced significant (although not yet complete) progress toward a settlement agreement upon a 2001 petition filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by Professor Schurtman (while on the faculty at St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio), as well as a former St. Mary’s clinic student. Several former University of Idaho College of Law students subsequently provided research assistance used to draft the petition: Brenda Sandoval, Meredith Taylor, and Damian Mendez. The petition was on behalf of two Mexican indigenous, monolingual Purepecha-speaking wood artisans who had were beaten by Mexican law enforcement officials and forced to sign false confessions of guilt to marijuana trafficking charges. They spent seven years in prison. Ten years after the Inter-American Commission found the petition admissible, and pursuant to negotiations to resolve the petition, the Mexican government publicly acknowledged responsibility for due process violations against the clients; publicly proclaimed their innocence; made a compensatory payment in the peso equivalent of $50,000; commenced building a state-of-the art artisan workshop to maximize the ability of the clients’ family members and other artisans in their community to produce carved wood and textile products for sale; and initiated health care delivery to members of the Purepecha community as well as Purepecha-language training on due process rights. The petition and settlement agreement are rooted in international and regional human rights law treaties recognized by the Mexican government.

Kudos to Mark Cecchini-Beaver

… to Mark Cecchini-Beaver, JD/MS Student in Law and Water Resources who presented at the 4^th Annual Columbia River Treaty Symposium in Polson, Montana, Oct. 10-12, 2012, on: Columbia River Operational Alternative Analysis in a Participatory Framework. Mark’s presentation on the systems model he is developing to look at potential alternatives under international river management was outstanding and extremely well received. It also allowed Mark to collect data on the preferences of stakeholders. The symposium was attended by over 150 stakeholders and decision makers from the U.S. and Canada and focused on the interests of tribes and First Nations in the basin. It was hosted by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Kudos to Professor Dale Goble, Professor Jack Miller, Professor Wendy Couture, & Brian Sheldon

… to Professor Dale Goble, who is the lead author of two jointly written, interdisciplinary articles appearing in the October, 2012, issue of Bioscience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.  Published since 1964,  Bioscience  is a peer-reviewed forum for integrating the life sciences.  Professor Goble’s articles are “Conservation-Reliant Species” and “Using Conservation Management Agreements to Secure Postrecovery Perpetuation of Conservation-reliant Species: The Kirtland's Warbler as a Case Study.” Collaborators on the articles include University of Idaho (College of Natural Resources) Professor Michael Scott.

… to Professor Jack Miller, who has been informed that his article, “Preserving Wealth and Inheritance through Medicaid Planning for Long-Term Care,” which is yet to be placed in a law review but which already appears electronically on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), has earned a place on SSRN’s “top ten downloads” list in the category of Employment, Labor, Compensation & Pension Law.  This is not the first time Professor Miller’s work has appeared on an SSRN “top ten downloads” list.  Other faculty recently notified that their works have appeared on such lists include Professor Barbara Cosens, Professor Annemarie Bridy, and Professor Stephen Miller.  (Until now, “kudos” messages have not noted these “top ten download” lists in addition to publication of the articles themselves, but will do so in the future.)

… to Professor Wendy Couture, whose essay titled, “The Falsity-Scienter Inference,” has been published in the Securities Regulation Law Journal.  This essay argues that, under certain circumstances in securities fraud cases, a statement’s well-pleaded falsity gives rise to a strong inference that the speaker acted with scienter.  This falsity-scienter inference potentially applies in a variety of securities fraud contexts, including falsified CEO résumés, objectively unreasonable analyst opinions, and cooked books.  In addition, the falsity-scienter inference supports adoption of the controversial “core operations inference” and provides guidance on the proper scope of this narrower inference.  The essay is available for download.

… and to 3L student Brian Sheldon, who has been selected as a recipient of a Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Scholarship for 2012-2013.  The RMMLF Scholarships Program, established in 1993, is highly selective.  It encourages and supports “well-qualified law students who have the potential to make significant contributions to scholarship in natural resources law.”

Kudos to Professor Monica Schurtman, Associate Dean Lee Dillion, Professsor Jack Miller, Stephen Miller & Tom Ivie

… to Professor Monica Schurtman and the (now-graduated) students named below for obtaining work authorization and asylum for an Egyptian Coptic Christian who had sought help from our clinic.  The background, provided by Professor Schurtman, is that when the Mubarek government in Egypt fell, there was a rise in power of Salafi Islamic extremists who have sought to “cleanse” Egypt of Christians and others who do not support Salfi tenets.  Salafi extremists particularly targeted our clinic’s eventual clients because the husband/father made his living by running a construction company, and the company’s work included restoring and building Christian churches.  The extremists physically attacked client-family, threatening them with death on a number of occasions.  The extremists also kidnapped a 3-year old child in the family; thankfully, she survived, and shortly, thereafter, the family fled to the United States.

Gabriela Contreras and Zaida Rivera were the legal interns in the clinic representing the family.

… to Associate Dean for Boise Programs Lee Dillion on his presentation of a CLE program at the Idaho State Bar Annual Meeting in Boise on the topic, “Designing an Effective Mentoring Program in Your Firm/Practice.”

… to Professor Jack Miller for accepting appointment on to serve on the University of Idaho’s Committee on Committee, an important entity for assuring faculty participation in the University’s shared governance.

… to Professor Stephen Miller, who --

• on August 8, 2012, was one of three professors participating in the ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law’s national “Professor’s Corner” lunch-time call-in event.  Professor Miller discussed several cases that are challenging the U.S. Supreme Court’s First Amendment Metromedia billboard precedent.
• and on since June, 2012, has been a permanent editor of the national Land Use Prof Blog.  Professor Miller contributes to the blog approximately two to three times a week on real estate, land use, and environmental matters.

… and to Law Library Serials Assistant Tom Ivie, who has graduated from the University of North Texas with an M.S. degree in Library Science. He was selected by his peers to be one of two student speakers at graduation. He was inducted into Beta Phi Mu, the International Library & Information Studies Honor Society.  (Membership in Beta Phi Mu is conferred only by vote of UNT’s College of Information faculty.  Members must be within the top 7% of their class.)