August 7, 2017 - First Monday
After a short summer hiatus, our First Monday newsletter is back. Next week, along with orientation at our Moscow location, we will hold the orientation at our Boise location. This signifies a conclusion of one chapter in our history and a start of another. We are looking forward to having the hallways of our Boise location full of first years next week for the first time.
1L Welcome
First-year orientation begins Monday, Aug. 14 in Moscow and in Boise it begins Tuesday, Aug.15. We are happy to welcome the Class of 2020 to Moscow and Boise. We expect to welcome 121 new students this fall, a 16 percent increase from last year: 114 first-years and 7 transfer students. We will likely have 56 first years in Moscow and 58 first years in Boise. I’m delighted to share that we experienced a slight increase in highly credentialed applicants which resulted in a class with a 153 median LSAT score and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.29, both higher than last year. The class will be comprised of 45 percent women and 55 percent men, this ties for the highest percentage of women in our entering class in the last five years. Believe it or not, a lot can still change over the next week, but we feel great about how our new classes in Moscow and Boise are shaping up.
As is our tradition, orientation week for our first-year students begins with Convocation and a day of introduction to professionalism. Students spend the day with members of the bench and bar discussing scenarios around ethics, collegiality, and more. The program provides a very special opportunity for our students to meet leaders in the Idaho legal community including:
Moscow
- Bradley Andrews - Idaho State Bar
- Hon. Robyn Brody - Idaho Supreme Court
- Hon. Barbara Buchanan - First District Court
- Hon. Roger Burdick - Idaho Supreme Court
- John Cafferty - Hawley Troxell Ennis & Hawley, LLP
- James Dickinson - Ada County Prosecutor's Office
- Andrew Doman - Doman Law Offices, PC
- Hon. Michelle Evans - Nez Perce County Magistrate Court
- Catherine Freeman - Ada County Prosecutor's Office
- Jana Gomez - City Attorney, Lewiston
- Michael Howard - Winston & Cashatt Lawyers, PS
- Hon. Molly Huskey - Idaho Court of Appeals
- Hon. John Judge - Latah County Magistrate Court
- Julie Kane - Nez Perce Tribe
- Kinzo Mihara - Howard Funke & Associates, PC
- Sonyalee Nutsch - Clements, Brown & McNichols, PA
- Jeffrey Owens - Owens, McCrea & Linscott, PLLC
- Lawrence Wasden - Office of the Attorney General
- David Kerrick - David E Kerrick Law Offices
Boise
- Fafa Alidjani - Alidjani Law, PLLC
- Hon. Candy Dale - U.S. Courts, District of Idaho
- Hon. Daniel Eismann - Idaho Supreme Court
- Hon. David Epis - Elmore County Magistrate Court
- Texie Montoya - Boise State University
- Patrick Geile - Foley Freeman, PLLC
- Hon. David Gratton - Idaho Court of Appeals
- Julianne Hall - Gjording Fouser, PLLC
- Hon. Joel Horton- Idaho Supreme Court
- David Jensen - Parsons Behle & Latimer
- Brian Kane - Office of the Attorney General
- Chelsea Kidney - Office of the Attorney General
- Caralee Lambert - Idaho State Bar
- Gregory LeDonne - Office of the Attorney General
- Hon. Jerold Lee - Canyon County Magistrate Court
- Erik Lehtinen - Idaho State Appellate Public Defender's Office
- Kenneth McClure - Givens Pursley LLP
- Hon. Lynn Norton - Fourth District Court
- Hon. Jayme Sullivan - Canyon County Magistrate Court
- Erica White - Ada County Prosecutor's Office
- Hon. B. Lynn Winmill - U.S. Courts, District of Idaho
- William (Bud) Yost - Yost Law, PLLC
The rest of the week, we deliver a Lawyering Fundamentals curriculum designed to prepare students for their law school experience. Students attend model classes where they are expected to be prepared to answer questions based on pre-assigned readings. Intentional Torts is used as the vehicle to introduce students to concepts including legal problem solving, the Socratic Method, legal analysis, and communicating like a lawyer. There is a final exam at the end of the program; again designed to simulate an actual law course final exam. Lawyering Fundamentals is also the beginning of our Bar Exam Success Toolkit (BEST) program designed to help law students succeed on the bar exam. Through the program, students now receive a commercial bar exam preparation course included in their tuition.
ISB Meeting
We had a great time at the Idaho State Bar Annual Meeting in Moscow. Several of our professors taught CLEs and the College hosted tours and a barbecue. I enjoyed catching up with our alumni and continue to be impressed with the collegiality of the Idaho Bar and the dedication of its members to their profession.
Congratulations are in order to our alumni award recipients. Specifically, the Idaho Distinguished Lawyer awards were given to Darrel Aherin ’73, Jack Gjording ‘66 and Karen Gowland ‘84. The Honorable John Stegner '82 won the Idaho Distinguished Jurist award. Six of the eight 2017 Service Award recipients were also College of Law alumni, including: Nicole Derden ‘04, Michael Felton ‘90, Helo Hancock ‘05, Molly O’Leary ‘94, Jennifer Schindele ‘03 and Matthew Wilde ‘94.
FACES Partnership
The University of Idaho College of Law and Family Advocacy Center and Education Services (FACES) are proud to announce a new partnership in Boise beginning this fall. FACES provides services in a safe, private and supportive setting for victims of abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault. As part of the partnership, the College of Law will provide free legal services to victims of domestic abuse referred from FACES to our new domestic violence experiential learning program. The application for a staff attorney is currently open and closes Aug. 20, 2017. Apply here, if interested in joining us.
New Hires
With a new school year comes new hires. We welcome Jessica Gunder, Dylan Hedden-Nicely and Benjamin Cover to our faculty. Professor Gunder will be teaching legal writing at our Boise location. Professor Hedden-Nicely is the new head of our Native Law Program in Moscow. Professor Cover, who previously was a visiting professor, will join our faculty in Boise to teach Torts and Professional Responsibility, among other subjects.
We are also happy to announce that Michele Bartlett will assume the functions of chief alumni relations and development officer at the College of Law. Bartlett is currently the director of career development for the College of Law, based in Boise. From 2004-2010, she worked as the director of development for the College of Law, where she was very successful at raising major gifts, connecting with alumni and supporters, and coordinating the Law Advisory Council and the Dean’s Economic Advisory Committee. Bartlett will officially start on Aug. 27.
Have a wonderful start to your fall,
Mark L. Adams
Dean
College of Law
Upcoming Events
New Student Orientation
Moscow
Aug. 14 - Aug. 18, 2017
Boise
Aug. 15 - Aug. 18, 2017
First Day of Classes
Aug. 21, 2017