May 2018 - First Monday

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Every year, April feels like it passes so quickly, but is full of activity. At the end of March and start of April, we hosted in Boise the Idaho Critical Legal Studies Journal Symposium on Immigration policy — with keynote speaker former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones.  We also hosted the Idaho Law Review Symposium on Terry v. Ohio at 50: Considering the Past, Present and Future of Stop-and-Frisk — with keynote Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. The students and faculty advisors worked hard to make these symposiums possible.

In Moscow, we were visited by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Idaho Supreme Court. These were great opportunities for our students to see the knowledge they gained in class play out in the real world. We were lucky enough to also have the judges, their staff and the lawyers stay to talk to our students, faculty and staff. We appreciate all those who made these visits possible.

We also had exciting awards and opportunities for our faculty and students. Three U of I College of Law Immigration Clinic students — Jonathan Shirts, Kaylee Woodard and Kacey Jones — went to San Francisco, where Shirts and Jones argued on behalf of an asylum seeker in front of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Mumin Abass came to the U.S. in 2015 seeking asylum from his home country of Ghana, where he faced persecution for his sexuality. They won the case, their client‘s asylum eligibility was established and he is now prohibited from being deported to Ghana under additional humanitarian treaties. You can watch the argument here. We also celebrated the award received by Professors Barbara Cosens, Maureen Laflin and Wendy Couture at the University Awards for Excellence. These faculty members are shining stars in our community and we’re so proud of their accomplishments.

Commencement

Over the next week and a half our graduating students will walk across the stage and receive their J.D. degrees. The students have put in numerous hours of studying, completed their pro bono hours and have made a difference at the law school and in the community. We are granting 93 law degrees to 50 students on May 12 in Moscow and 43 students on May 15 in Boise. The U of I Boise commencement speaker is Boise Mayor David Bieter. A 1987 graduate of the U of I College of Law, Bieter is serving his fourth four-year term and is Boise’s longest-serving mayor in the city’s 150-year history. The College of Law will host celebration receptions before the university-wide commencements at each location.

Giving Day

Thank you for making our Vandal Giving Day a success. We raised $69,340 for all our designations from 64 gifts! You are the reason that current and future Vandals have transformational experiences here at the College of Law.  If you would still like to give, you can participate via this form or contact Michele Bartlett.

Immigration Clinic and WSU Partnership

This past year, our Immigration Clinic partnered with Washington State University (WSU) to provide up-to-date immigration information and legal services to students, staff and faculty. Clinic students and supervisors reviewed DACA applications, assessed students’ immigration history and eligibility, developed training materials, and provided updates across WSU’s campuses on changes in immigration policy that affect the university community. Weekly drop-in clinics led by adjunct faculty member Courtney LaFranchi and staffed by students allowed WSU community members to ask questions, seek advice, and learn about their immigration options on an individual basis. The clinic was able to provide additional legal representation to several WSU students. This is a unique partnership and I’m especially proud of the work of our Immigration Clinic.

New Hires

Ryan Lincoln will be joining the college next academic year to teach Legal Writing and Analysis at our Moscow location. He is coming from Shook, Hardy and Bacon, where he focused on representing clients in patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret litigation. Before joining Shook, he practiced complex commercial litigation at a global law firm in San Francisco where he represented clients in the IP brokerage, electronics, insurance and banking industries. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of matters including business torts, antitrust and bankruptcy adversary proceedings. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Tim Murphy has agreed to join the College as a visiting faculty member to direct the Entrepreneurship Clinic in Boise. For the past seven years, he has been the Senior Patent & Trademark Counsel at Micron. He has served as adjunct faculty at Concordia teaching the Internet Law and an IP Survey course for the previous three years. He received his J.D. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.  He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position and will begin working with Lee Dillion later in the summer.

David Church is the new director of career development for the College of Law in Boise. He most recently worked as an eDiscovery Consultant for KrolLDiscovery providing consulting, implementation and ongoing support to clients. He has also worked at Venable, LLP in Washington, D.C. and at Hawley Troxell. He earned his J.D. from Washington and Lee University and a M.A. in teaching from George Fox University.

Have a great May,

Mark L. Adams
Dean
College of Law

Upcoming Events

Northwest Mediation Institute
May 14-18, 2018
Basic Family Mediation — Moscow, Idaho
Basic Civic Mediation — Boise, Idaho
May 14-15
Beyond The Room: Mediation Via Videoconferencing – Boise, Idaho

Spring Commencement
May 12, 2018 — Moscow, Idaho
May 15, 2018— Boise, Idaho