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Dear alumni and friends,

As we begin the 2011-2012 school year, we

welcome Michael K. Young as the new president

of the University of Washington and as a new

member of our law faculty. President Young

is already an active member of our law school

community. In July, he addressed our 2011

Intellectual Property Summer Institute; in

September he met many of you at a welcome

reception we hosted in his honor. His experience

in our profession is both wide and deep, and

his expertise in Japanese Law is a particular

asset to our mission as Leaders for the Global

Common Good.

This year, the University of Washington

celebrates its 150th anniversary, as one of the

top 20 universities in the world. The law school

opened its doors 112 years ago — in 1899 — and

continues to proudly contribute to UW’s tradition

of excellence. We encourage you to view the UW

150th anniversary website (www.washington.

edu/150) and to join in the celebration.

Gates Hall bustled all summer with conferences

and symposiums, but we missed the energy that

only our talented and diverse student body can

provide. Recently, I spoke to our new students

during their orientation program, which now

spans two weeks and includes a thorough

introduction to the study of law and the skills and

values of our profession. Thankfully, gone are

the days of “look to your left, look to your right,

only one of you will be here at the end of this

year”! The excitement (and nervousness) in the

room was palpable. I encouraged our students

to immerse themselves in all that our university

and law school offers them, and to use their time

with us to explore their passions; to hone their

skills of judgment, analysis, and leadership; and

to develop a fierce commitment to ethics and

excellence. I also urged them to remember why

they came to law school, especially during the

rigors of the first year, and to have the courage to

add their own voices to law as well as to listen to

the voices of others.

Each day I am grateful that you, our alumni and

friends, use your passions, skills, and voices to

advance law and justice. You are society’s ethical

leaders in all areas of law, business, and public

policy. Now more than ever, our world needs the

skills and values that law-educated leaders bring

to the table. We admire and appreciate all that

you do across the diverse areas in which you work.

In this issue, we feature a sampling of our alumni

who have emerged from their time in our Seattle

classrooms to make a difference around the state,

the nation, and the world. We also include our

2010-2011 Report to Donors and continue to be

grateful for your generous support of our mission

and programs.

As I launch my third year as your dean, please know

that I continue to be honored by the trust you

have placed in me and excited by the opportunity

before us. Our history is one of distinction, for

which we should all be rightly proud. Even so, as

UW celebrates 150 years, I am confident that our

future will exceed even our own high expectations.

We are the law school our world needs us to

be. Thank you for every way that you are part of

making that so. Onward and upward!

Message from the Dean

Kellye Y. TestyDean, UW School of LawJames W. Mifflin University Professor

President Young & dean testY

2

uW Law has been active in Public service for

over 15 years, but the recent centralization of the

Center for Public service Law allows these efforts

to be more efficiently implemented and tracked.

Michele storms, assistant dean for Public service

& executive director, William H. gates Public

service Law, says, “our center acts as a hub for

students, where they are educated and inspired

about how to incorporate public service into their

daily lives. By recognizing faculty and staff pro

bono work this year, we’ve been able to carry the

public service notion to the whole community,

rather than merely serving the students already

interested in public service.”

after teaching in the clinical law program for eight

years, and founding the Child advocacy Clinic,

storms returned to her legal aid practice in 2001.

“i loved teaching, but i was largely interested

in the public service component. the beauty

of returning to the law school to run the gates

Program in 2006 was the opportunity to use the

gates scholarship model — which is wonderful,

but limited in only serving five students at a time

— to reach all students who may be interested

in public service. William gates sr. worked in

the private sector, but he offered a tremendous

amount of pro bono work. i wanted students to

understand that they didn’t have to discard their

social and environmental values and ideals if they

chose to work in the private sector. When people

newsLaw SchooL

apply to law school they are full of powerful ideas

about social justice. We don’t want them to lose

that during their time here.”

storms claims that with the support of dean

testy, who advocates public service for lawyers,

she was able to “stop talking about it and help

make it a reality.” as part of their mission to

“educate, empower and inspire all of our students,

graduates and broader law school community to

incorporate public service into their lives,” the

Center for Public service now offers a Pro Bono

Honors Program that encourages, facilitates,

and recognizes pro bono activity by all uW Law

students; a Public service externship Program;

the Moderate Means Program, which connects

moderate income clients in need with attorneys

willing to work for reduced fees; the gates Public

service Law Program; Public interest/Public

service Career and Professional development

Announcing Expanded Center for

Public Service Law

L to r, MiCHeLe storMs, ann sPangLer, aLine Carton ListfjeLd

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Coaching; public service law-and policy-related

workshops, lectures and interactive programs;

logistical and financial support for international

public service summer fellowships and public

service law conferences; a Loan repayment

assistance Program to help graduates working in

public service in Washington state to repay their

educational debt; and the three degrees Project,

which provides an inter-disciplinary climate justice

initiative with an educational, research and direct

service oriented mission.

according to several students, the Center is suc-

cessful in their mission thus far. Janet Gwilym ’12,

says, “in the last year i’ve seen a large increase in

their programs and training in skills that people

need in order to work in public service.” in ad-

dition to storms’ leadership, gwilym credits the

strong advising services of aline Carton Listfjeld,

assistant director, Center for Public service Law,

and the public service event organizing skills of

ann spangler, administrative assistant.

gwilym was an immigration paralegal for 15

years before entering law school. this and

other life experiences allow her to be a self-

directed student. gwilym is clear she is going to

continue working with the most at-risk immigrant

populations: unaccompanied minors, domestic

violence survivors, and those seeking asylum.

even so, she says storms is always a great source

for networking and that her positive attitude is

inspiring. she credits both storms and Listfjeld

with helping her identify possible fellowship

opportunities. for the summer of 2010, gwilym

received the joan fitzpatrick Human rights

fellowship, which offered her financial assistance

while she continued to serve as a volunteer

advocate for immigrant youth. “fellowships will

continue to be a main source of support for me

even after graduation, because the population

and organizations i work with have very limited

funding,” gwilym explains. “i’m grateful for aline

[Carton Listfjeld] for keeping me abreast of more

fellowships. she’s always sending me contacts and

information, which i will continue to utilize even

after graduation.”

gwilym, clearly someone who takes public service

seriously, also serves as a case manager for the

immigrant families advocacy Project (ifaP),

where she trains law students on how to prepare

u-Visa petitions for immigrants who are victims of

violent crimes (often domestic violence). she also

oversees the law students, with whom she teams

pro bono lawyers to represent these immigrants.

Michael Drummond ’12 entered law school with

plenty of public service experience and a clear

focus on how he would use his law degree. after

graduating from the evergreen state College,

drummond co-founded a non-profit salvage com-

pany that provided innovative solutions to waste

management problems. olympia salvage primarily

focused on construction waste by salvaging doors,

windows, hardware and other reusable materials,

and donating or selling them at a reduced fee. He

wanted to continue focusing on environmental and

social issues while in law school and was drawn to

uW’s reputation for public service.

drummond is a member of the Public interest

Law association, helping fundraise for students

involved in non-compensated public service

internships. He spent the past spring and summer

4 newsLaw SchooL 4

cataloguing all of the environmental issues in

referendum 1, which could potentially violate

nePa standards. “My environmental background

and current law studies were invaluable in

deciphering the pro-tunnel’s 7,000-page

document,” drummond says.

He is also grateful to the guidance he was offered

by neil Proto, an esteemed environmental

attorney, to whom storms introduced him.

“Michele invited me to an intimate roundtable

with Professor Proto, which has ended up

being one of my most valuable educational

experiences,” drummond says. “the discussion

itself offered tremendous guidance on how the

fields of public service and environmental law

work. an added bonus was the relationship

that formed between neil and me where i felt

comfortable texting and emailing him while i

was working on my 20-page document — with

180 more pages of attachments — for the tunnel

project. it served as a great reminder that a

seemingly random experience could end up being

instrumental in helping you achieve your goals.”

With the help of storms and Listfjeld, drummond

was accepted for a clerkship with the executive

office of the President in Washington, d.C.,

starting this fall. He will be working with the Council

on environmental Quality, which administers

environmental policy for the environmental

Protection agency and all federal agencies as well

as developing and providing guidance on how to

implement environmental mandates.

Leo Flor ’13, a gates scholar, also has plans to

work within the government to help change it

rather than “view it as an adverse party.” after

an eight-year career with the u.s. army, flor

applied to uW school of Law with the intention

of focusing on rule of law and veterans’ issues.

He shared his idea with storms and says, “she

gave me four people’s contact information on the

spot. the first person i called is now my boss at

the northwest justice Project’s Veterans Project.”

flor says his internship with the northwest

justice Project allows him to be of service while

also contextualizing what he learns in class. He

helps veterans access housing and employment

opportunities and works with the state to adjust

the veterans’ child support to a more realistic

rate. “Military service and its effects are hard on

families. for veteran non-custodial parents, the

debt can become so large that they can’t pay it

and then cut themselves off from their children.

this doesn’t benefit anyone,” flor explains.

“We work with the veteran and the state to

set payments at an income-appropriate rate

so that he or she can meet their responsibilities

and stay involved, which helps the veteran and

the children.”

flor says he has seen an expansion in the

initiatives and ideas aimed at getting all law

students interested in public service. “it shouldn’t

merely be what a few of us do, but what we all do.

The privilege of being a lawyer includes the

responsibility to give back.”

Announcing Expanded Center for Public Service Law continued

Don’t miss out on UW School of Law news, events and updates

Want to stay up-to-date with uW school of Law? don’t wait for the next issue of the

magazine—find all the information you need online. We’re on Linkedin (search for

university of Washington school of Law), facebook (uW school of Law), and twitter

(@uWschoolofLaw). Connect with us and your fellow alumni!

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on july 1, 2011, the university of Washington

school of Law and the university of oxford faculty

of Law launched the Cape Town Convention

Academic Project. the project is a joint

undertaking whose purpose is to advance the

academic study and assessment of the Convention

on international interests and Mobile equipment

(less formally known as the Cape town

Convention). the Convention is one of the

most important and innovative international

conventions ever to have been concluded in

the field of transnational commercial law. it has

already secured nearly 50 ratifications, including

the united states, China, india, and russia.

according to jeffrey Wool, secretary general at

aviation Working group, head of aerospace law

and policy at freshfields Bruckhaus deringer in

London, and executive director of the project, the

Convention is designed to “facilitate the financing

of high-value mobile equipment including aircraft,

railway rolling stock, and satellites, increasing

the availability and reducing the cost of credit

for these critically important assets. that core

efficiency produces substantial macroeconomic

gains, which, in turn, benefit society at large.

examples include enhanced trade, employment,

and acquisition of newer, environmentally-friendly

transportation equipment.”

“the Convention,” Wool goes on to say, “more

broadly is a best practices treaty designed to develop

and harmonize international law in relevant fields in-

cluding secured transactions, leasing and bankruptcy

with important innovations in the fields of private

international law and electronic commerce.”

UW Law Announces

Cape Town Convention Academic Project

L to r, KYLe BroWn, jeffreY WooL, dean KeLLYe testY,

Professor jon eddY

uW Law and oxford established the Cape town

Convention academic Project to enhance the

understanding and effective implementation of the

treaty, and to advance its purpose. Wool will con-

sult with the academic leads: Professor jon eddy at

uW Law and Professor roy goode at oxford.

the main activities of the project include the

creation of a comprehensive digitized and search-

able database of primary and secondary materials

on the Convention and Protocols, including the

preparatory work leading to their adoption and

implementation in national law, a journal, confer-

ences, teaching materials, and law and economics

assessment. the database and journal are being

undertaken under the joint auspices of unidroit

(the international institute for the unification of

Private Law). all information is open source, free

and available for the general good.

Professor eddy emphasizes the far-reaching inter-

national influence of the Project and its importance

to uW Law. “the Convention and the aircraft

Protocol will have a major impact on asia, both

economically and upon domestic legal systems,”

he says. “China, with its rapidly growing aviation

market, has implemented the treaty; india and

singapore, also both major aviation jurisdictions,

are parties. implementation of the treaty in China

fundamentally changed important aspects of the

Chinese law of personal property security. Later

this year there will be a diplomatic conference in

Berlin to develop the space assets Protocol to the

Convention: China, india and russia, all parties to

the Convention, are major players in that category.

6 newsLaw SchooL 6

these are all very practical consequences, before

one even considers the innovative approach to

international law that the Convention embodies.

so this academic Project is both intellectually

fascinating and of great practical importance, and

it is a natural for our law school, with its rich tradi-

tions in asia, in international law and commerce,

and in comparative law.”

dean Kellye testy signed the Project Memoran-

dum of understanding in March along with dean

timothy endicott of the university of oxford

faculty of Law. Wool noted that deans testy and

endicott “moved swiftly to embrace and establish

this project given the stand-alone commercial

importance of the Convention, and, equally, its

potential role influencing the wider field of trans-

national commercial law.”

“this project is one that further establishes uW

Law as a leader globally in the areas of commer-

cial and business law. We are also excited about

partnering with oxford and unidroit, and work-

ing closely with Boeing, co-chair of the aviation

Working group. Boeing has been very helpful in

developing both the Convention and this project,”

testy says.

“Beyond the Convention, the Project itself is

without precedent,” adds Wool. “We are bring-

ing together leaders from academia, government,

industry, and practice, and making use of the most

advanced information systems and resources to

provide comprehensive and immediate access to

all aspects of the treaty system, from its legislative

history to its implementation into national law of its

contracting countries and contractual practices.”

Wool previously taught at the uW school of Law

and at oxford, and was the initial coordinator of

uW Law’s Comparative Commercial Law institute.

His academic work has had a direct impact on the

development of the Convention.

one of the highlights of the Project is the

production of course materials for traditional

courses, such as bankruptcy, secured transactions,

international law, conflicts of law, international

business transaction law and comparative law,

using the treaty as an example. these materials

will be available for professors worldwide and will

influence a wider academic community, who will

learn lessons from the experiences of the drafters

of the treaty and those dealing with its terms.

Wool, one of the drafters of the Cape town Con-

vention treaty, commented that there are few suc-

cessful treaties that provide this kind of opportu-

nity. “successful commercial law treaties are rare.

We believe the systematic nature of the Project will

contribute to a number of other projects involving

the review of other treaty systems and academic

thought on commercial law reform generally.”

When asked why uW Law was chosen to partner

with oxford, Wool said, “We liked the advantage

of the asian Law Center and the asian reach of

uW. the law school has a strong asian footprint.

it also has exceptional library expertise. these

two factors are complimentary to the resources

available in oxford.”

Wool has been working closely with Professor

eddy, who heads the asian Law Center. eddy was

a leading practitioner in seattle before he came

to uW. the project will include other members

of the law school faculty, especially those in

commercial law.

joining Wool and eddy in the administration of

the project is Kyle Brown. Brown received his j.d.

from the university of Minnesota and a master’s

of library and information science issued from the

uW ischool.

information about the Cape town Convention

can be found on the websites of unidroit

(www.unidroit.org), the legal depositary of

the Convention, and the aviation Working

group (www.awg.aero), the founding

sponsor of the Project. the international Civil

aviation organization (www.icao.int) and the

intergovernmental organisation for international

Carriage by rail (www.otif.org) are also

cooperating with the project.

UW Law Announces Cape Town Convention Academic Project continued

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associate Professor of Law joel ngugi was

recently appointed a judge of the High Court of

Kenya. under Kenya’s new Constitution, the High

Court has unlimited original jurisdiction in criminal

and civil matters and is the court of first instance

on constitutional issues. the court also has

supervisory powers over the subordinate courts.

Professor ngugi, who is a Kenyan native, has been

involved in the ongoing legal reforms in Kenya as

a scholar writing on important issues facing the

country, as an activist involved in human rights

work, and as a lawyer. this judicial appointment,

however, will allow Professor ngugi to directly

contribute to Kenya’s legal reform from the bench.

“Kenya’s new Bill of rights marries traditional

civil and political rights (drawn, in part, from the

united states) with innovative social, economic

and cultural rights (inspired, in part, by the south

african model),” Professor ngugi explains. “i plan

to utilize my comparative law experience to craft

a constitutional jurisprudence that maximizes

individual autonomy while ensuring reasonable

existence and subsistence for all citizens as

promised in the new constitution.”

Professor ngugi is taking a leave of absence

from uW to take up the appointment and

plans to continue his involvement with uW by

providing externships, independent studies,

and international legal research opportunities

for students who are interested in international,

comparative, and human rights law. “the new

constitution of Kenya directly incorporates

international law as part of the law of Kenya, so

uW Law students will get the opportunity to

participate in research on international legal issues

which might be relevant to the Kenyan context,”

notes Professor ngugi.

Professor ngugi joined the law school faculty

in 2004. His research interests include the role

of law in economic development, the role of

UW Law Professor Joel Ngugi Appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Kenya

Professor joeL ngugi

governments in market regulation and wealth

allocation, and legal reforms in transition and

developing economies.

Prior to joining the faculty, Professor ngugi

practiced law with the Boston law firm of foley

Hoag, LLP, as a corporate and international

litigation associate. He also practiced law with

the Kenyan firm Kariuki Muigua & Company

advocates. Professor ngugi has worked with the

united nations Mission in Kosovo (unMiK) and

conducted research work for the global Coalition

for africa/World Bank, Program on Humanitarian

Policy and Conflict research (HPCr) at Harvard

university and at the global trade Watch division

of the Public Citizens, inc. in Washington, d.C.

at Harvard university, he was one of two

recipients of the john gallup Laylin Prize in

international Law in 2002. at Harvard, his many

fellowships and grants included the Clark Byse

fellowship (for academic distinction among

graduate students) and the european Law

research Center seminar fellowship. Professor

ngugi was also awarded dissertation fellowship

grants from the institute for the study of World

Politics, Washington, d.C. and the Macarthur-

Weatherhead Center for international affairs.

8

New University President Also Law School Professor

newsLaw SchooL 8

While most know that Michael K. Young became

President of the university of Washington in july

2011, many may not realize that he also became

a tenured Professor of Law at the law school.

dean testy is delighted to have President Young

on the faculty. “His experience in our profession

is both deep and wide, and his expertise in

japanese Law is a particular asset to our mission

as Leaders for the global Common good,”

testy adds.

President Young has led a distinguished career

as an academic leader with broad experience

in public service and diplomacy. Previously he

served as President and distinguished Professor

of Law at the university of utah and he was the

Ebberson, a principal with

Lasher Holzapfel sperry &

ebberson in seattle, Wash-

ington, became the newest

president of the law school

foundation board, following

Greg Adams ’77 of davis

Wright tremaine, who will remain on the board.

ebberson received her law degree from the uni-

versity of Washington school of Law in 1976 where

she was editor of the Washington Law Review

(1975-1976). as a principal at Lasher Holzapfel, she

practices in the areas of family law, litigation, and

construction law.

she was inspired by Jon Bridge ’76 who recruited

her to the board and to become the Vice

President (in effect President elect). ebberson

acknowledges the work of Jon and Bobbe Bridge

‘76 who “give so much to the community and the

law school. We were classmates and our friendship

continues. i can only aspire!”

as president of the foundation, ebberson ac-

knowledges that her goal is “to make sure the

structure and platform are in place to focus on our

mission of providing financial support to the dean

and the law school. ultimately, the goal is to grow

the funds under management in the foundation

and to develop a broader base of donors. that

way we can accomplish our informal mission of be-

ing the dean’s and the law school’s best friend.”

Currently she is a member of the King County

Bar association judicial screening Committee.

she is also a Mentor in the university of

Washington school of Law Professional Mentor

Program and is a volunteer for the King County

settlement Conference.

ebberson was recently listed as a Preeminent Wom-

an Lawyer in the Martindale-Hubbell register.

assistant dean for advancement stephanie Cox

says, “i look forward to working with Linda as our

new uW school of Law foundation President.

it is fantastic to have another woman leading,

following a stellar line of former women presidents

— Muriel Mawer ’35 in 1976, Julie Weston ’69 in

1991, and Mary Ann Ekman ’75 in 1995. We are in

good hands.”

Linda Ebberson ’76 Named President of Washington Law School Foundation

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He has published extensively on a wide range

of topics, including the japanese legal system,

dispute resolution, mergers and acquisitions, labor

relations, the legal profession, comparative law,

industrial policy, international trade law, the north

american free trade agreement (nafta), the

general agreement on tariffs and trade (gatt),

international environmental law and international

human rights, and freedom of religion. He is a

member of the Council on foreign relations and a

fellow of the american Bar foundation.

President Young is a graduate of Brigham Young

university (B.a., 1973) and Harvard Law school

(j.d., 1976), where he served as a note editor of

the Harvard Law Review.

following the tenure of

Maurice Claussen ’04,

Dr. Diaz became President

of the alumni association

Board of directors in july

2011. He is a member of

the Biotechnology Legal

team at intellectual Ventures. Prior to joining

intellectual Ventures, dr. diaz was an associate at

the firms of finnegan and Henderson and at seed

intellectual Law group developing a wide ranging

practice including patent litigation, patent pro-

curement, due diligence investigations, opinion

work, and client counseling primarily in the medi-

cal, chemical, electrical, and pharmaceutical areas.

dr. diaz is a life-long dawg earning a B.s. in

Chemical engineering, an M.s. and a Ph.d. in

physical chemistry, and a j.d. — all from the

university of Washington.

dr. diaz took on this leadership position because

he believes that an institution that provides

“opportunity and access to a legal education

stands as a measure of our collective humanity.”

He continues, “in accepting the privilege of a legal

education, we also assume the ongoing obligation

Linda Ebberson ’76 Named President of Washington Law School Foundation Roy Diaz ’02 Assumes Position as Law School Alumni Association President

to invest in the success and betterment of the

law school and our community. i joined the board

because i am committed to these tenets.”

as board president, dr. diaz says that he wants

“the 62nd year of the Lsaa to serve as a bench-

mark for creating a culture of engagement — a

culture that fosters the notion of students, faculty,

staff, and alumni actively engaged and invested in

the success and advancement of the school and

our community.”

uW Law alumni director Beverly sanders and the

uW Law school alumni association are ecstatic

to welcome and work with dr. diaz in his new role

as president of the association. diaz serves as an

extraordinary example of a devoted and highly

engaged alumnus who contributes equally to the

law school and the campus as a whole. the board

is already moving forward in their work to make

dr. diaz’s vision of a more engaged, collaborative

alumni board a reality.

dr. diaz currently serves as a member of

the united Way of King County fundraising

Cabinet, as well as a trustee of the university

of Washington alumni association.

dean and Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law

and jurisprudence at the george Washington

university Law school. He was also a professor

at Columbia university for more than 20 years,

and served as a law clerk to the late Chief (then

associate) justice William H. rehnquist of the

united states supreme Court.

President Young has held numerous government

positions, including deputy under secretary for

economic and agricultural affairs and ambas-

sador for trade and environmental affairs in the

department of state during the presidency of the

first President Bush. He also served as a member

of the u.s. Commission on international religious

freedom from 1998 to 2005 and chaired the Com-

mission on two occasions.

10

James Mackler ’97Nashvi lle

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James Mackler

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He was not referring to his first year of law

school or the “big, ugly concrete building”

better known as Condon Hall. Mackler wrote

the blog entry after completing survival evasion

resistance and escape (sere) training in

southern alabama. sere is a military program

that provides training in evading capture,

survival skills and the military code of conduct,

all crucial for Black Hawk helicopter pilots

preparing for deployment to iraq.

on september 11, 2001, Mackler, then a

successful litigation attorney in Colorado, felt

driven to defend his country. joining the fBi was

the logical choice for the uW school of Law grad,

but the fBi was not hiring lawyers at the time. so,

like many other young men and women, Mackler

contacted his local army recruiter. there was only

one problem – Mackler was 30 years old, much

older than the other recruits. Mackler applied

for an age waiver, finally entering the army on

november 11, 2003.

encouraged to attend officer candidate school,

the former Public interest Law association (PiLa)

grant recipient, President of the Moot Court

Honor Board, and Member of the order of

Barristers and order of the Coif could have easily

become a member of the jag Corps. instead, he

chose to become a helicopter pilot. Mackler was

the oldest member of his class, which primarily

consisted of 18 to 20-year-olds, most of whom

were recently out of high school.

after a year and a half of grueling training camps

in oklahoma, alabama, and Kentucky, and with his

law school days far behind him, Mackler readied for

deployment to iraq. Mackler remembers the day in

May 2005 when he stood for his division review at

ft. Campbell in Kentucky:

The plan, rehearsed the previous day, was for all

the companies in the 5th Battalion to form up at the

staging area. We would then march together to the

parade field and link with the rest of the division for

the planned review. I met with Bravo Company and

joined my co-workers in a mass formation. The First

Sergeants proceeded to arrange everyone in the

Battalion in size order.

I am about average height, and as a result, found

myself standing in the center of the formation.

This is an ideal location for blending in. I listened,

smiling to myself, as the Specialist next to me

complained to the Sergeant next to her.

“All of my friends are short and not standing near

me,” she said.

“Make some friends in this area,” the Sergeant

suggested.

“Nah,” she said, inclining her head toward me.

“The only people around here are snobby aviators.”

“They have no reason to be snobby,” the Sergeant

informed her. “They are not even required to have

college diplomas anymore.”

I smiled but had to say something. Just loud

enough for the two of them to hear I muttered,

“I don’t need no fancy book learnin’ Sergeant.”

“ I t is absolutely incredible how much

stress a human being can take and

sti l l continue to function.”

wrote alumnus James Mackler (’97) in h is blog on January 22, 2005

12

after arriving in iraq with the 101st airborne

division, Mackler flew a uH-60 Black Hawk

helicopter on air assault missions, landing in

hostile areas from battlefields to busy roads.

Working through holidays and sometimes

all night long, Mackler was part of a team

that rescued fellow soldiers and transported

dignitaries. He flew a “hero” mission to “pick up

the body of a soldier killed in action for transport

to an air force base for the final trip home.”

“We landed at the pick-up site,” Mackler recalls.

“the crews lined up on either side of the cargo

door while the chaplain, his assistant, and two

soldiers from Mortuary affairs carefully loaded

the flag-draped body bags into the aircraft.

We stood at attention and saluted in the dark.”

He had five heroes riding with him that night.

Mackler also flew aerial snap traffic control points

(tCPs). “these involve loading the aircraft with

infantry and a bomb sniffing dog and flying

around looking for suspicious vehicles and

people,” Mackler explains. “When something

suspicious was spotted, we swooped down,

dropped off the ground forces, and provided

aerial security while they conducted the

searches. this allowed me to get used to doing

quick landings in fields and roads, and to get

comfortable flying around buildings.”

Mackler remembers flying over beautiful

mountainous areas with peaks that reached

10,000 feet and were dusted with snow. not

concerned about being shot, he flew the

helicopter around the serpentine canyon walls,

taking in the spectacular landscape. But most

often he saw the more brutal parts of war.

“the oil refineries in Kirkuk in northern iraq

suffered a serious attack creating a fire that

lasted for days,” Mackler says. “the area had

been ravaged by roadside bombs. five soldiers

were killed by a massive bomb. We flew one of

the Colonels to the scene. the vehicle was still

burning when we arrived.”

Working side by side in a combat zone bonds

most soldiers. so does long nights in the

barracks. at first, Mackler took a ribbing. Why

in the world would a lawyer want to give up a

lucrative practice? He must be a terrible lawyer.

Visions of his contract classes with Professor

Wolcher, torts with Professor Hicks, con law

with Professor trautman and trial advocacy

tHe u.s.eMBassY, green zone, saddaM’s PaLaCe. MaCKLer at Bone MCaLLester norton in nasHViLLe

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with Professor Weil danced in his head as he

answered questions from army personnel about

their “friends” who were having legal problems.

“i was happy to respond, as it was intellectually

challenging,” Mackler says.

When Mackler recalls his time in iraq he

remembers always “feeling uncomfortable”

wearing his uniform exclusively, living without

privacy with four men in a tiny room while

working different shifts, and coping with an

outdoor environment that felt as if someone was

blasting him with a “hair dryer full of sand.”

“When i was in law school i focused on a task

and excluded distractions,” Mackler says. “in

the army i needed a broader focus and had to

take in everything. for example, while flying the

helicopter, checking my surroundings and my

instruments, i had to play close attention to the

radio. if i missed the call, i wouldn’t know there

was other aircraft in the area. as a pilot i had to be

calm under pressure but had to take a moment to

think about my every action. i was going 150 miles

an hour just a few feet above the ground.”

according to Mackler, this experience made him

a better lawyer, particularly in the courtroom.

“While listening, i’m also taking in the whole

process and i use what i need,” he says.

returning from iraq, with four and a half

years left of his eight-year military obligation,

Mackler joined the jag on the university of

Virginia campus. He was eventually assigned

to the position of senior trial Counsel at ft.

Campbell, where he conducted courts martial

and administrative separation proceedings, and

supervised murder and rape cases. in april of

2011, he left the army and worked for a short

time as an attorney with the u.s. department

of Labor enforcing Mine safety and Health

administration regulations.

Mackler knows that he will never again be in a

situation as stressful as deploying to combat. His

military experience gives him a perspective that

few attorneys can bring to their law practices.

in iraq, Mackler often asked himself why he

chose to fly Black Hawk helicopters. He didn’t

take naturally to flying and found it seriously

challenging. Looking back on that experience

now, he says he knows that although he was a

good aviator, he will “always be a better lawyer

than a pilot.”

in july 2011, Mackler returned to private practice

and joined the 30-attorney law firm Bone

Mcallester norton, PLLC in nashville. the firm

is known as being socially active and is open to

Mackler’s continued service in the army reserves

and to his passion for assisting veterans. He’s

currently working on developing a litigation and

general business practice with an emphasis on

advising former military personnel who want to

enter the civilian entrepreneurial sector.

Mackler knows that he wi l l never again be in a situation

as stressfu l as deploying to combat. H is mi l i tary

experience gives him a perspective that few attorneys

can bring to thei r law practices.

14

James Hutchens LL.M. ’05cH I cago

guinea pigs. that was the term Professor Dwight

Drake ’73 called the students in his 2004 class

after returning to teaching. James Hutchens,

LL.M. ’05 was one of those students. “We all

called him ‘the drake,’” an endearing term for one

of his favorite all-time professors, Hutchens recalls.

Hutchens now works for robert t. napier and

associates, P.C., a boutique law firm in Chicago.

His practice includes estate planning, probate and

business law.

“drake was a gifted teacher who could easily

transition from education to private practice to

running a business and back to teaching. i had two

classes with him, estate and gift tax and advising

Private Business owners. these were phenomenal

classes, and apply to the area of law i chose. i

use the information provided in those classes on

a daily basis to assist me in the estate planning

field,” Hutchens explains.

Hutchens attended Cal Poly san Luis obispo and

earned his undergraduate degree in business with

an accounting focus. a year into his studies, he

realized he could not see himself as an accountant

and decided to attend law school. He went to

Penn state for his j.d. “this was right after Penn

state had purchased the dickinson school of

Law. at the time there was only one tax professor

there,” Hutchens says. “But i took all the tax

classes offered and decided i wanted to pursue a

legal career in tax.”

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associate Professor Dwight Drake ’73 seattLe

Hutchens came to uW Law to pursue his LL.M.

in taxation right after completing his j.d. at Penn

state. He had wanted to return to the West Coast,

because he is originally from the san diego area.

But uW Law was the only West Coast school

to which he applied. “i liked the flexibility that

the uW program offered,” he says. “and, quite

frankly, the quarter system was a huge draw. a

student can experience so many more classes in a

quarter system.”

“the LL.M. program has given me the ability to

understand my clients’ needs better,” Hutchens

says. “the courses were much more in-depth

than my law school classes. these courses

prepared me for working in an estate planning

firm and assisting clients with transferring wealth,

minimizing tax liability, and making sure that their

estate passes as intended.”

Hutchens credits Professors drake, sam donaldson

and roland Hjorth for providing an education

that he uses every day. But it’s Professor drake

and his “guinea pig” textbook titled Advising

Private Business Owners that he applies regularly

to his practice.

16

I knew lawyers ate th is stuff up, but I d idn’t know if

law students would know enough to understand it.

as it turned out, the students loved it.

Professor drake describes why that might be:

“typically in law schools you’ve had business

planning courses. they focus on select problems

of big public companies, such as mergers. My

experience is that most lawyers work with privately

held businesses, which make up 99 percent of

american businesses. this class was the capstone

after students took corporate tax, estate and

gift tax, and partnership tax. When i started to

develop the course, we really didn’t know if it

would work.

“the materials were rough. they were mainly

articles i had written and revised over the years,

bound — not expertly — into a big green book.

the pagination was off and there was no table

of contents. i knew that the content worked for

lawyers. i knew lawyers ate this stuff up, but i

didn’t know if law students would know enough

to understand it. as it turned out, the students

loved it.

“When i first came to the law school,” Professor

drake continues, “i told dean Knight that i

wanted to develop a class, and if the class worked

i wanted to develop a book. and if the book

worked, i wanted to take it to other law schools.

We’ve accomplished all that. in fact, about

40 schools have used this book in a planning

course similar to the one i have developed here.

the book is supported by a Web site and 18

PowerPoint presentations with over 550 slides.

it includes a syllabus, a course description, and

sample chapters, everything a professor needs

to offer his class. i even provide sample test

questions to those who ask. the course focuses

on real business planning challenges, and often is

taught by an adjunct professor who has a business

planning practice. this is not a case book. these

are my writings. the book is very tight, which

is why a student needs some grounding in tax

before taking the course.”

the book has been a good seller for West

Publishing. now in its third edition, the book is

titled Business Planning: Closely Held Enterprises.

the class has also been a successful addition to

the LL.M. curriculum. “i require a student to write

18 three-to-six page case study memos during

the course of the class if he or she wants to lock-

in a good grade,” Professor drake says. “Many

students write more than the required 18. some

of them find that they are very good at writing the

memos and enjoy doing it. i tell them, ‘You are

going to be practicing law in three months. You’ve

got to become good at writing analytical planning

memos. don’t do it for the grade. if you’re doing

only the minimum just to lock-in a grade, you are

missing the point.’ Planning lawyers are always

writing. it prepares the students to sit down with

a client.”

Hutchens agrees: “drake’s course gave me

the ability to understand my clients better,

and prepared me for working in the estate

planning field.”

Professor drake says: “What i find is that students

like Hutchens, students from prior years, call me

and say it was the best course they ever had. i

have former students who call for updates and

help with specific questions. every two years i

have to write a new edition of the book to keep it

up to date. in the latest edition, for example, there

is a whole new section on health care reform and

tax reform challanges.”

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the topics in the book cover the gamut of

business advising, including such topics as

understanding the client’s objectives, choice

of entity planning, entity formation challenges,

co-owner protection planning, executive

compensation planning, owner life insurance

planning, diversification planning, competitor

collaborations, entity conversion challenges,

asset protection planning, family business

transition planning, employee benefits, and

valuing closely held business enterprises. it also

includes a chapter titled “the Lawyer’s role –

Building a Practice.”

in the preface to the book, Professor drake points

out, “Perhaps the most vital skill … is the advisor’s

ability to effectively communicate…. it’s not easy;

many don’t even try.”

Professor drake explains, “this, more than any

other factor, explains why only a pitifully low 17

percent of the respondents in a recent survey of

successful business owners listed a lawyer as their

most trusted outside advisor.”

at a full-service estate planning firm like napier

& associates, Hutchens knows the importance of

listening to the client and understanding the client’s

personality. “some clients are reluctant to give you

the full picture. others find it difficult to consider

the concept of business and estate planning. i

remember attending a northern trust seminar.

the question was asked of 100 high-net-worth

individuals in the Chicago area, ‘Why do you not

have an estate plan?’ over half of the people said

they were waiting for something to happen.”

Hutchens does not agree with the “wait and

see” approach. Hutchens thinks being proactive

and involved with clients’ wealth matters from

the beginning provides more comprehensive

assistance. Professor drake applauds this style.

“Many lawyers mistakenly assume that contacts

with an existing client should only be initiated

by the client when the client needs service,”

Professor drake writes in his book. “[Clients] like

being reminded that they are important to you.

it’s likely that many of them regularly are being

courted by your competition. Your challenge is to

remind them that you value their relationship, that

you are at the top of your game, and that you are

ready and able to serve their needs.”

Hutchens recommends that law students, in

addition to enrolling in Professor drake’s class,

take a psychology course. “Working with clients

is often tricky,” he says. “in my few short years of

estate administration, i’ve seen complex business

sales, and experienced a range of situations

involving clients fighting over a bird bath, to

clients discovering how a deceased loved one

really lived their life. every client has unique needs

and goals.”

Hutchens is not quite sure what happened to his

original bound manuscript, in green hardback, of

Professor drake’s book, but he cherishes the copy

of the first edition that Professor drake sent to him

and all the students in the class shortly after its

publication. inside the front cover, Professor drake

wrote, “thank you for being the guinea pigs.”

18

toni Rembe ’60san francisco

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toni Rembe

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it’s hard to believe that the quiet, shy woman

(one of only four women in her 1960 law school

graduating class) would go on to become the

first female partner of the law firm Pillsbury

Winthrop shaw Pittman LLP, the managing

partner of its firm-wide tax department, and a

member of the firm’s executive committee. this

quiet powerhouse would also blaze the barely lit

path for other women to become leaders within

the legal profession.

in august, rembe was honored as one of 20

women who were described as “living legends”

by The Recorder, a legal-content publication

in California. rembe probably cringed when

she heard herself described as a legend,

partly because she is so modest and partly

because it does not seem that long ago she

attended law school.

rembe received her B.s. in Law at the university

of Washington in 1958 and her LL.B. (j.d.) from

the law school in 1960. “i grew up in seattle and

attended uW as an undergraduate,” said rembe.

“Law school was an intimidating experience for

a woman in the 1950s, and it was a comfortable

and easy transition to the uW program. i had

spent my senior year abroad at the university of

geneva studying french literature and needed

more credits to finish my bachelor’s degree,

which i was able to do —- during my first year of

law school.”

studying law came naturally to rembe.

“thanks to my magical mother, i grew up

loving shakespeare (particularly Portia’s

‘quality-of-mercy’ speech), Carroll’s Alice

in Wonderland, and all things foreign and

seemingly unattainable,” she says. “also, i

enjoyed challenging the norm and learned a lot

arguing with my logical and more conservative

dad.” she mentioned that many of her beatnik

undergraduate days were spent in informal

discussions trying to arrive at the meaning of it

all. “since i wasn’t a natural writer or actor, nor

keen on the sciences, law seemed a logical path

to exploring the world.”

in the 1950s it was a common view that women

would either have children or a career but not

both, rembe notes. Her father felt a woman’s

place was in the home, but rembe set out to

pursue a profession. “i was extremely shy and

introverted at the time and very nervous in my

law school classes where there were few other

women and sometimes none at all,” rembe

recalls. “in a way, it was a benefit. i would

prepare thoroughly for my classes, never raise

my hand, but when the professor called on me,

i had the answer. intensive study at this early

stage made the courses more interesting and

ultimately made me a better lawyer.”

remembering her law school days, rembe

cites Professors Cornelius Peck and Warren

shattuck for their sharp analytical minds. they

were “smart and terrifying and made you feel

good if you were on the right track,” she says.

rembe also mentions the “wise and equally

terrifying torts professor, john richards.” rembe

notes that in her undergraduate years Professor

Pelligrini’s shakespeare classes, Professor

Costigan’s english History series, and Professor

treadgold’s asian and russian history studies

“all contributed to a more open and inquiring

approach to legal issues.”

enjoyable law school memories included

passionately argumentative student study

seminars and playing chess with fellow student,

judy Callison, in the ladies’ lounge between

classes. What did she not enjoy? Long class

lectures after lunch and “third year redundancies.”

While studying for the bar exam, rembe spent

a summer working on foreign tax credit issues

for united fruit at the ryan swanson firm in

seattle. When she passed the bar, she was torn

between a job at the ryan firm or more world

experience. “john ryan, our next door neighbor,

was a wonderful lawyer and mentor but i decided

with some trepidation to get a master’s degree in

taxation at new York university school of Law. at

that time women law graduates, if they found work

20

at all in a corporate law firm, worked in domestic

relations and trusts and estates departments,

frequently as clerks with little prospect of

engagement in international issues.”

at nYu she was the only woman in an extremely

large “intimidating” class and continued to over-

prepare. one well-known corporate tax professor,

john eustice, later told her that he commenced

teaching in 1960 and was more nervous having a

woman in his class than she was being there.

after graduating rembe was encouraged by

her professors to interview on Wall street. it was

before eeoC and most firms said “no”, referring

to her gender. they also said that that while they

understood her desire to practice law, their clients

would not.

thanks to an advanced degree in taxation at a

time when there was a shortage of corporate tax

lawyers and with the help of her professors, she

received two offers.

rembe landed at Chadbourne, Parke, Whiteside &

Wolff (now Chadbourne & Parke) at 25 Broadway

in Manhattan and was put to work on tax planning

for a potential tWa-Pan am merger while

studying for the new York bar. as an associate

she gleaned experience on corporate and

international tax issues, and later transferred from

Chadbourne to the prestigious West Coast firm

of Pillsbury, Madison and sutro in san francisco

(now, Pillsbury Winthrop shaw Pittman LLP) which

represented many large international companies.

When she started, she was the only woman

lawyer in the firm. she was still very shy and

uncomfortable speaking in public.

When asked why Chadbourne and Pillsbury were

willing to hire a woman, rembe thought for a

moment then replied, “during my early career, the

partners with daughters often turned out to be

the most supportive. i think the men who hired me

were thinking of their own daughters and willing

to give me and other women an equal chance.”

she also mentioned that she received a great deal

of support and advice from the firm’s secretaries,

“who were happy to see a woman break into the

all male sanctuary.”

Her first large assignment at Pillsbury involved

tax planning for the Mangla dam construction

project in Pakistan. Her developing international

tax and construction law expertise later took

her to south america, asia and many countries

throughout the world representing firm clients.

she also developed an expertise in California

corporate tax matters at a time when California’s

method of taxing international corporations was

a world-wide cause célèbre and raised united

states Constitutional issues. While working on

early international tax planning for intel, she was

introduced to her future husband, arthur rock, by

another partner who was advising on a possible

public offering for the company. (rock and rembe

were married in 1975.)

PiLLsBurY PartnersHiP dinner aPriL 1971

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although she preceded the women’s movement

of the 70s, she was given some tough assignments

at Pillsbury. rembe never wanted to jeopardize

the possibility of other women attorneys coming

to the firm. as she puts it: “My theory was to work

hard, keep my head down and do the best job

possible - always!” rembe was proud of the firm’s

progress in hiring women. she was named the first

female partner in 1970 and many followed. during

her years with Pillsbury (1964 to her retirement in

2004), rembe served as managing partner of the

tax department and as a member of the firm’s

executive committee.

in the 1970s, rembe also began serving on the

board of a long list of prominent corporations

and organizations. Her first board appointment

was for Potlatch Corporation, a sustainable

forestry company with headquarters in spokane,

Washington. “they were among the first

corporations who wanted to hire a woman as

general counsel and to put women on the board,”

rembe remarked. Judith Runstad ’74 currently

sits on this board.

from the one board membership grew many,

including at&t, safeco and transamerica. she also

served on the board of an international insurance

company, aegon n.V., based in the Hague,

and traveled to europe frequently. for someone

who doesn’t like attention or awards, rembe has

a number of them, including the 2008 sandra

day o’Connor Board of excellence award, an

award recognizing the effort in promoting female

attorneys for company directorships. and, uW

Law presented her with the distinguished alumni

award in 1999.

now retired from Pillsbury, rembe assumed

she’d enjoy more leisure time, but instead she

has recently completed a year as chair of Presidio

graduate school. rembe explains, “through its

affiliation with alliant university, the school gives

an MBa and an MPa in sustainable management,

where concepts of ethics, the environment

and the human dimension are woven through

all the traditional business school and public

policy courses. there is also more of a focus on

“longtermism” and government, business and

ngos working together to solve common issues.

“together with a small hard-working board,

interim president, interim dean, and outstanding

student body representatives, we found a terrific

new president and addressed other issues during

the last academic year.”

rembe is still very much involved with the van

Loben sels foundation, a private foundation

specializing in funding direct legal services

and social justice initiatives in the Bay area and

northern California. “i have a great deal of respect

and admiration for public interest lawyers who

represent the disadvantaged. they provide an

outlet for frustration and a form of balance that

has helped keep our diverse nation together.”

she feels the need for broader access to justice

is even more critical given recent world events.

rembe is also involved with the arthur and toni

rembe rock Center for Corporate governance

at stanford university, and hopes to spend more

time with regional theater groups.

Humbly she adds, “i’m also working on being a

better human being.”

toni reMBe (CourtesY PiLLsBurY, Win-

tHroP sHaW PittMan LLP)

2222

CLass of 1940

joHn daVis

Remember when…Remember when…

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Remember when…An interview with John Davis ’40

Q. Many articles have been written about you

during your long, distinguished career. In one,

you mention that you chose law school because

law was a “fierce, intellectual challenge.”

A. Yes, that is correct. I can tell you how that

happened. We subscribed to Life magazine and

there was an article on James McCauley Landis,

who was named dean of Harvard Law School. The

article said that no man could be a better model

of fierce intellectual effort. That phrase grabbed

me. It was exactly what I had wanted to pursue.

I had been working in banks up until then, and I

was looking forward to law school. That article

was the spark.

Q. You are also a double dawg with a B.A. from

UW. What was your major as an undergraduate?

A. I majored in English literature, where I learned

to read and write. These are two deficiencies I

see among lawyers. As a lawyer, one needs to be

able to express oneself and make other people

understand what one is saying. Communication is

Remember when Judson Falknor was dean of the law school? John Davis, founder

of Davis Wright Tremaine, does. Falknor was dean from 1936 to 1951, and Davis

graduated in 1940. Now one of the law school’s oldest living graduates, Davis

recalls his experience as if it were yesterday.

absolutely vital to practicing law successfully.

So I had an advantage over the young people

in my law school classes.

Q. Did you go to law school directly after

graduating from UW?

A. No, I didn’t go to law school right away. I stayed

out one year because when I graduated college,

the bank I had worked at part-time, University

National Bank, had offered me a full-time job as

a payroll teller. I made $75 a month, and that was

a lot of money. I also took some of the banking

courses they offered.

When I went to law school, I offered to work part-

time at the bank to help on teacher paydays, when

the line for the bank ran from the street to our

tellers’ cages. I suggested that I work afternoons

Monday through Friday and all day on Saturday as

an assistant teller. I told my boss, “I’ll work those

lines down so that you are serving those people

faster and better.” He agreed. That’s how I worked

my way through law school.

Remember when…

24

I thought it was the end of the world when I

took time off from school to work at the bank.

I had taken seven straight quarters including the

summer. Now I felt I was behind my classmates,

but when I returned I became the article editor

for the Law Review and the president of the Law

School Student Body.

Q. What do you remember about your time

on the Law Review?

A. I remember when the editor, Donald Simpson,

and I had to put out the Law Review – quickly.

Simpson was the number one student in our class.

Together we spent more than one day in the empty

library checking the footnotes of some laboriously

long articles. Here were the two senior people

doing the scut work to make sure there wasn’t a

wrong citation. I was thinking that this was silly.

We shouldn’t have been doing this but we did it. I

remember running all over the library. One would

run and one would edit. We had to make it fast.

Q. What else do you remember about

those days?

A. I remember winning the election for president

of the law school student body by one vote over

Harwood Bannister. I had no reason to beat him. We

didn’t have any debating contest. It was about equal.

I also remember that I had a good relationship

with Warren Shattuck. He taught contracts. I

remember he was interested in photography,

and my wife, Ruth, and I would teach him a little

about enlargements and the like.

Professor Sholley taught constitutional law.

Professor Sholley would say that for every court

session he needed to add one week to what he

had to tell us about the constitution. That was the

only class I was ever in that the finishing bell rang

so soon I could not believe it was more than 10

minutes. I was just enthralled with constitutional law.

Then there was Joseph O’Bryan who taught

criminal law. He was an older practitioner – no

nonsense.

Q. And what do you remember of Dean Falknor?

A. On the first day of law school Dean Falknor told

us if we were in law school because we thought that

law was a pathway to making money, we needed

to be disabused of that idea. He told us, “If you are

interested in money, pack your bags and go over

to the business school. Take the right courses. The

law is not right for you. But if you want to have a

satisfactory life of service, and you are interested in

serving your clients and willing to accept reasonable

compensation, then you are on the right course. But

don’t stay here for the money.”

He made it very clear that the law is a service

profession. I was grateful that he set the table

for us right there. It stuck with us, most of us any

way. Most of my class did not have thoughts of

grandeur.

I also remember Dean Falknor as my mentor.

Q. How was he your mentor?

A. I was interested in being a clerk to one of

the Supreme Court justices and had planned to

clerk for Justice Simpson. One day, before I had

a chance to begin my clerkship, I was called into

the dean’s office. There was the dean and Judge

Simpson sitting there, and they said, “We’ve

decided that you are ready to practice law. We

want you to graduate and practice law.“ The dean

dean judson faLKnor

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told me to call on his father at Poe, Falknor, Emory

and Howe. So I started working for that firm three

months before I graduated law school.

Then the U.S. joined in the war. After Pearl Harbor

two of our associates were accepted in the Navy.

I had spent three years in the National Guard,

but my eyesight was not fit for sea duty and they

would not consider me for Intelligence. Then I

began working on all of the new law that was

coming up on the subject of financing government

contracts. But I heard that the Navy was looking

for young lawyers to be contract supervisors so I

went back to the Navy as I had experience in this

field and made some innovations in this field. But

I was still not able to join because of my eyes. So

I decided to go to work in the shipyards handling

their labor relations and other contract work. I

would go to work in the shipyards during the day

and then practice law at night. I pulled double

duty. I burned both ends of the candle.

Mr. Emory, one of the named partners in the law

firm, became very ill and had to go to Cleveland

for medical treatment. He asked me to take care of

his desk while he was gone. I had already been in

banking before I even graduated. I did a good job.

After four or five months went by, Mr. Emory came

back. I was still an associate at that time and had

already done a tremendous job for the business.

When I did this work for the firm I had to take time

off from the shipyards but when I went back to the

shipyard my job had been taken.

So I then went to Emory and Howe and asked if

there was a future there. Mr. Howe said, “You stay

with us and we’ll take care of you.” Well, I didn’t

really like that, because I wanted to become a

partner some day. So I went back to Dean Falknor

to ask his opinion. The dean didn’t think I would

have a future there and suggested I try another

firm. That firm did offer to make me a partner. But

I realized I didn’t want to be a name at the end of

line. So I decided to open my own law firm.

daVis’ reaL aiMs 1944

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joHn daVis and greg adaMs, WitH joHn M. daVis sCHoLarsHiP reCiPient CeLia sMaLL

First I wrote notes to myself when I was trying

to decide what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted

freedom of action and a good reputation for

ability, integrity and service. I wanted to have a

partnership free of wrangling and jealousies.

Q. What happened after the war?

A. John Riese, who was in the Navy — his eyes

were okay — came back from the war. He had

worked with me at Emory & Howe. We wanted to

form a partnership so we went to talk to the dean.

Dean Falknor said that was a fine idea and we

became partners with the dean’s blessing.

Less than three years later, Mr. Emory said ‘we

need you two boys.’ So once again we went to see

the dean. I thought he would say it was not a good

idea. After all he had told us before that there

was no future there but the dean said “Wait. That

firm has changed but you need to become the

Managing Partner, you draft the papers.”

And that is how the firm Emory, Howe, Davis

& Riese was formed.

I had also nurtured notions of going to Yale to

get a master’s degree so that I could teach law.

Instead, Dean Falknor offered me an opportunity

to teach contracts. I taught contracts for three

years. Then he asked me to teach the advanced

secured transaction course, since by this time I had

actually been doing these transactions for banks.

Dean Falknor also had me teach the ethics course

with Harold Shefelman.

I enjoyed teaching. I realize that there is a lot of

satisfaction when you see lights go on around

the room. For my advanced secured transaction

course, I brought in bankers to talk directly with my

class so that the students got the feeling of what it

was like to finance a business. We were just getting

the first editions of the Uniform Commercial Code

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at the time. For the students’ term papers I said

they could contact the banker if they wanted to

learn more. I think this was unusual at that time,

because the young faculty hadn’t done anything

but teach, and I was one of the few teachers who

had been out in the business world.

I do believe that I made the right choice, though,

not to pursue teaching as a full-time professor.

Over the years, the firm has grown steadily and

is now the internationally renowned firm of Davis

Wright Tremaine with 500 lawyers, nine offices

and approximately 600 other full-time employees.

From the beginning Davis set the tone of the

firm to be one of respect, companionship and

harmony. He has earned the admiration of those

who work for and around him.

Gordon Jaynes ’54 got a

part-time job at Davis’ firm

while in law school.

“I assisted in the law library of

John’s firm. I was in awe of all

of the lawyers and wondered if

I ever could achieve their skills

and demeanors. Everyone was gracious to me

and I felt that I definitely wanted to enter private

practice. It was clear to me that John was not only

what is now called ‘a rainmaker’, but also he was

seen inside and outside of the firm as Seattle’s top

banking lawyer.

“After practicing from London and occasionally

visiting Seattle, I remained in touch with John.

He invited me to join him and one of his partners

for lunch. During lunch, when John was explaining

to his partner that I had worked for the firm while

in law school, John reached into his jacket inside

pocket and pulled out a folded piece of 8 1/2 x

11 paper to show his partner and me: it was an

old organization chart of the firm complete to the

lowest box on the chart — Gordon Jaynes, library

assistant. This was more than 20 years after the

chart had been prepared!”

Mark A. Hutcheson ‘67 is

Partner and Firmwide Chairman

of Davis Wright Tremaine

“Within our firm and the

entire Pacific Northwest legal

community, John Davis is

recognized as a superb lawyer

who knows and understands the law and who has

practiced our profession with the highest degree of

integrity and honesty. We all aspire to be like John.

To this day, he continues to serve us as an excellent

role model. He inspires all of us and always will.”

Susan G. Duffy ‘81 is Partner-

in-Charge of the Seattle Office

of Davis Wright Tremaine

“Throughout his career,

John has believed and has

guided our firm in the belief

that ‘the work is always

better than the rewards.’ He has viewed his roles

as an attorney, a community leader, an educator,

a mentor and a father as opportunities to serve

and contribute to the betterment of humankind.

He has embraced the intellectual challenge,

hard work and personal commitment each role

demanded of him and without a great concern for

what he received in return.”

Greg F. Adams ’77

is a Partner at Davis

Wright Tremaine

“As an early mentor to me,

John established specific

expectations—for both

responsiveness and quality—

that were extraordinarily challenging, but he

balanced them with an obvious confidence that

I could and would meet his demanding standards.

He was far more certain of my capacity to stretch

and rise to the occasion than I was, and I found his

trust in my abilities empowering and motivating.

Many generations of lawyers at Davis Wright

and elsewhere owe much of our professional

development and success to John and his

active mentoring.”

28

it be speaking at CLEs, writing articles, working

on legislative matters, or providing pro bono

representation to needy individuals and worthy

organizations,” he says.

Thomas has worked on legislation reforming the

state’s estate tax laws, state laws that coordinate

with federal estate and gift taxation rules, and a

number of state laws relating to probate and trust

administration. He chairs a WSBA joint section

task force comprised of members of the WSBA

Real Property, Probate and Trust and Elder Law

Sections. The task force analyzed the new Uniform

Power of Attorney Act and drafted a proposed

version of the act for Washington. Members of

the task force hope the new act will improve

administration of the statute and create additional

safeguards to minimize elder abuse. Once the

proposed bill obtains WSBA approval, it will be

presented to the Legislature for consideration.

Boxx has also been involved in legislative reform

throughout her career, first as a practicing estate

planning attorney in Seattle and now as a faculty

member. “The Washington estate planning bar

has a long tradition of active legislative reform,”

she says. “Washington has some of the most

innovative probate and trust statutes in the

country, because our estate planning attorneys

recognized that to best serve individual clients,

they needed to serve the community as a whole

When Luke E. Thomas ’02 began law school, he

did not intend to focus on classes in the estate

planning field, such as those taught by Karen

Boxx ’83. “Although both my grandfather and

father were estate planning attorneys, I never

thought I would follow in their footsteps,” he says.

“But once I took the time to learn more about the

practice, I was fascinated and started taking every

estate planning course I could.”

Upon graduation, he joined Karr Tuttle Campbell,

PSC as a member of the Tax, Trusts, & Estates

Department. As a third-year associate, he joined

the Estate and Gift Tax Committee of the Tax

Section of the Washington State Bar Association in

2004. “Although I was easily a generation younger

than most of the members on the committee,

the more senior members both encouraged my

participation and helped me learn the ropes,”

Thomas recalls.

Within months, Thomas was asked to chair

multiple legislation drafting sub-committees,

which led to his appointment as the chair of the

Estate and Gift Tax Committee in 2006. About

the same time, he joined K & L Gates, LLP, as a

member of its Private Clients Practice Group. He

credits the firm with offering exceptional support

of his public service endeavors. “Without my

firm’s support, I would never be able to do the

amount of public service work that I do — whether

Professor Karen Boxx ’83 & Luke Thomas ’02 of K&L Gates

& Faculty Firm

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Professor Karen Boxx ’83 & Luke Thomas ’02 of K&L Gates

and improve the laws that apply to everyone.

There is also a genuine sense of duty among

lawyers who work on legislative reform. Lawyers

understand the impact of how statutes are

written and are in the best position to improve

them. Of course, there’s also a sense of pride

and accomplishment. Estate planners don’t win

big cases. Our victories are quiet, but it’s very

satisfying to know that you’ve participated in

something that will touch a lot of lives.”

Boxx has worked on numerous legislative projects

over the years and has just completed service as the

chair of the Real Property, Probate & Trust (RPPT)

task force that reviewed the Uniform Trust Code

and made significant revisions to Washington’s

trust statutes. The trust task force met for eight

years, and its proposal was enacted into law this

past session. Boxx is the Probate and Trust Council

director of the RPPT section executive committee,

and she chairs the probate and trust legislative

committee of the section. She and Thomas will

work together on the effort to have the power of

attorney proposal enacted into law. That involves

getting feedback from stakeholders and others

who may have an interest in powers of attorney.

Thomas has already begun the process, meeting

with the state’s Superior Court Judges’ Association,

the Washington Professional Guardianship Council,

interested members of the Legislature, and

other affected sections of the WSBA and individual

members of the Bar. Boxx explains, “There is a sense

of relief when the committee is done with drafting the

proposal, but then the political process begins and

that’s never easy.”

When asked what motivates him to work on

such endeavors, which seem to present endless

roadblocks, Thomas says, “I want to make a difference

in my profession and improve this area of law not

only for the sake of my own clients, but also for my

colleagues around the state and future lawyers

practicing in this area of law. It’s an opportunity to

give back and contribute something big.”

When challenged that his pro bono work for

disadvantaged individuals — and for organizations

such as Children’s Hospital, the Fallen Heroes

Project, the WSBA First Responder Will Clinic

and the Girl Scouts of Western Washington — all

offer an avenue of service but with numerous trips

to Olympia and endless weekend and evening

meetings, Thomas replies, “When we identify

concerns with or problems in our statutes, we all

have a choice to make. We can shrug our shoulders

and accept those problems, or we can roll up our

sleeves and work with our colleagues within the

WSBA to develop a solution. So ask yourself, ‘Will I

simply accept the problems, or will I be part of the

solution?’ I want to be part of the solution.”

KAREN BOxx AND LUKE THOMAS AT THE K&L GATES

OffICES IN SEATTLE

30

By Cheryl Nyberg

The Library is a place.Law students still spend hours in the Library over the course of their law school careers.

They come to the Library to study, prepare for class, write papers, compare notes with

other students, and confer with reference librarians on research strategies. They even

browse books, like the hornbooks, nutshells, and study aids that publishers withhold

from online legal services. Students enjoy the spacious study tables and carrels,

numerous group study rooms, and the natural light streaming in the south-facing

windows and the four glass crystals.

But the Library is not just a place, passively waiting for students and others to bring it

to life. The Library is a service, or more accurately, a collection of services. And many of

those services are provided to UW Law alumni, students, faculty, and others through the

Internet. Whether you live in Seattle, practice in Snohomish, vacation in South Carolina,

or travel to Spain, the Law Library strives to serve you.

For instance, the Library mails books to UW Law alumni through the Law Books on Demand program, lib.law.washington.edu/services/alumni. An alum in Yakima requested and received Minding Your Own Business: The Solo and Small Firm Lawyer’s Guide to a Profitable Practice (2010). Drafting Tribal Laws: A Manual for Tribal Governments (1986) went to a UW Law grad in Olympia. Law Books on Demand was a major convenience for a Bremerton-based alum working on minor issues: Jail Bait (2004), Keeping Kids out of the System (2001), Rethinking Juvenile Justice (2008), Teen Legal Rights (2000), When Kids Get Arrested (2009).

The reference librarians offer legal research assistance to students, alumni, attorneys, and members of the public via the Ask Us email service, lib.law.washington.edu/questions. Of the questions that come from people who are not affiliated with the University of Washington, more than half come from outside of the Seattle area.

The Library’s blog and website are popular around the country and overseas. Since Gallagher Blogs, gallagherlawlibrary.blogspot.com, began in 2009, about 18% of our readers have been located in Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, the Ukraine, Slovenia, China, and India (in order by number of visitors). In

June and July of this year, the Library website, lib.law.washington.edu, was visited by 1,500 users in Canada; 1,185 from the UK; 1,079 from India; 999 from Australia; and 867 from the Philippines. Rounding out this top ten list are Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, China, and Belgium. In the same two months, the website received visits from users in every U.S. state with the greatest number of visitors from California, New York, Texas, Florida, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Oregon, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Approximately half of the U.S.-based traffic on the Gallagher Law Library website comes from states other than Washington.

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A c t L o c A L L y ; I n f L u e n c e G L o b A L L y

Books & Beyond

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the gallagher Law Library is a wonderful place in which to study and conduct research when you

are in seattle. But the reach of the Library’s services and its influence are global.

Thanks to the work of Reba Turnquist and others who select material for the Library collection and the efforts of Judy Davis and the resource-sharing team, the Law Library satisfies requests from hundreds of libraries every year. In February, the Library loaned a book on law and religion to the University of Glasglow. Librarians at the American University in Cairo and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology were able to assist their users with material they borrowed from Gallagher. In the last five years, the Library has loaned books to other libraries in virtually every U.S. state. Nearly 90% of the items we loaned last year went to libraries outside of Washington State.

The Library’s East Asian Law collection is internationally recognized as one of the best in the English-speaking world. A former UW Law professor and eminent Japanese law specialist uses the Copy and Send service, lib.law.washington.edu/copy&send/copy&send, to obtain copies of Japanese court opinion. He also returns to the Library annually to conduct research because of the strength

of the collection. East Asian Law Department (EALD) coordinator Rob Britt answers questions from faculty, students, and alumni using print and online resources. He has given several presentations on Japanese legal research in this country and overseas.

The Library’s large collection of online legal research guides are intended for use by our law students, lib.law.washington.edu/ref/guides. More than 125 guides help legal researchers identify the important print and online sources for doing research in administrative law, admiralty and maritime law, civil procedure, contracts, copyright, education law, environmental law, health law, human rights, immigration, jury verdicts, labor and employment law, legislative history, national security law, patent law, sports law, torts, treaties, the UCC, and other topics.

These guides are also frequently used by other legal researchers and members of the public. A librarian working at the Internal Revenue Service asked permission to adapt the Library’s Finding Guide for Federal Tax Materials, lib.law.washington.edu/ref/fedtaxcht, for

the IRS Library’s intranet page. A reference librarian at the Law Library of Congress comments how frequently she relies on the Gallagher guides.

The graduates of the UW Law Librarianship Program, lib.law.washington.edu/lawlibrarianship—a partnership between the Gallagher Law Library and the Information School—populate law libraries in the United States and around the world. Since its inception in 1939, the program has graduated more than 200 librarians with J.D. degrees. Recent alums hold positions at the law school libraries of Boston, Catholic, Colorado, Columbia, Connecticut, Duke, Georgetown, Loyola (New Orleans), New Mexico, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Santa Clara, and Texas universities. Other grads work in federal and state court libraries and law firm libraries. A 2002 graduate of the program is the Vietnam country director for the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative. Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippine Islands, Singapore, Taiwan, and three Canadian provinces have or have had graduates of the top-rated Law Librarianship Program.

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Minority Bar Association Stakeholders Meeting and Reception May 19, 2011

Scholarship Dinner

May 24, 2011

6 CLaudette Hunt and jeanine LutzenHiser ‘13

7 WaYne ‘57 and anne gittinger and sCott sPansaiL ‘13

8 janet gWiLYM ‘12 and judY MaLeng

in the Spotlight

6

1

1 dean KeLLYe testY WitH guests at tHe MinoritY Bar assoCiation reCePtion

2 dean testY taLKs WitH annie Lee of teaMCHiLd

3 senior adVisor to tHe dean sandra Madrid and assistant dean MiCHeLe storMs

4 MiCHeLLe gonzaLez, assistant dean for ProfessionaL and LeadersHiP deVeLoPMent

5 dainen Penta ‘02 LL.M. sPeaKs at tHe MinoritY Bar assoCiation reCePtion

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2 3

4 5

in the Spotlight

7 8

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1 2

N.Y.C. Alumni Breakfast and

D.C. Alumni & Friends Reception

June 15 & 16, 2011

7 Professor eriC sCHnaPPer sPeaKs to aLuMni in d.C.

8 BrYan steCH ‘09, daVid PerKins ‘05 and iBraHiM sajaLieu BaH ‘05 at tHe neW YorK aLuMni & friends BreaKfast

in the Spotlight

1

2 3

7

8

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Commencement June 12, 2011

1 gates sCHoLar LiLLian HeWKo sPeaKs at CoMMenCeMent

2 sHaMiQ Hussein and His faMiLY at tHe Post-graduation reCePtion on tHe gates HaLL terraCe

3 grads jiaMeng Liu, Hai-CHing Yang and CaitLin steiger

4 KeYnote sPeaKer Professor joeL ngugi addresses tHe CLass of 2011

5 dean testY CongratuLates graduate janaY farMer

6 faCuLtY MeMBers anita Krug, saraH KaLtsounis, HugH sPitzer and jonatHan Kang aWaiting tHe CoMMenCeMent CereMonY

Center for Advanced Study & Research on Intellectual Property

July 14 - July 29, 2011

9 President MiCHaeL Young, Prof. tosHiKo taKenaKa, judge rader and dean KeLLYe testY

10 graduates of tHe 2011 CasriP suMMer institute

11 tHe HonoraBLe randaLL rader CHief judge united states Court of aPPeaLs for tHe federaL CirCuit WasHington d.C.

in the Spotlight

4

5 6

9

10 11

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in actiona Law Degree

over eighty percent of the more than eighty-

five million ethiopians depend on agriculture as

their main livelihood. severe drought conditions

coupled with civil disputes have worsened

ethiopian poverty. Wentzell, dean of the

Haramaya university College of Law, may not

have control over the entire ethiopian economic

system; however, he can do his best to help

promote equitable economic justice through a

joint project he’s initiated with Landesa (formerly

rdi), the university of Washington school of Law,

and Haramaya university College of Law. the

Land tenure institute (Lti), the first of its kind in

ethiopia, has five main objectives:

• Help develop and improve rural land law and policy

• Clarify existing land laws and land rights

• improve equity between women and men pertaining to land rights

• improve scholarship, education and research on land law

• Promote community awareness of equitable land tenure policy as well as enhance the capacity of local stakeholders and government officials to create sustainable models for this development.

the first project the Lti is embarking on is a usaid-

funded national study into the impacts that recent

first-level land certification has had on rural livelihoods

in ethiopia. the findings will be presented as a

national policy brief to the ethiopian government in

the hopes that it will help them better guide the future

development of their land laws and policies. “there is

not much data on this issue and we hope this research

will be an important and vital element used in their

decision-making process,” states Wentzell.

Wentzell will be working on developing the Lti with

the support of Darryl Vhugen ‘82 from Landesa and

Professor Jon Eddy ’69 from uW Law, and many other

faculty and students from Haramaya university. “it is an

interdisciplinary institute, with faculty members from

the College of agriculture, the College of Business

and economics, the department of sociology, institute

of Pastoral and agro-Pastoral studies, and others, all

participating in the Lti’s research programs. it is very

exciting to be involved with such a wide variety of

academics,” Wentzell explains.

the proverbial road to the agricultural and pastoral

nation of ethiopia and this program began many

years ago for Wentzell who arrived at uW school of

Law immediately after serving as an open society

No one knows better than Richard Wentzell ’08 that Ethiopia is experiencing a

staggering contradiction. Although Ethiopia is reporting to have one of the world’s

highest economic growth rates (2010— GDP 8%), it remains mired in crippling

poverty, ranking at the very bottom of the UN Human Development Index.

riCHard WentzeLL, tesfaHun MeLese, Professor saLLie sanford and friends

RichaRD wentzeLL ’08 — ethiopia

38

institute (osi) international scholar in Yerevan,

armenia. osi is a non-profit organization that

helps to promote more open societies by shaping

government policy through support of education,

the media, public health, and human rights,

especially in eastern europe and Central asia.

“at the time i applied to the uW schooi of Law,

i was working at Yerevan state university as an

assistant Professor in the departments of Political

science and sociology. i had always planned

to attend law school, and after my graduate

studies at the London school of economics, and

time spent working in academia, i thought it

made sense to return to the u.s. for law school,”

Wentzell says. “i had also recently been detained

by the military in azerbaijan for traveling to the

disputed region of nagorno-Karabakh without

authorization, so in a sense, too, i was also ready

to leave the Caucasus.”

Wentzell received his undergraduate degree in

Political science and Philosophy from the uW

in 2000. “i didn’t apply anywhere else for law

school. i had such fond memories of seattle,

and of my time at uW. the law school had such

a great reputation, too. i was interested in the

school because of the faculty as well as the wider

uW environment. i must say, though, that being

in seattle was a big draw, and while working in

landlocked armenia i had visions of myriad coffee

shops, cycling on the Burke gilman trail, hiking

in the Cascades, and everything else that seattle

offers, on my mind.”

“Mostly, though, i was drawn by the quality of

legal education, i was impressed by the variety of

educational backgrounds and research interests

of the faculty. it is a relatively small law school for

such a major research university and this adds to

the sense of camaraderie and community. and i

was most lucky to receive a scholarship from the

Washington Law school foundation.

“the faculty was always available to chat and

to help both with class work and any support

needed to find jobs or internships. Professor

anita ramasastry was constantly inquiring into

my career plans and seemed genuinely interested

in my future. she was always helpful in providing

support in whatever way she could. i admire her

for that and i try to extend that same helpful hand

to my students at Haramaya.”

after graduation, Wentzell traveled to ethiopia to

work as a Professor of Law at Haramaya university.

founded in 1954, Haramaya university is the

oldest and most-established higher education

institute in eastern ethiopia with nearly 33,000

students in its regular, extension, and continuing

education programs. the College of Law, founded

in only 2002, is recognized as one of ethiopia’s top

university law programs with an international

faculty and reach, including some of the uW

school of Law’s very own: Professors Pat Kuszler,

sallie sanford, and jon eddy have all spent time at

Haramaya. recent LL.M. graduate, Brooke I.

Glass-Oshea ’10, has also joined the College of

Law full-time as an assistant Professor and as the

editor of the recently established Haramaya Law

Review; Elisha Jussen-Stein Cooke ’11 also

WentzeLL graduation daY at HaraMaYa

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served as the College of Law’s first extern,

working on comparative domestic violence

research while at Haramaya. as well, both Janay

Farmer ’10 and Brenda Tausch-Lapora ’07 spent

time teaching in the College of Law this past year.

it is hoped that more alumni and faculty will also

work and visit Haramaya in the future. Jeni

Barcelos ’10 and Jen Marlow ’09 also visited

Haramaya as part of the affiliated three degrees

Project, and have plans to conduct a joint

environmental law course with the College of Law,

as well as conduct joint research into climate

change issues. Haramaya is located in oromia,

one of the least developed parts of the country,

bordering the somali and afar regions of ethiopia.

Wentzell talks about his experience, “i originally

went as part of a World Bank funded program to

help develop graduate legal education in ethiopia.

the chance to work in east africa combined my

interests in law, education, and development. i’d

always wanted to live and work in africa, and this

provided the perfect opportunity. developing a

country’s legal education system is an integral part

of developing their overall legal system. ethiopia’s

higher education system is quite nascent and as

a consequence its legal education is young and

still developing. until quite recently there was

only one law school in the entire country, and

that was located in the capitol city, addis ababa.

expanding legal education to the outlying regions

was a critical move on the part of the government.

they recognize the need for a well-educated

and informed citizenry. it feels good to be a

part of this initiative, though living in a remote

and outlying area does have its drawbacks.

not many foreigners travel to this region, and

hyenas patrol the campus at night. it is beautiful,

though. i usually take guests to feed the hyenas in

nearby Harar. they seem to love camel meat; the

hyenas, that is.”

Wentzell has experienced a steep learning curve

since moving from a common law to a civil law

country. “i’ve had to adapt and learn about a

completely different legal system since ethiopia

is a civil law country, as well as the nuances of a

pluralist legal system in which civil law, customary

law, and sharia law, are all intertwined. i think my

international law courses, Muslim Legal systems,

for example, with Professor Clark Lombardi,

helped very much in this regard.”

His experience while completing his law degree

was extensive and varied, as well. He had the

opportunity to study european union law in rome,

italy through the uW rome program. He also

worked for the law firm dLa Piper as a summer

associate in their tbilisi, republic of georgia

office, and he had the opportunity to work for the

office of the director of Public Prosecutions for

the state of Western australia in Perth, australia.

not all his experiences while in law school were

outside of north america, however. Wentzell

was employed as a Public defender in the tulalip

tribal Court as part of the tribal Court Clinic.

during his first year of law school Wentzell also

helped develop an online media company in

Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Wentzell describes

his international legal experiences as integral to

his transition and adaptation to the ethiopian

legal system. “i couldn’t have adapted so well to

life in ethiopia if it weren’t for my international

background and the opportunities uW provided

for me while in law school.”

in addition to the development of the Land tenure

institute, the upcoming 2011-2012 academic year

promises to be the most productive of Wentzell’s

legal career. over the last year Wentzell and the

Haramaya College of Law have embarked on

numerous initiatives, including developing free

legal aid clinics for the indigent in nearby Harar

and alemaya towns (plans are also underway

to expand the clinics further in the region), an

LL.M. program in international economic and

Business Law, the first ever College of Law

academic journal, and the general expansion and

updating of its academic curriculum. Wentzell also

plans to expand certain programs, such as the

further development of the recently inaugurated

environmental Policy, social justice, and advocacy

skills Centers, as well as hire additional faculty and

staff for the College.

40

Wentzell elaborates, “We’re constantly in the

process of developing our programs. We recently

updated our national curriculum to include a large

clinical legal education component, and have

also added a national exit exam and a national

externship program, both of which students must

now pass in order to graduate. it is a very exciting

time to be involved in ethiopian higher education.

things are fast progressing, which is a great

sign for the overall development of the country.

education is so vitally important for development

and ethiopia is, for the most part, i believe,

following the correct trajectory in focusing on the

promotion of higher education as a pathway out

of poverty. things are changing for the better on

a daily basis.”

the ability of Haramaya university to graduate

students who can make positive changes in the

ethiopian legal system is Wentzell’s primary goal.

“it excites me to see promising young students in

the classroom, knowing that when they graduate

they will be taking the theory and the ideals we

instill in them and putting them into practice.

they are the future judges, prosecutors, defense

attorneys, and leaders of ethiopia. it’s absolutely

thrilling to be a part of their development, and

the overall development of ethiopian legal

education,” Wentzell exclaims. a young school,

Haramaya university College of Law, has had only

five graduating classes (it recently moved from a

four to a five year LL.B. program). the graduating

class of 2011 was 140 law students.

Building legal capacity in developing countries

is also an ongoing commitment of uW Law. the

law school recently signed a Memorandum of

understanding with the Haramaya university

College of Law. “in order for us to develop and

grow as an institution it is important for us to

have international partners. i couldn’t think of a

better partner than the university of Washington

school of Law, so i reached out to the faculty

for their support. they couldn’t have been more

welcoming. i am still shocked by the level of

support and commitment they have shown,”

Wentzell says. dean testy wrote in a letter to dean

Wentzell, “[a]s you know, uW Law is committed to

producing leaders for the global common good.

We believe our partnership furthers both the

mission of the uW school of Law and Haramaya

university College of Law.”

Professor jon eddY and Professor BeLaY Kassa signing

tHe MeMoranduM of understanding