June 2007

Around the State: Spotlight on Spokane

In addition to Spokane hosting the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships and the NCAA First Round, here’s how our local legal community has shined in recent months:

Spokane attorney received WSBA’S 2006 President’s Award. Bill Hyslop, a principal with Lukins & Annis, P.S., received the WSBA’s President’s Award from 2005-06 President Brooke Taylor at the annual awards dinner in Seattle.

Thanks to the generosity of Spokane’s legal community, the Spokane County Volunteer Lawyer Program’s annual auction at the Spokane County Bar Association’s holiday party was a huge success, and will greatly benefit the ability to continue to provide legal services to those who cannot afford help. In addition, the VLP was recognized for having an advisory board that had the second-highest participation rate in Washington for supporting the Legal Foundation of Washington. Jamie Donaldson just celebrated her first year as coordinator for the VLP program. Thanks for doing such a great job!

New faces behind the bench: Spokane’s District Court welcomed newly elected judges Debra Hayes and John O. Cooney. Voters also elected Teresa Kulik, Governor Gregoire’s appointment to replace Judge Kurtz, as judge for Division III of the Court of Appeals. Additionally, Division III has a new commissioner, Jay Bromme, who replaced the Hon. Frank Slak upon his retirement; and a new clerk/administrator, Renee Townsley. Governor Gregoire appointed Spokane appellate attorney Debra Stephens to the Court of Appeals from a group of highly regarded applicants. The local bar thanks Hon. Ken Kato for his years of service to Eastern Washington.

Spokane’s satellite office of the Unemployment Law Project recently celebrated its first anniversary. Managing attorney Laurie Powers recruits, trains, and supervises a dynamic staff of law students and volunteer attorneys who provide legal assistance to workers seeking unemployment benefits. For information about ULP’s services and volunteer opportunities, visit their website at www. unemploymentlawproject.org or contact Laurie at lpowers@ulproject.org.

Spokane lawyer helps those who make the ultimate sacrifice. Kudos to Spokane attorney, Bill Dodge, who recently donated his time (and it was a lot) to assist a soldier who was gravely injured in Iraq. Bill donated his services to secure an adult guardianship for the wounded serviceman. The Spokane Superior Court recently awarded Bill Dodge 2006 Guardian Ad Litem of the Year. Judge O’Connor wrote that Bill consistently receives outstanding evaluations on his cases. Bill also handled a complex case for a veteran from the Middle East pro bono. Bravo, Bill!

And the Smithmoore P. Meyers Professionalism Award goes to . . . Carl Hueber of Winston Cashatt. This Spokane County Bar Association (SCBA) award is named after a beloved member of our legal community who sets the gold standard for what we all should be as attorneys. This year’s recipient certainly represents those qualities. Aside from recognizing and roasting Carl, a highlight of the evening included singing birthday wishes to Smitty and sharing the evening with his beloved wife, Sandi. Congratulations, Carl!

Street Law: The Center for Justice and the Spokane County Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program join forces to provide free legal assistance to those in need on Saturday afternoons in Riverfront Park during the summer months.

The Law Day celebration in Spokane culminated in recognizing U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Ronnie M. Flores of Fairchild AFB as recipient of the annual Liberty Bell Award, which recognizes a lay person’s contribution to promote understanding and respect for the law and our courts. TSgt. Flores, a paralegal, volunteered to lead a massive project to enable non-citizen U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan to become citizens. As a direct result of his efforts, 61 U.S. soldiers from 31 different countries obtained their citizenship on Veterans’ Day.
 
“And the Oscar goes to . . .” Spokane Young Lawyers Division presented its eighth annual “Judicial Theater,” where members of Spokane’s judiciary find their inner thespian and present skits highlighting ethical dilemmas lawyers routinely face.

Gonzaga Report

by Spencer K. Nussbaum, 2L

Great events have been happening at Gonzaga University School of Law since the beginning of 2007. Although it took a few weeks, our 1L class has finally recovered from what I call RMFLSG (Received My First Law School Grades) Syndrome, and smiles can sometimes be seen in the library again. Our 2L class just passed the halfway mark and participated in the Linden Cup competition in March. And the often-elusive 3L class keeps counting down the days until graduation.

But amidst all of the normal excitement that accompanies everyday law school life, our many organizations have been busy trying to keep our priorities where they should be. From feeding our spiritual needs to raising money for charities, there is not a week goes by that our great student body is not trying to make our law school experience as pleasantly fulfilling as possible. Here are some of our recent events:

The J. Reuben Clark Law Society, a group dedicated to strengthening lawyers through religious principles, has recently implemented a program in which professors and practitioners address the student body concerning religion and the law. A few of our own faculty members have shared how the practice of law has made them better keepers of their faith. Professor Vicki Williams spoke on Judaism, and Professors DeWolf and Beckett spoke on Catholicism. The next scheduled speaker is Professor Farid, who will speak on Islam.

Mass is being held once again in the beautiful chapel on the third floor of the law school every Thursday at noon. Always welcomed by students, this has proved to be a great way to escape from the classroom and meditate on matters of the soul.

Ever working to increase our knowledge of the state of the world in which we live, the Gonzaga University School of Law Amnesty International Chapter showed the film Darfur Diaries. With more than 400,000 casualties in Darfur, this group is trying to do something about it.

Gonzaga Public Law Interest Project (GPLIP) group held its 18th annual auction on February 9, 2007. Up for bid was everything from tickets to a coveted Gonzaga basketball game to a helicopter ride. As always, the auction was a huge success, raising money for future grants to law students working in the area.

Our Women’s Law Caucus has been busy too. The WLC put on its second “Trivia Night” of the year. The proceeds from this event go to the Single Parent Scholarship Fund and also the Myra Bradwell Ceremony. This year’s Myra Bradwell Award recipient, Victoria Vreeland, was honored for her commitment to women’s and children’s issues through her practice of law.

The Environmental Law Caucus is really heating things up. The Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth was recently shown in our very own moot courtroom. Next on the agenda…swimming lessons.

The Federalist Society is keeping us up-to-date on Justice Scalia’s jurisprudence with guest speaker Professor Ralph Rossum from Claremont McKenna College. Our own professors Holland, DeWolf, and Treuthart contributed to the event by participating in a panel discussion.

The annual Phi Delta Phi clothing drive also was a huge success. More than 1,800 items of clothing were collected to benefit local families in need.

This article certainly would be incomplete if I failed to mention the school’s trial teams that participated in national tournaments. Members of the Philip C. Jessup Trial Team had their hard work pay off by placing third in the regional memorial brief competition. The Saul Lefkowitz Team also recently competed and brought home two awards: second place in the oral team argument and third place overall brief and oral argument. Gonzaga’s NAAC Trial Team performed very well, as did the National Trial Team, who demonstrated their talent and represented the school with professionalism and excellence.

The Office of Career Services has been busy preparing students for summer positions and great employment opportunities after graduation. Just finishing up its annual Career Fest, which scheduled 197 interview opportunities for law students looking for positions across the Pacific Northwest, Career Services has continued to promote diversity with a special networking reception honoring diversity throughout the state. Through Career Services’ efforts, last year’s graduates have recorded a 94 percent placement rate — that is enough to keep us all smiling and looking forward to the future.

This year’s group participating in Mission Possible, the yearly event when students travel during spring break to perform service projects to countries around the world, has been raising money to help those in Honduras buy and install a new roof for a local school. The majority of the expenses for this great project are raised by several fundraisers throughout the school year.

On March 1, the Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States, Said T. Jawad, spoke to the students and the community about the redevelopment of Afghanistan and the future of this great nation.

A reception held for Washington State Bar Association President Ellen Conedera Dial encouraged those in attendance to start early to increase the reputation of the legal profession in Washington.

With an even brighter future on the horizon, Gonzaga University School of Law continues to prepare each of us for the future. With many more events scheduled during this school year, each day is filled with learning, opportunities, and friendships that will endure for many years to come. 

Note: If you’d like items to be included in Spokane’s ATS submission, please direct the information to Shelley Szambelan at sstout@spokanebar.org.