College News

Robert Glennon, Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy, recently became a member of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona.

Congratulations to Associate Professor of Law and Affiliated Professor of Latin American Studies Ana Merico-Stephens who was recently awarded tenure, and to Clinical Professor Suzanne Rabé, who was awarded continuing status.

In the largest graduating class gift in its history, 80% of the members of the Class of 2004 have donated or pledged more than $52,000 to the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law.

The 9th Annual Richard Grand Damages Argument Competition was held this past spring at the College of Law. To compete, students prepared and presented a closing argument in a personal injury case. The
finalists were:

• First Place – Melissa English (‘04)
• Second Place – Mark Hummels (‘04)
• Third Place – Megan Nielsen (3L)
• Fourth Place – Kristen Brook (‘04) and Scott McDonald (‘04)

The Richard Grand Legal Writing Competition was also held this past spring. Participants submitted a written legal argument responding to a case problem prepared by law faculty. The finalists were:

• First Place – Bradley Pack (3L)
• Second Place – Mark Hummels (’04)
• Third Place – Michael Fleishman (’04)
• Fourth Place – Amy Wallace-Havens (3L)
• Fifth Place – Erin Borg (’04)

Congratulations to Rachel Bash (2L) and Maria del Pilar Mendoza (2L) who recently received Paul Marcus/PublicInterest Law Organization Fellowships. Rachel spent the summer working with the Never Again Foundation, an organization that provides free legal representation to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse. Pilar spent the summer helping indigent immigrants seek political asylum through the Asylum Program of Southern Arizona.

Robert E. Hall (’04) is the recipient of the R. Kelly Hocker Labor & Employment Law Scholarship from the Labor & Employment Law Section of the State Bar of Arizona. He was selected for his outstanding contributions to the College’s Employment Law Course.


Ben Graff (2L) was appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano to serve as the new student member of the Arizona Board of Regents. (Picture left)

The Andrew Silverman Community Service Awards are presented to students and a student organization that exemplify the spirit of community service. The recipients for 2003-2004 were:

• Marian Conrad (2L) for her work as a board member of a local charity called “Youth On Their Own,” a dropout prevention program for homeless youth in Pima County.
• Margaret MacDougal (3L) for organizing and managing the Pride Law Clinic in conjunction with Wingspan, and her work with the National Lawyers Guild in arranging forums at the College of Law on a wide range of issues.
• Sheila Schaeffer (3L) for her outstanding job of coordinating the VLP Child Support Clinic this year.
• Renee Kuhn (’04) for her dedication to helping the homeless as director of the NLG Legal Referral Clinic at Casa Maria Soup Kitchen for the past two years.
• Law Women’s Association (Student Organization) for its efforts in raising money for the Child Advocacy and Domestic Violence Clinics, its mentor programs for new law students through the “Big & Littles” Program, and for its efforts to address relevant issues for women at law school and throughout the community.

The following awards were presented on April 7, 2004, to the finalists in the Fegtly Moot Court Competition:

• Nathan Benedict (3L) and Matt Reed (3L) – The F. Britton Burns Award for the two outstanding advocates in the Final Round;
• Karin Hom (3L) and Timea Shaeffer (3L) – The David Burr Udall Award for best brief;
• Timea Shaeffer – The Fegtly Moot Court Award recognizing outstanding overall advocacy (brief and oral combined); and
• Nathan Benedict, Karin Hom, Matt Reed, and Timea Shaeffer – The Jo Dale Carrouthers Award.

The Moot Court Team, consisting of Class of 2004 members Kathleen Hale, Brian Palmer, and James Sowka, won best brief and accumulated the second highest score (brief and oral combined) during the preliminary rounds
at the national regional moot court competition during Fall Semester 2003.

Third-year students Roopali Desai, Lars Brauer, Marvin Ruth, and Cyrus Khosh-Chashm represented the College at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Southwest Regional Competition last February.

The UA Law School Mock Trial Team Charles Babbitt (’04), Megan Nielsen (3L), Elizabeth Hall (3L), Lisa Schriner-Lewis (3L), Missy McGary (3L), Carol Shegog (3L), Alyse Meislik (3L), and Dawn Wyland (3L) placed third at the Student Trial Advocacy Competition.


The Law College Association created a new honor, the August G. Eckhardt Faculty Leader, awarded to the faculty member who embodies the values of tolerance, civility and professionalism, respect for multiculturalism, devotion to superior teaching and mentoring of young professionals, and commitment to the peaceful reconciliation of human conflicts. Congratulations to Associate Dean Kay Kavanagh, the first recipient of this title.





Congratulations to the following professors who received new titles:
• Graeme Austin – J. Byron McCormick Professor of Law
• G. Jack Chin – Chester H. Smith Professor of Law
• David A. Gantz – Samuel M. Fegtly Professor of Law
• Jane B. Korn – John D. Lyons Professor of Law

Professor James Anaya was recently honored as the first James J. Lenoir Professor of Human Rights Law and Policy. This new title honors a former UA law professor who quit his post at the University of Georgia in protest when it refused to admit an African-American student on the basis of his race.

The following distinguished jurists and professors will join the Arizona faculty next academic year, greatly enriching the curriculum and intellectual life of the College:

• Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (United States Supreme Court)
• Thomas A. Zlaket (Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice)
• Stanley G. Feldman (Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice)
• Carol M. Rose (Yale Law School)
• Peter L. Strauss (Columbia Law School)
• Randall P. Bezanson (University of Iowa College of Law)
• Russell Korobkin (UCLA School of Law)
• Nancy D. Polikoff (American University Washington College of Law)
• Joel F. Handler (UCLA School of Law)
• Donald Large (Lewis & Clark Law School)
• David L. Ratner emeritus (University of San Francisco School of Law)

Professor Charles Ares will direct the 2004-2005 Rogers Program in Law & Society with the assistance of Professors Jack Chin (Rogers College of Law) and Roger Hartley (Eller Graduate School of Management). The annual enrichment series is dedicated to interdisciplinary exploration of justice and human rights.

The College is thrilled to welcome Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi as an Honorary Visiting Professor of Law and Justice. An attorney and human rights activist, she is the first Muslim woman to win the Peace prize and is one of Iran’s first female judges.



In January of this year, the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) presented the College with its prestigious Emil Gumpert Award along with a check for $50,000.

Professor Robert Williams was selected last year as Chief Justice of the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe’s highest court, the Yavapai-Prescott Tribal Court of Appeals. Professors Jim Anaya and Robert Hershey were selected to be the two other justices on the bench.

Congratulations to the following recipients of the 2003-2004 Student Bar Association Faculty, Staff & Administration Appreciation Awards:
• Professor Jane Korn – John Strong Teaching Award
• Deans Kay Kavanagh and Terry Holpert (tie) – Administrators of the Year
• Kim Marlow – Staff Member of the Year

Kudos to Sandy Davis, Kim Marlow, and Donna Ream, who all received the Norma J. Kelly Staff Excellence Award in 2004.

Former Dean PAUL MARCUS received the Distinguished Citizen Award at the LCA Appreciation Dinner.

MEGAN NIELSEN (3L) was elected President of the Student Bar Association for the 2004-05 year.