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Fowler School of Law Recognized by City of Santa Ana for Alumna’s Volunteer Work

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Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law was recently recognized by the Santa Ana City Council for alumna Suzanne Fidler’s (’05) participation as a volunteer attorney in a citizenship fair co-sponsored by the city and Public Law Center.

Suzanne Fidler

Suzanne Fidler

In early April, Fidler joined 100 legal volunteers who offered their services and advice to more than 800 attendees of a citizenship fair in Santa Ana. The event was sponsored by the city of Santa Ana, Public Law Center, OC Labor Federation, OCCORD and Active Learning. Volunteers assisted with processing applications and provided citizenship information. According to the city of Santa Ana, approximately 600 citizenship applications were processed over the course of the day.

Fidler, who is an attorney and physician, decided to volunteer after hearing about the opportunity through the Public Law Center. As a volunteer attorney she reviewed citizenship applications and explained the process to attendees.

She said that the opportunity to serve as a volunteer attorney through PLC was an exciting and satisfying experience, and gave her a chance to not only benefit the community but also get a glimpse into an area of law she does not often have occasion to work in.

“It was delightful to assist many promising people who were truly excited to become citizens,” Fidler said. “I enjoyed working with people from many different backgrounds with the common goal to achieve U.S. citizenship. It was an honor to assist people who have waited many years to become citizens.”

Read more alumni news.

Are you an alumnus? Have you recently changed firms, been promoted, published or made partner and would like to be featured? Send us a class note!

Above: Assistant Director of Career Services Oscar Teran (fourth from left) with volunteers recognized by the Santa Ana City Council


Future Leaders in Law Share Their Paths to Success

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Each year we eagerly welcome a new class of Fowler School of Law alumni to our ranks. Although they may leave Kennedy Hall to pursue their unique career paths after graduation, they remain an integral part of the Fowler School of Law community – the very thing that draws so many to the school. This year, we invited some of our graduating students to share their Fowler School of Law experience with us. Below are a just a few of the many stories of Fowler School of Law’s class of 2016.

April Cristal

April Cristal

April Cristal

To April Cristal, a strong sense of community was crucial when it came down to choosing her future law school out of the 40 she applied to. After taking into consideration the usual checklist of academic rankings and student resources of her top picks, she took it upon herself to find out what student life was actually like. After each campus tour, she stopped in the student lounge to sit and observe how students interacted with one another, and how faculty and administrators interacted with students outside of the classroom. She wanted a positive environment, not the dreaded law school cliché of catty classmates.

“Chapman, of all the schools I visited, felt the most welcoming,” she said. “I sat in the student lounge for a bit and I could just tell that the students were friendly. They were making plans for social events and talking about the readings. I thought it was just a good environment to be in.”

Once she started law school, her hunch proved true. Although every student strives to be better, she said, they’re competing alongside of each other rather than against.

“By nature, as a law student we have to be competitive,” she said. “But I’ve never felt that people were trying to sabotage me or make me do worse in a class. If I missed a class, at least one person every time would text me to ask if I was OK, or if I needed the notes. So it’s a nice place to be, because law school is already stressful. You may as well have a good support system.”

Over her three years at Fowler School of Law, Cristal served as an executive board member on the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF), Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA), Student Bar Association (SBA) and as a co-chair for the Graduate Student Council. She also participated in the Children and Family Law Society, the Diversity Initiative Publication and Symposium, the Careers Services Office Advisory Board and as a student ambassador.

“I looked at law school as a very finite amount of time,” she said. “I came into law school thinking, if you really want to do something then go for it and do it as soon as you can, because you might not get the opportunity ever again. There are only three years to fit it all in.”

Cristal said that although she entered planning to pursue educational law, her plans shifted after networking with attorneys and exploring externships and internships with organizations such as the Office of County Council, Children’s Law Center and judicial externships in the Federal District Court. Now, she is pursuing judicial clerkships and considering pursuing local government attorney positions.

“I came into law school wanting to serve people and really make an impact in the lives of individuals and communities, and I think being a local government attorney can do that,” she said. “I had never really thought about how much impact the city or county had on people’s lives until I interned for a county council.”

Cristal said her inspiration to pursue the law came from her time as a middle school teacher in San Francisco as well as her own experiences as an Asian-American woman.

“Working with the community in San Francisco made me realize that we definitely need to build more diversity. It sounds cheesy, but I thought about what I wanted to the world to like in the future,” she said. “At the time, a lot of my friends were becoming professors, or nurses or teachers — which is great — but I didn’t see a lot of people with my same background becoming lawyers. Once I started law school, I found a lot of those people.”

The highlight of her law career, she said, came at the close of her final semester when after two years of working toward building a social justice publication with a number of other students, she received an email from the faculty committee approving the proposal.

“It was a really nice beginning to the end of my law school career,” she said. “I’ve been working on it for the last two years with a lot of great people and it’s nice to see it come to fruition.”

Jonathan Shin

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Jonathan Shin

One of the most common pieces of advice to law students is to “make the most” of the three short years they have in law school. Jonathan Shin took that advice seriously, taking on an immigration case as a student under the guidance of Professor Richard Green. After three years of litigation, Shin won the case in September, saving his client from being permanently removed from the country and separated from his family.

“Seeing his family hug while jumping up and down in the court room, was a significant moment in my law school career,” he said. “It gave a meaning and purpose to my education.”

Aside from his very practical training with Professor Green, Shin found himself involved in several on-campus organizations including founding the Korean American Law Students Association (KALSA), serving on the executive boards of SBA, the Business Investment Law Society, and serving as a Big Sibling for the law school and APALSA. He was also a member of the Moot Court and Alternative Dispute Resolution competition teams, and served as on the Career Services Office Advisory Board and as an Honor Council Advocate.

The opportunities to participate and help build a strong community proved true to his original feelings about the school.

“The thing that stuck out to me when picking Fowler School of Law was the high bar passage rate, the low faculty to student ratio, and the shared sense of community within the student body. While law schools are notorious for their competitive environments, our student body truly thrives off of supporting each other,” he said.

Although he has received offers following graduation — which also include staying at his current firm, Stephens and Friedland, where he clerked for his 3L year — he has yet to make any final decisions.

Jessica Roundy

Jessica6

Jessica Roundy

Jessica Roundy began law school with aspirations she calls corny but true: to fight for justice.

“I wanted to give a voice to those don’t have one,” she said.

After graduation, she’ll be heading to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, where she has interned for the last three summers and will become a Deputy DA after passing the bar.

For her, like many, Fowler School of Law was a home. As a California native, she had plans to move to a big city or the east coast, something different, she said, until she visited Fowler School of Law.

“I felt it when I walked in, but even more so when I saw the students interacting. I could just feel that the community here was so much different from anywhere else,” she said. “We have a great group of people here. Not only the students but the faculty and administration; we have people who care about and support one another, and at the same time challenge them to be better, individually and collectively.”

As part of that community, Roundy spent her years involved in student organizations such as SBA, the Nexus Journal, the Fowler School of Law Grad Committee and Honor Council. She also found herself as a research assistant, academic fellow, student ambassador and Big Sibling for the law school.

Between summers spent interning with the Riverside District Attorney’s Office and two semesters interning for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, she also participated in the Fowler School of Law Mock Trial and Moot Court competition teams.

“The opportunity to go out and compete against different teams and schools, and to dive in head first into the courtroom was my favorite experience of law school,” she said. “When I stepped into the courtroom for the first time in my second year, I just felt so much more prepared. I knew where to stand and how to speak. There were certainly things I didn’t know yet, and still have to learn, but having that experience definitely helped me get over the smaller lessons so I can learn the more important ones.”

Although her ultimate goal to pursue a career with the District Attorney’s Office has remained the same throughout her three years at Fowler School of Law, she said law school, and the opportunities to build upon her classroom experiences through on-campus organizations, has changed her for the better.

“I think I’m a completely different person now than who I was when I started. The way I look at the world, the way I think and look at problems has changed so much through this education,” she said. “I think that’s really what law school provides you with. It’s such a versatile degree that it gives you the tools to see the world and help you solve problems in a way you never did before.”

And when it comes to providing advice to new students, her answer comes down to simply taking the leap to make the most of the experience.

“Dive in head first. Take up every opportunity that you can or that you’re interested in, and soak up all that these three years can provide,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, there are times when it’s tough, but thinking back on the last three years, it’s all worth it. I wouldn’t go back and change anything.”

If you think your or someone you know should be featured on the Chapman Law blog, let us know!

 

Fowler Law Associate Dean Donald Kochan Publishes in Touro Law Review Symposium on Future Law Review Platforms

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Chapman University Dale E. Fowler school of Law Associate Dean Donald Kochan’s article “Virtual Liquid Networks and Other Guiding Principles for Optimizing Future Student-Edited Law Review Platforms” was recently published in Volume 32, Number 2 of the Touro Law Review.

From the abstract:

Kochan Tuoro CoverThis short essay was written for the Touro Law Review’s Associate Dean’s Symposium on “Student-Edited Law Reviews: Future Publication Platforms.” It maintains that the Associate Dean for Research has a responsibility to shape and develop the scholarly culture and intellectual life of the law school. Part of that charge should be to aid the student-edited law reviews in their contribution to that enterprise and to help those reviews evolve. In addition to their pedagogical value for the students (developing editing, reasoning, research, and writing skills), these reviews play a part in sending signals to the outside world of the scholarly commitment of a law school. And, most importantly, student-edited law reviews serve the higher value of distributing knowledge and disseminating legal thought that addresses doctrinal clarity, unpacks theoretical uncertainties, creates foundations for reform, or otherwise presents legal solutions to critical social issues.

The ideal direction for student-edited journals is toward multiple platforms that deliver law review-quality content – maintaining long form articles and welcoming useful, online shorter forms as well. But, the irreducible minimum requirements for judging what constitutes quality “legal scholarship” – measured by its originality and unique contribution the literature – should not change. So, the first guiding principle that should control student-edited law reviews as they adopt new platforms is simple: maintain the distinctive function of publishing legal content – uniquely as a “law review” – that has the rigor and other qualities to count as legal scholarship. The Essay describes ways to control against the risks of quality dilution.

The most innovative ways that law reviews can embrace the future include using new platforms and harnessing technologies to increase dialogue, exchange, and reasoning through what this Essay calls virtual liquid networks – drawing on lessons from Steven Johnson, Kevin Dunbar and others who have explained the concept of “liquid networks” where innovation emerges in the natural world through the collision between elements in the system and should operate similarly in intellectual spaces. Law reviews and other academic outlets should aim to create “unusually fertile” and “shared environments” that make possible “serendipitous connections” and allow for the improvement and completion of ideas.

This Essay spells out some of the architecture of student edited law review platforms that could serve this role. For example, beyond endorsing the concurrent or consecutive posting of response pieces at the same time as posting or printing main selected articles already being done at many reviews, the Essay outlines a proposal to innovate with virtual workshops and virtual roundtables that facilitate strong liquid networks that leave open room to improve scholarly works before publication of a “final” product. The idea here is to truly replicate, in virtual form, the physical roundtable or workshop concept to achieve even higher-order liquid networking effects. These proposed virtual liquid network platforms hold the possibility of helping authors produce works of legal scholarship substantially improved from the forms such works might take in the traditional, more sterile and inert publication platforms. Such virtual liquid network-based platforms also give student-edited law reviews a modern and expanded, service-oriented role in the continued production of useful scholarship.

Read the full article.

Donald J. Kochan currently serves as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Fowler School of Law. His scholarship focuses on areas of property, administrative law, natural resources, law & economics, and jurisprudence, among others. He has published more than 35 scholarly articles and essays in well-respected law journals. His work has been cited in more than 300 published law review articles.

In January 2016, Dean Kochan was elected as a new Member of the American Law Institute (ALI). He was also elected as a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation in 2014. Dean Kochan received the 2014 Valerie Scudder Award from Chapman University, a merit-based award selected by peers in recognition of outstanding achievement in scholarship, teaching, and service, and one of the highest honors given to a faculty member at the University. Among his numerous activities, Dean Kochan currently is a Contributing Editor of the “Keeping Current-Property” section in Probate & Property, the bi-monthly magazine of the Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section of the American Bar Association; serves as the Chair-Elect for the Section on Property Law for the Association of American Law Schools; serves as the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Environment & Natural Resources Regulation for the ABA Section on Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice; and serves as an inaugural Co-Editor of the Property Section of JOTWELL.

Other articles by Dean Kochan on legal education issues include: “Thinking Like Thinkers: Is the Art and Discipline of An “Attitude of Suspended Conclusion” Lost on Lawyers?,” 35 Seattle University Law Review 1 (2011) and ““Thinking” in a Deweyan Perspective: The Law School Exam as a Case Study for Thinking in Lawyering,” 12 Nevada Law Journal 395 (2012).

See more of Dean Kochan’s writings.

Fowler School of Law Class of 2016 Honored at Annual Banquet and Reception

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Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law began commencement weekend festivities last Thursday with two receptions honoring the JD and LL.M. classes of 2016.

On Thursday evening, students gathered with family and Fowler School of Law administrators, faculty and staff for the annual graduation banquet at the Turnip Rose Event Center in Costa Mesa. The banquet offers an opportunity to celebrate the students’ accomplishments with family and friends, and to socialize with faculty and staff members.

The evening included an awards ceremony honoring students’ academic performances during their three years at Fowler School of Law.

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Jade McKenzie accepts the Honor Scholar Award

The Honor Scholar (Valedictorian) Award and the Carmelina Doti Excellence Award are presented annually by the dean and faculty of the law school to the graduating senior who has achieved the highest grade point average in the graduating class. This year’s recipient was Jade McKenzie.

Kaitlin Peterson was the recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award, presented annually to the graduating senior whose scholarship, ethics and service exemplify the highest ideals of the legal profession.

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Nelson Vu accepts the Deans Award

The Dean’s Award is presented annually by the dean to the graduating senior whose leadership and service to the school and its students represent a significant contribution to the development of the law school. The 2016 recipient was Nelson Vu.

The Professionalism Award is presented annually by the Fowler School of Law dean and faculty to the graduate who has represented the law school to the legal profession and community in a distinctively significant manner. The 2016 Professionalism Award recipient was Jessica Roundy.

April Cristal was the 2016 National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) Award. The NAWL award is selected by the faculty and presented annually by NAWL to the graduating senior who contributes to the advancement of women in society; promotes issues and concerns of women in the legal profession; exhibits motivation, tenacity and enthusiasm; demonstrates academic achievement; and has earned the respect of the Fowler School of Law dean and faculty.

The American Law Institute-Continuing Legal Education (ALI-CLE) Award went to Jeremy Talcott. The ALI-CLE award is selected by the faculty and presented annually in recognition for being the graduate in the law school class who best represents a combination of scholarship and leadership, the qualities embodied by the ALI-CLE parent organization.

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National Order of Scribes Award recipients

The National Order of Scribes Awards are selected by the faculty and presented annually by the American Society of Legal Writers to the five graduates who have demonstrated the highest levels of professionalism and who are outstanding
legal writers. The 2016 award winners were:

  • George Anezinos
  • Tristan Espinosa
  • Daniel Ferguson
  • Lorin Herzfeldt
  • Jacob Shin

CJ3A2981Earlier in the day, LL.M. graduates met in Kennedy Hall for a private reception recognizing their accomplishments, prior to the official commencement ceremony on Friday. Graduating students Rahil Attawala, Chinweike Peter Ezike, Oghenetuvie Loveth Omasheye and Sonya Jifkins served as class speakers, thanking their families, Fowler School of Law faculty and fellow graduates for their support and help in reaching their goal. Watch a webcast of the LL.M. reception ceremony.

See a slideshow of the 2016 JD banquet and LL.M. reception.

Congratulations to the Class of 2016!

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One hundred and eighty-five Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law graduates walked their way from students to alumni at the class of 2016’s commencement ceremony held on Wilson Field last Friday as family and friends looked proudly on.

Justice Liu addresses students

Justice Liu addresses students

This year’s keynote speaker was California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu. Justice Liu was invited to speak by Professor Tom Campbell during his tenure as dean of the Fowler School of Law. Justice Liu is a prolific and influential scholar on constitutional law and education policy who currently serves on the California Access to Justice Commission, the governing board of the American Law Institute, the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law of the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Bar Association Task Force on Financing Legal Education. He has previously served on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University and the board of directors of the Alliance for Excellent Education, the American Constitution Society, the National Women’s Law Center, and the Public Welfare Foundation.

Justice Liu first met Professor Campbell when Justice Liu was a student at Stanford University and Professor Campbell was a member of the Stanford Law School faculty.

Justice Liu encouraged the graduates to take risks in their careers, using moments from throughout his life, including his own struggles with the bar exam and career setbacks, to illustrate that perceived failures are not always so negative.

“It would be wrong to conclude that the best way to go about life is to always play it safe. Not only would that be wrong, it would be a betrayal of the great gifts of talent and education. All of you have demonstrated great intelligence, motivation, savvy and grit,” he said. “For accomplished people like yourselves, my worry is not that you won’t succeed, it’s that you will never fail. It’s that you will live successful, comfortable lives, while never leaving your comfort zone, never taking risks that could lead to disappointment or failure.”

Annie Lin's husband and son accept her degree posthumously

Annie Lin’s husband and son accept her degree posthumously

Fowler School of Law Interim Dean Scott Howe addressed the outgoing students, commending their hard work and part in the law school’s legacy. He also expressed his confidence in and admiration for their work over the last three years.

“I find not just by preponderance but by clear convincing evidence that you would meet the legal test, if there were such a test, of being pretty darned awesome,” Dean Howe said.  “As you leave us to go out into the profession and create your own destinies, my charge to you is this: be kind, be courageous, and be yourself. Be as kind as possible to others, consistent to your obligations with your clients.”

A special JD was awarded posthumously to 3L Annie Lin, who passed away in the fall after a battle with cancer. Before presenting Annie’s degree to her husband and son, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Administration Jayne Kacer emphasized Annie’s commitment to her education and helping others, and noted the great loss felt by the Fowler School of Law community.

April Cristal delivers JD response at podium

April Cristal delivers the JD response

April Cristal delivered the JD response, thanking her fellow graduates for the lessons they taught her beyond the classroom, and the encouragement they provided in unexpected ways.

“Graduating today represents so much more than learning the rule against perpetuities or first amendment jurisprudence. It also represents the education that we received outside of a classroom, and beyond the four corners of our degree. In our time here at Chapman we have learned a lot about the law, but we have learned even more about life,” she said.

She urged her fellow graduates to continue encouraging others through five unorthodox actions that she said served as some source of inspiration throughout her law school career: brining food to events to encourage unlikely people to show up and to show their interest in others in a fundamental way, encouraging others, saying hello, remaining humble, and being themselves.

Fahima Amini delivers LL.M. response at podium

Fahima Amini delivers the LL.M. response

Fahima Amini delivered the LL.M. response. She illustrated for her fellow students and guests the unique experience of international students studying American law. Originally from Afghanistan, Amini highlighted the significance of the opportunity to learn the legal system of another country in order to better serve the global community.

“Through this program we have learned many things that we could not have learned from books. We have experienced a new environment that we could not have in our country,” she said. “Let’s make a new brilliant future, together, for everyone everywhere in this world. Let’s make a just and peaceful world by our rightful decisions. And let’s make this world free from violence and war by our legal contributions. We can do it if we are passionate about law and humanity.”

The ceremony closed with the announcement of the 2016 M. Katherine Baird Darmer Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, given to Susanna Ripken, a beloved Fowler School of Law faculty member. Professor Tom Campbell provided a closing benediction.

On Thursday, May 19, several graduates were honored at the graduation banquet for JD students and the LL.M. graduation reception. The 2016 Valedictorian and recipient of the Carmelina Doti Academic Excellence Award was Jade McKenzie, who was also recognized at the commencement ceremony.

Congratulations to the class of 2016!

View a slideshow of commencement.

Watch the webcast.

2016 Graduates with Academic Honors

Summa cum Laude:

Jade McKenzie

Magna cum Laude:

John Scoville Evans
Charles David Henninger
Lindsay R. Niles
Trevor Thomas Sullivan
Sheri Ann Wright
Morgan Lee Yaeger

Cum Laude:

Leanne Brett
Tristan P. Espinosa
Daniel M. Ferguson
Craig Powell Hayes
Rebekah Lange
Danielle Dalene Maland
Thomas M. Mann
Kaitlin Peterson
Hanna Marie Ramsey
Sarah Brooke Romero
Samuel Quinn Schleier
Jacob Shin
Alexa P. Stephenson
Andrew B. Still
Jeremy Talcott
Denise H.D. Tran
Nelson N. Vu

2016 Juris Doctor Graduates

Allen Steele Aho
Alberto E. Algaze
Maheen Ali
Shiva Anari
George Peter Anezinos
William J. Antisdale
John R. Arends
Vicente Cesar Ayala Lopez
Victor A. Bachand
Rachel Nicole Bardwell
Christopher D. Barnes
Katherine Frances Biadasz
Oliver J. Braunwalder
Bridget Ann Brennan
Leanne Brett
Maria E. Brosnan-Faltas
Megan R. Callaghan
Anna E. Caludac
Alexander Louis Carasso
Rebecca Jane Carlson
Michael J. Cefali
Edward C. Chen
Jeffery C. Crissman
April Mara Cristal
Dane C. Cummaro
Ashley Daniel
Ryan Thomas Deegan
Edward B. Dennis
Andrew J. Des Combes
Elaine Pearl Ponce Dick
Cameron Thomas Djokovich
Tristan P. Espinosa
John Scoville Evans
Nisa Farhangi
Elhum Isabel Farrohi
Daniel M. Ferguson
Michelle N. Fraser
Jessica N. Frey
Melissa Nicole Frisco
Neilofar Neusha Ghaedi
Sherri L. Godfrey
Shannon Lynn Grady
Allison Lee Grandy
Rachel Jennifer Greenberg
Aaron C. Griffin
Susie Grigoryan
Nathan M. Grosch
Lisa M. Hardebeck
Christine J. Harrah
Lillian C. Harwell
Jamileh B. Hawatmeh
Craig Powell Hayes
Charles David Henninger
Lauren S. Henry
Scott R. Hernandez
Lorin M. Herzfeldt
Katie Louise Hill
Kyle Jordan Vincent Hindin
Kathryn E. Hokom
April Horn
Danielle Christine Hunt
Brian Huynh
Mark T. Ibrahim
Kasim Idrees
Lynda E. Jacobs
Sharmin Jalali-Bidgoli
Monika Juszli
Imran A. Kamil
Rebecca O. Kaplan
Eman Kazempour
Chanel Hwang
Alexander Patrick Koehler
Gregory K. Koeller
Elliot T. Landreth
Rebekah Lange
Jonathan D. Lee
Wendy Lei
Gilbert H. Leon
Elise Rachel Levy
Alexandra L. Lewke
Madeline B. Liebreich
Annie Anjung Lin*

Virginia Liu
Shannon Christine Losinski
Michael John Lowell
Nicholas William Lynes
Danielle Dalene Maland
Thomas M. Mann
Johannes M. Marler
Roberto R. Martinez
Jade McKenzie
Molly Megan McManimie
Maral Nicole Mehrabian
Shane T. Micheil
Cameron M. Miller
Justin Walter Mitchell
Megan A. Moghtaderi
Corbin S. Moore
Lauren Brittney Murray
Neema Naderi
Jennifer Neufeld
Jimmy T. Nguyen
Vuong Q. Nguyen
Kirill Nielson
Ashley Renee Nijinski
Lindsay R. Niles
Justin M. Odell
Hiromasa Onizuka
Bo Ram Park
Hiromi Ikeda Parks
Jatin Patel
Julia Pavel
Emily Pepper
Kaitlin Peterson
Nathanael Peterson
Steven H. Pham
Vu Hai Ngoc Phan
Hanna Marie Ramsey
Lindsey Rank
Breanne L. Reese
Rebecca A. Rheiner
Joycelin S. Roh
Sarah Brooke Romero
Sean Christopher Rotstan
Jessica Lynn Roundy
Carol R. Rugh
Hugo Ivan Salazar Gonzalez
Samuel Quinn Schleier
Andrea Schug
George Semaan
Emma Zahara Shah
Atif M. Sheikh
Jacob Shin
Jonathan Y. Shin
Rukhsar Siddiqui
David Samuel Silver
John Sinclair
Jin Eun J. Song
Mara Leanne Sork
Philip J. Spinazze
Alexa P. Stephenson
Andrew B. Still
Matthew Strachan
Joshua Ryan Strand
Heidi Kathleen Stryker
Trevor Thomas Sullivan
Thomas J. Sullivan
Marcus B. Sweetser
Jeremy Brennan Talcott
Sabrina A. Tanamachi
Malina Tavakkoli
Denise H.D. Tran
Jimmy Nguyen Tran
Katlin A. Twigger
Derrick M. Uhri
Bastiaan VandenBerg
Stephanie Ann Vreeland
Nelson N. Vu
Jason D. Westerfeld
Sheri Ann Wight
Ryan Douglas Yabko
Morgan Lee Yaeger
Brandon C. Yeaton
Alexander Y. Yi

 

 

 

 

LL.M. Candidates

Yasser Abdelmalak
Mai Nahar Aloraier
Fahima Amini
Rahil N. Attawala
Hamoud Mansour Binobaid
David Matthew Coats
Chinweike Peter Ezike
Evan James Gautier
Rui Gong
Katarina Grbic
Ali Hassanzadeh

Sonya Janneth Jifkins
Alexander Michael Kaplan
Ronald Michael Kogens
Liora Kulik
Julia Montenegro de Almeida Cunha
Brice Kazuaki Nakamura
Oghenetuvie Loveth Omasheye
Eric Scott Passman
Nelaba N. Qaderi
Kevin L. Van

Fowler Law Professor Sam Ernst Publishes “The Lost Precedent of the Reverse Doctrine of Equivalents”

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Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Professor Sam Ernst’s article “The Lost Precedent of the Reverse Doctrine of Equivalents” was recently published in Volume 18, Issue 3 of the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law.

From the abstract:

ernst-vanderbiltProponents of legislative patent reform argue that the current patent system perversely impedes true innovation in the name of protecting a vast web of patented inventions, the majority of which are never even commercialized for the benefit of the public. Opponents of such legislation argue that comprehensive, prospective patent reform legislation would harm the incentive to innovate more than it would curb the vexatious practices of non-practicing entities. But while the “Innovation Act” wallows in Congress, there is a common law tool to protect innovation from the patent thicket lying right under our noses: the reverse doctrine of equivalents. Properly applied, this judge-made doctrine can be used to excuse infringement on a case-by-case basis if the court determines that the accused product is substantially superior to the patented invention, despite proof of literal infringement. Unfortunately, the reverse doctrine is disfavored by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and therefore rarely applied. It was not always so. This article is the first comprehensive study of published opinions applying the reverse doctrine of equivalents to excuse infringement between 1898, when the Supreme Court established the doctrine, and the 1982 creation of the Federal Circuit. This “lost precedent” reveals a flexible doctrine that takes into account the technological and commercial superiority of the accused product to any embodiment of the patented invention made by the patent-holder. An invigorated reverse doctrine of equivalents could therefore serve to protect true innovations from uncommercialized patents on a case-by-case basis, without the potential harm to the innovation incentive that prospective patent legislation might cause.

Read the full article.

Professor Ernst teaches in the areas of intellectual property, contracts and civil litigation practice, with scholarship that focuses on patent law. Prior to joining the Fowler School of Law in 2013, Professor Ernst was a partner at the international law firm of Covington & Burling in San Francisco, practicing intellectual property, commercial and appellate litigation, while maintaining an active pro bono practice focusing on veterans disability recovery and homeless advocacy. In 2010, he was recognized by the Federal Circuit Bar Association for his work on behalf of veterans. In 2006 and 2008, he received a Certificate of Excellence from the Berkeley Food and Housing Project. Professor Ernst also taught pre-trial civil litigation at the UC Berkeley School of Law. He earned his JD magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. He has a bachelor’s degree in Modern Literary Studies from UC Santa Cruz and a master’s degree in Comparative Literature from UCLA. Other recent articles include “Protecting the Boundaries: Unclaimed Consideration in the Patentee’s Social Contract,” published in the Tulane Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property; “Of Printer Cartridges and Patent Exhaustion: The En Banc Federal Circuit is Poised to Clarify Quanta” and “The Federal Circuit’s New ‘Authorized Aquirer’ Restriction on Patent Exhaustion,” both published on Patently-O, the nation’s leading patent blog; and “Patent Exhaustion for the Exhausted Defendant: Should Parties be Able to Contract Around Exhaustion in Settling Patent Litigation,” published in the Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy.

See more of Professor Ernst’s writings.

Fowler School of Law Professor Kurt Eggert Testifies Before Congress

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Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Professor Kurt Eggert was invited to testify before a congressional subcommittee on May 11 regarding the issue of regulation in daily fantasy sports. The testimony was heard by the Energy and Commerce Committee.

head shot of Kurt EggertIn his testimony, Professor Eggert offered examples of ways that “professional” fantasy sports players can prey on recreational players by creating a perfect winning lineup using complex algorithms to predict any number of factors. To combat this, he suggested higher regulation of the industry including limiting the number of fantasy lineups that any player can enter, labeling high earners so that recreational players know what caliber of player they are up against, providing services to gambling addicts, preventing insider playing and adding regulators to oversee games. Watch the recorded testimony.

This is the third time that Professor Eggert has been asked to testify before the Energy and Commerce Committee. He also testified on mortgages and securitization before various house committees a number of times between 2003 and 2011. Professor Eggert is a Professor of Law and Director of the Alona Cortese Elder Law Center. He teaches both clinical and doctrinal classes. His scholarship has focused on several areas, among them predatory lending, consumer credit, gambling regulation and elder abuse. He has testified to Congress on predatory lending issues and is a member of the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council, where he chairs the subcommittee on Consumer Credit. Previously, he was an adjunct professor of law, teaching elder law at Loyola Law School. From 1990 until 1999, he was a senior attorney at Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles, where he specialized in complex litigation, including consumer fraud and home equity fraud. Professor Eggert received his B.A. from Rice University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and received his JD from Boalt Hall, the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.

The congressional hearing and Professor Eggert’s comments were covered by several news outlets, including NY Daily News, KRTH radio, MarketWatch, Morning Consult, Courthouse News Service, Cardplayer.com, and Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Recent Grad Recognized for Exceptional Clinic Work

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Elaine Dick (’16) learned quickly that the opportunity to develop the career she wanted would be found in the Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law clinics. During her time at the law school, she spent three semesters immersed in the Bette and Wylie Aitken Family Protection Clinic and the Alona Cortese Elder Law Center as both student and mentor. Last month, in her final week of studies, her work was recognized by the Fowler School of Law faculty with the Clinical Legal Education Association’s (CLEA) Outstanding Student Award of 2016.

Each year, CLEA presents an outstanding student award to one student at each participating law school. Criteria for the award include exceptional work in the seminar portion and field work component of a law school clinic and, if applicable, contribution to the clinical community at the law school. Elaine was nominated and selected by Fowler School of Law’s clinical faculty thanks to her work in both clinics.

“Elaine has impressed all of her clinical professors with her passion, her advocacy skills, her ability to build and maintain rapport with clients, and her penchant for having fun in the face of tremendously challenging work,” Clinical Professor Wendy Seiden said.

Following her passion for women’s and children’s rights, Elaine enrolled in the Family Protection Clinic in her second year, where she had the opportunity to represent a survivor of family violence in a Superior Court protective order hearing. After developing a trusting relationship with her client, she went on to successfully secure a five-year protective order for her client with full custody rights of the child involved.

The following semester, Elaine enrolled in the advanced section of the Family Protection Clinic, where she served as a guide to first-semester clinic students. She also provided legal education workshops for victims of family violence seeking protective orders and offered one-to-one advice sessions. She participated in the Elder Law Center in her final semester at Fowler School of Law, where she served as a leader to other clinic students and volunteered to take an elder abuse case to hearing.

“I am beyond honored to have received this award, especially after being nominated by both the Family Protection Clinic and the Elder Law Center,” she said. “It is so easy to get lost in the game of law school grades and hypothetical situations, but the clinics allowed me to work one on one with clients and remember why I came to law school: to help people. Both of the clinics taught me that I have the ability to be a lawyer, not just a law student who can recite rule statements and apply them, but a lawyer who can listen to her clients and successfully advocate for their needs and wants. I cherish the hugs from clients so much more than the 4.0s.”

Above: Elaine accepts the CLEA Outstanding Student Award from Professor Wendy Seiden.

Learn more about Fowler School of Law clinics.


Fowler School of Law Receives Law School Admissions Council Diversity Award

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For the fifth time, Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law has received the Law School Admissions Council’s (LSAC) DiscoverLaw.Org Diversity Matters Award. This year, the law school placed third among the top finalists in the country.

The national award recognizes law schools throughout the country that perform exceptional outreach efforts targeted to students of under-represented racial and ethnic groups.

“We are extremely honored to receive this award from the Law School Admission Council,” said Justin Cruz, Assistant Dean of Admission and Diversity Initiatives for Fowler School of Law.” Our commitment to inspire the next generation of students from historically under-represented backgrounds to pursue a legal education is a paramount goal of our diversity initiatives. The award represents the collaborative efforts of the Fowler Law community in achieving that goal.”

Chapman joins University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and University of Denver Sturm College of Law in the top three. The other top 10 schools were Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, Brooklyn Law School, Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, and University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

Read more about Fowler School of Law’s commitment to diversity.

 

Above: (From left) LSAC Executive Director of Diversity Initiatives Kent Lollis, Fowler School of Law Associate Director of Admission and Diversity Initiatives Allison Takeda, LSAC Diversity Committee Chair Nancy Benavides, Fowler School of Law Assistant Dean of Admission and Diversity Initiatives Justin Cruz, and Fowler School of Law Assistant Director of Admissions Grace Alcantara

Constitutional Jurisprudence Clinic to Host Litigation Boot Camp

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Students looking to learn more about pursuing careers in Constitutional advocacy are invited to join the Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Constitutional Jurisprudence Clinic (CJC) this summer for a one-day boot camp on August 20. The program is free for all Fowler School of Law 2L and 3L students, and required for students enrolled in the CJC.

Participants will hear from an impressive lineup of legal experts and sharpen their technical skills in Constitutional litigation, including the use of case management software, writing and formatting briefs, and making the most of the available resources in the Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library.

Speakers will include a federal trial judge who will address common mistakes of young attorneys, a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk providing information on the clerkship experience, and a former CJC graduate sharing on his path to becoming one of the nation’s leading experts on economic liberty. Throughout the day, speakers will discuss the differences between private practice and public interest law, as students discover the key practices for creating winning briefs.

Speakers include:

  • Honorable Andrew Guilford, United States District Court for the Central District of California
  • Tim Sandefur, Vice President for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute and a former CJC student
  • Professor Anthony Caso, Director of the Constitutional Jurisprudence Clinic
  • John Eastman, Founding Director of the Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence and Fowler School of Law Henry Salvatori Professor of Law
  • Professor Larry Salzman, Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation and Fowler School of Law Adjunct Professor

Register here.

Constitutional Litigation Bootcamp
Saturday, August 20, 2016
10 a.m .to 2 p.m. (lunch provided)
KH 237B
Free for Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law 2L & 3L students

Learn more about the Constitutional Jurisprudence Clinic, and hear what past students have to say.

Learn more about Fowler School of Law Clinics.

Two Fowler School of Law Staff Members Retire After More Than 35 Years of Service Combined

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This week, Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law said goodbye to two of the law school’s most cherished staff members, Barbara Babcock and BJ Reich, who are each retiring after 25 and 17 years, respectively, of serving the law school’s administration.

Both have seen innumerable changes to the law school, including the opening of the school’s current location in Kennedy Hall and receipt of ABA accreditation, as well as the growth of Chapman’s impressive faculty, its rise in the US News rankings, and an impressive list of guest speakers that has included two Associate Supreme Court Justices and a host of renowned academics and dignitaries.

Barbara, who retired as Senior Administrative Assistant for the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Administration, began at the law school in 1995, years before it would be established at its current site in Orange and nearly a decade before it would be known as the Fowler School of Law. At the time, the law school was located in an Anaheim office building. Barbara began as the original receptionist and admissions assistant, but has also worked as a faculty assistant, assistant to the associate dean for faculty, and as assistant to the director of development. She has organized the student award ceremonies every year since their inception, and consistently served as the go-to for student, faculty and staff questions. As the only remaining original employee of the law school, she has provided a wealth of institutional knowledge for newcomers and curious seasoned employees.

Barbara has cherished the opportunity to work with so many people – including deans, faculty, staff and students – over the years. She recalls with fondness the work that staff and students put into founding the law school: “The atmosphere was much more intimate and cozy for the first few years at the temporary site. It was a time of organization for the whole school, including student government and student organizations. The inaugural SBA developed the student constitution and bylaws, as well as organizing student-sponsored events. They did an awesome amount of work during those first few years. The students in each succeeding year seemed to work just as hard to make Chapman School of Law the place that it is today. Their enthusiasm and drive have been consistent over all the years.”

In retirement, she looks forward to spending time with her daughters and granddaughters, and getting back to volunteering and her old hobbies. She and her husband also plan to celebrate their 50th anniversary this year in “grand style.”

BJ Reich, who retired as Tax Law Clinic Administrative Assistant, has served on the staff of the law school since 1999. When it comes to her work, BJ says she’s “done it in style” and you’d be hard-pressed to find a person in disagreement thanks to her infectious humor and laugh. Over the years, she has helped the Tax Law Clinic serve hundreds of clients and watched as many students make their way through the program.

BJ notes that each incoming first-year class has been better than the last, and that some of her favorite memories were simply working with Tax Law Clinic Director George Willis (who she says has come to seem like a son to her), joking with President Jim Doti at every opportunity, and celebrating each year’s accomplishments with her friends on the staff.

In her retirement, BJ plans to spend much of her time with her grandchildren.

BJ, President Doti and Barbara at retirement partyLast month, the law school hosted a retirement party for the pair. Members of the administration, staff and faculty gathered to reflect on their years of hard work, express their gratitude, and wish them well. President Doti also surprised them with a heartfelt goodbye speech and presented them with parting Chapman gifts.

Fowler Law Professor Richard Redding Publishes “Lost in Translation No More: Marketing Evidence-Based Policies for Reducing Juvenile Crime”

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Dr. Richard Redding – Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Professor and Vice Chancellor for Graduate Education at Chapman University – recently published a book chapter on “Lost in Translation No More: Marketing Evidence-Based Policies for Reducing Juvenile Crime” in A New Juvenile Justice: Total Reform for a Broken System (NYU Press 2015).

From the abstract:

Richard book imageEven though effective evidence-based juvenile offender rehabilitation programs have been available for twenty years, such programs are underutilized and frequently misperceived as too ineffective, costly, and lenient because they fail to satisfy society’s retributive need to punish offenders. But the public, policy makers, prosecutors, and judges will support and utilize evidence-based programs when apparent conflicts between the demand for evidence-based programs, concerns about program effectiveness and costs, and the felt need for punishment are reconciled. This chapter outlines how this can be accomplished by using evidence-based persuasion strategies to effectively communicate the compatibility of these three goals.

Read the full article.

Dr. Richard Redding currently serves as the Vice Chancellor for Graduate Education at Chapman University, where he is the current holder of the Wang-Fradkin Chair, the highest honor Chapman can bestow on a faculty member for exceptional merit in scholarly or creative activity. Previously, he served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Dean for Administration at the Fowler School of Law. Dr. Redding specializes in forensic issues in criminal law; juvenile justice; the use of social science research in law and public policy; the role of sociopolitical attitudes in diversity, and interpersonal and professional functioning; and the ways in which social and political attitudes influence how science is used in policy making. His work in these areas is both theoretical (or policy-oriented) and empirical. Dr. Redding has published over 75 articles and book chapters in leading legal and peer-reviewed scientific journals, including these publications on Juvenile Justice:  “One Size Does Not Fit All: The Deterrent Effect of Transferring Juveniles to Criminal Court,” J. of Criminology & Pub. Pol’y (in press); “Knowledgeable Judges Make a Difference:  Judicial Beliefs Affect Juvenile Court Transfer Decisions,” 62 Juvenile & Family Court J. 15 (2011); “Evidence-Based Sentencing:  The Science of Sentencing Policy and Practice,” 1 Chapman J. of Criminal Justice, 19 (2009); “Juvenile Transfer Laws:  An Effective Deterrent to Delinquency?,”  Juvenile Justice Bulletin (U.S. Dept. of Justice 2008); “Training the Parents of Juvenile Offenders:  State of the Art and Recommendations for Service Delivery,” 17 J. of Child & Family Studies 629-648 (2008); Juvenile Delinquency:  Prevention, Assessment, and Intervention (K. Heilbrun, N. Goldstein, & R. Redding eds. 2005); “Multicultural Perspectives on Delinquency Among African-American Youth: Etiology and Intervention,” in Comprehensive Handbook of Multicultural School Psychology 710 (C. Frisby & C. Reynolds eds. 2005).

Read more of Dr. Redding’s writings.

Fowler School of Law Alumnus Parlays Externship into Position at Blizzard Entertainment

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Less than one year out of law school and just weeks after passing the bar exam, Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law alumnus and video game enthusiast Jack Anderson (JD ’15) found himself in a very unexpected place as a first-year associate at Blizzard Entertainment, the video game developer known for blockbuster games such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo. That he would end up there was not so much a surprise as the fact that he was the first ever first-year associate hired by the company.

While Anderson certainly focused on entertainment law as a student – he served as president of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society and co-founded the Entertainment and Sports Law Symposium – he had never had more specific plans beyond doing transactional work in the entertainment industry. That all changed after taking Video Game Law taught by Professor Eric Roeder, VP & General Counsel for Blizzard Entertainment, in his second year.

“I didn’t even know that in-house legal jobs existed in the video game industry before taking Eric’s class,” he said. “I’ve played games for years, but it didn’t take much time in Eric’s class for me to decide that video game law was where I wanted to be.”

After getting to know Professor Roeder over the semester, Anderson asked if Blizzard Entertainment needed a legal intern. Professor Roeder advised that the position didn’t exist. So, Anderson asked again….and again (nicely)…until Professor Roeder offered to send resumes from his class on to Blizzard’s corporate affiliate, Activision Blizzard in Santa Monica. Anderson ended up landing a summer internship with Activision Blizzard, where he did his best to make an impact and connect with Blizzard Entertainment at every opportunity. Eventually, he found himself splitting time between the Activision and Blizzard Entertainment offices. His summer internship evolved into an externship with Blizzard Entertainment in his final year of law school. By the time bar results were posted in December, he had an official job offer as an in-house lawyer.

Now, Anderson spends his days on everything from negotiating and drafting e-sports event production deals to helping advise game developers on copyright and trademark issues for various games. He says that his work makes playing his favorite games exceptionally rewarding.

“It’s a cool feeling to see things that I’ve had a hand in end up in the games I play,” he said. “I work with so many amazingly talented people – I am in awe every time I see the level of detail and thoughtfulness that goes into the things they create. I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of the support group that helps bring these games to life.”

Anderson credits a great deal of his success to the practical training from entertainment law classes taught by Fowler School of Law’s excellent entertainment law faculty, including Professors Kathy Heller, Mary Lee Ryan and Roeder, but his perseverance, networking skills and eagerness to take advantage of every opportunity as a student surely helped along the way.

“Building personal relationships is crucial,” he said. “You’ll never be in a position to get these opportunities if you don’t put yourself out there.”

He said the transition from extern to associate has had a steep learning curve, but he’s more appreciative than ever for the foundation Fowler School of Law’s entertainment law courses laid for him.

“Because they’ve never had a first-year associate before, it’s definitely been a ‘learn by doing’ kind of training process,” he said. “But, what I learned in Professor Heller and Ryan’s entertainment law classes is exactly what I do every day.”

One of the most valuable lessons Anderson said he got at Fowler was a final project in Professor Heller’s Negotiating & Drafting Entertainment Law Transactions course, where he was expected to close negotiations on a complicated agreement with a fellow student using only email and Microsoft Word redlines.

“I was shocked to discover that that’s how it actually works in the real world,” he said. “The practical things that Fowler professors teach are spot-on. I think a lot of students don’t realize it.”

Above: Jack Anderson with a larger than life statue of ‘Grommash Hellscream’ from World of Warcraft at Blizzard HQ”

Alumni Highlights – Summer 2016

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  • Navid Moshtael (JD ’05) was promoted to partner at Stabile & Moshtael, an Orange-based law firm specializing in family law.
  • Fowler School of Law was recognized in May for the work of alumna Suzanne Fidler (JD ’05) as a volunteer attorney in a citizenship fair co-sponsored by the city of Santa Ana and the Public Law Center. Read more.
  • Antoinette Balta’s (JD ’06) Veterans Legal Institute, which she co-founded in 2014, was featured in The Orange County Register for its work with local veterans. Since opening, the nonprofit has served roughly 1,300 veterans. Read more.
  • Neetal Parekh (JD ’06) has spent the year touring and speaking about her 2015 book, 51 Questions on Social Entrepreneurship. Read more.
  • Sara Naheedy (JD ’09) published a legal self-help book, Stack the Legal Odds in Your Favor, which includes a foreword by Dr. Ron Paul.
  • Timothy Weiner (LL.M. ’10) was sworn in as a Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner in March.
  • Paul A. Alarcón (JD ’10) joined Buchalter Nemer, which was recently ranked as the 23rd largest firm in Orange County by the Orange County Business Journal. Alarcón’s practice concentrates on product liability and consumer class actions as well as regulatory matters representing manufacturers and retailers. Read more.
  • Lauren Hazarian (JD ’10) and Lisa Mahlum (JD ’11) performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown LA as part of the LA Lawyers Philharmonic & Legal Voices in June. Read more.
  • Quan Vuong (JD and LL.M. ’11) published a children’s book entitled Little Lawyers on Estate Planning: Ellie Gets a Will and Trust inspired by his own practice in estate planning. Read more.
  • Joseph Bolander (JD ’11) represented the plaintiffs of the case Flores v. City of San Gabriel and argued before the 9th Circuit and prevailed. Bolander works for firm Castillo Harper APC, of which alumna Kasey Castillo (JD ’05) is a named partner.
  • Amanda Singer (JD ’13), along with her business partner, recently contributed a chapter for the book Putting Kids First in Divorce: How to Reduce Conflict, Preserve Relationships & Protect Your Children During & After Divorce. Singer is co-owner of the San Diego Family Mediation Center. Read more.
  • Julia Sumida (JD ’13) recently became Senior V.P. at Banc of California in Irvine. Sumida began interning there as a student and was hired upon graduation. She currently specializes in creditor’s rights as well as contracts and trademark areas.
  • Elaine Dick (JD ’16) was recognized for her work in the Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law clinics with the Clinical Legal Education Association’s Outstanding Student Award. Read more.

Read more alumni news.

Are you an alumnus? Have you recently changed firms, been promoted, published or made partner and would like to be featured in the next online edition of Alumni Highlights? Submit a class note!

Fowler Law Professor Nancy Schultz Elected President of International Academy of Dispute Resolution

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Nancy Schultz headshot

Professor Nancy Schultz

Nancy Schultz, Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Professor and Director of Competitions and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program, was recently elected as president of the International Academy of Dispute Resolution (INADR).

The academy is dedicated to bringing awareness to the benefits of mediation, and hosts annual mediation certification trainings, law school and undergraduate competitions, and an annual conference.

Professor Schultz has been a member of the INADR board of directors since 2009 and has sat on the executive committee since 2014. She has also been chair of the law school tournament since 2008. She will serve as president for two years.

At Fowler School of Law, Professor Schultz leads the law school’s student competition boards – Moot Court, Mock Trial and Dispute Resolution – which compete throughout the year and across the globe.

In addition to her work with INADR, Professor Schultz served on the ABA-Law Student Division Competitions Committee for 12 years, and also currently serves on the International Client Counseling Competition Committee, and the International Negotiation Competition Committee, where she is the North American representative to the Executive Committee. Professor Schultz has co-authored three texts in the research and writing field, and has organized and presented numerous programs at national and international gatherings of legal writing professionals and other legal educators.


Fowler School of Law Alumni Take on Publishing World

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Three Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law alumni recently set out to share their expertise by publishing three very distinct books. From estate planning to family mediation to finding the perfect business structure, Quan Vuong (JD and LL.M. ’11), Amanda Singer (JD ’13) and Neetal Parekh (JD ’06) jumped head-first into the publishing world with their own unique educational resources.

Quan Vuong (JD and LL.M. ’11) | Little Lawyers on Estate Planning: Ellie Gets a Will and Trust

Quan Vuong holds out book

Alumnus Quan Vuong

When Vuong began looking for a way to better explain to his clients the basics of wills and trusts after striking out on his own in estate planning, he turned to an unlikely source of inspiration: his time with his kids.

The problem was, he said, that many adults approach the topic of wills and trusts with the attitude that they should avoid asking questions that could seem “dumb” coming from college-educated people.

“As an attorney, when I met with clients, I found that they always had conflicting information,” he said. “They just never really knew who to trust and what information was actually correct. I would spend time going over the basics with them, but sometimes they’d be too embarrassed to ask questions.”

Enter Little Lawyers on Estate Planning: Ellie Gets a Will and Trust, the 15-page children’s book inspired by Vuong’s time reading to his kids and his desire to help his clients.

The book follows Ellie as she prepares for summer camp and must decide what should happen to her toys should she, inevitably, be abducted by aliens while she’s away. The story covers a basic explanation of wills — without ever using the word — along with the benefits of using trusts, and the roles of trustees.

The idea, Vuong said, was to provide clients with an icebreaker to give them a broad overview of the subject in an approachable way, opening them up to a more candid conversation. He connected the idea of better preparing his clients with a children’s book after his experience reading to his own children, who are 4 and 3 years old.

“I enjoy reading to them each night before bed, but I got a little tired of reading One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish and Goodnight Moon,” Vuong said. “I thought that there should be other books out there that kids would enjoy but are also substantive for the parents. That’s when I came across this idea, where parents can learn something while still spending quality time with their kids, and the kids will still enjoy the imagery and story.”

Vuong said the feedback from clients, who usually receive the book before their initial client meeting, has been overwhelmingly positive.

“People have said that they can’t believe there’s nothing like it out there already,” he said. “It’s such a simple idea, but it’s a product of love. It basically came from my time with my kids, so hopefully other parents enjoy it also. And to me, the more concepts you expose kids to the better, whether they absorb it or not.”

This summer, Vuong is finishing up his second book in the Little Lawyers series. This time, Ellie gets an LLC.

Amanda Singer (JD ’13) | Putting Kids First in Divorce: How to Reduce Conflict, Preserve Relationships & Protect Your Children During & After Divorce

Putting Kids First in Divorce book cover

Thanks to her impressive work in mediation and years-long role as co-owner of the San Diego Family Mediation Center, Singer and her business partner, Jennifer Segura, were tapped to provide their insight for the book Putting Kids First in Divorce: How to Reduce Conflict, Preserve Relationships & Protect Your Children During & After Divorce.

The book is compiled of interviews with 10 divorce specialists aimed at putting children’s need first. Singer and her business partner provide a range of family mediation services through their San Diego Family Mediation Clinic, where they assist families in having the difficult conversations that come with divorce.

“We’ve done some things that we think could really help people,” Singer said. “People often don’t know mediation is an option, so we really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get the word out and share our knowledge.”

Amanda Singer and business partner Jennifer

Alumna Amanda Singer with her business partner Jennifer Segura

Singer and Segura contributed a chapter that addresses best practices for making children a priority in blended families, or families that include children from previous marriages. They used conflict resolution techniques to resolve issues and improve communication. Singer said she drew on her years of experience in practice and presented real-life examples from past clients. The choice to focus on blended family mediation came after they looked at their most common requests from clients.

Singer began in mediation while simultaneously pursuing her JD at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law and a Masters of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University. While at the law school, she participated in the Mediation Clinic and helped found the Juvenile Mediation Clinic. Although attorneys typically find mediation a tough industry to break into as a starting point in their career, Singer’s use of Fowler School of Law’s clinics and her networking helped her ease into the highly-competitive field.

Neetal Parekh (JD ’06) | 51 Questions on Social Entrepreneurship

51 Questions book coverParekh’s book, 51 Questions on Social Entrepreneurship, stemmed from her years as a legal blogger and a digital strategy and communications consultant for several Silicon Valley start-up companies, where she tied her legal expertise and creative strengths to help companies and entrepreneurs navigate the legal world.

The book presents various business concepts through the lens of three fictional characters taking part in a social entrepreneurship conference called the Impactathon. The characters ultimately make their way through 51 questions that business owners commonly find themselves faced with – including how to best structure their businesses legally and what rules apply to social impact startups – as they work to develop a pitch for a social impact campaign.

“We often think law is one of the last things to change, but so much has changed when it comes to founding and structuring a business,” Parekh said. “There are so many factors that can bog entrepreneurs down. Delivering that information in an easy way can make it more actionable for the average person.”

Neetal Parekh

Alumna Neetal Parekh

Shortly after graduating from law school, Parekh moved to the Bay Area to join the start-up industry, and work with businesses focused on making a social impact. She wrote for FindLaw.com, providing educational articles, and quickly developed her own website and blog to reach a new market of leaders: social entrepreneurs. While writing her blog, she also founded her own consulting firm, Innov8 Social.

The blog became her own collection of business and legal resources for social entrepreneurs and eventually developed into a podcast and book, 51 Questions.

“When I started blogging, people were just looking for easier ways to find information,” she said. “This book was a way to take what I’ve been doing, and further engage in the social impact area to really get this knowledge into the hands of people who could really be proactive.”

Although she spent the summers clerking during law school and dipped her toes in the legal world, she knew wouldn’t take a traditional route with her JD.

“By the time I was 21, I knew my path would be unconventional,” she said. “Adding the business side of things added a little more depth for me and allowed me to find new ways to make an impact.”

Read more alumni news.

Fowler Associate Dean Donald Kochan Publishes in Texas A&M Journal of Property Law Symposium

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Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Associate Dean Donald Kochan’s article “Incumbent Landscapes, Disruptive Uses: Perspectives on Marijuana-Related Land Use Control” was recently published in Volume 3, Number 1 of the Texas A&M Journal of Property Law.

From the abstract:

journal cover imageThe story behind the move toward marijuana’s legality is a story of disruptive forces to the incumbent legal and physical landscape. It affects incumbent markets, incumbent places, the incumbent regulatory structure, and the legal system in general which must mediate the battles involving the push for relaxation of illegality and adaptation to accepting new marijuana-related land uses, against efforts toward entrenchment, resilience, and resistance to that disruption.

This Article is entirely agnostic on the issue of whether we should or should not decriminalize, legalize, or otherwise increase legal tolerance for marijuana or any other drugs. Nonetheless, we must grapple with the fact that many jurisdictions are embracing a type of “legality innovation” regarding marijuana. I define “legality innovation” as that effect which begins with the change in law that leads to the development of the lawful relevance of, lawful business regarding, and legal use for a newly-legal product, the successful deployment of which depends on the relative acceptance of the general public which must provide a venue for its operations along with the relative change in the consuming public’s attitudes as a result of the introduction of legality.

Marijuana-related land uses are and will be controversial. Regulatory responses, neighborhood disputes, permit battles, and opposition coalitions are all predictable both as a matter of logical analysis in light of legal standards but also, very importantly, due to the lessons of history with similarly-situated, precursor land uses like liquor stores, adult entertainment, bars, nightclubs, massage parlors, and the like leading the way. The Article also discusses the role of incumbent interests groups in shaping the new marijuana-related regulatory structure, including revealing Baptist and bootlegger coalitions that exist to oppose relaxation of marijuana laws and thwart land use successes of the marijuana industry in order to maintain their incumbent value or profit position. Finally, the Article engages with the growing literature in the social sciences on place and space, examining how the spaces and places we inhabit and in which we conduct our business and social affairs are necessarily impacted whenever legality innovations like we are seeing with marijuana work to disrupt the incumbent landscape.

Read the full article.

Donald J. Kochan currently serves as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Fowler School of Law. His scholarship focuses on areas of property, administrative law, natural resources, law & economics, and jurisprudence, among others. He has published more than 35 scholarly articles and essays in well-respected law journals. His work has been cited in more than 300 published law review articles.

In January 2016, Dean Kochan was elected as a new Member of the American Law Institute (ALI). He was also elected as a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation in 2014. Dean Kochan received the 2014 Valerie Scudder Award from Chapman University, a merit-based award selected by peers in recognition of outstanding achievement in scholarship, teaching, and service, and one of the highest honors given to a faculty member at the University. Among his numerous activities, Dean Kochan currently is a Contributing Editor of the “Keeping Current-Property” section in Probate & Property, the bi-monthly magazine of the Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section of the American Bar Association; serves as the Chair-Elect for the Section on Property Law for the Association of American Law Schools; serves as the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Environment & Natural Resources Regulation for the ABA Section on Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice; and serves as an inaugural Co-Editor of the Property Section of JOTWELL.

Other recent articles include “Dealing with Dirty Deeds: Matching Nemo Dat Preferences with Property Law Pragmatism,” 64 Kansas Law Review 1 (2015) and “A Framework for Understanding Property Regulation and Land Use Control from a Dynamic Perspective,” 4 Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law 303 (2015).

See more of Dean Kochan’s writings.

2L Student Benefits from Judicial Externship Out of Her Comfort Zone

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gabrielle lacarre_editedAs a second-year student planning on a future in litigation, Gabrielle LaCarre (JD ’17) knew a judicial externship was not the most traditional route. But rather than pursue work at a private law firm, she opted for a chance to see things from the other side of the bench through an externship at the Orange County Superior Court, where she found her passion outside of her comfort zone.

Fowler School of Law externships allow students to pursue their passions beyond the classroom while building their resumes and gaining valuable professional experience in addition to course credit. The work can vary as wildly as the seven emphasis areas the law school offers, ranging from working with private law firms to large corporations and nonprofit organizations.

Read more below about Gabrielle’s externship experience and why she recommends that students take as many externships as possible.

Tells us about the process of obtaining your externship.

Initially I was hesitant about going through the second-year judicial externship interview process. Then I received an email from Professor Carolyn Larmore, Director of Fowler Law’s Externship Program, explaining how judicial externships allow students to get great experience while “peeking behind the curtain” to see what’s going on in a judge’s chambers. Prior to embarking on a second-year judicial externship, I had already worked in the court system – having obtained a summer position with Justice David A. Thompson, Associate Justice for the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana, after finishing my first year at Fowler Law. That position arose as a result of my success in the first year oral argument competition, making a connection with Justice Thompson who was one of three judges in the competition finals.

Seeking to secure my second externship required a more traditional approach, via the application and interview process. When it came time to make my application, I decided to seek a position working for a judge at the trial court level – rather than the appellate level. Trial courts offer a more active and energized work environment than the typically solitary work in the Court of Appeal. The application process ended up going very smoothly, and ultimately I was selected to work for Judge Thomas Delaney in the California Superior Court at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

Working for Judge Delaney was the most exciting and fulfilling job in my life. Prior to law school, I worked in the sports marketing field – so I’ve had some rewarding and very interesting positions – but stepping into the Superior Court system took things to a whole new level. Judge Delaney has a big personality and is very welcoming to younger students and attorneys. But if you want to know something you’ve got to ask, so very quickly I got comfortable asking a lot of questions. The law school classroom environment can sometimes be so intimidating that I’m not always willing to step up and ask questions, but with Judge Delaney I felt comfortable admitting that I didn’t understand something, or asking for further clarification of new concepts. And working for a sitting judge is enlightening because you’re getting a direct answer from someone who is making real-world decisions every day. So I learned a lot by simply asking questions and making observations.

When assignments started coming my way, I not only got projects from Judge Delaney but also from the other judges in the courthouse. This was sometimes daunting, but the wide scope of projects also exposed me to an amazing range of tasks. My projects included post-conviction calendar write-ups, memos of general felony law, and jurisdictional issues (where I found out you really do Civil Procedure in the real world), among many others.

Did you go into your externship knowing you wanted to be in Superior Court or were you looking for anything new and interesting?

After my first externship with the Court of Appeal, I really wanted something more fast-paced, so I knew I either wanted to be in Superior Court or maybe working with a firm. I had an offer to go work for a law firm with one of our family friends, which was a great opportunity to do interesting Intellectual Property work. But I felt like I needed to push my boundaries, so I chose to pursue the Superior Court position.

Law school life is generally very structured, and can be fairly solitary. Much of the time it’s about you – studying alone, what you can write, and what you can do. I think the harder part is when you apply all that to the real world – suddenly everything is interactions and networking, and being outside of yourself. So I decided I needed to try this. I wanted something a little more fast-paced.

People ask why I want to do a judicial externship if I don’t want to be a judge, or why I don’t extern with the District Attorney if I want to be a litigator. And that’s something I’m sure I’ll do at some point, but I think there is a benefit to knowing the people who are in charge of those cases and how they decide them. Working for the DA gives you one perspective about how a case is going to be handled; but working for a judge helps you see (and learn) both sides. So I think this was a smart choice and it really was an amazing experience.

What’s one of the most memorable moments so far?

Working for Judge Delaney, we had to take some small claims cases. We broke them up into groups and brought the attorneys back into the judge’s private chambers, helping them get into a settlement and mediation mode. We had heard both sides and even brought in the parties, and then the judge sat down and asked me to break it down. It was different for me because I’d never experienced any of that. I also found it interesting to see how the lawyers’ gloves came off in chambers in talking and discussing what they wanted and what they were planning to bring up in the courtroom – because surprises in real court don’t happen. It was a bit intimidating realizing I hadn’t prewritten or researched anything – that I was just going off of what was in my mind, in the moment. I synthesized things I knew, referring back to concepts I learned in law school or things I gleaned from working for the judge. Classes like Agency Law and Contracts came back to me in a way that I don’t think I would have recalled if I was simply writing a memo. Unlike structuring a written legal document, I simply focused on “how can I make this work?” The judge acknowledged that even he hadn’t thought of some of the ideas I proposed. This was a great feeling and the moment I realized that this is work that I really enjoy. Those moments are hard to come by in life, so it felt fantastic to be reaffirmed in what I was doing.

I’ve heard some others who complain about their externships, stressing about big projects or losing sleep at night. But my experience with Judge Delany at the Orange County Superior Court made me want to take on more work because it was fun, rewarding, and I absolutely loved it!

What’s your advice to other students about taking externships?

The more work you do in real practice – whether it’s an externship, or clinic, or a summer clerkship – the better you’ll feel about what you’re learning. Before coming to Fowler Law, I thought that externships were simply resume-builders – if you don’t beef up your resume with this type of work, then your education is going down the drain. But once I actually began working in an externship, I realized the relevance of what I’ve been learning in law school. It’s one thing to read about civil procedure and statutes, but it’s something quite different to see how those things work in a courtroom or see how they are handled by a professional. And once I started doing externships, I felt like law school became easier, and my classroom participation flowed much more freely. Once you’ve discussed something with a judge in his private chambers (which can be quite intimidating!), talking to a professor becomes a lot easier. The experience takes away a lot of the anxiety and nervousness, which makes it easier to apply yourself, grow, and really learn.

So, my advice is: do as many externships as you can and do them in areas that you think you might not be interested in. You will surprise yourself. I didn’t think I was going to be involved in litigation at all, and then I got the Court of Appeals position and I realized, “OK, now I know that I probably don’t want to do appellate work.” And then I took the position at the Harbor Justice Center and thought, “Yep, this is a dream. I found my people. This is great, and now I know.”

In the end, externships are a way to discover more about yourself. So do them; and do things that make you uncomfortable. Because the more experience you have the better candidate you’ll be for the job you really want!

Putting Your Summer to Work With Fowler School of Law Study Abroad

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One of the many great summer opportunities offered at Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law is access to world-class study abroad programs that offer students a more hands-on perspective of international law. In addition to the annual Cambridge, England study abroad program, students have a chance to take part in unique study and externship programs offered across the globe.

Two such students, Maggie Miller (JD ’18) and Mandi Shaughnessy-Ford (JD ’18), recently wrapped up their stay at Bar Ilan University in Israel, where they had the opportunity to take courses and participate in externships at the state’s parliament.

 What interested you in the program?

Maggie: I really love the country of Israel. When I was 10 years old my family went to Poland to tour Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration camp in terms of size and lives lost during WWII. The visit to Auschwitz was life altering in so many ways. I studied history during my undergraduate studies mostly due to that visit as a child. I traveled to Israel with my family for the first time 10 years ago and I have wanted to go back ever since. When Professor Michael Bazyler, who is an expert in Holocaust studies, told me about the opportunity to study in Israel I was completely on board!

Mandi: What attracted me to Israel was a deep concern for the welfare of its citizens. I had been following recent events in Israel, and the violence struck a chord in me that I could not ignore. At the same time, the Syrian refugee crisis had peaked and I became increasingly frustrated with how isolated I was from these international issues. There is such a helpless feeling that comes from reading headlines about such atrocities in the comfort of a law school classroom. I approached Professor Bazyler about opportunities to work in Israel for the summer, and he enthusiastically explained this program to me. I knew that even if I could not do anything to fight back against the evil in such a short time, I would gain a better understanding of the situation.

What did the program entail?

Israel Supreme Court

Interior of the Israel Supreme Court | Photo courtesy of Maggie Miller

Maggie: I took six courses total, each lasting two weeks in duration. In my opinion, the most fascinating course was International Criminal Law, which dealt with numerous topics, such as war crimes.

I also had an externship with a member of Israel’s K’nesset (parliament). The externship consisted of 50 hours of work for the summer, which is quite favorable in comparison to our requirements in other externship programs. In addition to classes and my externship, the program also included two tour days, the first in Jerusalem and the second in Tel Aviv. On the tours we visited different places, ate, shopped and explored.

Mandi: This program is fantastic because it provides an opportunity to take classes and gain externship experience in one summer. The classes were very different, as the professors have a much more relaxed demeanor. I enjoyed a break from the Socratic method. It was also fascinating to see the world through my professors’ perspective. As citizens of a country declared a state only 68 years ago, their insight provided a valuable opportunity to gain a broader understanding of the world.

In addition to six required courses, I was also involved in two externships; one with the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women’s Status, and another with the K’nesset. These projects entailed doing in-depth research on pressing issues Israel faces today.

What is your day-to-day like?

Maggie: A typical day consisted of classes from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday to Thursday. After class I usually went to the beach. The weather was hot and the Mediterranean water was clear and warm, and the sand was the softest I have ever felt! The remainder of my day was spent eating a variety of different foods, and then running alongside the Mediterranean Sea in the evening once the temperature cooled down.

student Mandi Shauhnessy-Ford with fellow students

Mandi Shaughnessy-Ford (center) explores Tiberias with fellow students | Photo courtesy of Mandi Shaughnessy-Ford

Mandi: When not in class, I was either preparing for the next session, working on my externship projects, basking in the glory of the Mediterranean Sea, or eating hummus and pita bread. My friends and I also spent considerable time exploring Tel Aviv and the surrounding cities. There is so much to do, but not nearly enough time!

Have you had a chance to explore, yet? What’s been a highlight?

Maggie: Each day classes finished around 2 p.m., which left ample time to explore and enjoy Tel Aviv. In addition, we made several visits to Israel’s capital city, Jerusalem. While in Jerusalem, I had the pleasure of visiting the Israeli K’nesset and the Supreme Court, as well as Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum. Yad Vashem takes its visitors on a journey, beginning with the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich, to the beginning and end of the Holocaust, with a consistent focus on the lives lost and those who survived.

Maggie Miller in front of Yad Vashem

Maggie Miller at Yad Vashem

Some of the biographies that moved me the most were those who were not Jewish, but those who chose to rescue and hide those who were Jewish during the Holocaust. Those people went against the grain, risking their own lives; it is difficult to read their stories without having an emotional reaction. For me, these biographies resonated in a profound way; these are the heroes we should emulate in life, not the images and lifestyles that U.S. pop culture promotes. The visit to Yad Vashem was one of the most humbling experiences of my life and I have a new gratitude for freedom in America. It is my opinion that in spite of our differences in political and social reform, prejudices, and our own poverties, America is still the most fortunate of countries.

A final observation: when a lot of people think of Israel, they think of war; a clash between two peoples and cultures. However, Israel is a relatively safe country. Muslims and Jews successfully coexist here every day in Israel. The majority of people choose to live in peace, working together daily in community life, contrary to the images that the media tends to portray. This has been one of my great discoveries in Israel, and also one of the many reasons why I have come to love it.

Mandi: Another selling point of this program are the built-in tours! In lieu of a class session early on, our group toured Israel’s Supreme Court, the Holocaust Museum and the Old City in Jerusalem. There were so many highlights. The Supreme Court was fascinating because it operates quite differently than our Supreme Court in significant ways. The Holocaust Museum not only horrified me by the level of depravity exhibited throughout the museum, but humbled me knowing I will never have to experience that sort of terror. That experience put my life into perspective, making my own worries so trivial. The tour of the Old City had a very spiritual significance to me. As a devout Christian, it was unparalleled to walk on the same ground that the feet of my Savior touched.

The Old City was fascinating because it was separated into four quarters; the Jewish, Muslim, Armenian and Christian quarters. It was amazing to walk through each quarter and experience the different cultures in such a short time. Of similar importance: I had my first and best falafel!

This program has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. I have learned some Hebrew (emphasis on “some”), immersed myself into a foreign culture, and gained an international understanding that could not be learned in the United States.

Learn more about Fowler School of Law

 

Fowler Law Professor Scott Howe Publishes “Moving Beyond Miranda: Concessions for Confessions”

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Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Professor Scott Howe’s article “Moving Beyond Miranda: Concessions for Confessions” was recently published in Volume 110, Number 4 of the Northwestern University Law Review.

From the abstract:

law review coverThe law governing police interrogation provides perverse incentives. For criminal suspects, the law rewards obstruction and concealment. For police officers, it honors deceit and psychological aggression. For the courts and the rest of us, it encourages blindness and rationalization. This Article contends that the law could help foster better behaviors. The law could incentivize criminals to confess without police trickery and oppression. It could motivate police officers involved in obtaining suspect statements to avoid chicanery and duress. And, it could summon courts and the rest of us to speak more truthfully about whether suspect admissions are the product of informed, intelligent, and voluntary decisions. States could promote these outcomes by providing valuable sentencing concessions to those who confess.

Read the full article.

Scott Howe has been a professor at the law school since August, 1996. He has substantial experience both as a criminal defense lawyer and as a teacher in the fields of criminal law, criminal procedure and evidence. He earned his B.A., summa cum laude, in economics, from the University of Missouri, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his JD, cum laude, from the University of Michigan, where he was Administrative and Articles Editor on the Michigan Law Review. After law school, Professor Howe worked for five years as an attorney for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, defending indigent persons charged with serious crimes, including first degree murder. He subsequently served as Deputy Director of the Texas Death Penalty Resource Center, in Austin, Texas, representing inmates under execution warrants on Texas’ death row. His representation during this period of death-row inmate Kerry Max Cook is recounted in Mr. Cook’s acclaimed memoir, Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn’t Commit. Before coming to Chapman, Professor Howe taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Law School and then became a tenured full professor at Western New England College School of Law. At Chapman, he has been voted Professor of the Year three times by the graduating class. Recent articles include “Deselecting Biased Juries,” 2015 Utah Law Review 89 (2015), “The Federal Death Penalty and the Constitutionality of Capital Punishment,” 50 Criminal Law Bulletin (2014) and “The Eighth Amendment as a Warrant Against Undeserved Punishment,” 22 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal (2013), with other articles published in a variety of leading law journals, including University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Iowa Law Review, and Vanderbilt Law Review. He is also co-author of the fourth edition of California Criminal Law: Cases and Problems, a casebook published in 2016, and the third edition of Understanding Capital Punishment Law, a treatise published in 2012. Professor Howe served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1999 to 2007 and twice served as Interim Dean, from 2010 to 2011, and again during the spring of 2016.

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