Simone Beach, the law school's Events Coordinator, is currently featured on the University's homepage. Her unique story is presented in an article by Kevin Hyde, "Living Law School: Full-time Brandeis employee earns her law degree".

Friday, May 8, 2009

Graduates’ Reception

6:30-7:30 p.m.
Law School Student Commons (first floor, classroom wing)

All graduates and guests are invited.  Hors d'oeuvres will be served, and a cash bar will be available.  Please RSVP to Simone Beach with your total number of guests by Monday, May 4.

Graduates’ Awards Program

7:30-8:30 p.m.
Law School Room 275

All graduates and guests are invited.

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Saturday, May 9, 2009

Saturday, May 9.  There’s a full and exciting agenda planned!

President's Reception and University Commencement

The day starts with the President’s Reception at 11:00 a.m., North Wing Atrium of the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center, followed by the University Commencement.  Please meet in the North Wing by 12:30 for a 1:00 p.m. procession, as law students will carry the School of Law banner into Freedom Hall. 

Law School Convocation

The Law School's Convocation will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the W.L. Lyons Brown Theater (315 West Broadway), and it normally lasts about 90 minutes.  You may bring as many guests as you wish; guests do not need tickets or announcements.  Graduates need to arrive at the Brown Theater by 3:30 p.m.  Hooding will be part of your ceremony, but law school staff will bring the hoods to the Convocation. 

If you will have a disabled guest, please notify Rita Siegwald by April 30.  More graduation instructions (line-up, etc.) will be available at the end of the exam period.

The Honorable Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Kentucky’s history, will be this year’s Convocation speaker.  He currently serves as a senior member of the Appropriations, Agriculture and Rules Committees, and he is the Senate Republican Leader in the 111th Congress.  Elected to that position unanimously by his colleagues, Senator McConnell is only the second Kentuckian to lead his party in the Senate.  He previously served as the Republican Leader in the 110th Congress and the Majority Whip in the 108th and 109th Congresses.

For a discounted rate of $119 at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel, call (502) 585-3200 and ask for the U of L rate.

For a discounted rate of $129 at the Louisville Marriott Downtown, reservations must be made by April 24.  To make reservations for the event, call (800) 533-0127 and ask for the University of Louisville Law School Graduation Block. 

Congratulations, Class of 2009!

The Louisville Bar Association would like to inform members of our law school community about their new Twitter page. Yes, you heard correctly. The LBA is now 'Tweeting' with the goal of improving dialogue between LBA members, law students and other legal professionals in our community.

Also, everyone is invited to attend their press conference scheduled for Monday, April 20 at 10 AM in the Judicial Center (2nd floor Attorneys Room) as they announce the results of this year's Judicial Evaluation of Jefferson Circuit and Family Court judges. Many of whom have sat and ruled on recent highly publicized cases including the Bellarmine student Katie McCoy trial (Judge Susan Shultz Gibson), PRP student Max Gilpin trial (Judge Mitchell Perry) and the recent Eeron Harper murder trial (Judge James Shake).

The conference is open to the public.

Law Librarian Robin Harris has been awarded for having provided 25 years of invaluable service to the University. Prior to her role at the law library, she served as a reference librarian at Ekstrom Library.

 

Left to right: Arbitrators Dr. Prof. Christian Schwartz (Netherlands), Prof. Janet Walker (Canada) and Ziva Filipic (Slovenia), University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law teammates Marshall Casey, Rebecca Simms, UNAM teammates Luis Paz and Angelica Huacuja

The Willem Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot involved 233 teams representing 59 countries and 1,500 students.  Fifty-three United States law schools were represented, although the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law team was the only team representing Kentucky.  There were more than 600 arbitrators from around the world – drawn from law firms and law school faculties – comprised the three-person panels that heard more than 1,000 arbitrations.  

The  University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law team was represented by Marshall Casey and Rebecca Simms. The team acquitted itself extremely well in the first four rounds, receiving very positive comments from the Arbitrators, and actually competed against three teams that went on to the finals.

In the first round the  University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law team went against the top team of three representing the University of Paris, the Sorbonne; in round two they went against the National Autonomous University of Mexico which could be described as the “Harvard of Mexico,” the number one school in the country; they faced Charles University, Czech Republic, in round three, and, finally, the University of Munich, an extremely strong school and one of 24 German (second only to the United States) teams.  As noted, Paris, UNAM and Munich went on to the finals.

Although the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law team did not make the final round of 64 they moved very successfully through the first four rounds, learned a great deal and represented Brandeis in a very important aspect of the gathering, international networking.  It seemed that many participants – from both civil law and common law countries were aware of Louis Brandeis.  There were also opportunities to view the art and history of Vienna. In this the team was aided by alumna, Kristina Huddleston,`97.

Keith Sealing, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs

The UofL Law Clinic Open House and Reception showcases the UofL Law Clinic, an initiative that enables the law school to refocus legal education as a primarily (or even exclusively) classroom-based endeavor into an active, hands-on enterprise of learning by doing.

 

We'd like to thank all the members of the Louisville legal community, alumni, faculty, staff and students who shared in this celebration.

University of Louisville Law Clinic students, from left: Dustin Thacker, Becca O'Neill, Chad Reid, Christopher McDavid, Caroline Pieroni, Amy Jay. Photo credit: Robert Pieroni
Professor Lars Smith, Dean Jim Chen and the incoming Clinic Director Shelley Santry enjoy the reception.
Becca O'Neill and her classmates present gifts to their instructors Stewart Pope, Legal Aid Advocacy Director, and Lars Smith, University of Louisville Professor and Samuel J. Stallings Chair in Law.
Guests enjoy the conversation and live music, compliments of Middleton Reutlinger and Stites & Harbison.
Law Clinic Reception Guests	Law students, Cheri Jones and Simone Beach
Wine, beer, and soft drinks were provided by Middleton Reutlinger and Stites & Harbison.	Bourbon tasting provided by Woodford Reserve.
Hors d'oeuvres provided by Carrabba's Italian Grill.	Vickie Tencer (Unit Business Manager), Kathy Urbach (Assistant Dean for Career Services and Public Service) and Jina Scinta (Program Assistant)
Professor Susan Duncan, Justice Elisabeth Hughes Abramson, Judge Paula Sherlock, Professor Laura Rothstein, and Maria Fernandez, '89	Third year student and Law Clinic member Caroline Pieroni and family, from left: Jennifer Lynch Nickel, Mark Nickel, David Lynch, Julia Lynch, Caroline Lynch Pieroni, Robert Pieroni
Law student, Amy Jay	University of Louisville Law Students

Four students from Central High School competed at the inaugural Marshall-Brennan National Civil Liberties Moot Court Competition in Philadelphia on March 21-22.  Kimberly Albritton, Jack Chen, Osiah Graham, and Sasha Richmond represented their school, the Law & Government Magnet, and the University of Louisville’s Central High Partnership and achieved incredible success in the tournament.
 
Osiah Graham, a senior at Central who plans to attend the University of Louisville as a Harlan Scholar in the fall, reached the semi-final round of the competition, which meant he was among the 16 most outstanding competitors in the entire nation.  His classmates Kim Albritton and Sasha Richmond both advanced to the quarter-finals, making the Central students by far the most successful team at the entire tournament.  Teams came from all over the country, representing Marshall-Brennan programs from Washington, D.C., to Phoenix, and from Boston to Baton Rouge.  No other contingent came close to doing what Central did by having three-quarters of its students reach the quarter-final round.
 
The team was coached by Brandeis School of Law students Colleen Clemons (who accompanied the team to Philadelphia), Amy Jay, Jason Schwalm, and Heather Stone.  All are third-year students who have taught at Central in the Marshall-Brennan program this year, working with the Law & Government program’s long-time teacher, Joe Gutmann.  Colleen was joined in Philadelphia by law school professor and Marshall-Brennan faculty supervisor Sam Marcosson, who also helped coach the students as they prepared for the competition.
 

“Their performances were terrific,” Marcosson said.  “They proved that our Central students can compete with the very best students from around the country, and excel on the academic side just as they have on the football field and basketball court this year.  They worked hard to prepare, and impressed the judges with their knowledge of the law, the facts of the cases, and ability to deal with tough questions.”

Diversity Forum Series: From Prop 8 to SB 68: Legislative Attacks on LGBT Families - April 7, 2009

Dean Chen opens the program.			Moderator, Christopher McDavid introduces the panel.
Bryan Gatewood		Chris Hartman		Reverend Vernon S. Broyles, III
The panelists engage in a discussion while a clip of an interview with Chris Hartman on “Kentucky Tonight” appears on the screen.
Nancy Baker and Miriam Schusler-Williams serve lunch.			Diversity Committee Members

			On April 8, attorney Gregory Belzley presented "Civil Rights of the Incarcerated." This first event of the University's recently formed, American Constitution Society chapter, was well attended.   Pictured at left:  Sean Donaldson, ACS Program Director, Gregory Belzley, and James Ficher, ACS President *Click on each of the photos for a larger image.
Sean Donaldson introduces Mr. Belzley.		Mr. Belzley takes questions from the audience.		Mr. Belzley meets with the founding members of the law school's ACS chapter.

Volunteers pose outside the law school prior to departing for their service projects. Scroll down for more photographs.

 

Nearly fifty volunteers gathered at the law school on a beautiful spring day to donate their time to three worthy causes. Among the participants were Harlan Scholars, alums, students, staff, faculty and their friends & families. Several of them had volunteered last year as well.

Many thanks to the following people for making the 2nd Annual Louisville Law Community Service Day such a success!

PROJECT COORDINATORS

Rexéna Napier (Student Animal Legal Defense Fund) – Animal Care Society

Jenna Johnston (Women’s Law Caucus) – Family Scholar House

Adam Watson (Enivronmental Law & Land Use Society) – Olmsted Parks Conservancy

PLANNING PARTICIPANTS & FACILITATORS

Students: Lauren Bean, Brian Bennett, Matt Birkhoffer, Kevin Graves, Jamie Izlar, Jenna Johnston, Melissa McHendrix, Rexéna Napier, Brian Pollock, Victor Revill, Luke Vance, and Adam Watson

Faculty & Staff: Nancy Baker, Jodi Duce, Ariana Levinson, Debra Reh, Jina Scinta, Keith Sealing, Virginia Smith, Barbara Thompson, and Kathy Urbach

VOLUNTEERS

Sierra Ashby, Lauren Bean, Justin Brewer, Daniel Jay Cameron, Scott Campbell & Beth Nahinsky, Ashley Crabtree, Bridget Coraz, Matthew Dutcher, Brian Fayman, Kevin & Lindsay Graves, Bartley Hagerman, Nick Hart, Ebert Haegele, Jamie Izlar, Guion Johnstone, Jenna Johnston, Jared Kelly, Courtney King, Forrest Kuhn, Arianna Levinson, Ashley Morden, Christopher McDavid, Melissa McHendrix, Rexéna Napier, Marilyn Osborn, Kaitlyn Patrick, Emily Peeler, Brian Pollock, Katie Reisz, Victor Revill, Laura Rothstein, Ben Silver, Virginia Smith, Victoria Steinbach, Nicole Tarrence, Vickie Tencer, Paige Thompson, Katherine Toms, Adam & Jenn Watson, Rebecca Weis, Becky Wimberg, and Boris Yelin

DONORS

The Law School ● Law Library ● LexisNexis ● Westlaw ● Kathy Bean ●  Scott Campbell ● Robin Harris ● Ariana Levinson ● Christopher McDavid  ● Kurt Metzmeier ● Jerome Neukirch ● Laura Rothstein  ● Virginia Smith ● Anonymous Donors

 

Volunteers work with the Olmsted Parks Convervancy to clean up debris from the winter ice storm in Iroquois Park.
Project Coordinator, Jenna Johnston	Family Scholar House Volunteers
Volunteers assemble gift bags for the Family Scholar House.
Project Coordinator, Rexéna Napier (center)	Animal Care Society Volunteers
Friendships blossom at the Animal Care Society.
Volunteers assist at the Animal Care Society.

More photos are publicly viewable at our Facebook group. Search for "University of Louisville Law School Annual Community Service Day Project".