After a busy summer of preparation, we officially welcomed our first-year class to campus last week! As I told the 188 excited 1Ls, it took 48 hours to close the campus and go remote in March, but five months of daily planning to reopen again in the midst of a pandemic. The photo above is one of our 1L pods at orientation. Each of the five pods had their own orientation with masks and appropriate social distancing. We are hopeful that our health and safety measures will keep our campus environment healthy so we can continue to offer in-person instruction.
Our new 1L class has strong LSAT scores and GPAs, with close to 27% identifying as a student of color and 59% identifying as female. The students come from 31 different states and provinces; 49% of the class is from outside of Oregon. COVID-19 has not dimmed the dream of becoming a lawyer!
Our 1Ls have the campus to themselves for two weeks for their Legal Methods classes. Under the current Oregon regulations, there can be no more than 25 people in a classroom regardless of the size of the room. When the upper division students return on August 31, students will have a mix of both remote and in-person classes (unless students choose to take all of their classes remotely). Our IT, Facilities, and Library staff have adapted classrooms and other campus spaces to comply with governmental regulations. Our faculty have worked hard all summer to hone their skills with Zoom and other online programs, and so whether a student participates remotely or in-person, they will experience the same rigorous, challenging legal education.
This summer, the Oregon Supreme Court granted an emergency one-time Diploma Privilege to those graduates who had registered for the 2020 July bar exam. The Court also lowered the Bar’s “cut score” and approved an October online bar exam. Studying for the bar is extremely stressful on its own and with the added complications of COVID and unrest surrounding Black Lives Matter, we are grateful for the Court’s actions.
Many of you joined us for the virtual events we held this summer with our expert faculty. Emeritus professor Jim Huffman discussed presidential powers, professors Jim Oleske and Tung Yin discussed free speech and the treatment of journalists at Portland protests, and professors Susan Mandiberg and Aliza Kaplan spoke about criminal justice issues. In September, professors Henry Drummonds and Janet Steverson will join a panel moderated by Professor John Parry on Fairness and Accountability for Portland Police along with Portland Police Associate Attorney Will Aitchison. We plan to hold more of these timely discussions and hope you can join us.
I am pleased to announce strong employment numbers for our 2019 graduates. In March, we reported 90.8% of 2019 graduates as currently employed or with a near-term start date, or pursuing further graduate education. We are ranked #2 in the nation for public interest jobs! Stay tuned for more information about the Public Interest Law Program’s virtual auction in February.
Many of you have asked me what you can do to support the law school in these uncertain times. Thank you! A gift to fund student scholarships through the Law Fundis most welcome. Additionally, a lesser-known benefit of the CARES Act allows all donors -whether or not they itemize donations on their 2020 tax returns – to deduct up to $300 in donations to nonprofits like Lewis & Clark. Your contributions to our annual fund, student scholarships, clinics and many other worthwhile law school programs are very much appreciated!
We are cautiously optimistic as we move forward with our fall semester. Thank you for all of your encouragement and support of our efforts to empower future legal professionals.
My very best,
Robert Klonoff is 2020 Leo Levenson Award Recipient
The Leo Levenson Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to Professor Robert Klonoff by graduating student Anne Cox ’20 in a virtual ceremony on June 2, 2020. “His gift seems to be understanding students’ personalities and styles of learning and then giving them the information in exactly that manner.”Read more...
Innovative Foundations Class Teaches Professional Development to First-Year Students
Now in its third year of being taught to first-year law students, the one-credit Foundations of Professional Practice course at Lewis & Clark Law School teaches students skills to navigate law school and the steps to prepare and present a solid professional identity for success in the legal field. Read more...
Harpole Awards Announced
The 2020 Harpole Awards were recently announced: Law student Natalie Hollabaugh '21 received the 2020 Harpole Memorial Scholarship, and attorney Luis Garcia received the Harpole Attorney Award.. Read more...
Students Volunteer Over 16,000 Hours
In a remarkable demonstration of passion and commitment to the community, Lewis & Clark Law students volunteered a record 16,000 hours this year to over 105 organizations from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. Read more...
The Region’s Largest IPO Ever - The Inside Story from ‘14 Alumnus
ZoomInfo went public on June 4, 2020, and its initial public offering (IPO) raised more than $900 million, making it the region’s largest IPO ever. James Henry ’14, Corporate Counsel for ZoomInfo, took a few moments to answer some questions about it. Read more...
Lewis & Clark Law Review Publishes Class Actions Symposium Issue
The Lewis & Clark Law Review Volume 24, Issue 2 includes Professor Klonoff’s interview of legendary civil procedure professor Arthur Miller and presents a collection of articles from the symposium “Class Actions, Mass Torts, and MDLs: the Next 50 Years” held last fall at the law school and co-hosted by the Pound Civil Justice Institute. Read more...
CJRC Files Amicus Brief for COVID Related Releases
The Criminal Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC) and the ACLU of Oregon have been working together to secure release of detainees due to COVID risks in prisons.Read more...
Earthrise Lawsuit to Save Māui Dolphins
On May 21, 2020, Earthrise, and their co-counsel Sea ShepherdLegal, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society challenging the U.S. government’s failure to protect New Zealand’s critically endangered Māui dolphin. Read more...
Amicus Curiae Briefs to Oregon Supreme Court Regarding Convictions Based on Nonunanimous Jury Instructions
CJRC joined five other organizations in filing five different amicus curiae briefs asking the Oregon Supreme Court to hold that all convictions obtained in a trial that included the non-unanimous jury instruction must be reversed and remanded for a new trial because the instruction was created for the purpose of suppressing minority voices and has had that effect in actuality. Read more...
Alums Instrumental in Overturning
50-year Precedent in Gas Pipeline Case
Several Lewis & Clark Law alums played important roles in a recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals case, Allegheny Defense Project v Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where the court, sitting en banc, overturned 50 years of precedent and found that FERC “violated the law by routinely issuing ‘tolling orders’ that prevent pipeline opponents from seeking judicial review while an agency petition process drags on and industrial development moves forward (…)." Read more...
2020 DWT International Law Writing Awards Recipients Announced
The 2020 Davis Wright Tremaine (DWT) International Law Writing Awards winners are Adriana Gomez '21 and Brittaney Bones '20. The award recognizes the best research paper on international or comparative law. Read more...
Judy Asbury, PRSA College of Fellows
Judy Asbury, Assistant Dean for Communications and External Relations, was named to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) College of Fellows on August 6, 2020, an honor that less than 2% of PRSA members receive. Read more...
“The Public Trust Doctrine in Environmental and Natural Resources Law” (3rd edition), Carolina Academic Press, Durham, NC, with Mary Wood, November 30, 2020
