Thank You, Professor Maggs!

Tributes poured in from throughout the GW Law community as Gregory E. Maggs returned to the regular faculty July 1 after serving as interim dean for the past year.

The third-generation law professor and co-director of the National Security and U.S. Foreign Relations Law Program expertly guided the Law School through its recent leadership transition—from former Dean Frederick M. Lawrence's departure to become president of Brandeis University in November to the arrival of Paul Schiff Berman, dean and Robert Kramer Research Professor of Law, this summer.

Prior to serving as interim dean, Professor Maggs, who joined the Law School's faculty in 1993, was senior associate dean for academic affairs. One of GW Law's most popular professors, he has won the Distinguished Faculty Service Award five times, most recently at this year's Commencement.

"Gregory E. Maggs has been a stellar interim dean," says Jonathan Kahan, BA '70, JD '73, president of the GW Law Dean's Advisory Board and partner at Hogan Lovells US LLP. "While Fred Lawrence is a hard act to follow, Greg stepped in without missing a beat and moved quickly forward in just about every aspect of managing a large law school. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his dedication to the school, and I am sure Greg will be a valuable resource for Dean Berman as he takes the helm."

Professor Maggs' GW Law colleagues lauded his ability to skillfully lead the Law School enterprise while continuing to teach, publish a new edition of his constitutional law casebook, and serve as a reserve officer in the Army JAG Corps.

"Greg is completely dedicated to GW, and we all value his service," says Professor of Law Peter J. Smith, who co‑authored the constitutional law casebook with Professor Maggs. "The dean's job is so demanding that most people who do it have to take a break from writing. But Greg somehow found time uncomplainingly to help to prepare the second edition of our casebook during his year as dean. All this, mind you, while teaching a full load of courses."

Roger H. Trangsrud, James F. Humphreys Professor of Complex Litigation and Civil Procedure, who twice served as interim dean, praised Professor Maggs for "a spectacular job." He says, "Greg has seamlessly provided strong leadership to the faculty and senior staff of this large Law School and kept the school on the upward trajectory that Dean Lawrence set in motion.

"Always a standout as a teacher in the classroom, Greg has proved equally adept at hosting both large and small alumni events. And why not—since for many of our alumni he was their most favorite teacher. This Law School and all of its constituent groups owe a huge debt of thanks to Greg for all that he has accomplished."

—Jamie L. Freedman

Courting Victory

GW Law School's top oral advocates go head-to-head in final round of Van Vleck Competition.

GW's Betts Theatre was transformed into a courtroom Feb. 3 as the Law School's top oral advocacy teams argued a fictitious case before U.S. Court of Appeals Judges Joseph A. Greenaway Jr., Barbara Milano Keenan, JD '74, and Leslie H. Southwick in the final round of the 61st annual Jacob Burns Van Vleck Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition.

The theater was packed for the popular advocacy contest, focusing on a modern legal problem penned by GW Law students Chris Healey, Erik Benny, and Julie Fleischman. The four competitors—Jonathan Maier and Sean Sherman for the petitioner, and Alexander Hastings and Ha-Thanh Nguyen for the respondent—presented arguments and tackled a battery of tough questions fired at them by the judges.

The case, Sturges Production Inc. v. Rushab Sanghvi, centered on a California-based film production company, Sturges, that has lost the majority of its work in the state of "New Columbia" because it does not meet the requirements of a new production tax credit program benefiting in-state companies. Sturges' suit alleged that the tax credit was unconstitutional.

Each team had 30 minutes to present arguments, running the gamut from whether the tax credit discriminated against interstate commerce to whether constitutional protections should extend to corporations, not just citizens. The judges questioned each student advocate for 15 minutes on complex issues ranging from whether the credit was, in fact, a tax credit or a subsidy to whether a less discriminatory alternative existed.

In the end, the petitioners emerged victorious. "I'm glad to say that most of the decisions we face in court are not as difficult as deciding which was the better team today," said Judge Southwick of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, who served as chief justice at the competition.

After announcing the winners, the judges congratulated the finalists and authors of the problem on a first-class job and offered them advice on perfecting their oral advocacy technique.

"You were all wonderfully professional and took the high road, which was very much appreciated," said Judge Keenan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. "The quality of the arguments was excellent, and all of you deserve a strong commendation for the talent and hard work that was on display today."

Judge Greenaway of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit presented individual critiques to each of the competitors. "Congratulations to all four of you," he concluded. "You had three longtime judges asking you some really pointed questions, and you did a very nice job."

Prior to making it to the championship round of the Van Vleck competition, the competitors advanced through the preliminary, Sweet 16, quarterfinal, and semifinal rounds, logging hundreds of hours of brief writing, research, and oral argument practice along the way. This year's competition, which began in September, drew 112 competitors—the second largest group of participants in GW history.

The Law School's largest and longest-running advocacy contest, Van Vleck has a long-standing tradition of attracting top students and high-profile judges. Over the past six years, four Supreme Court justices—John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, and Sonia Sotomayor (prior to her appointment to the high court)—have presided over the final round of the competition.

—JLF

Alumna Margaret Carlson Honored as Pioneering Journalist

The George Washington Law Alumni Association and the Law Association for Women recognized renowned journalist Margaret Carlson, JD '73, in March with the Belva Ann Lockwood Award, which celebrates the enduring legacy of women's rights.

Ms. Carlson writes a weekly column on politics for Bloomberg News, is the Washington editor of The Week, is a contributing editor at The Atlantic, and is a frequent commentator on MSNBC. She also holds the distinction of being the first female columnist for Time magazine.

The award is named for women's rights champion and formidable legal mind Belva Ann Lockwood, who in 1873 became the first woman to graduate from what is now GW Law School.

Ms. Lockwood was one of the first women to run for president of the United States—before the 19th Amendment was passed—and was the first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. As a student, she said she was "growled" at by male classmates and had to lobby President Ulysses S. Grant to receive the degree she earned from the Law School. Today, however, she is considered one of GW Law's most notable and cherished alumni.

At the award luncheon, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Edward Swaine and Associate Dean for Student Affairs Renee DeVigne remarked that Ms. Carlson and Ms. Lockwood are united—though they graduated a century apart—in that both are women of "firsts" who used their legal knowledge to forge unique pathways.

Ms. Carlson said that while she used her GW Law degree in a nontraditional way, being trained to think like a lawyer has helped her be a better journalist. Her legal training's emphasis on thinking on her feet and approaching problems from multiple angles frequently applies to her job; for instance, facing personalities such as Bob Novak and Joe Scarborough "can feel like being in a courtroom," Ms. Carlson said.

Jessica McConnell Burt

GW Hosts Third IP Symposium

On May 3, leading IP practitioners and scholars discussed timely topics at the third annual GW Law Symposium on Intellectual Property. Speakers included the Hon. Randall R. Rader, JD '78, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as (pictured left to right): Alan M. Grimaldi, co-leader of Mayer Brown's global IP practice; the Hon. Theodore R. Essex, U.S. administrative law judge for the U.S. International Trade Commission; the Hon. Andrew J. Guilford, U.S. District Court judge for the Central District of California; and the Hon. Mary Pat Thynge, U.S. magistrate judge for the U.S. District for the District of Delaware.

Professor Saltzburg Wins Burton Award

The Law School congratulates Stephen A. Saltzburg, Wallace and Beverley Woodbury University Professor of Law and co-director of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program, on winning a 2011 Burton Award for Legal Achievement. The award is designed "to reward excellence and encourage perfection in law" and is presented in association with the Library of Congress. Professor Saltzburg was recognized in the category of Reform in Law for his work as part of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence. The awards were presented June 13 at the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, with guest speaker U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

"During years of working to restyle the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence demonstrated a commitment to excellence, a dedication to detail, a willingness to struggle for as long as it might take to get things right, and an incredible amount of good humor along the way," Professor Saltzburg says. "The chairman, Judge Robert L. Hinkle, was a wonderful leader; the reporter, Professor Dan Capra of Fordham Law School, showed true genius; and the stylist, Professor Joseph Kimble of Thomas Cooley Law School, was a problem-solver of the first order. It was, in short, a great team. I am proud of our work product and honored to have served on this truly outstanding committee."

Springing into Action

The sun, the sand … mindless channel surfing aboard the couch. Spring break tends to conjure certain images, but a group of GW Law students this year traded in these downtime staples for the hallowed halls of the U.S. Supreme Court, discussions on immigration law, pro bono legal services, and other activities.

Organized through GW Law's Alternative Spring Break program, it was an eventful week. Here's a look at how participants spent some of their time:

• U.S. Supreme Court: Participants listened to arguments in the cases Ashcroft v. Al-Kidd and Bullcoming v. New Mexico. Meeting in the court's Lawyers' Lounge afterward, the students discussed the arguments (as well as the just-announced decision in Snyder v. Phelps) with GW's Alan Morrison, Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law. The group also was invited by Lee Gelernt, who argued on behalf of Abdullah Al-Kidd, to observe one of his moot court arguments and the feedback session that followed.

• D.C. Landlord/Tenant Court: Law students received a behind-the-scenes tour led by Vytas Vergeer, legal clinic director for Bread for the City. Mr. Vergeer discussed what it was like representing tenants in the landlord/tenant court, and then the group observed a trial occurring that day. After, Mr. Vergeer took the students to the court's information center to discuss the resources available to unrepresented tenants and landlords.

• Panoply of Panels: A number of panels were held one day focusing on careers in public interest law. Led by local practitioners, nonprofit officers, and GW Law faculty, discussion topics ranged from financial issues—including student loan repayment, fellowships, and grants for non-profits—to specific areas of law, including popular panels on public defender work and careers in prosecution. Another day, the program held a symposium focusing on humanitarian forms of relief in immigration law, which brought together practitioners in immigration law from various private practices, non-profit organizations, and government agencies.

• Giving Back: Alternative Spring Break participants also volunteered for one of two community service projects: One group judged a debate tournament for public school students, organized by the D.C. Urban Debate League, and another group volunteered to help move a client of the Washington Legal Clinic into a new apartment.

Courting Change

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recalls a career on the front lines of the battle for gender equality.

Jessica McConnell Burt

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg offers the same advice for a successful marriage as she does for dealing with her co-workers on the court: Wear earplugs once in a while.

"Shortly before my wedding ceremony, my mother-in-law said: 'Honey, I want to tell you something. In every good marriage, it helps sometimes to be a little deaf,'" said Justice Ginsburg. "Then she gave me a pair of earplugs, and I have found that her advice worked not only in a marriage but with dealing with my colleagues."

The advice came during an interview on campus in February with Nina Totenberg, NPR's legal affairs correspondent and a panelist on Inside Washington. The event, sponsored by the Smithsonian Resident Associates Program, packed Lisner Auditorium and found the Supreme Court's second female justice, 77 years old at the time, sharing details of her life as a trailblazing feminist, her marriage of 56 years, and her experiences on the nation's highest court.

Ms. Totenberg, who has covered the Supreme Court for more than 35 years, described Justice Ginsburg in her introductory remarks as someone who has "quite simply changed the way the world is for American women today.

"For more than a decade until her first judicial appointment in 1980, she led the fight in the courts for gender equality," Ms. Totenberg said. "When she began her legal crusade, women were treated by law differently from men. Thousands of state, federal, and local laws restricted what women could do, barring them from jobs and even from jury service. But by the time Ruth Ginsburg donned judicial robes, she had worked a revolution."

The two are longtime friends, as well; Justice Ginsburg officiated at the reporter's wedding in 2000.

Justice Ginsburg, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., graduated from Columbia Law School in 1959, where she tied for first in her class and became the first woman to work on both the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review. After graduating she got her first job as a clerk for a federal judge, although he was reluctant to give her the position because she was a woman with a 4-year-old daughter.

"The assumption was when a woman had a child, she will become a dropout," said Justice Ginsburg.

While a professor at Rutgers University, Justice Ginsburg participated in an equal pay lawsuit against the university, and while a professor at Columbia, she joined another sex discrimination class-action lawsuit and protested when the university tried to lay off 25 maids to save money but not a single janitor.

"People that know you say you're a very special kind of feminist," said Ms. Totenberg. "Shy and retiring on the one hand, and unyielding on the other."

As a lawyer, Justice Ginsburg tried and won the famous Reed vs. Reed case before the Supreme Court, arguing that the 14th Amendment protects women's rights in gender discrimination claims. And before joining the high court, she served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for 13 years.

When President Bill Clinton nominated her for the Supreme Court in 1993, there was only one other woman on the bench, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Lawyers would often misspeak, Justice Ginsburg recalled, and refer to her as Justice O'Connor, or vice versa. And it wasn't until she joined the bench that the court installed a women's bathroom equal in size to the men's. "Justice O'Connor had been on the court for 12 years, and in that time no one thought maybe it would be convenient if they had a women's bathroom," she said.

Throughout her time on the bench, Justice Ginsburg has shown enormous strength and tenacity. In 1999, she was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent chemotherapy and radiation but never missed a day on the bench. In 2009 she underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer but was back to work in less than two weeks. And in 2010, her husband of 56 years, Martin Ginsburg, died from complications of metastatic cancer. She announced an opinion on the bench the next day.

"I thought, 'What would he want me to do tomorrow? Would he want me to stay home or go to the court and read my announcement?' It was easy. I knew what he would have wanted me to do," she said.

Two things have carried her along after her husband's death, Justice Ginsburg said: her work and her two children.

"The work is all-consuming, and it keeps me thinking about things other than myself," she said. "The children have been so supportive, but mostly it's thinking about Marty and knowing that he would want me to carry on with what I'm doing."

In addition to sharing her best advice on marriage, Justice Ginsburg also shared her best advice on life, which came from her mother, who died when Justice Ginsburg was 17.

"She told me to be independent and be a lady. By being a lady she didn't mean wearing a white blouse and a hat. She meant: Don't allow yourself to be distracted by emotions like anger and jealousy," she said. "Those emotions sap time and do no good. So whatever was in the past, you forget it and go on to the next challenge and do the best you can."

—Jennifer Eder

Nick Gingold

2011 Katz Lecture

Katz Lecturer Donald R. Dunner (center), Finnegan, Henderson, LLP and GW Law IP Advisory Board member, joined lecture sponsor and fellow IP Board member A. Sidney Katz, JD '66, and IPAB Associate Dean John M. Whealan before the 2011 spring lecture.

Big Bad Wolf Trial

For the fourth year in a row, GW Law students donated pro bono hours to teaching elementary school children about the law, rights and responsibilities, and civics. More than 200 fourth graders from Churchill Road Elementary School in Virginia received a crash course in forensics and policing, as well as criminal trials, getting the chance to serve as jurors on the trial of the Big Bad Wolf.

Here, Presiding Judge Professor Jonathan Turley gives an introduction to the child jurors as some of the participating law students, 1L Karthik Kkumar (BB Wolf), 2L Frank Lazzaro (prosecutor), 1L Catherine Allison (Curly Pig), and 1L Timothy Pezzoli (builder), look on.

GW in San Francisco

Corporate general counsels and U.S. federal court judges headline intellectual property symposium

The Intellectual Property Law Program and its IP Advisory Board (IPAB) traveled to San Francisco in March to host several events for alumni and guests.

On March 17, IPAB and Bay Area alumni hosted one of GW Law's many admitted student and alumni receptions, where dozens of admitted students mingled with more than 50 alumni and faculty at the Ritz Carlton. The next day, the IP Law Program hosted "IP in the Boardroom and in the Courtroom," featuring prominent corporate general counsels and U.S. Federal District Court judges.

The symposium concluded with a luncheon keynote address by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Chief Judge Randall R. Rader, JD '78. The trip also included tributes to IPAB member Senior District Judge Ronald M. Whyte, U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of California, who had his ceremonial portrait unveiling, and to John M. Whealan, named the first intellectual property advisory board associate dean for intellectual property studies. A special highlight of the weekend for board members was a tour through Napa Valley following the board meeting.

Competitively Speaking

Law currently is ranked the third best school in the country for its success in advocacy competitions during the 2010-11 school year. The rankings, by the Blakely Advocacy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center, are tabulated by examining a school's accomplishments, focusing primarily on moot court contests (excluding all mock trial and most ADR competitions). The rankings can be found at http://www.law.uh.edu/blakely/mcnc/2011rankings.html.

Here's a round-up of GW Law's recent major oral advocacy showings:

• GW's Christa Laser and Liana Yung defeated National University of Singapore to win the 2010 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic. The win, after arguing before three judges from the International Court of Justice, marked the fourth time in the competition's 19‑year history that GW Law was victorious. The team is a joint effort between GW Law and the Space Policy Institute at GW's Elliott School of International Affairs, and is coached by Henry Hertzfeld, JD '75, a research professor at the Elliott School. Funding for the trip was provided by the Secure World Foundation.

• Anne Sidwell and Shauna Johnston bested dozens of competitors to win the K.K. Luthra Memorial Moot Court competition held in January at the University of Delhi, in India. One of 48 teams, Ms. Sidwell and Ms. Johnston won by defeating the National Law School of New Delhi in the final round and the U.K.'s University of Warwick in the semifinals. Three judges from the Delhi High Court judged the final round. The team won for "Overall Win" as well as "Best Brief." Aditya Singla, LLM '11, arranged for sponsorship of the team to compete.

• Jeremiah Newhall and Sean Williamson won the Gujarat National Law University International Moot Court Competition in India. Mr. Newhall was also selected as "Best Oralist." It was the second consecutive year that GW won and was selected as having the best oralist.

• Kayleigh Scalzo and Daniel Singer won the 2011 Harold H. Greene & Joyce Hens Green National Security Law Moot Court, a competition held at GW Law that is open to all law schools.

• Caroline Pham and Jonathan Gaffney won "Best Petitioner's Brief" and finished second in the Veterans Law Appellate Advocacy Competition. This is the second year of the competition, which is a joint effort between the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and GW Law. The team was coached by Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Lisa Schenck, a former judge on the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

• Alexander Varond and Thomas Yeh finished second in the 2011 Giles Sutherland Rich Intellectual Property Moot Court National Championship in Washington, D.C., at the Federal Circuit. The team was coached by John Whealan, Intellectual Property Advisory Board associate dean for intellectual property studies.

• Carolyn Homer and Josh House placed second in the Religious Freedom Moot Court, a competition held at GW Law that is open to all law schools. They were coached by Jeff Powell, the Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law. The competition brought together 23 teams from across the country and is organized by Professors Bob Tuttle and Chip Lupu, and the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

• Melanie Medina, Anjuli Shukla, and Ben Williams finished second in the 17th Annual National Telecommunications Moot Court Competition. The team was coached by Adjunct Professor Natalie Roisman and GW Law alumnus Neil Chilson, both of the D.C. office of Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP.

• The GW team of Marjorie Dieter, Donnelly McDowell, Christine Mundia, Thomas Risberg, and Kristen Ward won Third Place‑Memorial in the Philip C. Jessup Mid‑Atlantic U.S. Super Regional International Law Moot Court Competition, which was hosted by GW Law in February. The team was coached by Susan Karamanian, associate dean for international and comparative legal studies.

• Bridget Geraghty and Elizabeth Edwards advanced to the semifinals of the Williams Institute Moot Court Competition on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law, held in Los Angeles.

• Maria Attaar and Niels von Deuten reached the quarterfinals of the Frankfurt International Investment Moot in Germany.

• Erik Benny and Christopher Healey advanced to the quarterfinals of the Tulane Sports Law Competition in New Orleans.

Anticipating Technological Advances

Shapiro conference tackles whether and how emerging technologies should be regulated.

At a time when the march of technology can seem almost too frenetic, should regulators try to anticipate new developments in order to protect the environment and public health? And if so, how far should regulations go?

The notion of anticipatory governance for emerging technologies—such as geo-engineering, hydro-fracturing, deep-water drilling, synthetic biology, and the use of nanotechnologies—was the subject of GW Law's J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Conference, held in March.

"Developments in technologies may occur with such rapid momentum that the environmental implications may not always be fully understood," says Jennifer Bowmar, an environmental law fellow and visiting associate professor at the Law School.

Geo-engineering technology, for example, proposes that if global warming can't be prevented by reducing emissions, then technology should be used to counteract the gradual warming of the Earth; ideas include releasing particles into the upper atmosphere to try to shield some of the sun's radiation, or increasing the reflectivity of surfaces such as rooftops.

One of the panelists, Brad Allenby, the Lincoln Professor of Engineering and Ethics at Arizona State University, also discussed potential economic and cultural issues stemming from using synthetic biology to grow meat, and the potential environmental impacts of medical advances that might someday extend the average life span by several decades.

"The question is what amount of human intervention there ought to be and who should be deciding that," says Lee Paddock, associate dean for environmental studies.

"Our purpose of this conference was to look at government's role and limitations in governing these rapidly changing technologies," says Mr. Paddock.

The speakers, he says, reinforced the notion that managing these issues requires: government involvement in minimizing risk; businesses and technology developers taking responsibility for potential risks, for example, by establishing codes of ethics; and engagement of the public in determining the limitations of government.

"From a legal standpoint," Mr. Paddock says, "[the question is] how do we construct laws that anticipate problems and mitigate those problems without inhibiting technology that may have important benefits to society?"

Plans for next year's conference, slated for March 22 and 23, are to focus on the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act.

—Carrie Madren

'An Exquisite Quid Pro Quo'

C-LEAF workshop, prizes boost rising scholars of business and financial law.

The GW Center for Law, Economics & Finance hosted its inaugural Junior Faculty Business and Financial Law Workshop in April and awarded its first set of Junior Faculty Scholarship Prizes.

The workshop was created to support and recognize the work of young legal scholars in accounting, banking, bankruptcy, corporations, economics, finance, and securities, while promoting interaction between the young scholars, senior faculty, and other commentators.

By providing a forum for the exchange of creative ideas in these areas, the center—known as C-LEAF—also aims to encourage new and innovative scholarship.

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP—one of the leading law firms serving the financial services industry—under the leadership of partner and GW alumnus John Pollack, BA '95, JD '98, generously sponsored the Junior Faculty Scholarship Workshop as well as the luncheon and prizes.

"Thanks to Professor Lisa Fairfax's inspired leadership, the Junior Scholars Workshop provided an outstanding showcase for the work of a dozen rising academic stars who are specialists in business and financial law," said Professor Arthur Wilmarth, one of the senior faculty members who assisted with the workshop. "We expect that the papers presented at the workshop will be published in leading law journals and will attract national attention."

Of more than 80 papers submitted to C-LEAF for the workshop—representing junior scholars from around the nation, as well as scholars from six international schools—a dozen were chosen for presentation.

Paper authors and commentators discuss the various topics.

Claire Duggan

Among them, three papers were awarded Junior Faculty Scholarship Prizes:  

First place, $3,000 prize: Saule Omarova, of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law

Second place, $2,000 prize: Michelle Harner, of University of Maryland School of Law

Third place, $1,000 prize: Adam Levitin, of Georgetown University Law Center

In addition to participating in the workshop, all scholars selected to present their papers were invited to become C-LEAF Fellows.

"The papers not only focused on innovative ideas and approaches to some of the most thorny issues in the business area, but also many of the papers relied on and presented new empirical data," said Professor Fairfax, who organized the event. "It was simply a pleasure to participate in such an active and in-depth exchange of scholarly ideas."

During the workshop, senior scholars commented on each paper, followed by a general discussion among all participants.  The commentators included practitioners, faculty members (from GW as well as from business and law schools around the country), and Norman Veasey, former chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.

"Thanks to Lisa Fairfax and other C-LEAF colleagues, a dozen rising scholars learned in a weekend things it takes most of us years to figure out about scholarly pursuits," said Professor Larry Cunningham. "In return, we got to learn about what's cutting edge among the latest cohort of business law scholars—an exquisite quid pro quo."

—Claire Duggan

C-Leaf in New York

C-LEAF hosted its second annual "C-LEAF in New York" set of events with an alumni reception on June 7 and a symposium on hedge fund regulation on June 8.

The evening reception at Barclay Towers was co-hosted by alumni and C-LEAF Advisory Board members Margarita "Ari" Brose, JD '89, and Jeff Schweon, JD '89, and the Office of Law Alumni Relations. The gathering gave more than 50 professors, alumni, students, staff, and guests the chance to mingle and also celebrate Lawrence Mitchell's leadership of C-LEAF as they helped send him off to become dean of Case Western Reserve University Law School. Professor Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr. now serves as executive director of C-LEAF.

The next day, C-LEAF hosted a symposium, "Hedge Fund Regulation and Current Developments," which provided a timely and interesting discussion with experts and audience members. The event featured a keynote address by Troy A. Paredes of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Professor Theresa A. Gabaldon moderated a panel on regulatory challenges, and Jeff Schweon, JD '89, moderated a panel on current legal developments. Mr. Schweon, Ms. Brose, and John Pollack, JD '98, played key roles in organizing the conference and in recruiting the speakers.

Hellhound of Wall Street

Claire Duggan

At an April lecture and book signing, St. John's University Law School Professor Michael Perino discussed his new book on the Senate hearings on the causes of the 1929 stock market crash, "The Hellhound of Wall Street: How Ferdinand Pecora's Investigation of the Great Crash Forever Changed American Finance." C-LEAF hosted the event along with students from the Corporate and Business Law Society and the Banking Law Society.

Derivatives Reform Panel

Claire Duggan

Professorial Lecturer in Law John Buchman, C-LEAF Advisory Board chairman, and his Financial Regulatory Reform Seminar class hosted a panel discussion on GSE reform in February. Joining Professor Buchman were Alex J. Pollock, a resident fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, and Thomas H. Stanton, a longtime critic of the government-sponsored enterprise business model and, for many years until the financial crisis hit, one of the lone voices warning the public.

Conference Puts Legal Writers on the Same Page

Writing professors and professionals from some two dozen law schools across the nation gathered at GW in February for the first annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference.

"Writing is probably the most important skill that a lawyer can have—it's a communication-based field, and a lot of it is writing," says Christy Hallam DeSanctis, director of GW's Legal Research and Writing Program, which hosted the conference.

The event offered attendees a chance to hone their teaching methods, better structure courses, and brush up on new practices in the field. The two-day conference included presentations such as "Connecting to the Google Generation" and "What Can Don Draper Teach Us About Legal Writing? Using Popular Media to Introduce Basic Legal Research, Analysis and Writing Concepts."

The conference also included a keynote address by George Gopen, professor of English and rhetoric at Duke University and the 2011 recipient of the Legal Writing Institute's Golden Pen Award. A plenary session featured Teresa Godwin Phelps, a professor at American University's Washington College of Law and winner of the Legal Writing Institute's 2009 Terri LeClercq Courage Award—as well as one of the founders of the legal writing profession.

GW's Legal Research and Writing Program is made up of four major components: the first-year curriculum (a two-semester course that features predictive and persuasive writing, and teaches research skills); the Dean's Fellows program; the Writing Fellows and the Writing Center; and upper-level curriculum (courses such as the LLM Thesis Program, which help students further develop their writing skills).

—CM

Claire Duggan

Remembering Charles T. Manatt

The George Washington University Law School lost a cherished alumnus, leader, and friend July 22, when Charles T. Manatt, JD '62, passed away at the age of 75.

Ambassador Manatt was a prominent public figure, known nationally for his role as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1981 to 1985 and for his service as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic from 1999 to 2001. A tireless supporter of the George Washington University and its Law School, he served as a member of the board of trustees from 1980 to 2008 and as chairman of the board from 2001 to 2007.

"Chuck was passionately dedicated to improving the world around him, and his active engagement in public affairs at the local, national, and international levels is a model for what we hope to produce in a GW Law graduate," says Dean Paul Schiff Berman. "His energy is irreplaceable, and the world is a poorer place without his passion and idealism."

A full story on the life and contributions of Ambassador Manatt will appear in the next issue of GW Law School Magazine.

Kerr Argues Fourth Amendment Case Before Supreme Court

On March 21, Professor Orin S. Kerr returned to the U.S. Supreme Court where he once clerked to argue a police search and seizure case. His path to arguing the case of Davis v. United States before the Supreme Court began with a case called United States v. McCane that the high court declined to hear.

Professor Kerr had written the brief trying to get cert for the McCane case. After it was denied cert, an article grew out of the case, "Good Faith, New Law, and the Scope of the Exclusionary Rule," recently published in the Georgetown Law Journal (www.georgetownlawjournal.com/issues/pdf/99-4/Kerr.PDF), in which he articulated why he thought defendants should win if and when the Supreme Court agreed to review the issue. The Supreme Court ultimately agreed to hear the issue in Davis and Professor Kerr agreed to write the briefs and handle the oral argument.

"I've written the briefs in a few other Fourth Amendment cases before the Supreme Court, and I was hoping I would get an argument eventually," says Professor Kerr. "I lucked out when the Supreme Court agreed to review the Davis case, as I had already written a forthcoming article explaining why I thought he should win. I felt very fortunate to combine my scholarship and advocacy in the Davis case. It's both a very technical case, and also a very important one. It's a Fourth Amendment nerd's dream."

"Orin's moot court was a demonstration of the best of everything about GW Law," says Professor Paul Butler. "Where else can students help moot a brilliant professor, and then two weeks later, take the metro to watch him make the argument before the Supreme Court? What we did that day was fun, educational, and it will help shape criminal procedure jurisprudence."

Annual Reception Honoring Diversity

Claire Duggan

Former Congressman Patrick Murphy (second from left) joined students, guests, and faculty, including Brynne Madway, 1L Lambda Law representative, Bridget Geraghty, co-president of GW Lambda Law, and Professor Roger E. Schechter, at the Lambda Networking Reception.

The annual reception, hosted by the Career Development Office, provides one of the best opportunities for organizations to build recognition among area LGBT and allied law students and helps students refine their networking skills and build their professional networks. The 2011 reception included attorneys from 42 different organizations and more than 100 students representing nine area law schools. The keynote speaker was former Congressman Patrick Murphy, who helped lead the fight for repeal of the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Owning the World's Water

Scholarly paper on global water conundrum wins first annual Grodsky Prize.

When Renée Martin-Nagle, LLM '10, became a grandmother she started thinking about her new grandson's future—but also the future of the planet he's inheriting. In the months after, she decided to transition from her 25-year career in the aviation industry, including 21 years as a general counsel, to ensuring fresh water for all life.

This spring her forward-thinking passion won her the first Jamie Grodsky Prize for Environmental Law Scholarship, established to honor the life and work of GW Law professor Jamie Grodsky, who died last year.

The juried competition is open to GW Law JD, LLM, or JSD students who submit a paper of publishable quality that makes a significant contribution to the theory or practice of environmental law. Eligible papers could include student law journal notes/articles, LLM theses, independent writing projects, and other original papers written in the 12 months prior to the submission deadline.

Ms. Martin-Nagle chose to research and write about fossil aquifers—non-replenishable reservoirs of groundwater, often thousands or millions of years old, preserved in rock formations.

"I picked the topic because hardly anyone had written on it and I wanted to do something that was fresh," she says. For her research she scoured treaties on groundwater, "then I had to think: what would be the 'right thing'?"

The right thing, she figured, would be to share the water in fossil aquifers.

"The [concept of] 'common heritage of mankind' says that some things wholly belong to everybody," explains Ms. Martin-Nagle, and since water entered the aquifers thousands of years ago, it should belong to all land-based lifeforms—not nations. Her thesis proposed a committee of water-poor countries and scientists that could determine where water is needed the most.

Judges for the competition, who reviewed the top five papers, say they were won over by the thoroughness of Ms. Martin-Nagle's research and the way she synthesized suggestions to cover a gap in governing law. "She really did an in-depth literature review in her area," says Thomas Mounteer, JD '86, LLM '94, who is an adjunct professor in the master's in environmental law program. "Also it was the novelty of the issue—I hadn't heard of fossil aquifers before."

Ms. Martin-Nagle has donated the $5,000 prize to the sustainability program at the Omega Institute. "Part of their mission is creating a sustainability program with water as one of the main components," she says, a worthy cause "especially as we become aware of the need to share our natural resources."

For Ms. Martin-Nagle, the award came with another benefit: It led directly to her current position as a visiting scholar focusing on global freshwater issues at the Environmental Law Institute in D.C. Elissa Parker, the institute's vice president for research and policy, was on the judging panel. After meeting Ms. Martin-Nagle and reading her thesis, Ms. Parker invited her to join the institute.

Ms. Martin-Nagle didn't have a class with Ms. Grodsky during the three years that she studied parttime for her LLM, but she did meet Ms. Grodsky once at a party and the two briefly chatted. "I remember she was such an amazing spirit, and I'm so honored to be the recipient of an award named after her."

—CM

At a Glance

100 Years of Standard Oil

With the recent 100th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Standard Oil v. United States, guests in May learned about the case that transformed antitrust law, shaped thinking about government regulation, and had a major effect on the American economy. The conference focused on the historical and contemporary antitrust implications of the decision and was hosted by Director of the Competition Law Center and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Edward T. Swaine and William Kovacic, E.K. Gubin Professor of Government Contracts Law, who gave the symposium's keynote speech.

Claire Duggan

EJF Auction Raises More Than $50,000

Veronica Surges, Jessica Krupke, and Elliot Schatmeier prepare for the Equal Justice Foundation auction, which raised more than $50,000 this year.

GW Law Welcomes Mortar Board Fellows

Two incoming GW Law students, Breanna Piper and Cara Waldo, were awarded prestigious national fellowships from Mortar Board, a premier national honor society for college seniors. Only 10 Mortar Board fellowships are awarded annually.

A graduate of San Diego State University, Ms. Piper plans to focus on public interest law. At San Diego State, she co-founded the Survivor Outreach Support Group, served as vice president of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and participated in the Leon Panetta Congressional Internship Program in Washington.

Ms. Waldo, who plans to study international law, graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she received numerous honors and awards. Her interest in international law was sparked by two service trips abroad—she taught English in Kenya and conducted independent research in Rwanda.

Claire Duggan

Law Student Rockers Release Album

D.C. indie rock band the RiverBreaks found time to perform a few shows for their first album, Get You Right, last semester, despite being composed of two busy law students—3L Kirk Anderson on drums and evening 4L Andrew Satten, JD '11, on keys. The RiverBreaks played several D.C. spots in the spring, including the Rock & Roll Hotel in the photo above, and now that summer is here, will be touring the East Coast including venues in Brooklyn and Chapel Hill (where the band originated). To learn more about the band, visit their Facebook page.

Buchanan Testifies to Congress

Nick Gingold

In April, Professor Neil H. Buchanan testified to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means as an expert on tax law and policy. "The committee is grappling with issues of enormous importance, as it tries to simplify the tax code. I tried to use my time before the committee to steer them away from some policy proposals that would, at best, offer only illusory improvements in tax policy." To read more about Professor Buchanan's experience on the Hill and more on his ideas, visit go.gwu.edu/1c and go.gwu.edu/1d.

Supreme Court Visit

Professorial Lecturer in Law Kate Todd (front left) took her Federal Courts class to the U.S. Supreme Court in April to hear from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Professor Todd clerked for Justice Thomas in 2000 and 2001.

Lending 'Experience, Knowledge, and Loyalty'

Annual event honors GW Law's nearly 250 adjunct faculty members.

The Law School paid tribute to its adjunct professors in May with an appreciation luncheon in the Michael K. Young Faculty Conference Center. The annual event gives deans, full-time faculty members, and staff the opportunity to thank members of the adjunct faculty for their hard work and dedication to the Law School and its students.

"Our adjunct faculty is remarkable," said then-Interim Dean Gregory E. Maggs. "We are offering about 520 courses during the next academic year, and of those courses, 233 are taught by adjuncts. It is because of their experience, knowledge, and loyalty that we are able to offer such a rich and extensive curriculum."

GW Law's nearly 250 adjunct faculty members—some of whom come to teach from as far away as Chicago, Georgia, and Philadelphia—carry "day job" titles that include acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; attorneys for the Justice Department as well as for several congressional committees; public interest lawyers; and top partners from prestigious law firms. Many adjunct faculty members also are GW Law alumni.

"Our adjunct faculty brings prestige to GW Law, and we are grateful for their dedication to teaching," said Lisa M. Schenck, associate dean for academic affairs. "They share real-world knowledge and show our students what it means to practice law on a daily basis, in a variety of capacities."

These experts include David S. Jonas, director of legal strategy and analysis with the Department of Energy, who teaches nuclear non-proliferation law and policy. He previously served as general counsel of the National Nuclear Security Administration, where he served for 10 years.

Mr. Jonas said GW Law "is a top-flight law school due to its superb leadership, faculty, and staff. But it is the students that keep me coming back. I continually learn from their thoughtful, creative, incisive questions. And they even have superb senses of humor—not always easy to maintain in a rigorous academic environment!"

A few days after the luncheon, during Commencement festivities, former Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, JD '67, cited the expertise and connections of the adjunct faculty as one of the Law School's greatest strengths as he gave the diZerega Lecture at the Law School Diploma Ceremony.

Dr. Snow told the graduating class: "The opportunity to engage first-rate minds which you've had, the opportunity to go through the broad case law and to go through the programs, the rich programs that this Law School offers you, the chance to engage with an adjunct faculty that knows Washington and the federal agencies and the courts like no other law school has access to—that's a huge asset for you as you move on."

State Department Hosts Video Conference for GW, Russian Law Students

For the second year, GW Law students, through the Criminal Justice Reform Project (CJRP), met at the U.S. State Department to participate in a dialogue with Russian law students from St. Petersburg State University on criminal justice law and policy. This year's topics included themes of non-prosecution and vigilantism. The Russian law students are part of a movie club, and films watched by all of the students included the Russian film Beware the Car and the 1983 Michael Douglas/Hal Holbrook thriller, The Star Chamber, about judges taking cases into their own hands.

"We have again gotten the chance to participate in this amazing opportunity from the State Department to hear from other student lawyers about their ideas, problems, and solutions," said 3L Claire Duggan, CJRP's coordinator. "Our group has also been inspired by the St. Petersburg students to host movie nights next year."