The Dean’s Fall 2016 Welcome Letter to Students
Dear students,
Here is a brief overview of the new people, programs, and opportunities you will be encountering in the coming year.
Judicial Visitors
I am pleased that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be visiting Notre Dame September 12-13 and spending some time at the Law School on the 13th. You will be receiving additional updates in the coming days.
I am also pleased that Judge Amul Thapar of the Eastern District of Kentucky has accepted an invitation from the Program on Constitutional Structure to give a Constitution Day Lecture on Friday, September 16. Judge Thapar joined the court in 2008 after being nominated by President George W. Bush. He graduated from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree and received his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California-Berkeley.
Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, Fighting Irish All-American, and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Alan Page will be visiting NDLS on Thursday, October 27, and we will be having a moderated discussion with him. Justice Page graduated from Notre Dame in 1967 with a degree in political science and earned his law degree in 1978 from the University of Minnesota Law School while still playing football professionally.
Other Events
As the year progresses, you will find an increasing number of events being organized by both students and faculty. Please take advantage of as many of these opportunities as you can – they are free, convenient, and an important part of your well-rounded education.
Eye-catching events this semester include two major symposiums. The first, on global terrorism, will open with remarks by Ambassador Ted McNamara, former U.S. Ambassador to Colombia and former senior advisor for counter terrorism and homeland security to the secretary of state. The keynote address will be delivered by the vice chair of the 9/11 Commission, Congressman Lee Hamilton, and two of the day’s three panels will be moderated by distinguished NDLS professors: Professor Jimmy Gurulé and Professor Doug Cassel. “Fifteen Years After the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: Reassessing the Nature of the Threat and Response to Global Terrorism” will take place September 22.
Then on November 12 the Notre Dame Law Review will hold its annual symposium. Always a major event featuring leading academics and practitioners, the 2016 symposium will focus on intellectual property.
New Faculty
Marah Stith McLeod has joined the Notre Dame Law School faculty as an associate professor to teach criminal law and criminal procedure. Professor McLeod comes to us from Columbia Law School, and before that she was an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice and a litigator at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago, where she managed civil litigation and served as pro bono counsel in several death penalty cases. She has clerked for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She earned her bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard, and her J.D. from Yale. Professor McLeod took a year off before law school to volunteer with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity at the Daya Dan Orphanage in Kolkata, India. Her office is in 2113 Eck Hall.
New Clinic, New Director
Our newest legal clinic, the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, is already up and running, thanks to the hard work of its founding director, Patrick Thomas, who joined us in May. The clinic is federally funded, and it represents clients in controversies with the Internal Revenue Service and educates individuals about their rights and responsibilities as taxpayers. Prior to joining the law school in May, Professor Thomas received an American Bar Association Section of Taxation Public Service Fellowship to work as a staff attorney for the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic. He earned his B.A. in Germanic studies, international studies, and near eastern languages and cultures at Indiana University, and he earned his J.D. at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Professor Thomas has an office at the Tax Clinic based at 725 Howard Street and also in 1120 Eck Hall.
New Legal Writing Instructors
Elizabeth White Dietz and Kari Gallagher have also joined NDLS as writing instructors. Professor Dietz comes to us from the Chicago office of Latham & Watkins LLP, where she was a banking associate working in the firm’s secured transactions department. She completed her undergraduate degree at Notre Dame and her law degree at Washington University St. Louis. Professor Gallagher, a longtime career law clerk to Seventh Circuit Judge Kenneth Ripple, is also a longtime adjunct professor of deposition skills and a Double Domer.
New Law School Chaplain
Those of you who attended the opening Mass on Sunday had the good fortune of meeting Fr. Pat Reidy, C.S.C., who has agreed to take on the job of chaplain at the Law School following the assignment of Fr. Bill Dailey, C.S.C., to the Newman University Church in Dublin. Fr. Pat is a Colorado native who graduated from ND in 2008 with a B.A. in political science. He was ordained in 2014 and is the longtime rector of Keough Hall. Please make him feel welcome.
Visiting Faculty
Michael Moreland will be visiting us this spring. A professor of law at Villanova, he will be teaching both Constitutional Law and Catholic Social Thought. Professor Moreland received his B.A. in philosophy from Notre Dame, his M.A. and Ph.D. in theological ethics from Boston College, and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and was an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C., where he represented clients in First Amendment, professional liability, and products liability matters.
New Adjunct Professors
Adjunct professors’ practice experience and specialized knowledge allow NDLS to offer a greater breadth and depth of courses. This year we have a number of great new adjuncts, and great returning adjuncts teaching new courses.
U.S. District Court Judge John “Jack” Blakey, B.A. ’88, J.D. ’92, son of legendary ND Emeritus Professor of Law Robert G. Blakey, is returning to his alma mater this fall to team up with Adjunct Professor John Gallo and co-teach Federal Criminal Practice. Judge Blakey is a former state and federal prosecutor while Professor Gallo is a former federal prosecutor and current partner at Sidley Austin LLP, where he heads the Litigation Group in the firm’s Chicago office and serves as global co-leader of the firm’s White Collar Practice Group.
James Farrington also joins us to teach Licensing Transactions. Professor Farrington is a partner in Wiggin and Dana’s Corporate Practice Department and Life Sciences Practice Group. Jim graduated with a B.Ch.E. from the University of Notre Dame and received his law degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law.
Two NDLS alums are teaching deposition skills this year: Stephen Judge, J.D. ’07, and Ryan Milligan, J.D. ’09. Professor Judge is an associate attorney with LaDue Curran & Kuehn LLC in South Bend. Professor Judge Professor Milligan is a litigator with Faegre Baker Daniels in the South Bend office.
Bishop Thomas Paprocki is teaching Canon Law this fall. The ninth bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, he earned his B.A. at Niles College of Loyola University, his J.D. at DePaul University College of Law, and his M.B.A. at Notre Dame. As a parish priest at St. Michael Church in South Chicago, he co‑founded the South Chicago Legal Clinic, which in 2014 named him president emeritus and of counsel to the organization, which is now called the Chicago Legal Clinic.
Andrea Pin, an assistant professor of constitutional law at the University of Padova, Italy, will be here for the month of October to teach European Union Law. When he is in the United States, he works as a senior fellow and visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.
Finally, I am pleased that John Lloyd has agreed to co-teach the D.C. Externship Seminar with me this spring. A graduate of Northwestern University (1989) and NDLS (1992), John practiced law for over 20 years (most recently as a partner at Krieg DeVault), focusing on transactional and litigation matters in the areas of real estate and health care, as well as general commercial litigation. He has brought his talents to NDLS where his “day job” is director of advancement.
Corporate Counsel Externships
In addition to growing our five South Bend clinics and our semester-away externship programs in D.C. and Chicago, Associate Dean for Experiential Programs Bob Jones has been working assiduously to provide more local experiential learning opportunities, including externships with local corporate counsel offices. This fall, for example, we will have our first externs at Whirlpool Corporation in Benton Harbor. Other local corporate openings include Bradley Company (real estate development and management), Lake City Bank, and NIBCO Inc., a local manufacturing firm.
Increased International Presence at NDLS
LL.M. Student Services Program Director Margaret Lloyd reports that the new general LL.M. at Notre Dame program is continuing to grow, with 14 students from eight countries now enrolled. This LL.M. program is designed to provide international students with a fundamental understanding of American law and culture as they enter the global legal market. At the same time, they bring valuable perspectives and diversity to our classrooms – most of these students have years of practice experience in their home countries. Because they are fully integrated into the J.D. curriculum, there is a good chance that some of these outstanding students will be sharing one or more courses with you. I know they will all appreciate your warm welcome, as will the 22 lawyers from 18 countries who are studying for the LL.M. in International Human Rights Law at the Center for Civil and Human Rights.
Alumni Networking News
There are a number of qualities that set Notre Dame apart from other good schools, but none are more important than its alumni. They offer NDLS students a lifetime of support and networking opportunities all around the globe.
This is due in large part to the wonderful work of the Notre Dame Law Alumni Association (NDLA) and the Law Advisory Council, both of which are comprised of distinguished attorneys and judges. Members of these organizations enjoy meeting with students when they are on campus. The Law Council will be here on Friday, September 23, and the NDLA will meet on October 28. The NDLA, in particular, usually holds a mentoring session for all students during each of its biannual meetings. Elsewhere this year, it has launched seven new ND Lawyers Committees as subcommittees of ND Alumni Clubs or as freestanding groups to provide local support for students and ND alumni with law degrees.
Our alumni program director, Tammye Raster, has worked with alumni to create a new series of alumni/student networking events in 17 cities across the country that take place during fall and Christmas break. Last year these attracted well over 300 NDLS students and alumni. I too have doubled my travel and speaking itinerary in order to address and meet with ND Lawyer groups in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, D.C., London, Minneapolis, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle. These groups assure me that one of their main purposes is to provide assistance to our students. No wonder we recently ranked as #4 in the nation for law schools with the best networking opportunities – and I personally think we should be ranked higher. You owe it to yourself to take full advantage of this remarkable career resource that is open to you as a member of the Notre Dame family.
As some of you already know, Katelynn McBride, the Career Development Office’s program director for public interest & Chicago initiatives, launched a new blog this summer, “Becoming a Different Kind of Professional.” In it, Katelynn shares stories of our alumni’s exciting journeys as Notre Dame Lawyers and writes on a number of career development-related topics. It’s informative, it’s fun, and it’s so respectful of your time that each entry states its reading time (“1 minute,” “5 minutes,” etc.) at the outset so that you know what you’re getting into before you start each entry. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check it out.
Retiring Faculty
As many of you know, Professor Joseph Bauer, a nationally recognized expert in antitrust law, retired at the end of the fall semester last year. Fortunately, as an emeritus, he continues to work on his scholarship from his office here at NDLS, so if you are a former student you should have no trouble finding him and saying hello.
Professor Ed Edmonds, Associate Dean for Library and Information Technology, has announced he also will be transitioning to emeritus status at the end of this semester. I have appointed a Library Director Search Committee and asked it to launch a nationwide search for a new director. Since the summer of 2006, when Dean Edmonds assumed his duties as the school’s sixth librarian, he has worked to oversee the library’s move into its present space and to lead its transition into 21st century research technologies. I am very grateful to him and pleased that he will continue to be a valuable resource to us as an emeritus professor.
Open Door Policy
I look forward to working with SBA President Lauren Nottoli and all the student organizations that are dedicated to enhancing your law school experience. My door is also always open to any NDLS student who would like to see me. This semester I will be out of the office (and happy to be back in the classroom teaching Contracts) on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but feel free to email me at any time or to drop by the Dean’s suite in 2100 Eck Hall to see my assistant Julie Shook. She will be glad to fit you into my schedule for a private meeting where we can introduce ourselves or discuss any matter.
I know the faculty and staff join me in welcoming you to the new school year. Let’s all have a great one.
Nell Jessup Newton
Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law
Notre Dame Law School