Annual banquet of @ArizStLJ to honor @jss_law attorney Scott Rhodes

The Arizona State Law Journal hosts its annual banquet on Wednesday, April 4, 2018.

Jennings Strouss general counsel Scott Rhodes will be honored at the annual Arizona State Law Journal 2018 Awards Banquet. It will be held on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, from 5:30 to 9:00 pm. The banquet will be held in Room 544 of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law’s Beus Center for Law and Society in downtown Phoenix, 111. E. Taylor Street.

Rhodes will receive the 2018 John S. Lancy Distinguished Alumni Award. Other outstanding members, as well as Executive Board members, also will be recognized.

John S. Lancy was the Law Journal’s first Editor-in-Chief in 1969–1970, selected by the Faculty Board of Editors. He also was a member of the founding class of what was then the ASU College of Law. He had a successful legal career that included a Ninth Circuit clerkship, service as an airline in-house counsel, and private practice at Quarles Brady Streich Lang. In 2001, he died at age 56 after battling brain cancer for 20 months.

The award named for Lancy is presented to “Journal alumni who have demonstrated a standard of selfless integrity, humility, and charity in the legal field that warrants the recognition and acclaim of their peers.” (More detail here.)

Tickets to the event – and sponsorship opportunities – are available here.

Currently, event sponsors are: Jennings Strouss; Dickinson Wright PLLC; Gammage & Burnham; JDA Software, Inc.; Quarles & Brady LLP; Ryley Carlock & Applewhite; Bowman and Brooke LLP; Fennemore Craig; Gammage & Burnham; Lubin & Enoch PC; Perkins Coie; Polsinelli; and Snell & Wilmer LLP.

Attorney Scott Rhodes accepting the 2010 State Bar Member of the Year Award.

You can read more about Scott Rhodes here. The State Bar of Arizona selected the attorney – AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell – as a 2010 Member of the Year.

The Arizona State Law Journal is the law school’s primary scholarly publication. It is student-run, comprised of 35 Staff Writers (2Ls) and 31 Editors (3Ls).

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Moot-court judges sought by @ASUCollegeofLaw for trial competition

Today I share an opportunity to participate in moot court—as a judge.

The ASU Moot Court Executive Board seeks volunteer judges for its competition on February 17 and 18. Here is the news from Tyler Carlton, the Chair of the Hosted Competitions Committee:

The ASU Moot Court Executive Board is looking for volunteers to judge the ASU Law and Science Mock Trial Competition on February 17 (Friday) and 18 (Saturday). We are looking for volunteers for all times slots, which are provided below.

Trials will be about three hours longs. We are very excited to host our competition this year in the new downtown Phoenix building with teams from Arizona, California, Colorado, and Texas. Volunteer judges will also be provided both breakfast and lunch. Volunteers can sign up for any times slots that they are available.

First day (2/17):

• Judge Orientation: 9:00
• First trial: 10:00-1:00
• Lunch: 1:00-2:00
• Judge Orientation: 2:00
• Second trial: 2:30-5:30

Second day (2/18):

• Judge Orientation: 8:00
• First trial: 9:00-12:00
• Lunch: 12:00-1:00

For more information or to sign up, contact Tyler at tdcarlto@asu.edu.

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Getting tech-fearless not a bad wish for lawyers, others

Blogging (even a wee bit) may help curb your technology fears.

We’re midway through November, and I thought I’d share my wish (early New Year’s resolution?) regarding courage and technology.

That’s what I wrote about in the November Arizona Attorney Magazine, and I’ve posted my column below.

You can read the whole terrific issue here.

Someone—or someTHING—at ASU knows my name.

That was my somewhat disconcerting realization as I strolled through the new ASU Beus Center for Law and Society last month. Besides being filled with real, live humans, the building also has impressively sized screens scattered throughout, which offer information—often personalized for those who downloaded a free app.

Seeing your name appear on a screen as you approach falls somewhere on the creepy scale, let’s admit. My first impression was like something out of Blade Runner—Siri with bad attitude. But I had to admit that the ’tude was all mine. In fact, I came to be charmed by the devices, created by New York-based interactive design firm Unified Field.

Remember how odd GPS seemed, and now we can’t live without it? These screens are like that, HAL minus the antisocial personality.

Tomas Rossant, Ennead Architects, and Tom Williams, ASU, demonstrate an interactive screen in the ASU Beus Center for Law & Society, Aug. 10, 2016.

Those screens are one of the things I spoke about at the California Bar Leaders Conference in September. Tasked with discussing communications beyond 2016, I also mentioned wearable technology, cloud services, Big Data, and more. I even snuck in a suggestion to get blogging.

Ultimately, though, I said that what I was really discussing was not tools, great as they can be, but a futurist outlook. Not video options, but experimentation. Not social media, but fearlessness. To convey my point, I shared more than a few photos.

One photo I snapped at Chicago’s Midway Airport. A narrow hallway, more of an alley, could easily be missed in the blink of an eye. The 40-foot dead-end meandered off the concourse, and what it held was an archaeological dig, of sorts—the airport’s land-line phones, a bank of telephone directories, and newspaper dispensers, for good measure.

The alley’s sole occupant sat at a telephone. Based on attire and brief-bag, I’m guessing he was an attorney—the only one who would partake of the mausoleum of ancient technologies. Is anyone surprised?

Advanced thinking is not what draws you into Midway Airport’s Mausoleum of Ancient Technologies.

Another photo I shared was snapped by my older daughter Willa when she was 3 or 4. She was so pleased by that picture of me—though she did cut my head off.

Both photos enliven the futurist impulse and remind me of technology advice from UC-Berkeley professor Richard Hernandez: Start even if you feel you’re not ready. And when it comes to cutting off heads in photos—and tech generally—the imperfect but genuine trumps the perfect but robotic—every time. Let’s get fearless.

A sans-head portrait of me by my daughter, circa 1999.

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Center for Law and Society @ASUCollegeofLaw opens in #dtphx today

ASU Center for Law and Society, Phoenix (Courtesy ASU)

This evening, ASU opens its newest venture in downtown Phoenix, the $129 million Center for Law and Society.

The new six-story building will house multiple uses, including the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, which has moved to Phoenix from the Tempe campus.

I went on a preview tour last week, and the building is impressive in many ways. Here is the Arizona Republic’s article on the building.

Reading room, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

At the preview, architect Tomas Rossant of Ennead Architects described the “thesis of the building” as connecting the citizens of Arizona to the law. He said the structure, sited in the block southeast of the corner of First Street and Taylor, will be a focal point for the downtown campus.

Rossant said the goal was to make the building “completely open, free, and democratic. This will be the most publicly accessible law school in the nation.”

“We want this place to supplement City Hall as the location people come to gather, redress grievances, and engage as citizens.”

Through the architecture and its accessibility, Rossant said, we are “trying to tell the public that the law belongs to you.”

ASU’s Tom Williams speaks during a media tour of the Center for Law and Society, Aug. 10, 2016.

At the tour, ASU’s Thomas Williams, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and the institution, said, “We will never have more marble than Yale or more Ivy than Harvard. But that’s not who we are. We’re looking to the future, and we’re ready to experience new things, and pivot and try again when we have to.”

Architect Tomas Rossant (left) and ASU’s Tom Williams lead a media tour of the new Center for Law and Society, Aug. 10, 2016.

One of the driving forces of the new building will be to connect people through technology. In fact, the building has a dedicated app created by the company Unified Field. When in operation and once a user downloads it, it communicates your location to the building, and multiple screens scattered throughout the structure offer you customized information to assist your visit. The app will be available through all the usual online stores.

ASU’s Tom Williams demonstrates touchscreen technology that will interact with a dedicated building app.

The app was not live at the media tour, but it is this morning, so I’ve downloaded it. I look forward to seeing how it works. In the meantime, here are a few app screenshots (click images to enlarge).

After the media tour, I dropped by the law school’s teaching law firm, the ASU Alumni Law Group. Managing partner Marty Harper showed me around. The two-story firm includes spaces for its attorneys, staff, and an area dedicated to triaging potential clients’ legal matters.

Be sure to see the university’s new website dedicated to the building.

A few of us on the magazine staff will be attending the grand opening tonight. We’ll report back, in Arizona Attorney Magazine and online.

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Alumni, friends of @ASUCollegeofLaw invited to say goodbye to Armstrong Hall on 5/20

Typically, law schools stay planted in a spot for, I don’t know, an eternity. So it’s definitely news that the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is moving to downtown Phoenix this year.

But that means they are leaving behind their home since the school was founded in 1968. And that means a party.

Tomorrow, Friday, May 20, the school invites “alumni, friends, supporters, faculty, staff, and current students to come together for a day of festivities to celebrate the past and prepare for the move to the Arizona Center for Law and Society in downtown Phoenix. We will also honor Professor David Kader as he retires after 36 years on the ASU Law faculty and 41 years as a law professor.”

The “toast and roast” to the old building will be preceded by actual educational offerings (where lunch will be served to those attending those offerings). I’ve included the agenda and offerings below.

More detail about the festivities is here.

Because space is limited, be sure to register for the free event (though voluntary donations support law student scholarships).

Finally, though time is short, the school would still love to hear your memories and anecdotes; maybe they can become part of Friday’s event.

Do you have a story to share?

“If you would like to share in advance your story, memories, photos or videos for the Toast & Roast portion of the event, please click here to upload them. We can accept files up to 2MB. Contact Julia Moore at (480) 965-3112 if your files are larger than 2MB. If you have questions, contact Keith Chandler at (480) 965-6405.”

When: Friday, May 20, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (lunch will be provided)

Where: Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, ASU, Willard H. Pedrick Great Hall, Room 113

ASU Law School’s Armstrong Hall

Schedule of Events

10 a.m. Check-In & Registration Opens

11 a.m. Welcome | CLE with “Founding Faculty” | Lunch

• Michael Berch, Emeritus Professor of Law, “The Two Functions of Judicial Decisions: Stare Decisis and Res Judicata Discussion: Analysis of Rush v. Maple Heights”
• The Honorable William C. Canby Jr., United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, “On Teaching Constitutional Law: Then (1968-1980) and Now”
• Alan Matheson, Emeritus Dean, “Confirmation Hearings for Supreme Court Justices: Running the Gauntlet”
• Jonathan Rose, Emeritus Professor of Law, “History of Contract Law”

2:30 p.m. Toast & Roast to Armstrong Hall

3:30 p.m. Event Reception & Retirement Celebration for David Kader, Emeritus Professor of Law

Armstrong Hall

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Annual auction and reception by @ASUCollegeofLaw slated for Sept. 25 in #dtphx

In just over a week, the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law serves up its annual Gold ‘n Gavel Auction and Reception. It will be held on September 25 in the downtown Phoenix Sheraton, and this year’s overarching theme is sustainability. Given the school’s sustainability initiatives—and the fact that this event contributes to student scholarships—the theme is well chosen.

All of the detail is on the event’s dedicated website.

I was pleased and surprised at how much detail there is about all aspects of the event, including the auction, even the online portion. And who doesn’t like looking at photos from last year’s event, available on the home page? (which is very smart, as it shows you how vibrant the event is, and offers guidance for this year’s event-goers as to what level of dress attendees bring to the affair).

All the deets:

• When: Friday, Sept. 25, 6-9:30 p.m.
• Price: $95 General Admission Beginning Sept. 1
• Where: Sheraton Downtown Phoenix, 340 N. 3rd St. Phoenix, AZ 85004

Once you’ve had your fill of event information, you can register here.

And in case you were wondering, here’s what the event organizers say:

“Ticket Price includes: Passed hors d’oeuvres, light dinner buffet, specialty dessert, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, one drink ticket (for beer/wine/liquor), and one door prize raffle ticket. Proceeds from your ticket sale will directly support student scholarships and programs within the College of Law.”

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eDiscovery papers sought for upcoming ASU-Arkfeld conference

In the event you have a great eDiscovery treatise banging around in your head (or your desk drawer), here is the opportunity for you.

A respected conference focused on eDiscovery and digital evidence is seeking papers on the topic. They are due by December 2, though, so sharpen your (digital) pencils.

Here is more from conference organizers:

“The Conference welcomes papers that fit within our 2015 theme: ‘Know the Law, Know the Technology.’ Papers might address law, technology, or the intersection of the two. All papers submitted will be fully refereed by a minimum of two specialized referees.”

“Only accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Best papers awards will be distributed during the conference, authors will be given an opportunity to briefly present their papers, and selected papers may be published in Law Technology News.”

“Authors whose papers are accepted will be entitled to complimentary registration for the conference. Papers must comply with the guidelines set forth in the attached announcement. The length of the articles will be 800-1000 words.”

The eDiscovery paper brochure is here. Click for more information.

More detail about the conference itself, to be held March 12-14, 2015, is here.

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Attorney–Judges needed as @ASUCollegeofLaw hosts national moot court tournament

Are you ready to pick up the gavel and give back to legal education at the same time? Does ASU Law School have a deal for you!

On January 17 and 18, the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law will host the American Collegiate Moot Court Association’s national championship tournament. This is quite an impressive honor, and it will see undergraduates from all over the country traveling to Arizona to compete by mooting an issue in our Supreme Court.

That’s where you may come in. The law school is in need of JDs who are willing to volunteer as judges (I’ve been told they need about 250 total).

Hesitant? Well, the school is willing to sweeten the pot for those on the fence: If you sign up with a lawyer–friend, the organizers will aim to pair you together as a judging team.

Whaaat? A judging team? I don’t know about you, but nothing binds a friendship more than judging others. Come on out!

More detail is below. And to volunteer as a judge, sign up here.

“The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is proud to host the American Collegiate Moot Court Association’s national championship tournament on January 17-18, 2014. 80 undergraduate teams from across the country will come to the law school to compete in this prestigious tournament to determine this year’s national champion.  The College of Law is excited to be this year’s competition host, and we hope that you will join us in making this a memorable experience for competitors.  Volunteer judging is a great way to contribute to the education and training of future legal professionals as well as showcase the strength and involvement of our local bar.”

The College of Law is looking for attorneys to volunteer as judges for the following times:

Friday, January 17:

• 4:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
• 5:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 18:

• 8:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
• 9:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
• 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Bring a buddy—sign up to judge with a friend and we will pair you to judge oral arguments together.

If you would like to volunteer but the above scheduled time blocks do not match your availability, please contact Adam Almaraz at aalmaraz@asu.edu.

To volunteer as a judge, click here.

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Paul Schiff Berman Exits Dean Position at @gwlaw

Paul Schiff Berman

Let me keep today’s post pretty short and a little less than sweet.

Something odd happened back east to a law school dean. And that former dean has ties to the Grand Canyon State.

Anyone up on updates regarding the ASU Law School probably learned this weeks ago, but for everyone else, it may be news that Paul Schiff Berman has exited the deanship at the George Washington University Law School.

Berman, you may recall, helmed the ASU Law School for a time (you can read our interview with him here). But he headed east to lead GWU Law, which was announced in April 2011. That, however, didn’t last long. By summer 2012, discontent was evident. By January 2013, he had left the law school, and the university named him vice provost for online education and academic innovation.

More than ever before, law deans have proven to be a transitory bunch. But even in a world in which deanships are rarely calculated in decades, Berman’s exit is noteworthy for its speediness. And according to the university newspaper, his departure was welcomed by a majority of law school professors. The story, titled “Law faculty plotted to oust dean,” opens:

“Faculty say they launched a near coup to remove the former dean of the GW Law School, who unexpectedly announced last fall he would resign after holding the position for just 18 months.”

“Paul Schiff Berman stepped down in January and moved to a new vice provost position after professors drafted a petition to reject his leadership, citing staff tensions and poor decision-making about how to restore a reeling legal education system, The Hatchet has learned.”

Yes, the independent student newspaper is called “The Hatchet.” Draw your own conclusions.

If you want another take on the dean’s departure, be sure to read Above the Law.

A hat tip to Arizona lawyer (and ASU Law alum) Ruth Carter for sharing the news. If there is a followup or more of a response from Professor Berman, we’ll share it.

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Maybe We’ve Got This “Hate Speech” Thing All Wrong

What follows is my editor’s letter from the January Arizona Attorney Magazine. It’s titled “Speech Disorder,” and I’d welcome any thought on how we address hate speech in this country—and whether a change is in order.

Maybe we’ve got this “hate speech” thing all wrong.

That was the basis of a fascinating debate this past fall, held at the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. In October, ASU Professor James Weinstein defended the U.S. position against a view espoused by NYU Law Professor Jeremy Waldron.

Generally stated, the American antidote to hate speech is simply … more speech. Our rightful affinity for the First Amendment means that even the most vile words are often met by the phrase (and sentiment), “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” So integral to our psyche is that belief that most of us bristle at the suggestion of a “speech code.”

And yet, Waldron made a compelling argument that the harm from speech can be so poisonous that there are times when it should be stymied. Laws—accepted in many countries—may be drafted to convey an “implicit diffuse assurance” that social peace is a public good.

At ASU and in his book The Harm in Hate Speech, Waldron dissected the hate-group argument that what they are doing is merely advocating a position. No, he insists; the groups really are conveying an action-packed message: “You are not wanted.” And that message is often backed up by the threat of violence.

Morris Dees, Nov. 8, 2012

Those concepts were on my mind in November, at the University of Arizona College of Law annual McCormick lecture, delivered by Morris Dees. The co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Dees gave a rollicking speech that of necessity touched on his significant courtroom work on behalf of victims of discrimination. That trial lawyer’s career has been framed in many ways by efforts to end hatred and to alleviate its effects.

But how would his decades of work have differed if our approach to hate speech (which often precedes hate crimes) had taken a path accepted in many other countries? It may be worth considering.

I’m reading Waldron’s book and considering his position. But I take seriously his warning that viewing this as an academic debate may prove deadly. As he glanced around a packed law school hall at a relatively privileged audience, he reminded us that hate speech has real-world impacts.

“We can pretend to be unaffected,” he said. “But we should try to envision ourselves as somebody who has to live his life under this besmirchment, who has to live one’s life in the shadow of these insults.”

What do you think? Write to me at arizona.attorney@azbar.org.

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