March 19, 2012

Bricks and Bytes Conference a Major Success The ABA’s 2012 Bricks and Bytes Conference held at TJSL from March 11-13 was a huge success. “It was quite an event,” said TJSL Dean Rudy Hasl, who hosted a group of law school deans, faculty, librarians, architects and information technology professionals at the law school’s new campus. There were more than 40 programs for the professionals who attended, most of whom are designing or renovating law school space. It was a fitting place to hold Bricks and Bytes, since TJSL is one of the most architecturally and technologically innovative law schools in the nation. "It was so gratifying to hear the many positive comments from Deans, architects, faculty members, facilities personnel, and other professionals about the imaginative and attractive design for the new facility,” said TJSL Dean Rudy Hasl of the conference. “Thomas Jefferson will stand as a model for what can be done creatively in law school architecture.” Dean Hasl made a presentation on how the new law school was planned, with the architect, interior designer, IT contractor and the trustee who helped guide the process of obtaining financing for the project. “Buildings speak loud and clear of the intent of the designers,” Dean Hasl told the audience. “The message we wanted to send was a welcoming statement – to make people who use the building to feel comfortable.” Dean Hasl went on to explain how the building was designed to have collaborative spaces throughout that were highly specialized for their function. He felt one of the reasons the design team suc-ceeded was the great teamwork between the architect and the inte-rior designer.

Dean Rudy Hasl's Presentation on the Planning of TJSL

Architect Mike LaBarre and Interior Designer Deborah Elliott

Board Chair Emeritus Sandy Kahn Explains the Financing

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Interim Librarian Patrick Meyer

3L Elizabeth Knowles Gives the Student Perspective on the Library

Opening Night Reception on the 8th Floor

Bricks and Bytes Continued…

Executive Architect Mike LaBarre of Carrier-Johnson said they looked at the TJSL project as a chance to do something com-pletely fresh. Interior designer Deborah Elliott of ID Studios said that in addition to the collaborative spaces, the goal was to give the building a very open feel, infused with light and bright colors to create a warm, friendly atmosphere.

Joaquin DeVelasco of Tekworks, the IT firm, said there was a huge advantage for his team to get involved in the very early stages of the project. One result, he said, is that the building gives the students 100% access to Wi-Fi, so they are not tied to one place when in class or studying in their favorite nook.

Sandy Kahn was the Chairman TJSL’s Board of Trustees during the planning and construction of the law school, and as a devel-oper by profession, he helped navigate the treacherous waters of obtaining financing at a time when the economy was showing signs of running aground. The bonds were secured within days of the economic collapse of Fall 2008.

Interim Library Director Patrick Meyer also spoke at Bricks and Bytes about what relevant factors were considered when design-ing our new “21st century library” for our students. One topic of discussion was the seating arrangement and how it accommo-dates the three types of student spaces: quiet, collaborative, and comfortable. Other topics discussed were the general library physical layout (to include the balcony area, library stacks and the study rooms), legal e-books and their usage challenges, digital study aids, specialty databases, the importance of being able to access all of our digital offerings via our proxy server, and the use of QR Codes for both promotional and educational purposes.

3L Elizabeth Knowles was also part of the library presentation and added her point of view as a student and a part-time library worker.

The entire Bricks and Bytes Conference was a major team effort on the part of TJSL, and Dean Hasl is grateful to everyone who participated for their fine efforts.

Dean Hasl with Guests at the 8th floor Reception

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Modern Technology to the Rescue! Polycom saved the day! That’s what Professor Jennifer Cooper of TJSL’s Writing Lab & Academic Success Program said when she had to cancel her March 3rd trip to North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina to present “How to Pimp Your TWEN Page: Engag-ing Your Students On Their Turf – Online” at the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning conference. “I was supposed to present in person, but due to a family emergency, I couldn’t travel to North Carolina,” Cooper said. “That’s when TJSL Multimedia Specialist John Snay and the NCCU School of Law technology team rallied and I was able to present as scheduled using our Polycom system in the recording studio.” Snay says this is a useful tool for TJSL professors to utilize “Our Polycom system is a video conferenc-ing solution that allows two locations to pass audio and video to each other, through the internet,” says Snay. “The Polycom units are incorporated into many of our classrooms as well as our recording studios, enabling us to broadcast our lectures and discussions to remote locations.” “If it weren’t for Polycom, my presentation would have been cancelled,” said Cooper. “With Poly-com, I was still able to participate in the conference and share my ideas about maximizing TWEN to better reach our students while being home in San Diego to take care of my family.” The Polycom system at TJSL extends professor’s classroom and teaching capabilities - whether those teaching opportunities are to other students or other faculty at distant universities. Polycom allows TJSL to maximize efficiency by offering the same teaching and presenting options without the disrup-tion of travel. Cooper says “Absolutely!” when asked if she highly recommends using this tool to other professors. “TJSL’s classroom technology is amazing, both the Echo360 lecture capture system as well as the Poly-com system,” said Cooper. “I use the Echo360 lecture capture every week and share my recorded clas-ses with my students via my TWEN page. This was the first time that I used the Polycom system to present, but it will not be the last. I look forward to other opportunities to use it in the future.” Cooper says another cool thing about the day was that TJSL Professor Julie Cromer Young was also presenting at the ILTL conference on teaching via Polycom and she was actually doing a Polycom presentation from North Carolina with students here at TJSL.

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TJSL ADR Society Hosts, Competes in ABA Regional Mediation Advocacy Competition to Rave Reviews By Professor Paul Spiegelman While students were starting Spring break, TJSL and the ADR Society was hosting and com-peting in the ABA’s Region 9 Representation in Mediation Competition on Saturday, March 10 and Sunday, March 11. The competition puts the students in the role of lawyer and client on both sides, with a mediator provided by the hosts. The goal of the competition is to help future lawyers develop their skills in representing clients involved in mediation, an increas-ingly popular way of settling disputes. The schools sending teams to the competition were Arizona State School of Law, California Western School of Law, LaVerne School of Law, Phoenix Law School and Pepperdine School of Law. TJSL was represented by two teams: Team A: Matt Odgers and Nicholas Snow coached by Elizabeth Chu, Jared Drucker, and Matt Juhren and Team B: Vako Artinian and Esther Hyun, coached by David Keith, Emmanuel Rayes and Christine Tornatore. Vako and Esther (Team B) were undefeated and tied for first place in the preliminary rounds, but did not get to the finals because they lost a tie-breaker. Matt and Nick (Team A) achieved a per-fect score from one judge in the first round and had the second highest overall point total in the team, but narrowly lost split decisions in each round. Thus, the TJSL teams were highly competitive and between them had a victory on one criterion or another over every team in the competition. The overall winners of the competition were Jo-Ann Handy and Andrew High from Arizona State with Chelsea Peterson and Peter Kittle from Phoenix Law School runners-up. In order to run a competition of this importance, it was necessary to recruit 39 judges and 13 mediators. With great help from the ADR and Civil Litigation Sections of the San Diego Bar, the National Conflict Resolution Center, San Diego Superior Court Civil Mediation Program and the Thomas Jefferson Alumni Association, we recruited an able and distinguished group of judges and mediators. Members of the Thomas Jefferson ADR Society provided timekeep-ers, hosts for each team and for the judges and mediators. The competition was a huge success playing to rave reviews from the competitors, coaches, judges and mediators, many of whom have now volunteered to judge TJSL’s National Sports Law Negotiation Competition in late September. Here are some of their comments: "I have been coaching law school teams and sending them to competitions for the past 7 years, and this was the most well run and impressive competition I can remember."

- Law School Coach "I don't know where the next ABA Negotiation Competition will be held, but I doubt it will compare to this one. You guys did a phe-nomenal job." - Student competitor "I have judged several competitions in my day, and this one was the most professionally run and most impressive competition I have had the pleasure of participating in." -Judge/Mediator Congratulations to everyone involved in the competition!

(L-R) Runners-up Peter Kittle & Chelsea Peterson (Phoenix,) Winners Andrew High & Jo-Ann Handy (ASU,) with Barbara Filner, William Tucker, Professor Spiegel-man, William Hughes, Robin Seigle

ADR Competitors

TJSL’s Student Volunteers

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Your ABA – Law Student Division at Work By Joshua S. Goodrich 2L

The Annual Spring Board of Governors (BOG) Meeting took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 15-18 where the current 15 circuit gov-ernors met for the last meeting of the 2011-2012 year, and the new 15 circuit governors were sworn in and took office for the 2012-2013 year. The BOG conducted regular business and issued awards to the out-going governors. Two gold keys and two silver keys were awarded. Gold Keys are given to student leaders who “have demonstrated the highest degree of service dedication and leadership to the Division and have constantly furthered the Division purpose of achieving so-lutions to problems which confront today’s society and have strengthened law student participation in the programs and activi-ties of the Division; and has encouraged the education and profes-sional development of law students”. The Silver Keys are given to student leaders who “assured law stu-dents a greater opportunity to become involved with and participate fully in the missions and activities of the Association; and have strengthened law student participation in the programs and activi-ties of the Division; and encouraged the educational and profession-al development of law students.” The two Gold Keys were given to: Mallory Willink, 4th Circuit Governor, from Charlotte School of Law, and Maurice Williams, 2nd Circuit Governor, from the Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. The two Silver Keys were given to: Adena Leibman, 12th Circuit Governor from Lewis & Clark Law School, Joshua Goodrich, 9th Circuit Governor, from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Six resolutions were brought before the Law Student Division Board of Governors. The first two resolutions that passed will affect the ABA-LSD Grant Funding for “first-time events.” The BOG wanted to clear up questions that have been raised regarding what a first time event was. The grant funding program allows student organizations to seek funding for new programs that have not been hosted at a school for the past 4 years.

2011-2012 ABA BOG Team

Adena Leibman & Teddy Reese

L to R: Bryan Rogers, Chair Elect Adena Leibman, Vice Chair Elect Raychell Tasher, Secretary-Treasurer Elect Matthew Gorney

Joshua Goodrich, Steven Cometa, Michelle Philo

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ABA– Law Student Division Continued…

The grant fund is up to $500 for each application. If you are in a student organization and are looking to seek grant funding please check out the website http://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_students/initiatives_awards/grant.html. The second resolution is also about the Law Student Division (LSD) Grant Funding Program. There were questions that came up about what would happen if “false or misleading information” was sup-plied on grant application, so the BOG placed a punitive penalty system for anyone who provide “false or misleading information” on the grant applications. One resolution was tabled indefinitely which would have changed the hotel compensation policy for required BOG meetings. One of the major resolutions allowed several changes to the ABA-LSD election code. Because this was an internal code, this becomes effective for the next election of the ABA-BOG. Two resolutions that will go before the assembly are by-law amendments for the ABA-LSD. Because these are by-law amendments, after passage in the BOG, whey will be sent to the LSD Assembly which is made up of two representatives from each ABA approved law school. Each school’s ABA President and ABA Representative make up the 400 voting members of the ABA LSD assembly. If these resolu-tions pass at the ABA LSD Assembly, the resolution will move to the full ABA for final approval. The two by-law amendments which came before the LSD BOG were on the officer removal procedure to the ABA-LSD BOG & the realignment of the circuits. The changes will look like the following.

After the swearing in of the new BOG for 2012-2013 ABA-LSD team was to elect their national officers who will take office at annual meeting in Chicago, IL in August of 2012. The BOG election results: Adena N. Leibman as Chair-Elect from Lewis & Clark Law School Raychell Tasher, as Vice Chair-Elect from Florida A&M University College of Law Matthew A. Gorney as Secretary-Treasurer-Elect from University of Kansas School of Law. Also the New Board of Governors approved Bryan E. Rogers from Valparaiso University School of Law as the Division Representative to the ABA Board of Governors. For more information, about the American Bar Association Law Students Division and ways to get involved please see your ABA Rep or check out the ABA-LSD website at http://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_students.html.

Circuit Number Current State Members New State Members

Fifth Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Tennessee

Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico

Tenth Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee

Thirteenth Louisiana, Texas Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas

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TJSL Professor Linda Keller at The Hague for Historic Verdict By Professor Linda M. Keller The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its first verdict on March 14, 2012 in the trial of Thom-as Lubanga Dyilo (Lubanga). After a tumultuous and long course of proceedings, the Trial Chamber found Lubanga guilty of enlisting, conscripting and using children under 15 years of age in a non-international armed conflict. Lubanga was commander in chief of a militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the relevant time. "This is a historic moment for the ICC,” said Thomas Jefferson School of Law Professor Linda Keller from The Hague, where she is a Visiting Professional with the ICC. “With a verdict in its first case, the ICC has come of age," Professor Keller said. The verdict was announced to a packed gallery. "No, I did not see Angelina Jolie in person; I just saw the video like everyone else," Professor Keller said. "In fact, I watched it streaming live along with representatives of the major international and hybrid criminal tribunals at Professor David Scheffer’s annual Atrocity Crimes conference." Professor Scheffer was a recent guest-lecturer at TJSL. Several noteworthy parts of the decision include the Chamber's re-characterization of the conflict as non-international; its refusal to consider the sexual abuse of girl child soldiers because the Prosecutor had not initially alleged sexual crimes; its relatively broad understanding of "use" of child soldiers in hostilities; and its chastisement of the Prosecutor for its negligent supervision of intermediaries, whose suspect behavior led the court to conclude that the evidence of several alleged former child soldiers was not sufficiently reliable. The Chamber will next consider reparations for victims as well as the appropriate sentence for Luban-ga. The verdict is subject to appeal. Angelina Jolie was in the gallery for the veridct. Jolie serves as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and has been active in the campaign to end the use of child soldiers.

Thomas Lubanga hears his guilty verdict at the ICC

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What and Where is The Jeffersonian? By Nancy Astifo, Editor in Chief, The Jeffersonian

Want to express your opinion? Want to read about sports or current events? Or do you want to sell your books at the end

of the semester? All of those options can be accomplished in one place, at the only TJSL student-run paper, The Jeffersonian. The Student Bar Association (SBA) is responsible for The Jeffersonian with the duty assigned to the SBA Vice-President as the Editor-in-Chief.

In support of going green, the paper is purely an online publication that can be found at http://www.tjsl.edu/the-jeffersonian/ or in the SBA weekly email. The paper entails six sections, including: Currents Events, Opinions, TJSL, Sports, Objections, and Classifieds. Staff writers may write about any of the first five sections and the student body is permitted to access the classified section. The classi-fieds section provides students the opportunity to sell and purchase various items such as books from their fellow colleagues without dealing with expensive shipping fees and the inconvenience of going to a post office to mail the books.

Why should you read the Jeffersonian? Why not?!? The paper is informative on current events occur-ring at Thomas Jefferson, in San Diego, nationally and even in particular classes such as Legal Synthe-sis. (Read Prof. Semeraro’s article, Professor Becomes Student) As stated above, it provides students the opportunity to purchase and sell items such as books or dressers amongst TJSL students and avoid dealing with strangers. More importantly, if you’re looking or seeking a roommate, the classifieds sections permits students to list their ads.

All TJSL students are encouraged to be involved with the paper by becoming a staff writer or an editor. Students interested in writing for The Jeffersonian can email thejeffersonian@tjsl.edu. The paper is published on monthly basis and staff writers are required to provide one article per month minimum.

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Congratulations to Lyla Askejian!

Lyla Askejian is currently a third year student and upon graduation, she will be entering the Public Defender Corps, a prestigious three-year fellowship program funded by Equal Justice Works and the Southern Public Defender Training Center. Out of the 500 nationwide applicants, Lyla was one of the 14 selected for this fellowship. She will be working at the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, where she will start as a deputy public defender and will receive invaluable training, mentorship and rigorous trial experience. From there, Lyla hopes to continue her career as a zeal-ous advocate for indigent accused populations.

If you are passionate about public defense and are interested to learn more about this fellowship opportunity, please visit: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/post-grad/public-defender-corps. Applications for the 2013 Fellowship Program will be available in mid-July.

Spring Graduation Information!

Spring Graduation will be held on Sunday, May 20 at 9 a.m. at The Historic Copley Symphony Hall, 1245 Seventh Avenue, Downtown San Diego, 92101. The ceremony will last approxi-mately 2 1/2 hours, the reception will be held at the law school following the ceremony.

Congratulations to Noah Wald, he is the Valedictorian for the spring 2012 graduating class.

More details to come...

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TJSL Teams Up with Waseda University TJSL hosted the Second Law and Economics Roundtable Workshop between Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) and Thomas Jefferson School of Law on Friday, March 9. Professors Kazuhiko Yokota and Maji Rhee, both from Waseda University, joined Thomas Jefferson Professor Susan Tiefenbrun in presenting new works. TJSL Profes-sor Ben Templin was the moderator. Professor Yokota presented a recent study on the relationship between types of business entities and exports, while Professor Tiefenbrun discussed the economic implications of foreign trade

zones. Professor Rhee discussed burden of proof standards in transfer pricing cases as illustrated in the celebrated Adobe Systems case in 2008 in Japan.

The first joint Law and Economics Roundtable Workshop between TJSL and Waseda University occurred in November 2011 when Professor Templin presented a paper in Tokyo, Japan titled “Comparative Corpo-rate Disclosure Standards for International Stocks.”

Professor Kazuhiko Yokota, Professor Maji C. Rhee, Dean Rudy Hasl, Professor Susan Tiefenbrun, Professor Ben Templin

Job Readiness Training: Broadening Visions and Developing Skills

By: 1L Lee Vernon

“My greatest weakness is that I hold myself to such a high

standard that I often forget to take the time to appreciate the things I have already accomplished”

- Sajad “Mr. Sid” Husain

Over the past six weeks more than 50 students at Crawford High School’s Law Institute received job readiness training from the CLIMB program. Students learned how to make career decisions, network, prepare a resume, apply for a job, and conduct themselves in an interview situation. The CLIMB train-ing presented an outstanding opportunity for open discussion and students were encouraged to active-ly participate in discussions involving topics related to obtaining employment. The discussions with the students were extremely interesting and thought provoking. Many students did not initially agree with some of the topics discussed, such as ensuring your voicemail message is professional in the event a prospective employer calls to leave a message. However, after participating in the discussions, they were able to understand the importance of conducting yourself in a professional manner during the entire process of obtaining employment. Upon conclusion of the CLIMB job readiness training, stu-dents were instilled with knowledge on how to choose a career and obtain employment, giving them the opportunity to broaden their vision and develop the skill set necessary to excel in their professional lives.

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TJSL’s Volunteers Provide Free Income Tax Preparation Services Through Monday, April 16 The Student-Run VITA Clinic is in its 15th Year of Operation

The Thomas Jefferson School of Law Tax Society is making tax return preparation accessible and FREE to San Diegans who cannot afford to pay for those services. This marks the 15th consecutive year of the law school’s student-run Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Clinic (VITA), which serves senior citizens, low-income families, students and others on limited budgets who cannot afford professional tax services or who are unable to complete their own tax forms. The VITA Clinic is open through Monday, April 16, 2012. Hours are Monday and Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. and on Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Clinic accepts walk-ins or appointments can be made in advance at tax@tjsl.edu or 619-297-9700 x4362.

Individuals who wish to have their tax returns prepared must bring in proof of identification, social security cards or a social security number verification issued by the Social Security Admin-istration, wage and earning statement forms, interest and dividend statements from banks and a copy of last year’s federal and state returns.

The law student volunteers are IRS certified, but there are restrictions on the types of tax docu-ments they can prepare. They are not allowed to help with business or rental type matters.

The Thomas Jefferson School of Law Clinic is located at 495 11th Avenue in the East Village, near the Park & Market Trolley Station.

Mock Trial Team Intramural Competition Organizational Meeting and Sign Up

March 19

Location: Moot Court Room

6:30 p.m.

This is your opportunity to get all the info on becoming a Mock Trial Team Member. You will be able to sign up and get the paper work and information to compete for a spot on the team.

The actual try outs will be April 14 and 15. Become a courtroom advocate. Find out what it takes to become an active participant and travel to competitions.

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Professor Marjorie Cohn Lectures at Northern Iowa University Professor Marjorie Cohn was a special guest lecturer at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa on March 1.

Her lecture, “Torture and the Possibility of Communi-ty,” was part of a year-long series called "Reaching for

Higher Ground" sponsored by the Center for Multicultural Education at the UNI.

Other speakers who were there during Professor Cohn’s visit included noted historian Andrew Bacevich and Reza Aslan, an expert on the Middle East.

Professor Cohn reports that her presentation was very well-received by the students and others in the UNI community, who asked penetrating questions during the discussion following the talk.

Guantanamo Bay Presentation

Tuesday, March 20, 10 a.m.

Location: Moot Court Room

Nancy Hollander, Esq. will discuss the conditions in Guantanamo

Bay as well as the present situation of the detainees and the

restraints placed on the counsel who represent these men. Hollander

currently represents one of the Detainee.

Presented by Adjunct Professor Jane Siegel.

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Steven Berenson

Article: Steven K. Berenson, The Elkins Legislation: Will California Change Family Law Again? 15 CHAP. L. REV. 443 (2012).

Marjorie Cohn

Radio: Iran, Israel and the United States, Sounds of Dissent, WZBC, Boston, MA, March 3,

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Presentation: Torture and the Possibility of Community, Center for Multicultural Education, University

of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, March 1, 2012

Brenda Simon

Presentation: “Are Human Genes Patentable?”, 12th Annual Women and the Law Conference, Thomas

Jefferson School of Law, February 24, 2012

Presentation: Invited Commentator on Dan Burk's "Edifying Thoughts of a Patent Watcher”, Universi-

ty of San Diego Patent Law Conference, University of San Diego, January 21, 2012

TJSL Announces New Visiting Professor for Spring 2013 Semester Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Eric Mitnick has announced that Michael Hayes, Associate Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, will serve as a Visiting Professor at TJSL during the Spring 2013 semester.

Professor Hayes, an experienced Torts teacher, will be teaching two sections of Torts II in Spring 2013, taking over the sections from Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp who will be on sabbatical that semester.

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19 TJSL Wellness Week 19 - 23 6:30 p.m. Mock Trial Team Intramu-ral Competition Organizational meeting and Sign Up Moot Court Room

20 Guantanamo Bay

Presentation

10 a.m.

Location: Moot

Court Room

21 22 23 Admissions Admitted Students Day

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