Pr o f essionalism and Ethics Class Notes USCLAW - USC Gould … · 2009-09-01 · E-Mail:...

> In This Issue

What is Te r r o r i s m ?Pr o fessionalism and EthicsClass Notes

U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A

USCLAW

s u m m e r 2002THE LAW SCHOO L

> r o a d sl e s st r a v e l e d

USCLAWPublication Director Associate Dean Karen A. Lash

Editor Melinda Myers Va u g h n

A s s i s tant Editor Phat X. Chiem

Administrative Assistant Christi Va r g a s

Design & Creative Direction Warren Group, Los An g e l e s

Editorial Intern Elina Ag n o l i

USC Law is published in June, October and February by the

U SC Law School. For publication information or to submit

letters to the editor, contact Melinda M. Vaughn,

U SC Law School, Los Angeles, California 90 089 - 0 071.

E-Mail: magazine@l a w.usc.edu; fax: (213) 740 - 5 476.

©2002 The Law School, University of Southern California

C o m m e n c e m e n t2 0 0 2 Threatening rain clouds didn’t dampen spirits for the Class of 2002, the first class to graduate from the

USC Law School with a majority of women students (some of whom are pictured above). Third-year C l a s s

President Michael Gonzales asked his classmates to remember the day by honoring the value of diver-

s i t y throughout their careers. “Diversity in all its forms – ethnic, gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic

– must be respected and advanced,” he said. “As graduates of this law school, one of the most diverse

in the nation, it should be our self-imposed obligation to give voice to the cause of diversity throughout

our professional careers.” Judge R i chard A. Pa e z of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered

the commencement address. “C h o o s e a career you are p a s s i o n a t e a b o u t ,” he urged students. “If you

feel passionate about your work, you will be successful.”

USC Law School: w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u • Admissions: w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / s t u s e r v • Alumni Records: w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / a l u m n i

s u m m e r 2002> table of contents

2 dean’s message

3 b r i e f sUSC creates an LL.M. program; trading numbers forletter grades; 2002 Shattuck Awards; and more

22 faculty newsChallenging three-strikes law; footnotes

26 class notesReunion photo gallery; In Memoriam

34 first personBeth Whitsett ’78 on the view from Salt Lake City

48 closerMary Dudziak on the duty of the living

USCLAW

f e a t u r e s

d e p a r t m e n t s

6 her day in courtKara Oien ’03 takes on the 9th Circuit

24 a breath of fresh airR i chard Shaffran takes over CL E

27 alumni Pauline Herd ’29, Arthur Alarcón ’51, Yv o n n eBrathwaite Burke ’56, Dick Ziman ’67, Samuel Paz ’74, Lisa Kloppenberg ’87, Veronica Hahni ’94

p r o f i l e s

12 What is Te r r o r i s m ? Exploring the contradictions of terrorBy Melinda Myers Va u g h n

16 What Would Homer Do? Professionalism and ethics in legal ed and beyondBy Robert M. Sa l t z m a n

18 Roads Less Tr a v e l e d Successful careers outside the lawBy John G. “Tom” To m l i n s o n

As a first-year law student at USC, I once found myself sitting in my Contracts pro f e s s o r’soffice, asking about some portion of a lecture I had failed to comprehend. As we talked, myTo rts professor walked in and said to the Contracts pro f e s s o r, “So, what do you want to bewhen you grow up?” The response: “I don’t know. What do you want to be?” I found it funnybut mystifying that two tenured, brilliant and quite aged (about 35 years old!) men wouldbe talking this way. I was only 21, so I felt fully justified in being uncertain and nervous aboutwhat I was going to do. But shouldn’t they have it all figured out alre a d y ?

By the time I was 35 I understood what my professors we re talking about. At each stageof our lives, our tastes, opportunities and obligations change and re d i rect our paths. T h e s echanges produce life stories that are stimulating, rew a rding and often unpredictable. If we are pre p a red with a high-quality education and a strong network of friends and business associates, our chances of doing well and doing good are greatly increased, re g a rdless of the course our lives take.

This is where USC Law School comes in. USC gave us all a set of advantages that will tipthe odds in our favor for the rest of our lives. We still have to work hard and get some bre a k salong the way, but no matter how the breaks fall, our chances for success go up with a USC lawd e g ree on our side.

This issue of USC Law contains the stories of several graduates who did well and did good with their USC law degrees: Justice Richard Amerian ’62 and Crispus Wright ’38, whoserecent deaths we mourn (Page 46); Ro b e rt Pa c k a rd ’47, whose gifts in life and death are notedon Page 4; and several others featured in Dean Tom To m l i n s o n’s story about graduates who’ve left the law (Page 18). These graduates took ve ry different paths after graduation. Amerian sat on the California Su p reme Court; Wright ran a successful law firm,owned businesses and ran the Los Angeles Se n t i n e l; Pa c k a rd co-founded Kirtland and Pa c k a rd ,one of the world’s leading aviation law firms. All three we re not only extremely successful,but also incredibly generous in their relationship to USC. We’ve established scholarships in eachof their names and, with funding from the Pa c k a rd estate, have created two Ro b e rt C. Pa c k a rdTrustee Chairs in Law. As I hear more stories of the people who have made USC a part of theirjourneys, I am increasingly proud to be part of such an accomplished and surprising family.

Ma t t h ew L. Sp i t ze r, Dean and Carl M. Franklin Professor of Law

2 USCLAW s u m m e r 2002

Editor’s Note: We’re making some ch a n g e s

at USC Law . For more than a decade, the

magazine was published twice a year at 80

pages or more. Beginning with this issue, the

magazine will publish three times a year —

June, October and February — at 48 pages

e a ch. The increased frequency allows us to

bring you news of the Law School in a more

timely fashion. The magazine’s shorter format

won’t mean, however, that you’ll miss out on

any news. We’ll also be using the Law

S chool’s Web site to report news about the

Law School and its faculty, students and

graduates. Please visit the news pages online

at h t t p : / / l a w w e b . u s c . e d u / n e w s and drop

me a line at m a g a z i n e @ l a w. u s c . e d u to

let me know what you think about the “new”

USC Law.

— Melinda Va u g h n

dean’s message

I hope you enjoy this new, sleek version of the magazine. Please let me know what you think.

g o o dDoing well and doing

PHOTOGRA PH BY FELIPE DUP OU Y

3USCLAW s u m m e r 2002

A m e r i can legal documentation has become the sta n d a rd for international busi-

ness and legal transactions, but many lawyers around the world aren’t trained to

u n d e r s tand U.S. law. To help, USC Law School has established a new LL . M .

p rogram that will introduce foreign lawyers and students who hold foreign law

d e g rees to American law and the U.S. legal system and pre p a re them for lead-

ership positions in the global market.

“ The USC Law School is known for its world-class faculty, innovative re s e a rch

p rograms and rigorous academic tradition, and it has long been a leader in

A m e r i can legal educa t i o n ,” said Dean Matthew L. Spitzer. “Our LL.M. program will

extend that leadership around the globe.”

USC’s LL.M. program, slated to begin this fall, is accepting students fro m

t h roughout the world. Initial recruiting efforts focused on Pacific Rim countries,

taking advantage of USC’s strong ties to Asia and the growing interd e p e n d e n c e

of Pacific Rim economies. Spitzer traveled to Asia last fall to discuss the pro g r a m

with re p re s e n tatives of top law firms and legal educators. “Our meetings

confirmed that there is an intense demand for LL.M. programs in these countries,

particularly in China, Japan and Ko re a ,” Spitzer said. “I think we’ll be able to

welcome some of the best and brightest students from Asia to USC’s pro g r a m .”

The full-time, two-semester program will be highly selective, enrolling 10 - 1 2

students in its inaugural year. To earn the degree, students must be in re s i d e n c e

at USC during both semesters and must successfully complete 21 units of

c redit. Students will be re q u i red to take two foundational courses, Intro d u c t i o n

to the U.S. Legal System and Legal Research; remaining credit re q u i rements will

be satisfied by courses and seminars offered through the Law School’s juris

doctorate program.

The program is managed by Deborah Call, executive director of international

p rograms and center accounts, and Spencer Kimura, associate executive

d i rector of the LL.M. program. The faculty director is Edwin Smith, Leon Benwell

P rofessor of Law and International Relations at USC.

The Law School is trading in its 65 - 90 grading system for the

good old ABCs. Beginning with 2001-02 first-year students, the

s chool is phasing in a grading system to convert its numerica l

system to a letter and number scale. The change was adopted by

faculty in response to sustained concerns expressed by students

that potential employers didn’t understand the numerical grades.

The old system awarded numerical grades from 65 to 90, with

90 as the top score. Now students will be graded on a more tradi-

tional scale with grades ranging from ‘A’ to ‘F’ and keyed to

c o r responding number grades on a modified four-point scale. Fo r

i n s tance, the new system’s top grade is a 4.4, or an A+. The first-

year mean grade is a 3.2, or a B.

The university registrar re q u i res students who began their first

year on the numerical system to continue to be graded on the 65 -

90 scale and continue reporting grades on the old numerica l

system. Alumni must also continue reporting grades on the 65 - 90

s cale. For informational purposes, though, the registrar offers this

formula for calculating old grades on the new scale: Subtract 46

f rom your numerical grade and divide the remainder by 10. Find

the result (and your corresponding letter grade) below:

The Law School has developed a new Web site for Law School news, events and faculty activities, as well as a site for this magazine. To keep up to dateon Law School new s , see h t t p : / / l a w w e b . u s c . e d u / n e w s.This issue of USC Law magazine, along with arc h i ve dissues and additional information relating to USC Lawa rticles, can be found at h t t p : / / l a w w e b . u s c . e d u / l a w m a g.While yo u’re browsing, check out the Law Schoolalumni pages, which include a link to the unive r s i t y’salumni dire c t o ry, an online giving page and informationon reunions. See w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / a l u m n i.

bri e f sIt’s all o n l i n e

LL.M. program will train foreign lawyers

B a ck t o A BC s

The 2001 Bar Admission Ceremony brought 2001 grads — and many camera-toting parents— b a ck to campus to celebrate their formal entrance into the legal profession. John Segal’ 87, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and Dickran Tevrizian Jr. ’65, a U.S. DistrictCourt judge, were on hand to admit students to the State Bar of California and the federal courts.

4.1-4.4 A+ 3.8-4.0 A 3 . 5 - 3 . 7 A -3 . 3 - 3 . 4 B + 3 . 0 - 3 . 2 B 2 . 7 - 2 . 9 B -2 . 5 - 2 . 6 C + 2 . 4 C2 . 0 - 2 . 3 D 1.9 F


In death, as in life, Robert C. Packa rd ’47 was

e x t r a o rdinarily kind to his alma mater. With an

$8.9 million bequest to the Law School dire c t i n g

$6 million to establish two trustee chairs in law

and nearly $3 million for a law sch o l a r s h i p

endowment, Packa rd capped a relationship with

USC marked by the same generosity that distin-

guished his life.

An attorney whose success motivated him to

give back, Packa rd had already done his part for

USC. He helped fund the Robert C. Packa rd

P rofessorship in Law in 1989, a position now

held by Scott Bice, and provided significa n t

support for Law School scholarships. In 1995, he

e s tablished the Robert C. Packa rd Pre s i d e n t ’ s

C h a i r, held by USC President Steven B. Sample.

With his bequest to USC, which included

another $1 million for endowments in golf and

baseball, Packa rd’s total giving to the university

is nearly $16.5 million. Approximately $12.5

million of that has been directed to the Law

S chool, making Packa rd the largest single donor

in the school’s history.

A 1941 graduate of USC’s accounting

p rogram, Packa rd worked during World War II as

a commerical tuna fisherman — an occupation

deemed crucial to the American war effort —b e f o re returning to USC for a law degree. He

b e came a renowned trial attorney specializing in

airline defense and spent most of his 50 - y e a r

ca reer with the law firm of Kirtland & Packa rd. He

died in January 2001 .

“He had a good experience at the Law

S ch o o l ,” said Carl Franklin, professor emeritus at

the Law School and a close friend of Packa rd ’ s .

“He realized that his legal education here was

what enabled him to accumulate his wealth, and

he wanted to give back .”

Six Law School classrooms are now equipped with enough technology to hold a re a l l yg reat party — or a really stimulating class session. Rooms 1, 3, 7, 101, 103 and 130 —the school’s largest classrooms — now boast ceiling-mounted projectors, instru c t o r s’ PCs,VCRs, DVD players, CD and cassette players, wireless microphone and mouse capabilities,t r a n s p a rency projectors and touch-panel controls. A seminar room will be added to thelist this summer. This “instructional technology,” funded by the George A.V. Du n n i n gFoundation and James H. Ackerman ’48, enables professors to incorporate a range of multi-media presentations into their classroom discussions — bringing the world to studentsand the 21st century to the Law School.

bri e f s

U S C ’s Public In t e rest Law Foundation awarded a re c o rd 26 summer grants this year to lawstudents who had committed to working at legal aid organizations throughout So u t h e r nCalifornia. And, thanks to the extraord i n a ry generosity of Au d rey Irmas, PILF was able to awardtwo Sydney and Au d rey Irmas Fe l l owships as well. The yearlong fellowships we re awarded totwo graduating students (pictured at left): Nausheen Hassan will work at the CaliforniaWo m e n’s Law Center and Connie Huang will work at Public Counsel.

PI L F ’s Outstanding Graduate Aw a rd went to Ve ronica Hahni ’94 (see story Page 41) for herw o rk at AIDS Se rvice Center/HIV & AIDS Legal Se rvices Alliance (HALSA). T h eOutstanding Student Aw a rd went to Pablo Palomino ’02, who has been committed to a rangeof public interest efforts. He also re c e i ved a Shattuck Aw a rd (see story Page 10).

Los Angeles County Bar Association President Roland Coleman re c o g n i zed students whodedicated more than 30 hours to public interest work. “We, as a profession, to generate thep u b l i c’s trust, need to do these pro bono programs,” he told students. “If we don’t give back,then all of the horror stories about lawyers will come true. People like you put a lie to thoses t o r i e s . ”

PILF also named six recipients of the Sidley Austin Brown & Wood summer fellow s h i p s .David Booher ’04 will work at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center; Chi Huynh ’03 will workat the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles; Tiffany Mitchell ’04 and Omar Zambrano ’03 willwork at the Law School’s Immigration Clinic; and Amanda Airo ’04 and Jocelyn Riedl ’04 will work at the Law School’s Family Violence Clinic.

Pa ckard gift is a last and lasting kindness

P IL F distributes a record number o f g r a n t s

D i d you k n o w ?

Nausheen Hassan and Connie Huang

?


Two newly established funds honor prominent American-Armenian graduates of the Law Sch o o l ,

s t rengthening a connection between USC and the Armenian community that began nearly 10 0

years ago when the school enrolled its first Armenian immigrant student.

A $250,000 gift from the Lincy Foundation has established the Dickran Tevrizian Fund, seed

money for the Dickran Tevrizian Trustee Chair in Law at USC, and more than $200,000 in gifts

have created the Justice Rich a rd Amerian Memorial Scholarship Fu n d .

The Lincy Foundation was established by MGM mogul Kirk Kirkorian to support business

enterprise and infrastructure development in the Eastern European country of Armenia. Wi t h

its gift to USC Law School, the foundation broadens its philanthropic mission to honor a pro m i-

nent voice in the Los Angeles Armenian community. Tevrizian, a 1965 USC law grad, is a U.S.

District Court judge in the Central District of California who has been widely honored for his judi-

cial work and involvement in public service. The fund will provide student scholarships until it

re a ches $3 million, when it will be converted into a trustee’s chair in Tevrizian’s name.

The Amerian fund continues to draw gifts honoring the 1962 graduate, who passed away last

November (see obituary on Page 46). A $100,000 gift from the George Ignatius Fo u n d a t i o n

helped establish the fund. Amerian was a member of the bo a rd of directors of the foundation,

w h i ch was created by the late Armenian activist George Ignatius to promote Armenian culture ,

e d u cation and religion. Michael Amerian ’99 will fill his father’s seat on the bo a rd.

Ignatius Foundation bo a rd members Walter Karabian ’63 and George Phillips (father of Gary

Phillips ’85 and George Phillips ’91) said the gift is intended to memorialize their close friend and

assist future Armenian students at USC Law School. “We knew each other well,” Karabian said of

Amerian. “His father and mother and my mother came from the city of Dickranagert, in Tu r k i s h -

occupied Armenia. When I came from Fresno to USC, my mother said to look up Rich a rd Amerian.

His mother told him the same thing. We met in 1956 and became friends for life.”

Th roughout his life, Amerian was active in the Armenian community, serving as a delegate

and chairman of the Assembly of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He was

founder and president of the Armenian Professional Society.

The first Rich a rd Amerian scholarship will be awarded this fall.

C h a i r, s cholarship funds honor Armenian grads

bri e f s

Auction action The 2002 Public Interest LawFoundation auction raised a record $53,000 for theorganization’s summer grant program. ProfessorCharlie Whitebread (above, with Professor Susa nE s t r i ch) and his neon “Tiger tux” helped raise a roaramong live-auction bidders, who competed for itemss u ch as the ever-popular cruise on Professor ScottBice’s boat and a trip to the “Rocky Horror PictureShow” with Professor David Cruz.

Dean Matthew Spitzer, left, worked closely with George Phillips (center) and Walter Karabian ’63to establish the Justice Richard Amerian Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Lawyering must not be just about

billable hours. It must be about

giving back to society. You cannot

think only of what you must do. Yo u

have to imagine what you can do.”

— Rocky Delgadillo,

Los Angeles City Attorney,

speaking on campus

to USC students last fall

“

For many lawyers, the opportunity to argueb e f o re a federal circuit court is a rare honor,surpassed only by an opportunity to appearb e f o re the U.S. Su p reme Court. For a lawstudent, a 9th Circuit appearance is practicallyu n h e a rd of; for a law student with just one full year of legal training behind her, the o p p o rtunity is, well, incre d i b l e .

Kara Oien was aware of the rarity of hersituation when she stood before a thre e - j u d g epanel of the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Ap p e a l sin December to argue on behalf of a client ofthe Post-Conviction Justice Project (PCJP).Waiting in the court room, she met the pro s-ecuting attorney. “I guess he knew who I wasbecause I was the only person under 40 in theroom,” she says with a wry smile. “He said if Iwon he’d have to re t i re because he couldn’tlose to a second-year law student.”

A handful of PCJP students have arguedbefore the 9th Circuit in the clinic’s 20-yearh i s t o ry. For Oien, the opportunity was exc i t i n g— and intimidating. “It was my first time eve rappearing before a court,” says Oien, who trav-eled to Seattle with Professor Mike Bre n n a n ,a PCJP supervising attorney, to argue the case.“I was really nervo u s . ”

PCJP had worked with Oi e n’s client, Ma rkPi rtle, for several years. Oien took over hiscase in May of 2001, when she joined PCJP asa summer superv i s o r. Pi rt l e’s circ u m s t a n c e swe re unique: He had been arrested in 1991for drunken driving while en route fro m

California to Idaho to deliver a car to a gro u pof men who we re supposed to have purc h a s e dchemicals necessary for producing metham-phetamine. Police later searched Pi rt l e’s carand found a gun in the glove compart m e n t .They also learned that he had intended tomeet with men who had been arrested the dayb e f o re by underc over narcotics agents.

Pi rtle was convicted of conspiring tom a n u f a c t u re drugs and sentenced to 15-and-a-half years in prison. In addition, under afederal firearms law, Pi rtle was sentenced to another five years in prison for “using or carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime.”

Howe ve r, when Pi rtle was sentenced, thefederal courts had not defined the terms “u s e”and “c a r ry” as they related to the firearm law.Subsequent Su p reme Court cases narrowe dthe terms: “Using a fire a r m” meant activee m p l oyment of the weapon, such as bran-dishing the gun, and “c a r rying a fire a r m”could be applied to people who have a fire a r min a vehicle during a narcotics transaction —but only if the weapon was carried in re l a t i o nto the narcotics offense.

Under these standards, PCJP believe dPi rt l e’s firearm conviction was invalid becausethe gun was never actively employed, and, atthe time of his arrest, he wasn’t part i c i p a t i n gin a narcotics transaction. In fact, Oien notes,Pi rtle couldn’t have participated because hisco-conspirators had been arrested the day

b e f o re. Oien also argued that the firearm laws h o u l d n’t apply because it did not envisioncases in which a large distance, in terms ofboth time and place, separated a defendantand the related drug transaction.

Ul t i m a t e l y, howe ve r, the 9th Circ u i td i s a g reed, determining that Pi rt l e’s fire a r mdid facilitate “or had the potential to facilitate”the drug crime because the gun may haveemboldened him. The decision was unpub-lished, meaning the ruling cannot be used asa precedent in other cases. Po s t - C o n v i c t i o nwill not appeal.

Although PCJP was disappointed in thedecision — Brennan thought the court’sanalysis failed to address the unique charac-teristics of Pi rt l e’s case — Oien says theexperience was well worth the effort. Sh ecame to USC Law School with a desire tow o rk in the juvenile legal system, and heri n vo l vement with PCJP confirmed heri n t e rest in defense work and ability to handlecases at the appellate level. And this summer,s h e’ll have a chance to test her skills at the triall e vel, thanks to a summer job with the federalpublic defender’s office in Los Angeles.


p r ofi l e

h e rday i n c o urt

A Post-Conviction student a r g u e s before the 9th Circuit

“I believe everyone has rights,”Oien says. “A lot of people t h a tdeserve great representation c a n ’ tafford it. Th e r e need to be a lot ofg r e a t public d e f e n d e r s out there.”



A new fellowship program will match top

incoming students to top firms and companies

a round the country, providing students with

unique summer work and businesses with an

early chance to see tomorrow’s leaders in action.

The Summer Fellows Program, created by

Dean Matthew L. Spitzer, engages law firms,

n o n p rofits and businesses as partners in

p roviding summer positions for the Law Sch o o l ’ s

brightest incoming students. Summer Fe l l o w s

will be selected during the admissions pro c e s s

based on the strength of their applica t i o n s .

During the summer after their first year, fellows

will spend seven weeks working at a partner law

firm and the remainder of the summer at a

partner business or nonprofit. In some ca s e s ,

fellows will be able to finish their summer work

at a client company of the law firm where they

s tarted their fellowship — giving the student a

chance to see a project from both ends and the

companies the benefit of continuity in the work.

The program is extending the Law Sch o o l ’ s

re a ch into the entertainment industry; so far,

partners include Disney, Warner Bros., Cre a t i v e

Artists Associates, William Morris Agency, Arista

R e c o rds, ABC/To u chtone Television, Albritton

C o m m u n i cations, Univision and Universal. Other

partners include Nike and Amgen, as well as the

law firms of Gibson, Dunn and Crutch e r,

O’Melveny and Myers, Sidley, Austin, Brown and

Wood, and Paul Hastings. “It’s a win-win pro p o-

s i t i o n ,” says Spitzer. “Our students get to work

with some of the best firms and companies in

town, and our partners get to benefit from the

brains and talents of some of the country’s

brightest law students.”

T h ree USC law graduates we re appointed to the USC Law School board of councilors by USC President St e ven B. Sample. The board advises Dean Ma t t h ew L.Sp i t zer and other Law School administrators on issues that affect the school.

Deborah L. Babb ’94 is an associate at Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Ma l l o ry, whereshe specializes in real estate transactions. She serves as vice chair of the commerc i a lleasing subsection of the California State Ba r’s real estate section. An active supporter ofUSC, she is a member of the exe c u t i ve board of the Law School’s Legion Lex AnnualFund and of USC’s Junior Associates Committee.

Susan L. Harris ’81 brings a wealth of knowledge to the board after a successful care e rin corporate law. She re t i red in 2000 after 15 years at SunAmerica Inc., where she serve das senior vice president, general counsel and secre t a ry. She serves on the boards of dire c-tors of Mobile Storage Group Inc. and a number of nonprofit entities and also has beeni n vo l ved with the Law School through Legion Lex Annual Fu n d .

Alan J. Levine ’71 has practiced law for more than 30 years, during which he serve das president and chief operating officer of Sony Pi c t u res En t e rtainment. He is curre n t l ycounsel to Zi f f ren, Brittenham, Branca & Fischer — a leading transactional enter-tainment law firm. Levine sits on the board of councilors of the USC School ofC i n e m a - Television and the USC Associates board of directors, and he has lectured atthe Law School’s En t e rtainment Law Institute. He re c e i ved the USC Alumni Me r i tAw a rd in 1994.

bri e f s

Th r e e g r a d s j o i n board of c o u n c i l o r s

Fellowship program a win-win p r o p o s i t i o n

K i cking off the year Students and faculty loosened up last fall at the annual First-Ye a r

P a r t y, hosted by Dean Matthew L. Spitzer to give entering students a chance to meet faculty

outside the formality of the classroom. Spitzer’s parties are quickly becoming legendary; held

at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the event includes drinks, food and, appare n t l y, performances by

the dean himself (pictured, in fedora, at right with a brave group of first-years).

C l o ckwise from left: Alan Levine ’71, Deborah Babb ’94 andS u san Harris ’81

2 1Save the date The USC Law School 2002 Institute on En t e rtainment and Business Law will be held Sa t u rd a y,Sept. 21, at the Bing Theater and the Law School on USC’s campus. For details, contact the Office of Continuing Legal Ed u c a t i o nat (213) 740-2582 or [email protected].

D i d you k n o w ?The S o u t h e rn Ca l i f o rnia LawRe v i e w turns 75 this ye a r. In its

first volume, published during the 1927-28school year and available for a $3 annualsubscription, the editorial board of faculty andstudents said the journal would emphasizematters of interest to the California bar andfacilitate discussion of the law and pro p o s e dreforms. The journal was part of the LawS c h o o l’s “academic refining,” says AssociateDean Tom Tomlinson. “Under then-De a nJustin Mi l l e r, USC gained Coif status, gainednational attention for its legal clinic, andestablished a law re v i ew — three marks of thes c h o o l’s burgeoning intellectual rigor. ”


Second-year student Denise Culver took top honors at the annual Hale Moot Court Honors

Competition this spring, beating out a tough field of competitors who won the praise of the

panel of three judges who decided the competition.

“I was at Yale two months ago,” said Judge Marsha L. Berzon of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of

Appeals, “and I think all of you, as a matter of oral advoca c y, were more thoughtful in your

responses. I commend all of you.”

Four finalists in the year-long competition debated two issues in a hypothetical case: whether

the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is violated by finding a third party, who did not partic-

ipate in illegal violent activity, liable for threatening speech, and whether a state’s failure to pro t e c t

individuals from a sta t e - c reated danger violates the 14th Amendment.

Nina Montoya, also a second-year student, was named runner-up.

Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Ming W. Chin

of the California Supreme Court joined Berzon in hearing the finalists’ oral arguments and

selecting the winner.

“ The level of preparation here today was bre a t h ta k i n g ,” Daughtrey told students at the end

of the competition. “A hallmark of today’s arguments was the ability, indeed agility, you all have

to answer questions. It is that give-and-take during oral argument that judges value most. Pe o p l e

always ask me whether oral argument changes anything. The answer for me is emphatically ‘yes.’

It is extremely importa n t .”

R u l i n g by generation During his 15 years covering the U.S. Supreme Court,David Savage, legal correspondent for the Los Angeles Ti m e s, has developed a theory:S u p reme Court decisions are guided less by politics than by the experiences of the gener-ation that dominates the court.

During a lecture sponsored by the Center for Communications Law and Po l i c y, Savagepostulated that because the court today is composed of people who came of age during the’ 50s — a peaceful, pro s p e rous time when people believed if you worked hard enough, you’dsucceed — its decisions often reflect little sensitivity for the underprivileged.

In contrast, when justices Harry J. Blackman and William J. Brennan sat on the court,they were among people who grew up during the Depression. “The most important eventin their lives was the stock market crash,” Savage said. “Th e re was suspicion that people hadmanipulated the market, a sense that the country had gone wro n g .” That experience, Savagesaid, fueled a “sympathy for the underdog” that guided many of the court’s decisions.

So what’s next? Savage thinks the court’s demeanor will shift again when the babyboomer generation moves in and brings new concern for ’60s-era issues such as the e n v i ronment, race and gender equality.

bri e f s

Annual Dinner ’02 Known to students as “prom,”Annual Dinner was again a classy success. The eventwas chaired by Sorrell Trope ’49, held at the LosAngeles Millennium Biltmore Hotel, and attended bysome 500 students, faculty, alumni and friends. To p :Dean Matthew Spitzer (center) and his wife, Jean (farright), chat with former dean Scott Bice and his wife,Barbara. Below: Judge Marsha Berzon of the 9th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals gets a hand for her partici-pation in Moot Court, and students enjoy the party.

Moot court finalists wow judges

?

Top row: Justice Ming Chin, Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey and Judge Marsha Berzon. Bottom: Finalists Hailey Hibler,Jean Carn, Nina Montoya and Denise Culver.


N e w faces in library, external relations Jessica Wimer has joined the Law School libraryas a research librarian. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art and humanities, a J.D., and a master’s degree inlibrary science, all from Indiana University. She has worked as a reference intern, circulation assistant and legalr e s e a r ch e r. At USC, she’ll provide research and reference services to law students, faculty, staff and the public.

Phat X. Chiem joins the Law School’s external relations staff from the Chicago Tr i b u n e, where he was astaff writer covering Internet technology and the advertising industry. He also has reported for The Fresno Be e,The Seattle Ti m e s and the San Francisco Chronicle. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English literaturefrom University of California, Irvine, where he edited the student newspaper. At the Law School, his respon-sibilities include media relations and writing for USC Law m a g a z i n e .

The 2000 election was Al Go re’s to lose, and his decisions throughout the campaign and elec-tion process probably cost him the pre s i d e n c y, said author and legal analyst Je f f rey Toobin.

Toobin, who cove red the election for ABC News and The New Yo rk e r, presented the 2001Justice Lester W. Roth Lecture at USC Law School in Nove m b e r. A 1986 graduate of Ha rva rdLaw School, Toobin has written numerous books on the biggest legal stories of the past decade,including the trials of O.J. Simpson and President Clinton’s impeachment. His Nove m b e rl e c t u re at USC was based on his most recent book, Too Close to Call: The 36-Day Battle to De c i d ethe 2000 El e c t i o n.

Go re’s mistakes we re numerous, Toobin said. While Republicans staged relentless pro t e s t son the streets, Go re focused on winning support from editorial writers and asked Jesse Ja c k s o nto stop pro - Go re protests. While Republicans discredited the recounting process — whichToobin personally observed and called “ve ry honorable” — Go re stayed silent. When theSu p reme Court stopped the statewide recount, Go re sent a message to his spokesman: “Pl e a s emake sure that no one trashes the Su p reme Court.” At the same moment, then-President Bi l lClinton said to his chief of staff: “Go re ought to attack those bastards.” Had Go re accepted thes u p p o rt of the president during the campaign, Toobin said, he might have won Arkansas anda voided the whole mess.

“The Democrats didn’t want to play hard ball,” Toobin said.But when the case found its way to the Su p reme Court, Go re’s team “had no shot. T h e

bigger the case, the less lawyers matter.” Toobin noted a “w o n d e rful symmetry” in the court s’i n vo l vement: “T h e re we re two Florida Su p reme Court decisions, two U.S. Su p reme Court deci-sions. The first opinions (from each court) we re unanimous; the second split, 4-3 and 5-4. Itjust got deeply partisan — on both sides.”

The John M. Olin Foundation awarded a $234 , 2 44 grant to the Center in Law, Economics and

O rganization (CLEO), an interdisciplinary re s e a rch center of USC’s economics department, the Law

S chool and the Marshall School of Business, to support CLEO’s re s e a rch, fellowships and sch o l a r s h i p s .

A longtime supporter of the Law School and its law and economics initiatives, the Olin Fo u n d a t i o n

p rovided funding several years ago to launch an innovative workshop series at the Law School, which

continues to bring scholars from around the country to USC to discuss papers in pro g ress.

Olin’s endorsement has helped CLEO move to the fore f ront of the law and economics movement.

The center has sponsored a number of national conferences and symposia, including a Fe b r u a r y

c o n f e rence on “Mechanism Design and the Law.” The conference assembled leading economists and

legal scholars to explore ways to use economic theories of institution design to improve legal rules

governing attorney fees, damage awards and bre a ch of contract determination.

C LEO did receive some bad news with notification of its recent grant: After current funds are

released, the Olin Foundation will discontinue its grant program, leaving CLEO and similar pro g r a m s

a round the country in need of new support for re s e a rch in the growing field of law and economics.

bri e f s

No hard ball, no presidency

Another Olin endorsement for C L EO

Writer Jeffrey Toobin presented the 2001 Roth Lecture.

Left to right: Eric Maskin, of the Institute for AdvancedStudy; Jean-Jacques Laffont, of USC’s economicsdepartment; and Antoine Faure-Grimaud, of theLondon School of Economics, at CL EO’s “Mech a n i s mDesign and the Law” conference.

1 0 USCLAW s u m m e r 2002

Among other activities, Jennifer Staack (not pictured) worked tirelessly in the Immigration Clinic and the

Post-Conviction Justice Project. Her dedication was obvious, said a nominator. “She once told me that she

felt like she was obligated to work as hard as she possibly could for her Post-Conviction clients because

their lives and liberty were at sta k e .”

As a Post-Conviction summer intern and supervisor, Casey Johnson was beloved by clients and staff alike

at the California Institution for Women. He has the “ability to find something wonderful in everyone and to

convey that feeling to those with whom he comes in conta c t ,” said a professor. Johnson also served as co-

chair of the Gay and Lesbian Law Union.

Fernando Gaytan dedicated himself to the immigrant community his parents joined some 30 years ago.

He volunteered at the Immigration Clinic and the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, where he’ll continue

to work after graduation thanks to a Skadden Fellowship. “He is a man,” said a nominator, “who clearly has

a great commitment to right the wrongs in the world.”

M i ke Gonzales served his fellow students as class president during his second and third years. He also was

i n s t r u m e n tal in reviving Street Law, which brings teens from area high schools to the Law School to meet

law students and professors and learn about college life and the study of law. Said a nominator: “He really

gives back to USC .”

Pablo Pa l o m i n o also found time to help establish Street Law when he wasn’t working in the Immigration

Clinic, interning at the National Labor Relations Board, or working with La Raza. His dedication to the sch o o l

won broad praise. Said a nominator: “He has demonstrated qualities that will enhance the reputation of the

legal profession.”

M a r y Beth Lipp kept her finger on the academic pulse of the Law School — Southern California Law Review,

the Black Law Students Association and PILF were among her activities — and she helped heal the sch o o l ’ s

heart by coordinating a memorial honoring victims of Sept. 11. “People were really searching for some-

t h i n g ,” said a professor. “Without her, there wouldn’t have been an opportunity to come together to mourn.”

Continuing her lifelong commitment to the Latino community, Norma Garcia served as president of La Raza.

Under her leadership, the organization blossomed and transformed its Laywers and Judges Night into a

successful community event honoring legal icons. And she did it all with a smile. One nominator called her

“one of the most pleasant people at this sch o o l .”

s t u d e n t s

E a ch year, the Law Sch o o l greets spring with an awards picnic honoring graduating students and m e m b e r s of the Law School community who stando u t. The Edward S. and Eleanor J. Shattuck Awards honor dedication a n ds e r v i c e to the school and profession; the Miller-Johnson Equal Justice Pr i z e honors commitment to social justice; the Mason Brown Trial Ad v o c a c yAw a r d honors commitment to justice and trial advocacy skill; and the SBAOutstanding Faculty and Staff Aw a r d s honor service to students.

S h a t t u ckAw a r d s

Student, Staff and F a c u l t y Spring Aw a r d s

1 1USCLAW s u m m e r 2002

M i l l e r - J o h n s on Equal Justice Prize

Mason Brown Trial Advocacy Aw a r d

SBA O u t s tanding Staff Member Aw a r d

Pablo Pa l o m i n oCasey JohnsonFernando Gaytan

MaryBeth LippTom GriffithBeverly Moore

Matthew Fe r g u s o nNorma GarciaMike Gonzales

A passionate advocate for disa d v a n taged communities, Alisa Blair (not pictured) interned at the sta t e

and federal public defender’s office and worked in the Post-Conviction Justice Project. Her commitment

to public interest law is unwavering, said nominators: “Her care and concern for clients is admirable and,

no doubt, part of the reason her rapport with clients is of a level rarely seen in law students.”

Matthew Fe r g u s o n ’ s tireless dedication to the profession and the community was unparalleled. He worked

in the Post-Conviction Justice Project, interned with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, and

served as managing editor of the Southern California Law Review, president of PILF and president and

founder of the American Constitution/Equal Justice Society. “He will be an outstanding lawyer and a credit

to USC in whatever career path he ch o o s e s ,” said one nominator.

As an assistant in the student services office, Beverly Moore is the first point of contact for many incoming

students. It’s not always an easy job. “She’s calm, kind and knowledgeable,” said Student Bar Association

president Bob Bruce. “Whenever I’m not sure about anything at the Law School, Beverly seems to know.”

A well-known lover of movies and music, Professor Thomas Griffith connects with students. Indeed,

nominators agreed he is one of the most popular teachers at the Law School — even among students who

haven’t taken his courses. Said the SBA president: “Everyone seems to believe this professor goes above

and beyond” the call of duty.

SBA O u t s tanding Faculty Member Aw a r d

PHOTOGRA PHY BY TON YA MCCA HON


Two professors explore the ch a r a c t e r i s t i c s,c a u s e s and c o n t r a d i c t i o n s of terrorism

What is

f e a t u r e

t e r ro ri s m ?

1 3USCLAW s u m m e r 2002 1 3

The professor’s question silenced thec rowded seminar ro o m :

Niels Fre n zen, a clinical law professor ande x p e rt in immigration law, focused his atten-tion on a student sitting near him. Her eye swidened. She opened her mouth, hesitated,laughed nervously and, finally, said, “I don’tk n ow. I guess I feel like I don’t know enoughto re s p o n d . ”

Fre n zen smiled. “I think that’s exactlyw h a t’s going on in the White House and theState De p a rtment,” he said. “Nobody re a l l yk n ows what we should be doing.”

Eve ryone is a little less sure of the worldsince the harrowing events of Sept. 11b rought terrorism to American soil.Government officials rely on the familiarterminology of warf a re and criminal justice toframe this new threat, but it doesn’t seem to fitinto either package. The “war on terro r i s m”has few characteristics of past wars — noidentifiable enemy, no state with which tonegotiate, no clear and foreseeable end. Andsome of the efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice are operating outside the courtsystem charged with upholding justice in this country.

Un c e rtainties abound — and that’sp recisely why USC law professors arec o n f ronting the issues head-on in the class-room. Professors Edwin “Rip” Smith andFre n zen are teaching two new seminars —Sm i t h’s focusing on the events of Sept. 11f rom an international law perspective andFre n ze n’s focusing on the definition andh i s t o ry of terrorism — to explore the charac-teristics and causes of terrorism, and theimplications of efforts to eradicate it. Bothp rofessors are using class discussions to chal-

lenge pre c o n c e i ved notions of terro r i s m .“We’re in an arena now where what we knowd o e s n’t apply anymore,” says Smith, “and wes h o u l d n’t be limited by the ways we’ve tradi-tionally thought about things.”

Defining terro r i s m

Consensus is fairly easy on these points: T h eattacks on the World Trade Center and thePentagon we re the most horrendous acts oft e r rorism on U.S. soil in modern history, andthose responsible must be punished andp re vented from perpetrating or encouragingf u rther horrors. But how do we separate thee vents of Sept. 11 from acts of war? Is itpossible to define terrorism? Should terro r i s mand terrorists be distinguished, both forpurposes of response and pre vention, fro mw a rf a re and combatants?

American law has no shortage of defini-tions for terrorism, says Fre n zen. De f i n i t i o n scan be found in laws governing commerc eand immigration, and many states have codi-fied their own definitions of terrorism. Fe d e r a lcriminal code (18 USCS § 2331) definesinternational terrorism as activities invo l v i n gviolent criminal acts that intend to “intimi-date or coerce a civilian population; toinfluence the policy of a government byintimidation or coercion; or to affect theconduct of government by mass destru c t i o n ,assassination or kidnapping.” In t e r n a t i o n a llaw doesn’t offer a singular definition either,although conventions that prohibit hijackingof planes or ships, attacking diplomats and taking hostages outline characteristics of terrorism.

These definitions share common tenets:Te r rorism is a violent act that targets civiliansand is meant to incite terror and influence a gove r n m e n t’s policies or activities.St r a i g h t f o rw a rd as they seem, howe ve r, theseideas are open to broad interpretation. Are n’tall acts of violence meant to intimidate peoplein some way? Acts of warf a re almost alwaysendanger civilians, and in many casest h roughout history, civilians have beentargeted by what have been considered actsof war — consider Nagasaki and Hi ro s h i m aor air campaigns over Eu rope during World War II.

And what if the perpetrator is a pro p o n e n tof democracy? When indigenous people in Mexico — Zapatistas — took control of the Chiapas region, a number of civilianswe re killed. But the Zapatistas claimed to be rebelling against Mexican gove r n m e n to p p ression. Under the United Na t i o n sC h a rt e r, people have the right, in cert a i nc i rcumstances, to rebel against oppre s s i veg overnments. If pro-democracy forces in Ir a nwe re to attack the oppre s s i ve regime thatPresident Bush included in his “axis of evil,”would we label those forces terrorist?

“I think people have a right to rise up andseek to change their government underc e rtain circumstances,” Fre n zen says. “Un d e rinternational law, people have the right torepel invaders or occupiers. Having said that,I don’t think a Palestinian organization has theright to blow up a pizza parlor or re l i g i o u sc e re m o n y. T h a t’s terrorism. But is there adistinction to be made between military andcivilian targets?”

W h a t should the United States be doingto r e s p o n d to the terrorist a t t a ck s ?“ ”

by Melinda Myers Va u g h n


Some fear that terrorism is a new reality ofmodern warf a re, wrought by an enormousimbalance of international power that leave si m p overished nations with few options forre d ressing grievances. Rightly or wrongly so,the rage against the machine of Western polit-ical, economic and cultural dominance is re a land widespread. Ex t remists may see terro r i s mas an opportunity to draw attention to pro b-lems the rest of the world seems to ignore.

Indeed, throughout history, terrorism hasp roven a successful tool in bringing somem a r g i n a l i zed groups to the table, says Fre n ze n .The Irish Republican Army brought its causeto the fore f ront of international politicst h rough terrorism; re p re s e n t a t i ves of the

Palestine Liberation Organization, seen bymany as a terrorist organization, now meetwith world leaders. Violent Zionist factionshelped drive the British from Palestine ands e c u re an independent Jewish state. “I thinkt e r rorism has been effective in someinstances,” says Fre n zen. “T h a t’s not a justi-fication. But some attacks are so big andspectacular that people’s attention is turned.”

In contrast to past terrorist acts, howe ve r,no group or individual has claimed re s p o n s i-bility for the Sept. 11 attacks or laid out cleardemands for change. Rather, the attacks seemto be the manifestation of anger and hatre dthat has festered among extremist organiza-tions for decades. “T h e re used to be acommon political motivation for terrorism —people we re trying to accomplish a politicalend,” Smith says. “T h a t’s slipping now.Te r rorist actions might be aimed tow a rd re t a l-iating for a perc e i ved wrong, or punishing

people they perc e i ve to be evil or apostate.Mo t i vations are more quasi-moral than whatwe once saw. ”

The tendency to frame such conflict inmoral terms worries Smith. Hi s t o r i c a l l y, ru l e sof warf a re we re based on the idea that nationswould use war to accomplish political ends.“ Be f o re this century, international law madeno moral judgments about war,” he says. “Itwas a tool to accomplish a political goal. AfterWorld War I and, mostly, World War II, theenemy came to be seen as evil. The Un i t e dNations Charter said no member could takea g g re s s i ve steps tow a rd another. Put in thatcontext, users of force became evil.

“The problem is that if you define the

other side as morally evil, you can justifyw h a t e ver you think is appropriate to stop thatevil,” Smith adds, noting that for Al Qa e d at e r rorists, the civilians who died on Sept. 11we re “e v i l” simply because they we reAmerican. “The sense of moral re s t r a i n t ,p ro p o rtionality and perspective slips away.The scariest thing I see in this is the lack ofp ro p o rt i o n a l i t y, both in the act of terro r i s m— and the effort to stop it. W h a t e ver we cando to assure there’s a sense of self-restraint inour response is critical.”

P revention a priority

And it is perhaps in response that terro r i s mdraws its greatest distinction from warf a re orcrime. A democracy deals with crime re a c-t i ve l y. Our society is not stru c t u red to pre ve n tcrime, but instead to punish offenders and, indoing so, deter others from committingcrimes. Modern acts of war are also re a c t i ve in

that, under the U.N. Chart e r, nations are onlya l l owed to act with military force in selfdefense. Any response to an act of aggre s s i o nwould also be considered self defense.

But with terrorism, it is not enough tosimply capture and punish perpetrators or toa n s wer an attack with military might. Ma n yb e l i e ve action to pre vent further acts of terro rmust be taken at any cost — even if gatheringevidence from alleged perpetrators violatesrights traditionally afforded to those accusedof crimes. This is one reason why the status ofdetainees held at Guantanamo Bay hasbecome such a critical issue. If detainees ared e c l a red prisoners of war in accordance withthe Ge n e va Conventions, the United St a t e s

limits its own ability to interrogate captives forinformation about other potential thre a t s .Federal protections afforded to suspectedcriminals might also impede the gove r n m e n t’sability to gather information.

“We have to get information to stopt e r rorism,” says Smith. “It is now imperativethat we get as much information as wepossibly can about additional terrorist plots.We should not be limited to asking for name,rank and serial number when dealing with AlQaeda captives. T h a t’s far from saying theyshould be given no protection whatsoeve r. I have n’t made up my own mind about howto strike a balance, but frankly I’m much morei n t e rested in stopping future plots thanwhether [the detainees] are afforded constitu-tional protections. You could argue for a ve rylong time about whether nonresident aliensheld outside of U.S. territory are entitled tothose pro t e c t i o n s . ”

Th e r e used to be a common political motivation for t e r r o r i s m — p e o p l ewere trying to accomplish a political end. That’s slipping now.“ ”

f e a t u r e


Fre n zen believes international law re q u i res theUnited States to either bring criminal chargesagainst the detainees or declare them prisonersof war. “International law doesn’t re c o g n i zeindefinite detention of people,” he says. “Itd o e s n’t re c o g n i ze a country’s ability to holdpeople without charge. T h e re is an expecta-tion of due process.” Fre n zen also sees a“legitimate distinction” between suspected AlQaeda operatives invo l ved in plotting terro r i s tactivities and Taliban fighters whose actionsagainst the U.S. in Afghanistan could bev i ewed as self defense against invading forc e s— actions protected by rules of war. W h e re a sAl Qaeda members should be tried for crim-inal acts, he says, “(Taliban fighters) pro b a b l yshould be treated as POWs, unless they didsomething that violated international laws ofw a r. Then they can be tried by the country

that took them prisoner for violating thosel a w s . ”

Smith and Fre n zen do agree on this: Asworld leaders continue to pursue a war ont e r rorism, they must act with an eye tow a rdthe future. Sept. 11 was not the first act oft e r rorism, nor is it likely to be the last. Anddecisions made now — how to definet e r rorism, how to respond to it, how to handleits perpetrators — could affect internationalrelations for decades to come.

As states around the country develop

legislation to provide new law enforc e-

ment tools for the war on terro r i s m ,

P rofessor Erwin Chemerinsky is sounding

a note of ca u t i o n .

“ Th roughout American history, serious

t h reats have been responded to with

m e a s u res that, in hindsight, sacrificed

i m p o r tant freedoms with little gain in

s e c u r i t y,” he said. “Care must be ta k e n

to ensure that history not repeat itself

in this way.”

In recent testimony before the California

Senate Select Committee on Te r ro r i s m

Policy and Legislation, Chemerinsky

a d v o cated a ca reful, systematic

a p p ro a ch for evaluating terro r i s m -

related legislation proposed in the wake

of Sept. 11. He urged lawmakers to

adopt a system to examine each

p roposal’s specific purpose and effec-

tiveness in addressing the issue, and to

determine whether existing laws, if better

e n f o rced, might resolve the pro b l e m.

“The tragedy of Sept. 11 requires that

government at all levels assess whether

law enforcement officials have suffi-

cient tools to deal with the threat of

t e r ro r i s m ,” he told the committee. “Th i s

p rovides the incentive to take some

long overdue steps to better confro n t

the risks of domestic and foreign terro r-

ists. On the other hand, there is the

danger that the rush to act could lead to

the adoption of proposals that infringe

basic rights while doing little to impro v e

our security.”

He warned against copying federal or

other states’ legislation, noting that

many laws have been passed

without ca reful analysis. “The federal

U.S.A. Patriot Act, for example, was

enacted without public hearings in any

C o n g ressional committee as to the

terms of the bill,” he said. “Much in the

recent legislation unquestionably is

desirable; some seems highly dubious.

But what is important now is that the

California legislature systematica l l y

evaluate every proposal and decide for

itself whether it would be desirable in

this sta t e .”

Chemerinsky’s expertise in constitu-

tional law, civil liberties and federal

government have been in high demand

since the war on terrorism began. He

was among a group of civil rights

activists who filed a habeas corpus

petition on behalf of detainees held in

G u a n tanamo Bay after U.S. milita r y

actions in Afghanistan, and he has

spoken to numerous government,

a cademic and legal organizations, as

well as media throughout the world,

a bout the legal ramifications of the

nation’s efforts to curb terrorist activity

in the United States and abroad. He

believes action is necessary to pre v e n t

the proliferation of terrorist org a n i z a-

tions, but he also has urged against

unnecessary incursions on the civil

liberties of Americans as well citizens of

other nations.

Systematic evaluation of new legislation

is one way to ensure those rights are n ’ t

sacrificed. A thoughtful and ca re f u l

consideration of proposals, he said,

will “increase the effectiveness of

legislation and minimize its adverse

impact in terms of constitutional rights

and civil liberties.”

For the full text of Chemerinsky’s re m a rk sto the Ca l i f o rnia Senate Select Committeeon Te r rorism Policy and Legislation, seeh t t p : / / l a w w e b . u s c . e d u / n e w s / re l e a s e s

/ ch e m e r i n s k y. h t m l .

Evaluating anti-terrorism laws: ‘Care must be ta k e n ’

*

One of the things we’re all trying to do here isthink outside the traditional box,” says Smith.“If we’re going to deal with this new threat,we’re going to have to ask larger questions —and seek larger answers.

“”


Imagine a first-year law student arriving oncampus on the first day of law school at USC.L e t’s call him Homer Simpson. Homer isanxious, of course, so he arrives early. As hegets out of his car and steps into the emptyp a rking lot, he notices a wallet on the pave-ment. He picks it up and finds a substantialamount of cash as well as the USC ID cardof the Law School dean of admissions, Bi l lHoye. What should Homer do?

If you know anything about Ho m e rSimpson, you know what he did next. Hepocketed the cash, tossed the wallet in thetrash, and said to himself, “Wow. This really ismy lucky day!”

Most of us would conclude that Ho m e rshould have returned the wallet to De a nHoye. But on what do we base that conclu-sion? Is it the law that tells us this? Is there, inthis jurisdiction, a specific law requiring a

person to turn over a found wallet to thepolice or the owner? If such a law doesn’t exist,is Homer under no obligation to turn in the wallet?

Many in the academy and in the pro f e s s i o nh a ve decried what appears to be an increase in unprofessionalism and unethical conductamong those who practice law. At USC Law School, we see an opportunity to fightthe tide of unprofessional behavior byinstilling in tomorrow’s lawyers a sense ofresponsibility to behave not only within the confines of the law, but also within theparameters of ethics and morality. We do thisnot only by teaching courses that addre s sthese issues — such as Legal Profession, are q u i red first-year course — but also byw o rking to create an atmosphere of pro f e s-sionalism in the day-to-day interactions ofstudents, faculty and staff.

f e a t u r e

Bringing p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m to legal education and beyond

W h a tw o u l dH o m e r

by Associate Dean Robert M. Saltzman

d o ?


During orientation last fall, I spoke tostudents about these issues and used theHomer Simpson hypothetical to help illustrate one paradox of a legal education.The paradox is this: While students generallyenter law school with a sense of ethics, theiri n c reasing understanding of the law can cloudtheir common sense and tempt them to uselegalistic arguments to justify behavior thatis unethical or inappropriate.

Much of what we teach in law school is theapplication of legal rules to close cases andambiguous situations. Students learn to makearguments that bend and stretch the interpre-tations of rules and laws and to makearguments that support a position or viewthat they may not personally find convincing.Law students practice arguing that cert a i nbehaviors –– although ostensibly illegal,w rong or inappropriate –– may actually be, insome specific context, defensible.

This tension between common sense andlegal training can be confusing for a lawye rin his or her eve ryday life. When we are facedwith a “close case” in our personal conduct,we might be tempted to think about the problem legalistically rather than in acommon-sense, ethical manner. Rather thanbehaving in a way we know is appropriate, wemight tell ourselves that if the rule isn’t clearabout the re q u i red behavior or whether itapplies to us, then we can behave in a way that we know is probably wrong and still get away with it.

We all know Homer should have re t u r n e dthe wallet to Dean Hoye. But since we do notk n ow the status of the law in this situation,it cannot be the law that tells us that Ho m e rshould have returned the wallet. So how dowe know ?

Most people do not rely on the law aloneto know how to behave. We would not find itp e r s u a s i ve if Homer explained his behavior bysaying that he did not know what to dobecause he had not yet studied criminal law.Instead, we know — and we expect Homer to

k n ow –– what to do based on common senseand basic ethics. Si m i l a r l y, when studentsenter law school, we ask them to use commonsense and to act in ways that they know to beright or appropriate. We askthem not to do what theythink they might be able toget away with if they makethe right legalistic argumentslater on.

It is a failing strategy in law school and inthe legal profession to behave dishonestly oru n e t h i c a l l y. Yet the lack of politeness andcivility among students and lawyers hasbecome an important issue on manycampuses and in the legal profession. T h i slack of civility can inhibit our ability top rovide students a top-quality education andto deliver top-quality legal services to ourclients. It also degrades the reputation of our profession.

It is important to impress upon studentsthe need to behave with the utmost pro f e s-sionalism when dealing with fellow students,f a c u l t y, staff and potential employers. Weexpect students to read notices that we send tothem, to ask questions when information isconfusing, and to comply with deadlines.Faculty expect students to attend class and tobe pre p a red to participate. We expect studentsto be scrupulously honest and polite. Ove r a l l ,we expect them to take responsibility for theirown actions.

I often get a laugh from students when Iwarn them to be careful before exc l a i m i n gl o u d l y, “What idiot wrote this rule?”, becausechances are good that I am “the idiot” whow rote that rule. This is not to say that ourrules are always right –– or that the ru l e scannot be improved. But the manner inwhich students approach such questions willaffect the outcome.

Handling problems in a pro f e s s i o n a lmanner is part of learning how to be an e f f e c t i ve advocate, both for oneself and forothers. Much of what lawyers do, day-in and

day-out, is to work to convince others to see a certain situation in a manner that isa d vantageous to the lawye r’s client. Learningh ow to use these advocacy skills effectively is a

fundamental part of a legal education. In lawschool, and beyond, a frontal assault on thedecision-maker tends not to bring about thed e s i red result.

Behaving professionally and tre a t i n gpeople respectfully are valuable life skills aswell. The people with whom we come into contact on a daily basis –– law firm p a rtners, public interest lawyers, gove r n m e n tofficials, judges, clerks, secretaries, St a r b u c k se m p l oyees, delive ry people and other lawye r s–– all have at least one thing in common:They respond better when they are tre a t e dre s p e c t f u l l y.

One can only hope that Homer will learnduring the course of his legal education tomake decisions, at work and elsew h e re, basedon not only his understanding of the law, butalso his appreciation for professionalism andethical behavior. It will be our re s p o n s i b i l i t y,as educators and mentors, to help him learnthe practice of law as well as the practice ofp rofessionalism. By teaching both sets ofskills, we pre p a re tomorrow’s lawyers forsuccessful careers and successful live s .

This article was excerpted from re m a rks Sa l t z m a nmade to students during orientation in August 2001.Se ve ral of the ideas presented are based in part on“ Ethics in the Law School Community,” by Lee E.Teitelbaum, in the summer 2000 Un i versity ofToledo Law Re v i ew, Vol. 31, page 757.

*

d o h !* # *

“ H a n d l i n g problems in a professional manneris part of learning how to be an effective a d v o c a t e, both for oneself and for others.”


f e a t u r e

r o a d sl e s str a v e l e d

by Associate Dean John G. “Tom” To m l i n s o n

The s t o r i e s of a few USC law graduateswho took a path away from the law —and met success along the way


Walter Zi f k i n’s Russian-born mother andfather expected him to become an attorney. Ittook just five years after graduating from USCLaw School for Zifkin to disappoint them.

They likely we re n’t disappointed for long.Zifkin left the practice of law in 1966 for amanagement position at the William Mo r r i sA g e n c y. He is now the firm’s chief exe c u t i veo f f i c e r.

T h i rt y - f i ve years later, Zifkin still recalls hisangst-filled professional decision: While aposition with Morris presented an attractiveo p p o rt u n i t y, leaving the law was not an easychoice. He had been a successful student andhad sculpted a promising career in entert a i n-ment law, first at CBS, then at the Mo r r i sA g e n c y. But a position leading a grow i n ge n t e rtainment agency was too tempting. Hetook the job and stayed.

Still, Zifkin “t re a s u res the intellectual expe-r i e n c e” that was his legal education. The logicof the law, the disciplined thought, the thrillof living-in-and-for the question persists.Thinking like a lawyer has been a mova b l eintellectual feast for Walter Zifkin.

Zifkin was neither the first nor will he bethe last student to study law at USC beforepursuing a professional life outside the legalp rofession. Recent estimates suggest 5 to 7p e rcent of students are n’t interested in prac-ticing law, and many leave the field at somepoint during their careers to pursue otheri n t e rests. The range of their extra-legal care e r sis broad. USC law graduates have embracedl i ves as senators and state gove r n o r s ,appointed government officers, diplomats,ministers, authors, ranchers, filmmakers,captains of industry and finance, re s t a u r a-teurs, FBI agents and armed security agents.Others are real estate developers, college foot-ball coaches, media moguls, editors or ve n t u recapitalists. Some graduates have managedcomplicated industrial enterprises; others havemanaged complex public social agencies.Some have built and managed hospitals; andstill others have made re m a rkable lives for

t h e m s e l ves as philanthropists. Howe ver farf rom the legal profession they stray, many findthat their law school education outlived theirpractice of law.

This article focuses historical attention onfour such people: Clarence B. Thompson ’04,C a rey Mc Williams ’27, Sol Price ’38 andJames Rogers LL.M. ’63. Their lives outsideof the parameters of the legal profession —h e re loosely defined as practicing attorneys,judges, law professors or administrators of thelaw or legal agencies — are re p re s e n t a t i ve ofmany others whose prominence honors thisLaw School and testifies to the flexibility andendurance of a legal education.

C l a rence B. Thompson: Renaissance Man

The Renaissance conjures up notions ofe x t r a o rd i n a ry erudition applied with vigorand breadth to many realms of public life.C l a rence B. Thompson ’04 would have felt athome in the Renaissance.

T h o m p s o n’s life (1882-1968) after lawschool was as astonishing as it was unlikely.He was a prolific scholar and writer, pro f e s s o rof management and business at Ha rva rd, andan international business consultant. Hi sclients included Philippine sugar plantations,German sausage factories and two Fre n c hw a rtime governments who retained himduring the First World War to improvep roduction of French explosives and at thes t a rt of the Second World War to enhance thequality of aircraft engines. Chased from Pa r i sa few days before Hi t l e r’s troops entered thec i t y, Thompson and his Ge r m a n - Jewish wifefled to Be rk e l e y, where he worked tow a rd aPh.D. in biochemistry — training thats e c u red him a re s e a rch position at the medicalschool in Montevideo, Uru g u a y.

Raised in Los Angeles by his ministerfather and mother, Thompson matriculated atthe age of 15 in the just-formed Los AngelesLaw School in 1897. T h e re he met and cameto re ve re the school’s founding dean, Ja m e sBrown Scott. A Ha rva rd graduate, Scott

championed the case method of legal studythat he learned at Ha rva rd and founded theLos Angeles Law School, predecessor to USCLaw School, as a colony of Ha rva rd’s casemethod of legal study. In the yo u n gThompson, Scott discove red a pre c o c i o u sstudent and a disciple of the case method.After graduating from the USC Law School— he is now thought to have been the firstblack person to earn a degree from USC —Thompson practiced law for a year in LosAngeles before enrolling at Ha rva rd.

At Ha rva rd, Thompson earned degrees ineconomics and sociology, a bachelor’s degre ein 1908 and a master’s in 1910. He publisheda book before his graduation, and in 1910 hewas invited to join the just-created Ha rva rdBusiness School as an adjunct pro f e s s o r. He rehe remained until 1915, establishing hisc redentials as an expert on assessing businesspractices. T h o m p s o n’s most famous book,T h e o ry and Practice of Scientific Ma n a g e m e n t(1917), established him as a leader in thenascent field; it was one of eight books andcountless articles Thompson wrote during thenext two decades. Leaving Ha rva rd, hepursued a life as an international consultant,initially in Asia but, after 1918, mostly forEu ropean companies and states.

What surv i ved of T h o m p s o n’s life at theUSC Law School was his dependence on thecase method as applied to the study of busi-ness at Ha rva rd and as the cornerstone of his3 0 - year career as a management consultant.S c h o l a r, pro f e s s o r, international guru onmanagement and business, Thompson fore-s h a d owed a small but distinguished group ofLaw School graduates whose lives outside ofthe law are of diverse accomplishment.

C a rey McWilliams: Author and Advoca t e

C a rey Mc Williams ’27 (1905-1980) wasanother apostate attorney whose accomplish-ments we re of the highest order and nationalre n own. Identifying himself as a “r a d i c a lo u t s i d e r,” Mc Williams graduated from the


f e a t u r e

Law School to a career as a prolific author,editor and, briefly, an appointed Californiapublic official. In his books and art i c l e s ,Mc Williams took it upon himself to defendthe dow n t rodden of America with a passion,commitment and incisiveness that would havebeen the envy of any litigator. He wrote some14 books in addition to editing The Na t i o n,one of the country’s longest-lived liberal peri-odicals, from 1955 to 1975. The sum of hiswritings can be understood as a continuingcase for the economically and racially dispos-sessed in American society.

Raised in western Colorado on a cattleranch, Mc Williams learned to appreciate liter-a t u re from his schoolteacher mother; from hisrancher-politician father he learned to makehis case in an argument. His father’s deathpitched the family into economic ruin andf o rced their move to Los Angeles. En ro l l i n gat USC as an undergraduate in 1922,Mc Williams worked at the Los Angeles Ti m e s.After graduation, he matriculated at the Law School (then located in the Tajo Building across the street from the Ti m e s). A successful student, Mc Williams joined theErskine Ross Chapter of the Phi Alpha De l t alaw fraternity. After passing the bar, he

joined the law firm of Hammack, Noyes, and Hammack, a firm founded by Da n i e lMarion Hammack, former dean of the USCLaw School.

As his practice grew, Carey Mc Wi l l i a m spursued a parallel life as a writer, a life thatwould eclipse his legal care e r. In 1929, hepublished a biography of writer and satiristA m b rose Bi e rce; articles about other cre a t i vewriters soon followed. But by 1933, as thed e p ression deepened and his law practices welled with evictions, fore c l o s u res and bank-ruptcies, Mc Williams refocused his writing onsocial issues. His relationships with peoplesuch as John Steinbeck, Upton Sinclair andEdmund Wilson further marked his work andlife. Mc Williams permanently left the practiceof law in 1939 after being appointed chief ofimmigration and housing by California Gov.Cu l b e rt Olson.

The position both summarized his keeni n t e rest in California social issues andlaunched his most pro d u c t i ve period as awriter of national prominence. Factories in theFi e l d (1939) analyzed immigrant agriculturallabor in California. Brothers Under the Skin (1942) and Pre j u d i c e (1944) considere dAmerican racism, while S o u t h e rn Ca l i f o rn i a

C o u n t ry: An Island on the Land ( 1 9 4 6 )remains a classic historical work on the deve l-opment of Southern California. A Mask forPr i v i l e g e (1948) explored anti-Semitism inAmerica. During the Cold War and theMc C a rthy hearings, Mc Williams becamem o re invo l ved at The Na t i o n magazine as ac o n t r i b u t o r, strategist and fund-raiser; heaccepted the editorship in 1955.

T h roughout his care e r, the study of laws e rved as a mode of careful analysis, a system-atic engagement with social problems thatMc Williams never abandoned. His manypublications read like closing arguments:c r i s p, clear, aggre s s i vely presented opinion.C a rey Mc Williams made the case, and hemade it well.

Sol Price: Doing Right

In 1939, the year Mc Williams left the law, So lPrice ’38 began a San Diego practice, whiche vo l ved into the law firm Procopa, Price, Cory& Schwartz. Fifteen years later, he launchedFe d Ma rt, the no-frills membership depart-ment store that became an oft-imitated re t a i lmodel. In 1976, he founded Price ClubC o r p., another membership department storethat he directed until 1993. Price applied his

Walter Zifkin ’61Clarence Thompson ’04

Sol Price ’38James Rogers ’63

USC law graduates have embraced lives as senators ands tate governors, appointed government officers, diplomats,ministers, authors, ranchers, filmmakers, captains of industryand finance, restaurateurs, FBI agents and armed securityagents. Others are real estate developers, collegefootball coaches, media moguls, editors or venturecapitalists.


financial acumen with unerring success: Hefounded banks, charter air companies and re a lestate investment trusts, and he has been ana g g re s s i ve and engaged philanthropist.

Pr i c e’s life is ve ry much an Americansuccess story. Born in New Yo rk, son ofimmigrant Russian Jews, he was raised in ap o l i t i c i zed blue-collar family whose dinnerc o n versations about politics and economicswe re provoked by the left-leaning Vo rw a e rt z,a Jew i s h - w o rker newspaper published in NewYo rk. Moving to San Diego in 1929, Pr i c estudied at several colleges before matriculatingat USC Law School in 1935. Like most pre -1960 graduates of the Law School, Sol Pr i c ewas the first person in his family to attend andgraduate from college.

Price began righting perc e i ved wro n g searly in his care e r. When he was opening aFe d Ma rt store in Texas, he was surprised whenasked if there would be separate eating ro o m sand re s t rooms for black and white employe e s .The incident caused Price to make an effort tore c ruit minorities throughout his company.

His courage and independence are illus-trated by another effort to “do right.” Se ve r a lyears ago, when a congressional subcommitteewas investigating allegations of contributionsmade in exchange for political access, Pr i c etook out a full-page ad in the Washington Po s t,offering $100,000 to the charity of choice ofthe first committee member who would assertthat he or she had never accepted a contribu-tion and granted access in return. He still hasthat $100,000.

Pr i c e’s re m a rkable success may in part owesomething to the disciplined methods of hislegal education, even though his attitudeabout lawyers is archly clear: “Lawyers andaccountants: All they do is tell me what I can’td o.” As an entre p re n e u r, Price is an energyand mind not easily restricted to any field. Hi slife as an imaginative and engaged philan-t h ropist is one such example. In vo l ved withSouthern California foundations for fourdecades, Price and his wife, Helen — also a

USC graduate — have, through the Pr i c eCharities Foundation, made major financialcommitments to causes ranging from educa-tion to health care.

For Sol Price, the social conscience andeconomic sensibility he acquired over thefamily dinner table, combined with the intel-lectual discipline of his legal education, h a ve been well served by his entre p re n e u r i a lacumen.

James E. Rogers: Legacy of Philanthro p y

En t re p reneurial acumen and extraord i n a ryp h i l a n t h ropic commitment are also charac-teristics of the life of James E. Rogers, whovalued his year in the master’s of law degre ep rogram as a kind of intellectual maturing.Arriving in Los Angeles with an LL.B. fro mthe Un i versity of Arizona, the 23-year oldRogers felt “too gre e n” to be taken seriously inpractice and was encouraged by a tru s t e dA r i zona law professor to study at USCbecause of its we l l - k n own tax program. W h i l eh e re, he completed a thesis under the tutelageof Professor Louis M. Brown, who enjoyed anational reputation as the voice of conductinglegal check-ups and legal autopsies. Ro g e r sthought Brown a “fine lawye r, a kind manwith the patience of Jo b.” The faculty thoughtwell of Rogers: He was on the faculty of theLaw School’s Medical-Legal Institute forContinuing Legal Education from 1971 to 1976.

With two law degrees in hand, Ro g e r staught legal writing for a year at the Un i ve r s i t yof Illinois. Deciding that the legal academywas not for him, Rogers returned to his familyhome in Las Vegas and established a successfullaw practice. In 1978, after winning a bid totake over the NBC television affiliate in LasVegas, Rogers re d i rected his energies to thecommunications company that has becomeSunbelt Communications Corp., which ow n stelevision stations throughout the WesternUnited States. The attorney in James Ro g e r shelped win the station, and, iro n i c a l l y, ow n e r-

ship of the station replaced the law as hisp r i m a ry profession.

Su n b e l t’s financial accomplishmentsenabled Rogers to make philanthropy hissecond profession. He has been a stro n gs u p p o rter of education and has committedh u n d reds of millions of dollars to colleges andu n i versities around the country, including amajor gift to establish a law school at theUn i versity of Ne vada at Las Vegas. Taking apage from his Methodist minister grandfather,Rogers hopes to sow the seeds of philanthro p yin the institutions he supports. Fi r s t - year lawstudents at the James Rogers College of Lawat the Un i versity of Arizona can expect to hearf rom the college’s namesake on the impor-tance of giving back and of becomingp h i l a n t h ropists themselves.

These four people — Clarence T h o m p s o n’04, Carey Mc Williams ’27, Sol Price ’38 andJames Rogers ’63 LL.M. — succeeded as lawstudents and practiced law for va rying periodsb e f o re discovering another profession. Bu teach retained a certain frame of mind — alegal discipline — that was durable yet supple,as useful to lives outside of the law as it hasbeen for those who remained in the law.Their careers may have taken them away fro mthe law, but Walter Zi f k i n’s words stillresonate: the “t re a s u red intellectual experi-e n c e” that was their legal education gave themthe skills and discipline necessary to succeed,no matter where their paths led.


C a l i f o r n i a’s three-strikes law suffered three hitsof its own as landmark rulings from the 9thU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturnedlengthy sentences this spring for three menre p resented by Erwin Chemerinsky, the Syd n e yM. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law,Legal Ethics and Political Science at USC.

L e a n d ro Andrade was sentenced to 50years for stealing $153 worth of videotapes.Ernest Bray Jr. had been sentenced to life aftershoplifting three videotapes. RichardNapoleon Brown was sentenced to life forstealing a $25 car alarm. All three men hadbeen convicted of prior felonies, mostlyburglaries, some involving violence. Their lastcrimes, all petty thefts, we re enhanced tofelonies under the state penal code andenhanced again under the three-strikes law,which mandates that an offender convictedof two serious or violent felonies be sentencedto 25 years to life for a third felony conviction.

C h e m e r i n s k y, appointed by the court tore p resent the men in their appeals, argued thatthe lengthy sentences for petty crimes violatedthe 8th Amendment, which prohibits cru e land unusual punishment.

In Nove m b e r, the court agreed. In a 2-1ruling, the court found that Andrade’s 50-ye a rsentence for petty theft was “g rossly dispro-p o rtionate to his crimes,” wrote Judge RichardA. Pa ez. In Fe b ru a ry, the court struck down

3-0 the sentences given to Brown and Br a y.Judge Marsha S. Be rzon called the sentences“g rossly dispro p o rt i o n a t e” and “c o n t r a ry toand unreasonable applications of clearly estab-lished Su p reme Court law” on sentencing.

The cases marked the first successful chal-lenges of the state’s three-strikes law. Of seve r a lsuch statutes nationwide, California’s law is the toughest and most frequently used.Chemerinsky will present oral arguments onthe Andrade case to the U.S. Su p reme Courtthis fall; the state is seeking Su p reme Courtre v i ew of the Brown and Bray case as we l l .

Although the court emphasized in eachruling that it was not ove rturning the thre e -strikes law, the Fe b ru a ry ruling said a sentencemust be pro p o rtionate to the last crimecommitted. Ex p e rts agree the bro a d e rlanguage of the second ruling may lead toappeals in many other cases.

“This says that the punishment has to bep ro p o rtionate to the crime for which they arebeing sentenced,” says Chemerinsky. “T h e rea re 340 individuals serving indeterminate lifesentences for a third strike of petty theft with ap r i o r. The next set of cases will be, ‘What othertrivial crimes is it dispro p o rtionate to give lifesentences for?’”

Three faculty members were installed into named professorships this spring: Jody Armour wasnamed the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law; Mary Dudziak was named the Judge Edward J.and Ruey L. Guirado Professor of Law and History; and Gregory Keating was named theWilliam T. Dalessi Professor of Law. Professorships are named to honor the generosity ofdonors to the Law School and are awarded to professors whose scholarship, research andt e a ching merits distinction. The Law School has 32 named professorships and chairs.

For more faculty news, see the Law School’s news page online at http://lawweb.usc.edu/news.

faculty news

o u tThree s t r i k e s

Professor Chemerinskytakes on California’s t h r e e - s t r i kes law

Th r e e professors accept named p r o f e s s o r s h i p s

1 Jennifer Arlen, an expert in law and economics,appeared on the “Jim Lehrer News Hour” in Marchto help make sense of the federal government’sindictment of Arthur Andersen for its involvementin the Enron scandal. “I think it’s clear the govern-ment wants to make an example out of ArthurA n d e r s e n ,” she said. “This indictment reflects achange in the government’s approach to corporatecrime. Instead of viewing the corporation as itselfthe wrongdoer, the government has been usingthe threat of criminal sanctions to get corporationsto report wrongdoing and to help the governmenti n v e s t i g a t e .” Arlen was a visiting professor at Ya l eUniversity during the 2001-02 academic year.

2 Jody Armour was named a Soros JusticeSenior Fellow of The Open Society Institute’sCenter on Crime, Communities and Culture. He’lluse fellowship funding to support research ex a m-ining injustices in societal approaches to blameand punishment.

3 National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered”turned to Alexander Capro n for help in under-standing politicians’ reluctance to legislatereproductive technologies, even as legal disputesover new technologies grow. “There are anynumber of bizarre circumstances that would try thewisdom of King So l o m o n ,” said Capron. “And Ithink a lot of legislators have just decided that it’sa mare’s nest that they would rather stay out of.”

4 Several USC law professors were tapped by themedia for thoughts on the terrorist attacks of Sept.11 and insight into the war on terrorism. E r w i nC h e m e r i n s k y was quoted by media worldwide onsubjects ranging from the courts’ role in regulatinggovernment investigations of terrorists to hisinvolvement in the habeas petition filed on behalfof detainees in Guantanamo Bay; Mary Dudziako f fered historical perspective on Sept. 11 to anumber of publications, including The New Yo r kTi m e s and N e w s d ay ; Niels Fre n z e n lent hisexpertise in immigration issues to the “Jim Le h r e rNews Hour” and Th e New York Ti m e s, amongothers; and Susan Estrich warned against sacri-

f o o t n o t e s (a small selection of faculty quotes, awards and activities)ficing civil liberties in the war on terrorism in theChicago Tribune and The American Lawyer a n don Fox News. In an op-ed published Sept. 17 inUSA To d a y, Estrich wrote: “My students shaketheir heads when reading the anti-communistcases, because they did not live through the ColdWa r, never saw Khrushchev bang his shoe. Th e ydid, however, see the pictures of devastationTu e s d a y. … We are faced with real threats to ournational security. The challenge is to meet thosethreats without endangering our constitutionalcharacter or undermining the freedom and libertythat are the source of our power.”

5 David Cruz received tenure this spring and waspromoted to full profe s s o r. An expert in discrimi-nation issues, Cruz was invited to testify before theCalifornia Assembly judiciary committee abo u twhether proposed legislation to create a civil unionlicense would violate Prop. 22, a controversialmeasure passed by voters last year that said, “Onlya marriage between a man and a woman shall bevalid or recognized.” Cruz said a civil union licensewould not violate state law because Prop. 22 “saidnothing in terms about limiting the rights thats a m e - s ex couples may be extended by the legis-l a t u r e .” Rather, he said, the proposition intended todefine the legal term “marriage,” not to assign legalstatus to other relationships, such as domesticpartnerships or civil unions.

6 Mary Dudziak and Ariela Gro s s r e c e i v e dfaculty recognition awards from the USC ch a p t e rof Phi Kappa Phi during the academic honorsconvocation in March. The prestigious university-wide awards honor superior achievement in facultyr e s e a r ch and scholarship. Dudziak also wasnamed a fall 2002 fellow of Princeton University’sprogram in law and public affairs.

7 Tom Ly o n o f fered insight into the trial of a fatherwho beat another father to death at their sons’h o ckey practice during an interview on “CBSEvening News” in January. An expert in ch i l dwitnesses, Lyon said jurors often see kids as lesslikely to lie, but more suggestible. “So jurors will

s a y, ‘Well, I believe the child is honest, but the ch i l dcan also be honestly mistaken.’ ”

8 Dean Matthew Spitzer was widely quoted onvarious aspects of the Enron scandal. In Th eNational Journal, Spitzer discussed whether Wh i t eHouse Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales should recusehimself from his department’s investigation of thefailed energy company. With F o r b e s . c o m, Spitzerdiscussed law firm Vinson and Elkins’ failure toanalyze purported accounting irregularities inEnron’s books. He also discussed Vinson andElkins with The Los Angeles Ti m e s: “Even as theTitanic was sinking, there were certain rooms thatwere perfectly dry,” he said in the paper’s March 14edition. “If you asked someone in one of thoserooms, ‘See any water?’, they’d say no. That’s thesort of investigation Vinson and Elkins did.”

9 Nomi Stolzenberg was awarded the USCCasden Institute Faculty Research Grant, whichwill support her research on illiberalism and reli-gion in American life, focusing on issues ofspiritual custody and the Hasidic community ofKiryas Joel.

1 0 Stolzenberg and Pr o fessor Hilary Sch o r, ap r o fessor of English, gender studies and law atU SC, received a $30,000 grant from the James H.Zumberge Research and Innovation Fund at USCto support their interdisciplinary research on thelaw and literature of the First Amendment.Stolzenberg and Schor are co-directors of theCenter for Law, History and Culture.

PICT URED BELOW, LEFT TO RIGHT: ARLEN, CA PRON, EST RICH, FRENZEN ,CRUZ, GRO SS, LYON, STOLZENBERG AND SCHOR .


Most Law School offices are adorned with traditional office furniture — dark, heavy desks,imposing bookshelves, large, sturdy chairs. Sh a f f r a n’s office is inhabited by blonde wood, airyglass table tops, clean, colorful art w o rk — and a man with a fresh vision for USC’s contin-uing legal education (CLE) programs.

Shaffran joined the Law School in Fe b ru a ry as assistant dean to head the Law School’scontinuing legal education program, which includes five major conferences focusing on legaland related issues in entertainment, corporate counsel, probate and trust, computers and theInternet, and federal taxation. He holds a master’s degree in nonprofit management fro mGeorge Washington Un i versity and a J.D. from Yale Un i versity and was previously dire c t o rof legal and business affairs for the division of continuing legal education and the paralegalp rogram at UCLA. He also was a partner with two Los Angeles law firms, specializing in enter-tainment and intellectual pro p e rty law, and worked for several years in senior managementat television and motion picture production companies.

Thanks to his business savvy and experience in academic programming, Shaffran is we l l -equipped for the task of taking USC’s CLE programs to the next level.

“We’re something of a double-edged sword here,” Shaffran says. “These are exc e p t i o n a lp rograms, with long histories and exceptional people invo l ved. The challenge is to let peoplek n ow what these programs are and what their function is for people in the profession. Ou rp rograms have this tremendous quality because they’ve been around for decades. So m e t i m e st h e re’s an incorrect perception that we’re not entirely cutting edge. ”

Shaffran is already working to change that perception. In collaboration with CLE’s planningcommittees, he’s developing plans to generate new corporate sponsorships that will help fundn ew marketing initiatives. He’s also working to promote CLE as an important part of theLaw School’s academic mission and its lifelong relationship with alumni. “I am committed,”he says, “to a CLE program that is equal in strength and reputation to all the other parts ofthe Law School.”

Although his vision for CLE might take a while to evo l ve, Sh a f f r a n’s love of cooking andg a rdening should provide opportunities for more immediate satisfaction. “I love gard e n i n g ,especially perennials,” he says, smiling. “It’s one of the few things you can do that has instant,tangible re s u l t s . ”

p r ofi l eR i chard S. Shaffran joins the Law School as assistant d e a n

Walk into Ric Shaffran’s office, and you know something’s differe n t .

breath of fresh air for C L E

a



faculty news

In his book, Fair Not Flat: How to Make theTax System Better and Si m p l e r ( Un i versity ofChicago Press, 2002), Ed w a rd J. Mc C a f f e ry,the Maurice Jones Jr. Professor of Law at USC,p resents a bold argument to make tax justthat: more equitable and easier to understand.

Mc C a f f e ry asserts that current tax laws areunfair because they heavily burden middle-class wage earners while allowing the we a l t h yto live virtually tax-free. The rich can avo i dt a xes altogether, he says, by sheltering most oftheir wealth in capital assets and thenb o r rowing against those assets to finance theirc o m f o rtable lifestyles. Meanwhile, manyfamilies who cannot afford to buy pro p e rt ymust work to make a living — and are taxe don their income.

“ If yo u’re getting paid, yo u’re heavilyt a xed,” he says. “If you have pro p e rt y, tax isvo l u n t a ry. Ba s i c a l l y, anybody with capitalassets is either a fool or a saint to be payingt a xes today. ”

To address the problem, Mc C a f f e ryp roposes a re vo l u t i o n a ry idea: tax spendingrather than income. This way, people will bet a xed on the level of their lifestyles, whetherfinanced through borrowing or wages, savingsor inheritances. The wealthy won’t be able toa void taxes because the more they spend, them o re they’re taxed. Conve r s e l y, the morepeople save, the less they’ll pay in taxe s .

The plan rests on the basic economic prin-ciple that people either spend or savee ve rything they have. Ac c o rding toMc C a f f e ry, who studied tax law at Ha rva rdLaw School and economics at USC, theformula looks like this: income = spending +savings. If you subtract savings from income,yo u’re left with spending, or consumption.Tax this portion and you have a nationalconsumption tax.

Mc C a f f e ry builds pro g ressivity into hisplan. For a hypothetical family of four, thefirst $20,000 of spending would be tax-fre e ,to allow for basic necessities such as food andclothing. The next $60,000 would be taxed at10 percent. The next $80,000 at 20 perc e n t .And so on, until families spending more than$1 million each year would be taxed at amarginal rate of 50 perc e n t .

The plan also calls for a 10 percent salestax, in addition to the annual consumptiontax. To accommodate the “ze ro bracket,” thoseindividuals earning less than $20,000,Mc C a f f e ry suggests sending them a re b a t echeck for $2,000 (or 10 percent of $20,000).Only families spending more than $80,000a year would need to complete tax forms.

L a s t l y, he would eliminate the so-calleddeath tax because “dead people don’t spend.”Instead, heirs would be taxed when theyspend after inheriting the estate. “We’re goingto tax people when they spend on themselve s ,not when they work or save,” he says. “We’regoing to be consistent about that, and we’regoing to do it with pro g re s s i ve rates. I thinkt h a t’s fairer and certainly much simpler thanwhat we’re doing now. ”

Ul t i m a t e l y, Mc C a f f e ry says his book ismeant to foster a new dialogue in tax policy.“This is an attempt to change our mindsets,p a rticularly of the wealthy classes,” he says.“I want them to stop thinking they don’t haveto pay taxes like the rest of society. We’ll givethem a choice:

F i x i n g a taxing problem

After a decade o fl e a r n i n g, r e s e a r ch i n gand t e a ch i n g tax law,Professor Edward J.M c C a f f e r y offers justtwo succinct words todescribe what’s wrongw i t h the current U.S.tax system.

“Almost everything.”

“Either keep saving because it helps o u r

e c o n o m y, or, if you’re going to spend

a lot of money, pay the piper.”

by Phat X. Chiem


g a l l e r y

F P O

R e u n i on2 0 0 1 The Classes of ’61, ’76, ’81, ’86 a n d ’ 9 1 celebrated reunions last fall. Top left corner: R oxanne Davis

’ 86 (left foreground) shared family photos with old friends. Third row, first photo: A . P. Serritella ’76 a n d

Craig Miller ’76 caught up. Fourth row, second photo from right: Soud Kaddo, James Kaddo ’63,

Gideon Kanner ’61, Stephanie Burns a n d Phil Rudnick ’61 put conversation on hold for a smile.

Right column, center photo: Glen Hollinger a n d Judith Hollinger ’61, a member of her reunion committee,

enjoyed the party.

’ 91

’ 81

’ 81

’ 61

’ 76 ’ 61

’ 76 ’ 86

’ 91 ’ 61

’ 86


cl a s sn o t e s

> Class of 1950The USC Law magazine is now on the USCwebsite, so you can submit class notes directlyonline. The site is http://lawweb.usc.edu/lawmag/. The Class of 1950 Scholarship Fu n dis nearing the minimum goal of $100,000. JudgeJ a ck Ry b u r n, who with his wife Toni has gener-ously provided matching contributions, writes thatwe need $20,000 more to make $100,000 forthe Fund. There were fewer responses to thequestionnaire for this issue. D i ck Kamins w o u l dhave been able to provide a humorous commentregarding the attrition. I can only say that anyresponse is appreciated, so hang in there and letme hear from you. Albert Armendariz Sr.proudly practices law with his eldest son, Albert Jr. ,in El Paso, Texas. E-mail [email protected]. W i l l i sM. Brooks continues the full-time-plus practiceof law in Beverly Hills and does substantial pro-bono work. Doesn’t travel anymore because “noplace left to go.” Philip D. Donovan has a “greatw i fe and 4 wonderful children and one 7- y e a r - o l dg r a n d ch i l d .” Acts as pro-bono municipal courtjudge (traffic and small claims) 50-plus years andstill active. Walter Fa n e r and wife Nancy, married50 years, have 4 children living in Ve r m o n t ,M a s s a chusetts, San Luis Obispo and NewportB e a ch, and 4 grandchildren. He visited Turkey inMay last year for three weeks. Retired, he readsa great many books. Evans Karpenko lives inEuless, Texas. His first great grandson, Nicolai, wasborn in 2001. Retired in 2001, he received a fifty-year Award of Meritorious Service to theC o m m u n i t y, State and Nation as a member of theState Bar of Texas (pro-bono work since). John H.L a r s o n is still perfecting his golf game at his Pa l mDesert Home; “… reverted back to old steelshafted clubs many years old.” He was elected Mayor Pro Tem by Seal Beach City Council and appointed to the Governor’sCommission on California Veterans Homes. [email protected]. D i ck Morrow r e p o r t s“Nothing new — even new grandchildren havestopped. Two grandsons at USC .” Shirley Olsenmarried to Richard 53 years (one son and 2 grand-daughters). In November, Richard’s bo o kH o l l y wood Noir, Featuring Ronald Reagan w a s

published. Details are available on his Web sitew w w. x l i b r i s . c o m /R i chardOlsen.html. Raymond E.O t t resides in Palm Springs. His wife, Floriane,passed away February 26, 2001, at age 71. Hon.J a ck T. Ry b u r n still works occasionally withJA MS and is planning to join the cruise with theLaw School in June. Wanda Young Sanka r yreports no changes. Call her if you are in SanDiego. Elaine (Blaubach) Sch o e ch, retired inHermosa Beach, CA, is proud of the birth of Joel

Daniel Carlson in July to Daniel and Carla Carlson(her niece). Iver E. “Dick” Skjeie, retired fromthe California Attorney General’s Office, has beenhappily married to Sheila for 46 years. He skisregularly at Lake Tahoe resorts and attendsStanford Summer Camp at Fallen Leaf Lake eachy e a r. Allan W. Wa l l a c e “still keeps his hand in thepractice, otherwise nothing significant.” [email protected]. A. Charles Wilson i sChairman of the Board of Daico Industries, Inc.,

Pauline Hoffmann Herd ’29: Leading the way

As senior vice president of the Student Bar Association, Pauline Hoffmann kept a busy schedule.In addition to class work, she helped organize opportunities for alumnae to mentor female students,s e rved as the SBA general program chairperson, tried to impose order on student meeting schedules

to avoid conflicts, and organized a banquet for 500 students, alumniand friends of the Law School, securing a keynote speech by the pre s-ident of the American Bar Association. Im p re s s i ve accomplishmentsfor a law student of any generation. What makes this story a bitunusual is that this student took a streetcar to campus — but onlywhen her books we re too heavy, since the five-cent fare made sucht r a vel something of a luxury.

After graduating from USC Law School in 1929, Miss Ho f f m a n n— who later married successful businessman John Victor He rd —kept close ties to her alma mater by volunteering to supervise studentsin a newly formed legal aid clinic. She says she wanted to be a partof the nation’s nascent clinical legal education movement, led by USCp rofessors John Bradway and Leon David. She believed re p re s e n t i n greal clients was a valuable experience for students and that prov i d i n g

f ree legal aid to the poor was a lawye r’s professional obligation. Even after moving to Ph i l a d e l p h i awith her husband in 1937, she continued to take pro bono cases and stay active with the local barassociation while maintaining her probate practice.

Now living in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., Mrs. He rd reminisces fondly about the early womenof USC Law School and her colleagues in Phi Delta Delta, the country’s first women’s law students o ro r i t y, founded at USC in 1911. Among her mentors: Mabel Walker Willebrandt ’16, who serve din President Ha rd i n g’s administration; Litta Belle Hibben Campbell ’13, the first female deputydistrict attorney in the United States; and May Lahey ’14, a probate court judge. When she move dto Philadelphia and later to New Yo rk, Mrs. He rd contacted some Phi Deltas — the sorority becamesomething of an “old girls” network for USC alumnae.

Mrs. He rd says she still follows the activities of her alma mater and is proud of USC for main-taining so many of the traditions she valued as a student — a strong commitment to clinical legaleducation, admitting and supporting women, and helping graduates stay in touch with each other.C l e a r l y, the USC Law School can be proud to claim this pioneering woman as one of its distin-guished alumnae.

— Karen A. Lash

Pauline Hoffmann was picturedin USC’s 1929 yearbook withan article about her work in theStudent Bar Association.

Reunion committee volunteersneeded for the classes of

1953 and 1958. For information, call (213) 740 - 614 3 .

Ernest Paper Products, Inc. (where he spends themost time) and Tr i o -Te ch International. He enjoystraveling each year to London for the theatre. Hesees Ed Sanders r e g u l a r l y. Hon. Juaneita M.Ve r o n - Fo s t e r, retired in Rancho Palos Ve r d e s ,CA, favors a cruise for the next Class Reunion.

Shirley Olsen, Class Report e rr i ch a r d @ f r a z m t n . c o m

> Class of 1951We mourn the passing of our classmate James G.Ko l t s on December 21, 2001, who died of a heart

a t t a ck while playing golf with his daughter andgrandson. His distinguished career in the lawincluded seventeen years as Los Angeles CountyDeputy District Attorney specializing in the pros-ecution of major frauds, preceding twenty years asSuperior Court Judge. Following his retirementfrom the bench in l989, he was tapped by the Lo sAngeles County Supervisors as “special counsel”to investigate reports of use of excessive forceand mistreatment of minorities in the Sheriff’sDepartment under then-Sheriff Sherman Block .According to his obituary in The Los AngelesTi m e s, Jim was chosen because he “had a repu-

tation for being fair, level-headed, ex p e r i e n c e d ,bright, decisive, thorough and independent, witha conveniently thick skin.” His “Kolts Commission”report, published in July l992, found “deeplydisturbing evidence of excessive force and laxdiscipline” within the Sheriff’s Department andrecommended specific reforms, many of whichwere implemented. But distinguished as his careerwas, Jim is remembered largely for his peopleskills. To know him was to love him for his kind-ness, loyalty, modesty, humor and friendship, asattested by the turnout of more than 450 peopleat his memorial service at the Church of Our Saviorin San Gabriel on December 27th. Mournersincluded, but certainly were not limited to, thefollowing dignitaries: classmates United StatesCircuit Judge Arthur L. Al a r c ó n, retired SuperiorCourt Judges Vernon G. Fo s t e r and C h a r l e sWo o d m a n s e e, retired Superior Court Pr o b a t eCommissioner Ann Stodden, your ClassReporter Volney Brown, Jr., retired UnitedStates Chief Magistrate Judge (Jim was an usherin his wedding), and attorneys Marty Munsonand Bill Birnie; retired California Supreme CourtChief Justice Malcolm M. Lucas (Class of ’53),retired Supreme Court Justice David N. Eagelson(Class of ’50), United States Circuit Judge RobertB o o ch e v e r, California Court of Appeal JusticeJ a ck Goertzen (Class of ’57), United StatesDistrict Judge William Rea, Superior Court JudgesGeorge Dell (Class of ’53), Raymond Cardenas,Sterry Fagan (Class of ’53), Howard Thelin (Classof ’49), Richard Harris, Eric Yo u n g e r, John Stanton(Class of ’49), Phillip Argento, Philip So t o ,Coleman Swart, Gil Alston (Class of ’64) andWilliam Hogoboom (Class of ‘49), Deputy andAssistant District Attorneys (retired and otherwise)too numerous to list, retired County Clerk Fr a n kZolin and retired County Public Defender BillLittlefield. The Kolts family has requested that inlieu of flowers contributions be made, inter alia,to the Law School. Classmates who so contributewill be credited thrice: (l) for Jim’s memorial, (2) forthe Class of 1951, and (3) as a participant in theLegion Lex Annual Fund. Do it now! For the rest ofus, life goes on. Don Brown, Marvin Levin, R o yM a n n and Harold Wa x have each started upontheir second half-century of law practice. Serving


cl a s sn o t e s

Arthur Alarcón ’51: Achieving great things

The son of a baker from Mexico, Arthur L. Alarcón ’51 remembers the advice his father gave himwhen he was just four years old: Become a lawye r, and it will lead to great things.

Not only did Judge Alarcón become an attorney, he became the first Latino appointed to the 9thU.S. Circuit Court of Ap p e a l s .

“When I graduated in 1951, I was the only Latino in my class,”Judge Alarcón recalled upon accepting the Judge ArmendarizCommunity Se rvice Aw a rd from the USC La Raza Law St u d e n t sAssociation this spring. “T h e re we re no Latinos in any of the brandname law firms dow n t own, none in the D.A.’s office. To d a y, 50years later, in eve ry major law firm in L.A. there are Latinos.”

Judge Alarcón served in the U.S. Army during World War II andre c e i ved the Purple He a rt and the Bro n ze Star for his service. Hecame to USC on the G.I. Bill; after graduation, he became a deputydistrict attorney for Los Angeles County. He tried the first case inCalifornia in which a defendant was convicted for first-degre em u rder without a body as evidence. He served as legal assistant ande ventually chief of staff to California Gov. Edmund Brown. In1979, after serving on the Superior Court and the Second Di s t r i c t

C o u rt of Appeal, he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the 9th Circuit, where he nowp resides as senior judge.

“ It’s an awesome responsibility to be a trial judge,” says Alarcón, 76. “You have lives, pro p e rt yand justice in your hands. Each day, it’s a wrenching decision. It’s a ve ry solemn and lonely job. ”

It’s a job this jurist has not shied away from. When some of his colleagues criticized the U.S.Su p reme Court for lifting stays of execution for Ro b e rt Alton Harris in 1992, Alarcón publicly calledit a breach of the judicial code of conduct. “I still don’t think our ethics permit us to use our ro b e sas a bully pulpit for criticizing the Su p reme Court in the media,” he says.

A l a rcón has lectured at USC Law School and taught as an adjunct professor at Loyola andSo u t h western law schools. He is a founding member and former chairman of the Mexican AmericanScholarship Foundation Assisting Careers in Law (MAS FACIL), and founder of the Council onMexican-American Affairs. His son, Gre g o ry Alarcón, is a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

— Phat X. Chiem

Judge Alarcón received the 2002Judge Armandariz CommunityService Award from USC’s LaRaza Law Students Association.

justice in other capacities are M i chael Fr a n k l i n(arbitrator and AOL mediator and expert witnessin entertainment matters) and Donald vonM i z e n e r ( p r o fessor of international banking andl a bor law consultant). Bruce “Teddy” Smithreports his remaining contact with our profe s s i o nis “speeding tick e t s .” The latter also supports agrandson USC student, plays bridge and dances( explaining his hurry to get there). In the smallworld department, Wax has recently encounteredBob Wo l f and Art Wa s s e r m a n; M a r s h a l lD a v i s has visited with Ned Good, “who is in greatshape”; and, Marvin Levin has found J a ckFe l t h o u s e, who is living at Ocean HouseAssisted Living, 2107 Ocean Avenue, SantaMonica, CA 90 405. Jack deserves to have a noteor a card from each of us. Respecting the 9/11t e r r o r, classmates returning questionnaires worrythat bureaucrats may take the opportunity tooverly restrict civil rights, and they are unanimousin believing that the economy was “bad,” “alreadyin recession,” “struggling” and “going downhill”before that date, but the consensus was that itwould bounce back by spring 2002. We believethat young Americans will rise to the occasion, aswe did in World War II, von Mizener observing that“nothing scares most kids — even things thatshould scare them.” To end on a high note, incontemplating these perilous times, Marvin Le v i nwrites that “(f)ortunately, we, as lawyers, have aspecial advantage because of our legal education.We understand that the world is evolving and ourexperience as lawyers gives us the confidencethat we as individuals can meet the ch a n g e sr e q u i r e d .” Indeed.

Volney Brown Jr., Class Report e rv v b r o w n @ c ox . n e t

> Class of 1960As the class of 1960 gets longer-in-the-tooth,more of the classmates are retiring and turningin their tickets. In 2000 Ed Baretta and B i l lC a l l e n d e r resigned from the state bar or wentinactive. Bill Callender reports, unfortunately, hisw i fe Joan passed away in January 2000; that hisson Bill Jr. married and lives in Denver, and hisd a u g h t e r, Suzanne, is living in Limerick ,

Pennsylvania. Fritz Howser reports he got a newgrandson in 2001 and the count now “stands at 6,with more to come.” He also has ratted out R u s sBe h r e n s, who, he says, is still “working too hard.”Ed Nance reports his daughter got married inDecember 2001; that he golfs 3 times a week (hishandicap is “lack of golfing skills”) and that he rana two-year-old colt named Sweet Stepper in theBarrett Juvenile stakes at Pomona in Septemberand darned if it didn’t win — he has two more filliesgetting ready to race. Ed Soko l s k i and wife ,Renee, will celebrate 53 years of marriage in June,but with the exception of his son, the accountant,the other three kids went into medicine. He claimsto be 79 and still going strong with his intellec-tual property practice. In his off time he foolsaround with his Ham Radio hobby. Bob Robbinsis retired and lives in a retirement center where hekeeps his hand in by offering pro bono advice toseniors in Roseville 3 days a month. Jerry Glaserdoes not practice law anymore but is active inconducting his opera and symphony tour businessto sites in Europe for music lovers. Bert Massinghas been with Ervin, Cohen, & Jessup in BeverlyHills since the Grand Canyon was known as theArizona Arroyo. The Massings’ first grandson wasborn June 13th last year about the time Bertattended his 50th High School reunion. D a v eAg e r, another retiree, lives in Wo o d v i l l e ,Washington, and his wife of 36 years, Carol, stillis active as a marriage and family therapist. His

son Steve, 31, has finished the Duke Universitycombination law/MBA program and works ininvestment banking in NYC for Morgan Stanley.His daughter Wendy works as a paralegal assis-tant in Perkins Cove, Washington. Bill Gibsonis still plugging away with Atkinson & Gibson.There has been an even division of labor in theGibson family — Bill’s son Robert is a lawyer, anddaughter Valerie is a teach e r, like wife, Sharon. Th eGibsons are closing in on 40 years of matrimony.Larry Klugman announces 42 years of weddedbliss, but complains his son & daughter ignore hisadvice, since both are lawyers, too. L l o y dO w n b e y and his wife, Jean, will clock 42 years ofmarriage in November of this year. Lloyd’s sonGrant is a Senior Programmer for Alcatel anddaughter Katherine manages Enterprise Rent-a-car for the San Gabriel Va l l e y. Tom Breslinreports he’s remarried and pursues his hobbiesof cabinet making, gold-smithing and travel. Hekeeps his hand in doing part-time work for the L.A.Public Defender’s office, presenting applicationsfor certificates of rehabilitation, as a precursor tothe pardoning process. Bob Bastien still lives inDuQuoin, Illinois, but claims everything’s about the same since his ch e ck-in last year. Be v( S chneider) Gore and her husband Joe are “stillholding hands” and enjoying the good life. Joe’sstill working and Bev says she’s playing, whichindeed is the good life, if you can get it. Yo u rfaithful correspondent, kindly old judge J i mS u t t o n, takes advantage of the extended vaca-tion time allowed a judge with “a lot” of years onthe bench. I went to Montreal, New York (before9/11 and after) and a three-week jaunt to theCost del Sol in sunny Spain. I hope to make it toItaly this year, also.

Jim Sutton, Class Reporter JMSU T TON [email protected]

> Class of 1961Randy Siple reports that he has fully retired fromthe practice of law and spends his time on amountaintop overlooking the Pacific Ocean inVentura County when he is not playing in his jazzband or traveling. He is an Organic Certifier andgrows, primarily, avocados. His wife, Susan, still


On the Honor Roll

James Rogers LL.M. ’63 re c e i ved the fifthannual Education He ro Aw a rd from the ClarkCounty Public Education Foundation in LasVegas. The award honors those who have madea significant difference in local and statew i d eeducation. Rogers is CEO of Su n b e l tCommunications, parent company of a numberof television stations throughout the West.

The late Ro b e rt Flaig ’66, who passed awayin 1998, re c e i ved the first annual Ro b e rt B. Fl a i gOutstanding Construction Lawyer Aw a rdposthumously from the construction subsectionof the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s re a lp ro p e rty section.

Class reporters neededfor the classes of 1954, 1956, 1958 and 1959.

For information, call (213) 740 - 614 3 .

practices law, and his children are all grown andout of the house. Randy has a weekly radio showat 91.9 FM in Santa Barbara and he teach e smusic twice weekly at a local school. H o d g eD o l l e ’ s d a u g h t e r, Mary Melissa, who is a teach e r,recently married a retired professional baseballp l a y e r. Judge Robert H. O’Brien (retired) is nowassigned to Dept. 17 in the Central District of Lo sAngeles Superior Court. Ronald T. Golan s h o w shis great willpower by staying single in Pa l mDesert where he does civil trial and transactionalwork. He spends his summers in Guadalajara,M exico. He recently retired as a Commissionerof the Palm Springs Airport (before 9/11). S t a nE p s t e i n is “semi” retired and works out of hishome office in Marina Del Rey. He and his wife ,Renata, recently returned from a vacation toG e r m a n y, Italy and Greece. Stan volunteers as anadvisor to the We s t chester Symphony Orch e s t r aand still remains active in his serving as a JudgePro Tem. Carlos Bo r j a probably has us all beatwith 8 grandchildren, one of whom is a freshmanat Harvard. Genealogy is his latest hobby as wellas continuing to travel, especially in CentralAmerica. Carlos was sorry to have missed our40th Year Reunion but says that his “new heartneeds tending every now and then.” Ed Rotewrites that there is “no change” in his life. To mU n d e r w o o d is retired and lives in Maryland.Martin We e ke s is also retired and is workingon inventions to rid his yard of crows and wateringthe uphill bushes without flooding the driveway.His oldest daughter was chosen as the Case-Mellon College Pr o fessor of the Ye a r, middledaughter an attorney and eldest an executive withthe fire department and nightclub singer. D o n a l dR e i s n e r is still a “legislative advocate” inSacramento, and he and Marilyn are grandparentsmany times over. D i ck Norman is supposed to beretired but spends more time at the office thanhe likes. Jarrett An d e r s o n is active in his prac-tice in Glendale and with his numerous communityactivities, including the Memorial Hospital wherehe serves as Chair of the operating board. Me, wellit is the same old 6s and 7s. I work “most” of thetime in Glendale and with the rest of the timeGinger and I travel, spend time with our grand-children and live at our home in Cabo San Lu c a s ,

M exico. Last December our 9-year-grandson,C h r i s t o p h e r, and I caught 2 Marlins and 2 Doradosin a single day. If you have anything you want toreport you may contact me via E-Mail at cwhite-s e l l @ e a r t h l i n k . n e t .

Charles Whitesell, Class Report e rc w h i t e s e l l @ e a r t h l i n k . n e t

> Class of 196 2It has been forty years since we left “Springmeyer,Burby & Company.” We, the bright eyed, bushytailed, and eager who would change the world andmake it a better place. Perhaps we have or haven’t,that measure is left to another to decide. We have,h o w e v e r, left our mark and I report the following.November 2001 was a troubling month. R i ch a r dAm e r i a n, one month before his sixty-fourthb i r t h d a y, passed away in his sleep having suffe r e da heart attack. He will be remembered as one ofthe “bright lights” in our class who always seemedto understand the issues and articulated a correctanalysis. He was an accomplished appellatejustice and lawyer; more importantly, he was afriend to all who knew him. Grandchildren continueto receive our attention. George Baffa, still withPasadena’s Hahn and Hahn, proudly displayspictures of grandchildren Connor (8 years), Pa r k e r(6 years) and Ashley (1 year). Our own H a r r yH a t h a w a y is the Chair of the ABA SeniorLawyers Division and was recently elected aTrustee of the “Art Center College of Design.” Hepractices with Fulbright & Jaworski in Lo sAngeles. “Grandpa” Albert Lum, with offices inPasadena and Las Vegas, reports on his threeg r a n d children (ages 9, 6 and 3) and their parents:the “Lum ch i l d r e n .” Jennifer is a U. S. Fe d e r a lMagistrate Judge; Mina, a Vice President withHong Kong Shanghai Bank in New York; AlbertJustin, a patent attorney; and Robert, an immigra-tion attorney like his father. Albert’s son, “J u s t i n ,”is the President of the So. California ChineseLawyers Association. This is the organization ofw h i ch Albert was a founder and charter presidenttwenty-six years ago. He would love to hear fromother members of the “night class.” Jerry Millerch e cked in to express his admiration for “A m e r i a n ,”who he described as a very, very special man who

was always “... there for me ... .” Our “Mr. Tr a v e l e r,”Kent Fr o e h l i ch, just returned from a two-monthtrip which took him to Scotland, Ireland, Wa l e s ,England and Paris. He advises that as I write this(January), he will be in Antarctica. N o r m a nM a r s h a l l is still in the National Guard and wasawarded the California Military History Medal in2000. He continues to ski and back p a ck. L a r r yTa p p e r retired from the California At t o r n e yGeneral’s Office and has been very busy sincethen. He and Joyce celebrated their 39th weddinganniversary and spent two months traveling inNepal and flying in Australia. By the time we seehim at our fortieth reunion in June, he will havebeen to Peru and Ecuador. My wife, Ellie, and Iare still working and enjoying the three-year-old“grand twins,” Matthew and Isabelle. Since they livein Chicago, we don’t get to see them everyweekend. I close with this quotation from Kipling,taken from Richard Amerian’s service: “If you cantalk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk withkings and never lose the common touch; If neitherfoes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all mencount with you, but none too much; If you can fillthe unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth ofdistance run — yours is the earth and everythingthat’s in it ...”

Judge John C. Wo o l l e y, Class Report e r

> Class of 1964Hello to the members of the Class of 1964! Af t e rour absence from the last issue, we have a lot toreport. Many of our classmates are retired andsome have remarried. Some of us continue tokeep our noses to the grindstone. Bill Be n n e t tretired from the practice on November 1, 2000,and, two months later, he married Hilda.Congratulations Bill. Bill hasn’t stopped working.He was ordained as a minister in the ReformedC h u r ch in America and serves as general counseland associate pastor of the Crystal Cathedral. R a yC o t k i n has also found romance. Ray was recentlymarried to his law partner Joan Dolinsky. Th e yspent their honeymoon in the Pacific Northwest.Ray’s daughter is pursuing her Ph.D. in history atPrinceton. Ray has been reappointed Chairpersonof the State Bar Insurance Committee.


cl a s sn o t e s

Out of touch ? C a t ch up on Law Sch o o lnews, look up an old professor or e-mail your

class reporter at USC Law o n l i n e[ http://lawweb.usc.edu/lawmag ]

Tom Fr e i b e r g is still practicing law. He is in hisfifth year as Chairperson of the Condemnation andLand Valuation Committee of the L.A. County BarAssociation. Tom continues his pro bono activities,w h i ch were reported in a prior column. J e r r yG a r r e t t continues to fish and garden in NewZealand. He was picked as top angler of theseason for his local fishing club. This is the last fishstory I’ll print about Jerry. His fishing is in additionto the numerous gardening awards he has won.Talk about a guy who enjoys life. R o nG o o d g a m e continues to enjoy his retirement. Hisadvice: “You all better retire now before it’s allgone!” Ron has entered the 21st Century andp u r chased a computer and has an e-mail address.E-mail me if you want it. Marshall Grossmanhas taken enough time from his busy sch e d u l eto accept an appointment by the Governor to theCalifornia State Commission on JudicialPerformance. Barry Herlihy has recently relo-cated his practice (still in Pasadena) and his firmwill be celebrating its 73rd anniversary this yearunder the original name. Barry and his wife Marietravel quite a bit, having visited Cuba in 2000 andreturning there this spring. They will be attendinga historic preservation conference. Barry continuesas President of The Cultural Foundation ofSouthern California and as Executive Director ofthe Heritage Square Museum. Barry serves inmany capacities in connection with variousmuseums in the local area. D i ck Moore r e t i r e dlast year. He’s enjoying it more than he everthought he would. After 40 years of not playing,D i ck is taking up golf. He is planning to travel byreturning to Europe. Wa t ch out Jerry Garrett, Dickis planning a trip to New Zealand and will try to getin touch. R i ch Reinjohn is taking a cruise thissummer to the Mediterranean. Rich recently wonthe right to purchase the first 2002 Thunderbird ata charity auction. Dave Roberti is a member ofthe Board of the California Integrated Wa s t eManagement Board. Congratulations to mypartner Ron Rosenfeld and his wife Priscilla whowill celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary thisspring. Lastly, with sympathy to their families, Ireport the passing of James McGahan a n dJohn Fitzrandolph. As I had reported earlier,John had recently retired as Dean of the Wh i t t i e r

S chool of Law after having been responsible forits growth and great success. If I’ve repeatedmyself in this column, remember we’re all gettingo l d e r. See you next issue.

Gary Zimmerman, Class Report e rg l z @ b e v e r l y h i l l s l a w. c o m

> Class of 1966Jim Bageman is retired and his card advertiseshim as a “life style consultant.” Sounds kinda “racy.”Jim has been spending his retirement traveling,recently to Europe and Hawaii, and playing with hisfour grandchildren. Some members of our class

are like the Energizer bunny; they just keep “goingand going.” Paul Bo l a n d ’ s career is still movingupward. Paul, who had been a judge of theCalifornia Superior Court for the last 21 years, wasrecently appointed as a Justice on the CaliforniaCourt of Appeal. Congratulations, Paul. Prior to hiselevation, he had served as President of theCalifornia Judges’ Association, and as a memberof the Judicial Council of California, the policy-making body for the state court system. P h i lFe l d m a n and his wife recently celebrated their50th wedding anniversary with their family in Pa l mDesert, California. Phil says his wife’s willingnessto put up with him is the result of her being a


Yvonne Brathwaite Burke ’56: A career of firsts

Yvonne Brathwaite Bu rke ’56 has spent a career making milestones: First black woman elected tothe California Assembly; first black woman elected to Congress from California; first black personto sit on the Los Angeles County Board of Su p e rvisors; first black person to chair the five -member board .

As a county superv i s o r, Bu rke re p resents a sprawling districts t retching from Ko re a t own to Watts and including USC; her dive r s econstituency epitomizes the richness of Los Angeles life. It’s a popu-lation that this politically moderate pragmatist has been preparing tolead ever since her graduation from the Law School.

Despite her accomplishments, the road to success has never beenclear of barriers. In fact, when Bu rke obtained her law degree, notone firm in the city granted her an interv i ew. She decided to eschewa corporate career for a life in public service, a decision she neve rre g re t t e d .

“ If you decide to go into public service, yo u’ll find that yo u’reachieving something eve ry day,” Bu rke told the audience gathered forthe USC Law School Black Law Students Association (BLSA) annualalumni dinner in Ap r i l .

Bu rke exhorted students to consider using their legal skills to improve the quality of people’s live sin the Los Angeles region and beyond. “We have tremendous problems that have to be faced aswe move into this new century,” she said. “The reality is that these issues remain and it’s going totake real cre a t i ve leadership to solve them.”

She recalled Crispus A. Wright ’38, a successful black businessman who in 1997 gave $2 millionfor student scholarships at the Law School. At its alumni dinner this ye a r, BLSA presented its firstannual public interest grant, named for Wright. Tiffany Mitchell ’04, who has worked at the LawS c h o o l’s Immigration Clinic and the First AME Churc h’s legal clinic, re c e i ved the $1,000 award .Wr i g h t’s success in the legal profession has opened doors, and “it doesn’t stop with him,” Bu rke toldstudents. “You have an opportunity to make as many changes and make as many doors open.”

— Phat X. Chiem

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke ’56was keynote speaker at the Black Law StudentsAssocation’s alumni dinner.

Class reporters neededfor the classes of 1963 and 1968.


p s y chotherapist and, therefore, understandinghim very well. Congratulations to Phil and Regine.Bob Mirisch works part time on entertainmentrelated matters and spends the majority of histime on community activities and charities. G l e nM o w r e r has decided to enter the political arenawhere he was a candidate for the Green Pa r t ynomination as California Attorney General in theM a r ch 2002 primary. Robert Robinson is acorporate officer and general counsel in thetelecommunications industry and spends his freetime either skiing or sailing. He also is very activein various charity groups. I am still on the bench ,although more in an administrative role as the Supervising Judge for the Southeast Districtof the Los Angeles County Superior Court, w h i ch consists of approximately 50 judicial officers in six different locations. So m e t i m e sgetting that many judicial officers to do what you want is like herding cats. Unfortunately this column ends on a sad note. One of our clasmates, Robert W. Court, passed away lastAugust. On behalf of our class, we extend

our deepest sympathies and condolences to his widow.

Judge Chris R. Conway, Class Report e r

> Class of 1968Ah, what is the price of success? My past effortsat soliciting information from our class membershas been so successful that the number ofresponses have dwindled in as much as mostpeople feel that they have communicated all oftheir current and up to date information. Th o u g hthe list is smaller, the quality still remains. So hereit is our update for now. Ron Supancic is a realinnovator in the area of family law. He is operatingR e Solution Family Law; his goal obviously is toobtain solutions to family law problems. Ron andhis lovely wife Terrie have been married for 39years and they have been best friends for 42years. Now their best friends include their 4 ch i l-dren and their 3 grandchildren. As a divorce lawyer,Ron believes the Chinese Proverb: “It is better tosave one marriage, than it is to build a seven-story

t e m p l e .” Ron has been featured on several newsshows in connection with his innovative approachto divorce in America and presented at the StateBar of California meeting in May 2000. He wass cheduled to present at the Annual Convention ofthe Los Angeles County Ps y ch o l o g i c a lAssociation in October 2001 and is one of thefounders of the coalition for Cooperative Divorced.Berneice An g l e a efficiently reports that she haschanged her address and is now residing inNewport Beach. May the winds be cool and thewaves break gently on your shore. Judge Be r n i eJ. Kamins, continues to man the Superior Courtin Santa Monica doing yeoman’s work. Bernie hasbeen married for 29 years to Susan and has twodaughters, Marni, 25, and Piper, 21. He is now thepresiding Judge for Drug Court for the We s tDistrict of Los Angeles County and an AdjunctPr o fessor of Law at the Pepperdine School of Law.According to Bernie, “The face of criminal justiceis changing when we are giving treatment to drugusers rather than incarceration.” Lawrence N.F i s h e r ch e cks in from Fluor, where he is SeniorVice President, Law and Secretary. Everything isthe same except for really good news: hisdaughter Wendy got married on June 23 to MartinRuane. We have heard from Ken M. Rosenberg,who is living in Malibu and is chairman ofPharmavite Corporation in Mission Hills. Th a n k sfor letting us know what is going on. Allan B.We i s s reports that he is well and engaged in thepractice of law with Weiss, Hirota and Associatesin Long Beach. He is married to Karen and hastwo kids; Andrew 21 and Alexander 17. We hearagain from Barry Ko h n who continues to serveas Commissioner of Los Angeles Superior Courtin Division 16. He and his certified domesticpartner Will Harrison celebrated their 4th yeart o g e t h e r. Barry is still traveling. Last year, he spentApril in Paris and Lyon, France, and attended thejudge’s conference in Yosemite in May. He visitedcolleagues in Sonora California, went to Boston atthe end of May, saw where the nation began andwent to Filene’s Bargain Basement. Barry stillremains the director at the InternationalAssociation of Lesbian and Gay Judges. Ad aG a r d i n e r happily reports the birth of hergrandson Andrew K. Treiger on May 9, 2001. Wa y


cl a s sn o t e s

D i ck Ziman ’67: A real contribution to real estate studies

Dick Ziman, a 1967 USC Law graduate, has been a leader and innovator in the real estate industryfor more than 25 years. Now, with a $5 million gift to launch the Richard S. Ziman Center for Re a lEstate at UCLA, he has established a legacy that will influence the industry well into the future .

“ Real estate extends far beyond its traditional focus on bricks andm o rt a r, as it now reflects and is a major factor in the significant socialand political issues of our time,” Ziman said. “W h e re we live andthe quality of our future personal and business lives will be determinedby the planning, design and development of our urban enviro n m e n t . ”

Ziman hopes his gift to the unive r s i t y’s real estate program willfacilitate greater collaboration among academic, business and politicalleaders as the real estate industry confronts issues facing So u t h e r nC a l i f o r n i a’s urban landscape.

A longtime leader in Los Angeles, Ziman has served three two-ye a rterms as chairman of the board of directors of the City of Ho p eNational Medical Center and its Beckman Re s e a rch Institute. Heholds prominent positions with the He b rew Un i versity of Je ru s a l e m ,

the Jewish Home for the Aging, the Los Angeles Arts Council and the Democratic Na t i o n a lCommittee. He is a founder of the Un i versity of Judaism and the Los Angeles Music Center.

As chairman and CEO of Arden Re a l t y, Inc., Ziman has led the company to redefine the ro l eof commercial pro p e rty owners. The recipient of numerous awards, Arden Realty is the largest ow n e rof office space in Southern California.

D i ck Ziman ’67 is a leader in thecommunity and the real estatei n d u s t r y.

Class reporters neededfor the classes of 1970, 1973, 1974,

1975, 1976 and 1978. For information, call (213) 740 - 614 3 .

to go Ada. Also heard from C. Chester Brisco, hetells us that he continues to hear labor relationsand grievance arbitrations, but is tapering off.Good luck on getting to a slower pace of life. Inorder to do that he rode his BMW R1150RTmotorcycle to Cape Breton Island and GaspePeninsula in September, from Tustin, California. Heflew home from Virginia and had the bike shippedb a ck from there. He rode 7, 400 miles in all. Ke e pthose joints loose. Jonathan Lappen is marriedto Miyuki and has two children, Jeremy andAngela, both are USC law grads and both aremarried. He has two grandchildren; CharlotteRosen at age 4 and Matthew Rosen at age 1. Heretired from the practice of law and owns Baron’sExotic Auto Rentals. Ronald S. Barak is nowpracticing under his own banner in Century City.That is all for now, look forward to more responsesand a longer article next time.

N. Mitchell Feinstein, Class Report e rM [email protected]

> Class of 1971While having lunch recently at a Century Cityrestaurant, guess who walked in? Terry S.K a p l a n. We have seen each other many timesover the years in unexpected places and it wascertainly nice to see him again. Terry is a partner inBillet, Kaplan and Dawley. He is a CommercialLitigator with a specialty in Title Insurance andFinancial Institution matters. Word has it that Te r r yis also a very good Insurance Bad Faith At t o r n e y.He recently argued a case before the CaliforniaSupreme Court. For rest and relaxation he collectsantique vehicles, his most favorite being a 1937Pa ckard V12 Phaeton. Terry was married in June2001 and has no children. He told me that, unfor-t u n a t e l y, he doesn’t see many of our classmates;however he does maintain a relationship withRoss G. Swing whom you might recall was thisreporter’s Moot Court Partner in placing first (bestbrief, and best oral argument) in the Moot CourtCompetition! After graduation Ross worked as aDistrict Attorney for the County of San Diego. Af t e rstints at various Law Firms he spent 12 years asIn-House Counsel for Caesar’s World, the ownerof Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. Ross resides in the

H a n c o ck Park area of Los Angeles where he liveswith his wife, youngest son, two dogs and a cat.His wife, Janeen, is an interior decorator. Hisoldest son, Aron, went to Brown University and isa policeman in the Los Angeles Po l i c eDepartment. According to Ross, Aron was smartenough to live with Mom and Dad while savingup to buy a condominium and now lives a blocka w a y. Smart child! Ross’s middle son, Brian, will begraduating soon from U.C. Davis with a degree in

Civil Engineering. Ross’s youngest son, Morgan, isa senior in High School and is heading to U.C.B e r k e l e y. Bringing back fond memories, I recentlyhad a conversation with Wallace L. Roswall, afriend and personal ally during Law School. Af t e rgraduation he joined a small firm in Los Angelesspecializing in Commercial litigation and tried toverdict several business and anti trust cases. Af t e rten years in private practice he came in out of the cold as a member of the In-House Le g a l


Samuel R. Paz ’74: A civil rights icon

It was the fall of 1971. Students across the country we re rallying at anti-war demonstrations, some-times clashing violently with police. The Chicano movement had reached its heyd a y, sparking laborp rotests and strikes throughout the southwestern United States. And Samuel R. Paz ’74 was headingfor his first day of classes at USC Law School.

“I had $150 worth of books in my bag and I was expecting to startlaw school,” recalls Paz, recipient of the 2002 USC La Raza LawStudents Association Inspirational Alumnus Aw a rd. “As soon as Igot there, there we re 25 people walking in front of the school.Someone explained that three students we re going to be kicked outof school because they we re three or four hundredths of a point off theminimum grade. We went on strike for four we e k s . ”

In the end, all but one student — Danny Chavez, a friend whohad initially encouraged Paz to become an advocate for the disad-vantaged — we re allowed to remain in school. But the strike turnedPaz on a path of activism. He helped establish a legal aid center oncampus for the poor and homeless and began doing legal writs for pris-oners at Terminal Island. After graduation, Paz and three fellowstudents — St e ve Sanora, David Go m ez and Jose Ro d r i g u ez — started their own dow n t own lawfirm to serve working class people in Los Angeles. “We we re going to open a community law officeand work for the community we re p resented,” Paz says.

The firm was known for taking on civil rights and police misconduct cases. In 1979, Paz and hisp a rtners won a major case against the Los Angeles Police De p a rtment, one of the first in the U.S.to prove political spying by a police agency. The firm also won acquittal for one of the “Bi l t m o re 10”charged with arson and burglary during then-Gov. Ronald Re a g a n’s speech at the Los AngelesBi l t m o re Ho t e l .

“T h e re we re literally only three or four firms in the city that would do police misconduct in thosedays,” Paz remembers. “We we re just ove rwhelmed with so many cases. Many of the cases that aren ow fundamental in civil rights law didn’t even exist ye t . ”

An icon in the Los Angeles legal community, Paz has served in a number of leadership positions,including vice president of the Mexican American Bar Association and national vice president of theAC LU. Cu r rently in private practice, he plans to partially re t i re when he turns 60 next year andd e vote his time to studying the application of human rights laws around the world.

— Phat X. Chiem

Samuel Paz ’74 received the2002 Inspirational AlumnusAward from USC’s La Raza LawStudents Association.




The sun is glinting off the snowy hillside outside my office window. A herd of some 40 elk is grazing to the north, perhaps 50 yards fro mthe Bonneville Sh o reline Trail where I hike on sunny days. A bald eaglesails by on its afternoon rodent hunt. I don’t see our resident mooset o d a y, but dogs, bikes and the occasional hardy jogger traverse the trail.

Su d d e n l y, my re verie is interrupted by the thwack-thwack of a largeblack helicopter, buzzing my building and streaking out of sight. I notice20 or so camouflage-clad, M-16-toting soldiers jogging along the trail. The elk continue to graze. Ah, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Sa l tLake City.

I ’ve lived in Salt Lake for 20 years. I still marvel at its beauty and itsunique, off-center politics and culture. Settled in the mid-1800s by Mormon pioneers (joined quickly by “non-Mormon” miners, r a i l roaders, bankers and others), Utah has long been the seat of contro-versy and different-ness. Life here, especially in this Olympic ye a r, is oneof stark contrasts, not unlike the practice of law or the raising of a teenager (my primary occupations): you love it deeply and wouldn’tl e a ve for anything but wonder if you we re mad to have gone there in thefirst place.

As the city pre p a red for the Winter Games, Olympic venues we rebeing readied for competition, flags and giant posters we re going up,Olympic pins (including the highly desirable green jello and fry saucelogo pins) we re in the stores, event tickets sat on the kitchen counter nextto the latest road closure-warning publications. Meanwhile, dow n t ow noffice buildings were under security lock-down. Local police appar-ently were concerned that the explosive finale of the OpeningCeremonies, held along foothills teeming with elk, deer and moose,might cause a stampede of large, wild herbivores into the city. Thatwould have given the world media something to talk about.

Now it is spring. I sit in my office, writing on my trusty Compaq,glancing occasionally out my window at the now grass-covered hill-side. The elk and moose have moved back tow a rd the solitude of thec a n yons beyond my view. The cyclists and joggers appear now in largernumbers — and without the accompaniment of National Gu a rd tro o p sand choppers. We survived the Olympics and the Paralympics, and,a m a z i n g l y, enjoyed the whole thing. Nothing was as bad as pre d i c t e d ,so eve rything seemed wonderful — and much of it really was.

One of my favorite moments occurred at the opening of theParalympics, in a rain storm, while watching the German team rock toStevie Wo n d e r. My sometimes jaded, cynical and hard-to-please 13-ye a r -old turned to me (in the presence of one of her friends!) and said shethought this was maybe the coolest thing she had ever seen. Not bad.

Salt Lake is a lovely city, capital of a beautiful (or, as our official sloganeers say, “a pre t t y, gre a t”) state. Both city and state, howe ve r, area little self-conscious. When the cameras are rolling folks often seem to stub their corporate and political toes. They get their feelings hurtwhen outsiders are critical or notice that once again their cultural slipis show i n g .

What I have learned as a lawyer and as a mother is that you cans u rv i ve the tough times, the frightening times, the times when you feelnot quite up to the job, the angry times (when you think, “I used tobe a smart person, I could have done something else with my life, whyam I here?”) — but only if at some level you know that you are exactlyw h e re you really want to be, and if you can laugh heartily at yourself andnot be troubled if others laugh with you. It is in that spirit that SaltLake City and I faced our Olympic experience. I think we all emergedbetter for it.

first person

v i e wf r o m salt lake city

by Beth Whitsett ’78

t h e

Beth Whitsett ’78 is associate general counsel at Huntsman

Chemical Corp. A Los Angeles native, she moved to Uta h

in 1981 to be closer to the ski slopes. Since her husband’s

death in 2001, she is learning to juggle her career, single

parenting, two dogs, a cat, and house and auto repairs.

January 2002:


Department at Coldwell Banker Commercial,w h i ch is now known as CB Richard Ellis. Wa l l a c e ’ spractice centers on Commercial Litigation andTrials. During the last ten years he has devoted agreat deal of time to employment law. He has triedseveral discrimination and sexual harassmentcases and trained and educated employees withhis company on how to eliminate discriminationand harassment from the marketplace. He is an active member of the Corporate LawDepartment’s Section of the LA County BarAssociation. He and his wife, Sue, have beenmarried for 31 years. They have raised two sonsand a daughter and have lived in San Marino forthe last 30 years. His oldest son, Pa t r i ck, justpassed the California Bar exam and is living in SanFrancisco. Kim graduated from UCLA and starts aPhD program in Biology this fall. Son, Bob, is aJunior at the University of Michigan but isspending this semester in Beijing, China. Suecontinues to teach English composition at CSUL Aand thrives in the academic environment. I had awonderful conversation with Fred A. Fe n s t e r. Heis a partner at Rutter, Hobbs and Davidoff special-izing in Litigation. He and his wife, Andrea, recentlycelebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Th e yhave two children. Amanda is a Casting Director inFilm and Monica will be attending graduate sch o o lin Industrial Relations. In addition to his litigationduties at the Firm he continues to represent suchsports world figures as Pete Rose, Pete Sampras,Lindsay Davenport, Lynn Swann and others. Wh e nnot in the Century City Office you can find Fred onthe USC campus. Since 1977 he has been anAdjunct Pr o fessor of Law teaching Pr e -Tr i a lA d v o c a c y. He advises that he is constantlyimpressed with the high caliber of students thatthe Law School attracts. Steven S. Wa l l,together with his wife, Fran, toured Italy lastsummer and sadly Fran was involved in a very badautomobile accident. I am pleased to report thatshe is fully recovered and is now doing well. All ourbest wishes to you, Fran and Steve.

Joseph E. Porter III, Class Report e rp o r t e r 3 l a w @ a o l . c o m

> Class of 1981Your reporter was overwhelmed with responses toour most recent questionnaire. The Class of 198 1has been extremely busy! Here is the most recent“ b u z z .” R i ck Barton is a partner at Higgs, Fletch e r& Mack LLP in San Diego. He joined that firm in1 999 after 17 years with his previous firm,McInnis, Fitzgerald, Rees & Sharkey. He repre-sents health care systems and providers in a widevariety of litigation. He lives with his wife Elaine,son Justin (16) and daughter Rachel (14) inOlivenhain, a small town in North San DiegoC o u n t y. Last summer they spent 2 weeks in Italy.R i ck is also the Chairman of the Board of Tr u s t e e sof the San Diego office of the Anti-DefamationLeague. Keith Bishop is a corporate and trans-actional partner in the Newport Beach office ofIrell & Manella LLP. He is a previous Commissionerof Corporations and is writing a new edition of hisNevada corporations treatise. His eldest daughterentered Harvard College this fall where she willmajor in East Asian Studies (Japanese). Jean M.C o s t a n z a has been appointed to the position ofDeputy Public Defender 1 with the Los AngelesCounty Public Defender’s Office. Andy K. Ulichis a partner at Songstad, Randall & Ulich in Irvine.He recently obtained a multi-million dollar bad faithverdict against an insurance company. R o n a l dJ. Fo m a l o n t has had his own personal injurypractice in Santa Monica for seven years. He iscurrently producing an educational documentarya bout a Holocaust survivor from the CzechRepublic. Glenn A. We i n m a n is Vice Pr e s i d e n tand General Counsel for Luminent, Inc., a large,publicly traded fiber optics manufacturer locatedin Chatsworth, California. He was previously with

Guess? Inc. and competitive-knowledge.com. Helives with his wife Vivien and daughters Samantha(11) and Jessica (9) in Encino. Henry R. Steipelis the managing partner of the Costa Mesa officeof Pillsbury Winthrop LLP. He lives in Mission Vi e j owith his wife and 2 sons, ages 6 and 9. Be t s yB r i n s o n is a partner with Nelson, Brinson,Thigpen & Fr y e r, P.S. in Bellingham, Wa s h i n g t o n .Susan Aa r o n s o n is a retired Public Defe n d e r(must be nice!). She and her husband Paul Hanby(also a retired Public Defender) have been trav-eling (Paris, the Grand Canyon, Indonesia, Bali andFiji). Sounds like retirement is worth lookingforward to! Jonathan Swerdlow lives in BeverlyHills with his wife Sharon, daughter Leora (4), sonAri (2) and son Alex (born on 6/14/01, congrat-ulations!). He is currently doing strategicconsulting for media and technology companies.Since September 2000, Jeffrey D. Th o m p s o nhas been Senior Counsel for Tenet Healthcare inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the head of theregional law department for the company.Barbara Hodous is with Berkes Crane & SealLLP in Los Angeles. As you can see, we had agreat response to our request for informationa bout our class. Keep those cards and letterscoming!

John B. Jameson, Class Reporter j b j @ t h e j a m e s o n g r o u p . c o m

> Class of 198 2With our upcoming 20th year reunion on thehorizon (could it really be that long!), we thoughtthat you might enjoy hearing from a few membersof the reunion committee…Bruce Soll lives inColumbus, Ohio, and is Senior V. P. and Counsel forThe Limited, Inc./Intimate Brands. He is in hiseleventh year in Columbus, following eight yearsspent in Washington. Bruce reports that his jobtakes him to Washington and New York eachmonth and to the West Coast less frequently.Bruce and his wife Joy have three boys, Jason(11), Evan (9), and Adam (6). Team Soll loves to skiand the boys are doing great at their NASTA Rdownhill racing. Bruce is looking forward to makingthe trip west this July with his family to attend our upcoming reunion. Sallie Estep Wa r r e n

class notes

On the Honor Roll

Jeff Smulyan ’72 was named a trustee of theUn i versity of Southern California. He joins twoother graduates of the Law School on USC’sb o a rd of trustees: John Argue ’56 and St a n l eyGold ’67. Smulyan is chairman, president andprincipal shareholder of the In d i a n a p o l i s - b a s e dEmmis Communications Corp., a $650 millionmedia company he founded in 1981.

Class of ’82 Reunion S a t u rd a y, July 20, 2002

at Newport Harbor Ya cht Club.For information, call (213) 740 - 614 3 .

continues to practice law with her husband Don inSan Diego. They have a boutique trial firm special-izing in qui tam litigation, typically brought underthe Federal False Claims Act. Sallie and Don havetwo beautiful and precocious daughters, Christie(10), and Tracy (7). Sallie reports that the SanDiego lifestyle is a perfect balance of work andplay and a dream come true. She and her familylook forward to seeing everyone at our rapidlya p p r o a ching 20-year reunion. Chip Fe d a l e n l e f tthe practice of law once and for all in 1994. Hepresently runs the Real Estate Group office forWells Fargo in Orange County, California, asExecutive V. P. He and his wife Helen have threeteenage daughters. Their oldest is a senior in HighS chool, currently applying to several colleges (Chipreports that he feels like he is reapplying to collegeall over again and can’t believe that it was 28 yearsago!). The Fedalens love to travel as a family andhave visited such places as Egypt, Central Americaand Europe. Chip loves working and living inOrange County and is looking forward to a greatreunion. Mark and Geri (Craft) Fr a z i e r a r eliving and working in Orange County as well. Markspecializes in complex business and intellectualproperty litigation and is a partner with Rutan andTu ck e r, where he has practiced since graduating.Mark has become very involved with his collegealma mater where he currently serves as Pr e s i d e n tof the Occidental Alumni Association and sits onthe College’s Board of Trustees. After serving asin-house counsel for a former client for a numberof years, Geri now performs legal consulting work,on a part-time basis, in order to spend more timewith Mark and Geri’s three boys — Nick (13), Ben(11) and Grant (8), as well as to become involvedin a number of philanthropic and communityservice endeavors. The entire reunion committeelooks forward to seeing many old friends at theupcoming reunion (Saturday, July 20). We hopethat everyone will plan to attend what should bea fun and relaxing evening, especially given theunique venue and enjoyable time of year.

Mark and Geri (Craft) Frazier, Class Report e r [email protected] (Mark)[email protected] (Geri)

> Class of 1986It’s hard to believe 15 years have passed since wegraduated, but those of us who attended our classreunion last fall had a great time sharing memoriesand catching up. Attendees included Alice andM i ke Ab r i l, Deborah Ai w a s i a n & RudyAmpudia, Melissa and M i chael Bo r d y, D e b o r a hBe r t h e l & Gene Tognarelli, R oxanne Davis,Alysa and Stephen Del Guercio, Ellen & L a n c eG a m s, Kay Ko ch e n d e r f e r & Frank To o m e y, J i mL o r i ck, Mary Biebel, Janet and David May,Kimberly and Anthony Miera, Nancy Mindeland Steve Mindel ( 1 985), Lisa and R o b e r tM i t r o v i ch, Denise and David Olson, C l a r eR i ch a r d s o n, Susan (Zuckerman) Williams &Ken Williams. It was particularly nice to see class-mates who traveled from distant reaches of thecountry to attend, including Gary Davidson, whocame from Miami, and Owen Ke e g a n, who trav-eled from Arlington, Virginia. Unfortunately for Pa t t iand Tom Larkins, the reunion was a bon voyageas they have relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota,where Tom is now general counsel of Honeywell.Congratulations, I guess. After the reunion, J o h nM c M a h o n called in with the lame excuse that heand Kathy McMahon missed the reunionbecause they still live in London. John reports thatthey and their two kids still love living in Englandand he is enjoying his job as executive vice pres-ident, managing director, Europe for ColumbiaTriStar International Television, the division of So n yPictures Entertainment responsible for all televi-sion business outside of the United States. Otherclassmates who could not make the reunionch e cked in as well. M i chael Strage lives in NewYork where he has been practicing as a securi-ties transaction attorney/private placement agentand is also an officer and director of two start-upb i o t e ch companies. Terry Magady was just

appointed to the Board of Governors of theBeverly Hills Bar Association and his article,“Guiding Families Through the Maze of Medi-C a lE l i g i b i l i t y,” was published in the March 2001edition of Los Angeles Lawyer. Billie JanG o l d s t e i n is still living in Florida where she is anattorney with the appellate division of the MiamiPublic Defender’s Office. Billie reports that shemet up with Mary Jo Peterson Strnad in Pa l oAlto last June where Mary Jo’s daughter waspreparing for graduation from Stanford. K a r lL i n d e g r e n is “still fighting to protect employers”at his firm in Orange County and wonders “isanyone else in OC?” Well, Karl, the answer is yes.Glen Segal, for one, is practicing in Irvine withTu r n e r, Reynolds, Greco & O’Hara. Jon & KarenD a r i o live in Tustin and Jon is executive vice pres-ident of Park Place Capital Corp., a new mortgagebanking company Jon formed with several part-ners. Karen has taken “one very small step out ofretirement” by helping at a pizza restaurant ownedby Jon’s brother and sister-in-law and by writinga column for The Tustin News, a local newspapercirculated by the Orange County Register.

Dana Hobart, Class Report e rH o b a r t D @ HBD l a w y e r s . c o m

> Class of 1987Please save the date: July 13 is our 15th yearreunion! The party is at Gladstone’s Restaurantin Malibu. In the interim, here is the latest newson your fellow classmates. Robert Be a u ch a m pand his wife Mynette have their own law firm inNewport Beach. The Beauchamp Firm is a generalbusiness practice in both transactional work andlitigation, with an emphasis on business dissolu-tions. Robert and Mynette have two ch i l d r e n :Andrew Jackson (3) and Remy Isabelle (9months). Ken Swenson and Eva Cicoria l i v ein Rancho Palos Verdes. Ken has opened a trans-actional real estate, land use and environmentalpractice in Torrance. Eva is enjoying a respite fromthe practice of law and spending her time takingcare of their family. Denise Lariviere and herhusband, Kevin, have their own law firm inPasadena. Meenan & Lariviere is a civil plaintiffsfirm with an emphasis on products liability. Denise


cl a s sn o t e s

On the Honor Roll

Benjamin de Ma yo ’75 was named countycounsel for Orange County, Calif., last fall. Inaddition to his litigation expertise, de Ma yo hasbeen Orange County’s lead attorney for land useand has an extensive background in public law.


at Gladstone’s in MalibuFor information, call (213) 740 - 614 3 .

and Kevin have two children: Kate (14) and Joe(12). Jon Robertson continues to practice civillitigation in Costa Mesa, with an emphasis in repre-senting financial institutions. His firm, Darling,Robertson & Lee, LLP, has grown to nine attor-neys. Jon and his wife Kati report that life withthe triplets (4 years old) is non-stop entertainment.

Jon Robertson, Class Reporter j r r @ d a r r o b l e e . c o m

> Class of 1989Thanks to those who replied to the most recentquestionnaire. If you have not responded r e c e n t l y, please take a few minutes to e-mail( J z a r i a n @ f o g z l a w.com) or write me in care of theLaw School, any time, so I can include yourupdates in future columns. … Matt Cavanaughwas recently elected a State Bar governor in an“upset” victory that made the front page of Th eDaily Journal. He thanks USC alumni for theirsupport. Matt joined the faculty of Whittier LawS chool in 2000. … As an associate professor atTexas Southern University, Deana Po l l a r d -S h e l b y will be using Erwin Chemerinsky’s newt ex t book to teach constitutional law this fall. Deanarecently married David Shelby, and is a televisionc o m m e n t a t o r, marathon runner and fitness modelin her spare time. …Tamara Byram was alsomarried last year (to David, finally) and used hernew scuba certification during a two-weekCaribbean vacation. She is an associate generalcounsel at John Deere Health in Illinois. … Pe t e rKe z i r i a n recently visited Brussels and theBalkans as part of a fact-finding delegation spon-sored by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR )and NATO. Peter was surely in his element duringthe high-level meetings with senior policy and military leaders. … Laura Westray Hankinsproudly announces the recent birth of her son,William Andrew Hankins IV. Laura continues topractice family law in Redondo Beach. …As ofJ a n u a r y, Shauna We e k s is a partner at Arnold &Po r t e r. … Colin Leis is working in the newlycreated Division 8 of the Court of Appeal’s SecondDistrict, in the chambers of Justice Larry Rubin. …Adrienne Cohen has grown her firm to sixlawyers, and continues to specialize in insurance

and business litigation. … Kurt Bridgman h a sjoined the firm of Lo w, Ball & Ly n ch in SanFrancisco. He continues to practice in the areas ofpersonal injury and professional liability litigation.… And I continue to practice in the areas ofc o m p l ex business, intellectual property andcommercial litigation. As part of a “managed” mid-l i fe crisis (I’m turning 40 this year), I will be travelingto Helsinki and hiking to the top of Mt. Wh i t n e y( 1 4 , 491 ft.) this summer. … Please keep sendingyour updates! Best regards.

John N. Zarian, Class Report e rJ z a r i a n @ f o g z l a w. c o m

> Class of 1990Greetings Classmates! We had a record numberof responses to our latest questionnaire, andwould like to thank each of you for taking time out of your busy lives to share your thoughts,accomplishments, and other updates. HOW T HE EVEN TS OF SEP T EMBER 11, 2001CH A NGED YOUR LI V E S: On September 11th,Boyd Rutherford was at his desk in Wa s h i n g t o n ,D.C., one week into his new position with theGeneral Services Administration (more detailsbelow), when his son Marshall (now 18) called totell him the World Trade Towers had been hit byairplanes. Moments later he felt a bump, like an


Law grads take new positions on the bench

Four Law School graduates have been appointed to new positions on the bench. Justice Ca n d a c eD. Cooper ’73 was confirmed as presiding justice in the California Court of Appeal, Se c o n dAppellate District, Division Eight — a new division of the second district. Los Angeles Su p e r i o rC o u rt Judge Paul Boland ’66 was confirmed as associate justice in thesame division. Vincent H. Okamoto ’73 and Ma ry H. St robel ’83we re appointed to serve in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Cooper previously served as an associate justice in Division Two ofthe 2nd District Court of Appeal. From 1987 to 1999 she served asa Los Angeles Superior Court judge, and from 1980 to 1987 she wasa Los Angeles Municipal Court judge. Be f o re she was appointed to thebench, Cooper handled transactional and business matters for the LosAngeles law firm Gibson, Dunn & Cru t c h e r.

Boland began his legal career in 1967 as a law clerk for U.S.District Judge A. Andrew Hauk in Los Angeles. In 1968, he becamea staff attorney and deputy director of litigation at the Western Centeron Law and Pove rt y. T h rough the 1970s, Boland directed UCLA’sClinical Legal Education Program and served as a law professor andassociate dean at UCLA School of Law. In 1981, he was appointed tothe Los Angeles Superior Court.

Okamoto is the most decorated Japanese-American soldier tos u rv i ve the Vietnam Wa r. Be f o re joining the Superior Court, he was aname partner with Okamoto, Wasserman & Torii, where he handledtransactional matters and civil litigation, and was CEO, chairman andcofounder of the Pacific Heritage Bank, one of the largest minority-c o n t rolled financial institutions in the country.

St robel was previously with the Los Angeles city attorney’s office and also had served as staffcounsel to the Appointed Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission, where she helped draft a re v i s e dcity chart e r. St robel worked in the Santa Monica city attorney’s office from 1985 to 1997.

— Elina Ag n o l i

Justice Candace Cooper ’73, top;Justice Paul Boland ’66

Class reporters neededfor the classes of 1984 and 1988.


earthquake tremor, looked toward the window andsaw a plume of smoke go up. Initially, Boydthought it might be a car bomb nearby, but whenhe went to the roof of his building, he could see F-16s flying overhead and the Pentagon burning2 miles away. As the day progressed, Boydwitnessed a professional team of primarily careersenior government executives responding to thecrisis with calm determination. Steve Bo g g s ’w i fe, Diane, is an international flight attendant forAmerican Airlines. On 9/11, Diane was at homerecuperating from the back injury she suffered inan “air rage” incident; however, she lost a room-mate in one of the WTC crashes and a friend inthe Pentagon crash. (She also knew at least halfof the crew onboard American Airlines Flight5 87—the Airbus A300 that dropped out of the skyand landed in Queens, New York, last November. )Native New Yorker Doug Carasso was deeplysaddened by the images of his hometown on tele-vision. Another New Yo r k e r, Arlene (Blatt)Ta n s e y, was busy trying to contact friends andfamily in New York from her home in Australia.Everyone was OK, but she is now more aware ofpersonal safety and has renewed her NY connec-tions. Lori Loo no longer likes working in theCentury City twin towers. Peter Zilgavis r e p o r t sthat Swissair and Sabena went bankrupt—severinghis links to the rest of the world from Strasbo u r g .Many are refocusing their priorities: C h r i s t i n eL a w t o n is reminded on a daily basis how fragilel i fe is, and how quickly it ends. Sabrina (Sinser)B u r t o n ’ s natural fears as a new mother wereintensified in the weeks and months following9/11. She hopes the recollection of these eventswill help her to keep focused on her true priorities.Greg Nylen realizes how precious even thesimplest of things are in his very fortunate life .Allison Malin is more focused on the importanceof family and friends, and has resolved to stay inbetter touch with them and find satisfaction in herjob. Russ Cashdan also has a new appreciationfor family and friends. J a ckie (Miller) Josephis looking at everything a little bit diffe r e n t l y, and isc a l m e r, nicer, more patient and enjoying her friendsand family. On the home front, Deanna Wo l l a mD e t ch e m e n d y lost her sense of security, lost herdesire to travel, and found herself changing videos

for her 3-year-old to keep him from the endlessreruns of the twin towers collapsing. Also, in theaftermath of 9/11, security at Disney increased,while stock and option values decreased.Speaking for many of us, Steve At l e e wrote, “Ithink it made all of us appreciate the freedom andsecurity we take for granted, and how valuable lifeis. I hope everyone is well, and our thoughts andprayers go out to those who have been affe c t e d ,whether directly or indirectly.” And, Sharon JillS a n d l e r observed, “The psychological and intel-lectual freedom enjoyed for 17 years in thisc o u n t r y, came to an end. The anxiety of theunknown, as experienced in the days of ‘the oldSouth Af r i c a ’, now persists.” AT WORK: Pr o u dBush appointee Boyd Rutherford has been sworn-in as Associate Administrator of the U.S. GeneralServices Administration’s (GSA) Office ofEnterprise Development. Best of all, says Boyd,“I’m not practicing law!” Steven Pfahler m a d epartner at Bannan, Green, Frank & Terzian in Lo sAngeles, where he practices civil litigation. Arlene(Blatt) Tansey was promoted from ExecutiveDirector of Corporate Finance to CorporatePortfolio Management at Australia and NewZealand Banking Group. She will be responsiblefor building a new team that will develop a restruc-turing practice at the bank. Steve Atlee continues

to litigate business and intellectual property casesat Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles. During theholidays, he first chaired a three-week jury trial forW HSmith (the UK’s largest magazine and bo o kretailer), and obtained a complete defense verdict.[Steve, Congratulations!] After 4 years back East,Don Chavez has moved to Pasadena andrejoined Northrop Grumman Corporation asSenior Counsel. He will serve as the Pr o g r a mCounsel for various Unmanned Air Ve h i c l ePrograms, including Global Hawk. S t e v eFo g e l s o n, who works in Consumer Products atWarner Brothers, is grateful this year for the jobsecurity the Harry Potter frenzy provides. Ad a mD u n c a n has joined Vantis Equity Associates, LLC(a registered investment advisor), where he will beserving as General Counsel and ManagingD i r e c t o r. Adam will be responsible for overseeingall legal, regulatory and compliance matters, andwill handle client development and investmentmatters as well. GROW ING FIRMS: M a r kFe l d m a n added a fourth attorney to Feldman &Associates and sent two cases to classmateKevin Greber. The Law and Mediation Offices ofHeidi S. Tu f f i a s added a new associate. D o u gE m h o f f reports that, in just over a year, his firmhas added a partner, grown to seven attorneys,and changed its name to Whitwell, Jacoby &Emhoff (www. w j e l a w.com). AT PL AY: Steve Boggsbegan (or resumed after a 35+ year hiatus) hiscar-racing career. He went to the world renownedBob Bondurant School of High Pe r f o r m a n c eDriving where, in four races, Steve managed toeek out a second place and three first placefinishes. Steve credits his tremendous successto Brent Osterstock, who helped Steve with allhis “sim” work over the last few years. TV SIGH T-INGS: Proud stage dad Doug Emhoff reports thathis son, Cole (7), could be seen on national tele-vision throughout the holidays in severalcommercials for Old Navy. There were alsomultiple opportunities to see Cynthia Garrett,who co-hosted the Muscular DystrophyAssociation’s 2001 Labor Day telethon, made arecent guest appearance on “Politically Incorrect,”and got mixed reactions when she wore a red-white-and-blue sequined flag dress to the 59thAnnual Golden Globe Awards. NEW ADDI T IONS :


cl a s sn o t e s

On the Honor Roll

Michelle Van Cleave ’79 was nominated byPresident George W. Bush to serve as assistants e c re t a ry of defense for special operations andl ow-intensity conflict. Van Cleave was pre v i o u s l yp resident of National Security Concepts, a firmspecializing in strategic planning and senior leve lpolicy analysis for government customers. Sh ealso has served in a number of congressional staffp o s i t i o n s .

Frederick W. Kosmo, Jr. ’88 has been elected toa two-year term as president of the William L.Todd Jr. (’57) American Inn of Court. Kosmo isa partner with Wilson, Pe t t y, Kosmo & Tu r n e r,w h e re he focuses on business, product liability,e m p l oyment, hospitality, and trust and probate.



Chris & Cheryl (Wright) Olsen w e l c o m e dS chuyler Daniel Olsen on December 18, 2001.S chuyler joins proud big sisters Olivia (6) and Carly(3). Steve Pfahler welcomed twin baby bo y s ,Justin and Ryan, on November 30, 2001. They joinsister Alexandra (2.5). Debbie (Martin) La Fe t r aand her husband, Bruce, welcomed Sarah Graceon January 2nd. Sarah joins big brother Brian (3),who is delighted to have a baby sister. DeannaWollam Detchemendy welcomed second sonGage, on October 11, 2001, and is enjoying hermaternity leave to the fullest. Amy (Del Pe r o )H o f f is expecting her “second and last” baby inM a y. To accommodate her growing family, Amyhas a new home in Irvine and will be working outof her firm’s Newport Beach office. Russ Cashdanand wife, Donna, are expecting their third child inearly Fe b r u a r y. Allison Malin reports her adoptionof a new canine companion, Gerald, who joinsGolden Retriever, Charity. Gerald was trained asa Seeing Eye Dog, but his love of food (andintense desire to eat-it-now) prevented hiscontinued training. Raising Children: Sharon JillSandler headed out to Ibiza, Spain with newdaughter Anya Nthaabene (meaning “out of themountains”) and son Adrien. Peter Zilgavis proudlyreports that his son, Gustavs, started walking atthe age of 10 months, 3 weeks. [We have nodoubt he’ll be skiing by our next report.] Arlene(Blatt) Townsey proudly reports that this year heroldest daughter, Sara, performed in her sch o o lpageant and graduated from kindergarten. SteveFogelson reports that he now has two daughtersin public high school. He asks, “Am I the onlylawyer that sends his kids to public school?” NE WNUP T I A LS: Lynette (Gridiron) Winstonannounced that she married James Winston, awonderful man from New York, on August 11,2001, in a Southern California wedding of 1,000guests. The Winstons now reside in West Covina.Lisa Jenks wed Don Waldrep in Napa Va l l e y ;goddaughter Delaney (Lori Loo’s daughter) wasthe flower girl. Cynthia M. (Ta kacs) Csato c e l e-brated her birthday last year by marrying LA lawyerPeter Csato on the Big Island of Hawaii. Cynthiareports she is still happy in the law, practicing bo t hlitigation and corporate law in her own firm. OnDecember 26th, Sabrina (Sinser) Burton and

Dayle Burton, surprised their annual Boxing Dayparty guests with a wedding — theirs! — in thek i t chen of their home, surrounded by pixilatedfamily and friends. Attendees included Lori Lo o ,Paul Goldman, and Rhett Warriner (JD ’89 ) .Joan Marsh, still with AT&T in Washington D.C.,is getting hitched on April 27, 2002, to OwenPhilbin (no relation to Regis). Joan and Owen arelooking forward to spending time next year in theirnewly purchased “retirement” home in the moun-tains of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. NE W, OR

RENE W ED, HOME S: Jackie (Miller) Josephmoved back to California after living in Fo r tLauderdale, Florida, for the last 8 years. She isliving in West LA and working on a contract basisfor an entertainment firm in Century City, whichshe says works well with her 4-year-old’s sch o o ls chedule. She is looking forward to reconnectingwith classmates. Lori Loo fearlessly added asecond story to her home, while living there withher family. Christine Lawton and family havemoved to a new home that is 3.5 miles closer to


Lisa Kloppenberg ’87: In her mentor’s footsteps

As dean of the Un i versity of Dayton School of Law, Lisa Kloppenberg ’87 has joined an elite gro u p.She is one of only 25 women in the United States to serve as dean of an accredited law school.But in any conversation about her accomplished academic care e r, she is quick to give credit to her

mentors — two luminaries of the USC Law School faculty.Former professor Ma rty Levine, now a USC administrator,

g a ve Kloppenberg “insight into the life of a scholar” while shew o rked as his re s e a rch assistant. Do rothy Wright Nelson, formerdean of USC Law School and a judge on the 9th U.S. Circ u i tC o u rt of Appeals, showed her that a woman with a collaborativestyle could be a highly successful dean.

“ Dean Nelson emphasized getting good people and inspiringthem to do their best,” says Kloppenberg, who clerked for Ju d g eNelson after law school. “It’s not all about being connected to anold boy s’ network. It’s about treating people well, reaching out toyour faculty, students and alumni.”

Kloppenberg hopes to emulate Judge Ne l s o n’s leadershipqualities in her current job as dean of the Un i versity of Da y t o nSchool of Law. She joined the law school last July after a 10-year stint as a professor of law at the Un i versity of Oregon, where

she founded a program in alternative dispute resolution — an area of legal interest that Judge Ne l s o nhelped pioneer. Kloppenberg’s re s e a rch has focused on constitutional issues, culminating in therecent publication of her book, Playing It Safe: How the Su p reme Court Dodges Ha rd Issues and St u n t sthe De velopment of Law ( New Yo rk Un i versity Press, 2001).

Despite the dramatic change in scenery, Kloppenberg said she chose to move to Ohio becauseU D ’s law school offered several distinct advantages: a promising law and technology program, aCatholic, Marianist tradition that emphasizes tolerance, respect and collaboration; beautiful newfacilities that have been paid for, leaving more money for professorships; and the challenge of cre a t i n gand maintaining a top-tier pro g r a m .

“ Judge Nelson contributed so much to USC in terms of improving its national re p u t a t i o n ,i n c reasing bar passage, placing students in top jobs and hiring faculty from top-ranked schools,”Kloppenberg says. “T h a t’s the kind of stuff I want to do here . ”

— Phat X. Chiem

In accepting her post at UD, LisaKloppenberg ’87 became one of theyoungest law school deans in thec o u n t r y.

M o v i n g ? Keep us up to date by filling out an address change form at [ www.usc.edu/dept/law/alumni ]

or by calling (213) 740 - 614 3 .

the girls’ school and has more room for guests.Christine reports: “This holiday was wonderful witha house full of family on Christmas morning!”FIN A LLY: Greg Nylen writes: “Finally made partner.Finally got married. Finally got a neurotic dog.Bought an old house full of ch a r a c t e r. Trying tostep up my metabolism again.” [Greg, would you bewilling to share your metabolic secrets?] Th a n k sagain for keeping in touch,

Molly Hansen and Mary Ann Soden, Class Reporters [email protected] (Molly)[email protected] (Mary Ann)

> Class of 199 2Ten years ago the Rodney King trial was underwayin Simi Va l l e y, the economy was in a terrible reces-sion and we were finishing our last year of laws chool. Exams started, not-guilty verdicts werereturned, the city was set ablaze, exams were post-poned, and eventually we graduated from laws chool. Against this backdrop we started ourp r o fessional careers. Looking back, everythingwasn’t wine and roses. But in just 10 years theClass of 1992 has amassed an amazing trackrecord of personal triumph, professional accom-plishment and public service. . . . K a r e n e(Murphy) Al v a r a d o is happily married to Ed andhas a daughter Jaclyn (3). After 8 years litigatingin private practice, Karene now teaches our judi-c i a r y. She is an attorney with the AdministrativeOffice of the Courts’ Center for Judicial Educationand Research. She also is president of theBarristers Club of San Francisco and is on theBoard of Directors of the Bar Association of SanFrancisco. Dave Fa l i s z e k is Of Counsel in Fisher& Phillips’ Orange County office. After 8 years inSan Francisco practicing employment law, his oldfirm wanted to make him an environmental partner.Instead, Dave moved to Orange County and hasbeen in a whirlwind defending wage and hourclass actions in Seattle, Albuquerque andSouthern California. Arnold Wo o serves on theAmerican Heart Association’s Los Angeles CountyBoard of Directors and just completed 8 years onthe Torrance Parks and Recreation Commission.Jeff Yo u n g worked in the law for a short while,then went back to his roots as a computer

p r o g r a m m e r. For the past 8 years Jeff has workedat Microsoft in Washington State. “8 years” seemsto be a magical number. After 8 years of generalcivil litigation practice in Paul Hastings’ OrangeCounty office, Lisa LaFo u r c a d e made the switchto estate planning. No more nasty faxes, ex parteapplications and interminable discovery disputes.Eric Blum recently caught up with Daryl Bufordwhen the two took in a Lakers game. Daryl is asports agent with Reich, Katz and Landis and hispersonal list of clients includes about 30 profe s-sional baseball players. Eric and I, along with LisaL a Fourcade and her husband Gary Regalado,Elisabeth (Evans) Snyder and her husbandDan, Helen (Goldberger) Pa l m e r and herhusband Andrew, and Governor Gray Davis (yes,you read that correctly) attended the Januarywedding of Sylvia Vi r s i k and Mark Karlan. J u l i eWa l d m a n was one of Sylvia’s bridesmaids. M a r kL e w i s held his annual holiday/New Year’s party inJ a n u a r y. Mark does estate planning at his own firmin Irvine. Eugena Ya s n o g o r o d s k y works in theproject finance department of Milbank Tweed inLA. Ed Hays specializes in complex bankruptcyand commercial litigation in Orange County. Ed regularly gives presentations on bankruptcytopics including the scope and limits of ex e m p-tions. Mark Fa l l was in Chicago on business onSeptember 11th in a 40-story high rise. During thecourse of the day, Mark learned that his client lost25 employees in Tower 2, and the accountant’sfirm lost 5 employees in an adjacent building. Onthe lighter side, Mark was channel surfing a whileb a ck and saw Cynthia Eder on “Designers’C h a l l e n g e .” Luis Uriarte is president of his ownc o m p a n y, Corporate Creations, which providesincorporation, trademark and registered agent

services. Luis lives in Miami with his wife Lu i s a ,daughter Alessandra (2 1/2) and son Lucas (9months). Marcus Bastida has his own practiceemphasizing transactional entertainment law witha bit of litigation thrown in. Jon Loeb, married toTammy with two children, Eric (5 1/2) and Ke l l y(3), is a partner at Alschuler Grossman in LAfocusing on real estate and securities litigation.Jon recently guest lectured in Pr o fessor Le f c o e ’ sreal estate transactions course on “workouts andother alternatives to foreclosure.” M i ch a e lO ’ S u l l i v a n is a partner at Munger Tolles in LAspecializing in corporate securities and mergersand acquisitions for “old economy” clients. He andhis wife Debbie have a daughter Shea (5) and son Flynn (1). R i ck Melendez spent 5 years inChicago with a large bankruptcy firm beforereturning to San Diego to open the Californiaoffice of Legal Helpers, a law firm providing immigration, bankruptcy, tax and notary services.Susan Matsui Matsuda practices real estateand corporate transactions at Sheppard Mullin inOrange County. Raymond Kim recently obtainedsummary judgment for eBay in H e n d r i ckson v.e Ba y, 165 F.Supp.2d 1082 (2001), a case of firstimpression involving the “safe harbor” of thefederal Digital Millennium Copyright Act. M e l i s s a( M e e ker) Harnett’s practice at Mitch e l lSilberberg focuses on intellectual property issuesin the entertainment world. Melissa has twodaughters, Madison (4) and Delaney (1), and isserving a two-year term on the Agua Dulce To w nCouncil. Although Ken Jones practices law(sometimes) in Texas, he teaches full time at Th eArt Institute of Houston. He continues to write,read and publish poetry and recently was writtenup in the Houston Press: “Poets are known foreclectic appetites, and Ken Jones certainly fits them o l d . . . . A licensed attorney and published writerwhose verse has appeared in a number of literaryjournals, he also recorded as a poet/musician inAustin and Los Angeles in the ’80s and ’90 s .Jones will launch the new year of Inprint’s FirstFriday Reading Series.” (Inprint is a nonprofitorganization championing creative writing andreading in Houston.) Lei Lei Wang Ekvall, apartner at the bankruptcy firm of Albert, Weiland &Golden in Orange County, primarily represents


cl a s sn o t e s

On the Honor Roll

Matthew E. Ca vanaugh ’89 of Los Angeles wasnamed to a thre e - year term on the Californiastate bar’s board of governors. He is of-counselwith Akin, Gu m p, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. He also teaches at Whittier Law School, is a real estate bro k e r, and belongs to both the Orange County and Los Angeles County bar associations.

Class of ’92 Reunion S a t u rd a y, Oct. 5, 2002

at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Rey.For information, call (213) 740 - 614 3 .

parties in Chapter 11 cases (corporate reorgani-zations). This year she was sworn in as a memberof the Board of Directors of the Orange CountyBar Association, finished her term as co-chair ofthe Bar Association’s pro bono committee, andin April began her term as President of the OrangeCounty Asian American Bar Association. . . . . In“Jerry Maguire” Renee Zellweger tells Tom Cruise,“ You complete me.” After hearing what everyonehas been doing the past decade, all I can say is,“ You impress me.” See you all at the 10-yearreunion!

M i chelle (Nuszkiewicz) Blum, Class Reporter m b l u m @ j o n e s d a y. c o m

> Class of 199 3Despite these difficult times, our classmates arefaring well both personally and profe s s i o n a l l y. NewMarriages: Wedding bells rang for David Wa n gand his bride Tina Sugimoto on August 25, 2001,at the Wayfarer’s Chapel in Palos Verdes, afterw h i ch the newlyweds honeymooned in Australia,touring Sydney, Brisbane, Heron Island, Cairns, andPort Douglas, scuba diving at the Great BarrierReef, and hiking in the Blue Mountains and theDaintree National Forest. David and Tina havesettled in Newport Beach. Perry Hughes a n dJ e n n i fer “Nikki” Flores were wed on September 8,2001. Allyson Ta ke t a attended the fe s t i v i t i e s .Nikki is an English teacher at Levzinger HighS chool in Lawndale. Neil Radick and AllisonSunderland celebrated their wedding day onSeptember 30, 2001, and honeymooned in So u t hAfrica and Botswana. Neil also went to Belize &Guatemala earlier in the year, the Superbowl, andgames 6 and 7 of the World Series. Ke i t hN e w b u r r y and longtime fiancée Natalie Sidaris( U SC MBA ’97) ex changed their wedding vows atthe St. Regis Hotel in Aspen, Colorado onNovember 27, 2001. Keith and Natalie continue toenjoy living in Phoenix, Arizona. S h a n o nTr y g s t a d (who is still married to Daniel Ko l o d z i e j )attended a wedding in Tuscany and thereafterspent three weeks in Italy, visiting her Sicilian rootsand sunning on the Amalfi coast. Newbo r n s :Donna Pr o kop Bigi gave birth to twin girls thispast October. Joseph Chi is the proud dad of his

first child — Amanda Noelle Chi. E l i z a b e t hFe f f e r gave birth to her first child, Samuel Aaron,on December 28, 2001, just in time for a taxdeduction. Robert Finlay and his wife Mary hada baby boy last year — John Thomas Finlay. D a v i dPe n d l e t o n is expecting a fourth child in June.Scot Reader and his wife Anne-Marie Readerare enjoying their baby girl. New Partners: Ku d o sto Lisa Stevens on becoming partner at Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava, andMacCuish in December and to David Wa l t o n o nmaking partner at Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Le r a ch. Other News and Pr o fe s s i o n a lDevelopments: M i chael Brooks started his ownlaw practice, the Law Offices of Michael Brooks.Marla Smith Chabner is back to work at Arter& Hadden part time so that she can spend someweekdays at home with her son, Benjamin. (He

is getting so big!) Robert Finlay and his partnersleft Miles, Wright, Finlay and Zak to form a newfirm, Wright, Finlay & Zak, LLP, where they willcontinue to represent clients in real estate matters.Beverly Johnson has reduced her schedule atB r o b e ck, Phleger & Harrison in Irvine to a four-dayworkweek, so that she can spend Fridays at homewith her two-year-old daughter, Julia (whom I hadthe pleasure of meeting this past fall and I mustsay that she is a little angel). However, with twocases set for early this year, Beverly’s sch e d u l emay have become full-time-plus. Dave Kuipercontinues to practice law at Latham & Watkins andoversee the paralegal staff. He coached hisdaughter’s soccer team again, which boasted a9 and 3 record. In his spare time, Dave sits on theBoard of Directors for Dog Partners, an organi-zation that trains companion dogs to assist those


Veronica Hahni ’94: A personal commitment to a public need

Ve ronica Hahni ’94 came to USC Law School to pursue a lucrative career in international finance.She gave little, if any, thought to public interest legal work. That changed when her father becameill with Alzheimer’s disease.

While helping him secure health benefits, Hahni was appalled atthe lack of low-cost legal re s o u rces available for people in similar situ-ations. The discove ry led her to apply for a Public In t e rest LawFoundation (PILF) grant to work as a law clerk at AIDS Project LosAngeles (APLA) during her first summer as a law student at USC. T h enext ye a r, she re c e i ved another grant to work at Bet Tzedek LegalSe rv i c e s .

After graduation, Hahni re c e i ved the Sydney and Au d rey Ir m a sFe l l owship to establish a family law program at AIDS Se rvice Center.She said the challenges — and rew a rds — of helping low-income HIVclients with such critical issues as end-of-life planning surpassedanything she could have faced in the business world.

“I found that it was the most rew a rding work I could have ever done,” Hahni told the audi-ence gathered for PI L F ’s spring pro bono luncheon, where she was presented with the Ou t s t a n d i n gGraduate award. “I think it’s a re m a rkable and wonderful thing to be re c o g n i zed for doing work thatyou love . ”

Hahni also urged law students to consider making legal aid a lifelong passion. She spent the firsts e ven years of her career working at the AIDS Se rvice Center/HIV & AIDS Legal Se rvices Alliance(HALSA). Now the program manager of neighborhood improvement projects for the Los AngelesNeighborhood In i t i a t i ve, Hahni said she has never re g retted leaving behind a corporate care e r.

“I knew early on that I was hooked (on public service),” she said. “T h e re are too many needsin too many legal fields that remain to be met. I’m sticking with it.”

— Phat X. Chiem

Veronica Hahni ’94 receivedPILF’s 2002 OutstandingGraduate Aw a r d .



who are physically handicapped. M i chael Leoz,whom I ran into at a government-recruiting eventat UCLA Law School, is a Special Assistant andSenior Equal Opportunity Specialist with the U.S.Department of Health & Human Services. J a n eLy n ch joined Cox, Castle & Nicholson in April of2001. Elizabeth Otter Molfetta continues towork for the Orange County District At t o r n e y ’ sOffice in the writs and appeals section, focusingon post-conviction DNA issues. After she has herdaughter due in February 2002, Elizabeth plansto take a six-month maternity leave beforereturning to work part-time. With a reduceds chedule, Elizabeth will be able to spend moretime with her newborn daughter, her two-year-oldson, Dominic, and her five-year-old son, Christian.David Pe n d l e t o n was selected as a Henry To l lLegislative Fellow by the Council for StateGovernments and named one of the top fifteenFilipinos in Hawaii (out of a population of250,000 Filipinos). David Reiter was namedVice President and General Counsel for 72 4Solutions, an Austin-based software companythat enables wireless transactions. Pr e v i o u s l y,David was senior counsel for Compaq ComputerCorporation. Additionally, David is Chair of theABA Internet Law Committee and published abook for the ABA in December of 2001 titledInternet Law for the Business Lawyer. In his freemoments, David spends quality time with his wifeSusanna, three-year-old son Garrett, and 11-month-old daughter Audrey. Don Riddick j o i n e dIBM last year in Scottsdale as a project manager.During the fall, Don completed the largest globalnetwork installation of its kind. His next projectis a $4.2 billion deal. Don also mentioned that thisy e a r, he took fourth place in the world warhammer championships in Nottingham. (I lookedup war hammer on the Internet and for those ofyou like me who had never heard the word before,it is a war game that involves armies of paintedminiatures fighting it out in tabletop battles.) Fr o mtwo different sources, I heard that Joe Stumpf i sVice President of Acquisitions and BusinessDevelopment for AT&T Wireless in Seattle. A reli-able source also told me that Joe Ta n i m u r aearned his Ph.D. in finance from the Universityof Washington and is currently working in Century

City for Economic Analysis, LLC. As for me, I amstill judging away and with my new set of clubs,h o p e f u l l y, my golf game will improve. I really enjoyhearing from you, and now, it is even easier tosend me your information. Just visit the law m a g a-zine’s web site at http://lawweb.usc.edu/lawmagand submit your news to me directly online. Yo ucan also reach me through my work email. Ke e pin touch!

Diane Arkow Gross, Class Report e rd i a n e . g r o s s @ e e o c . g o v

> Class of 1994First the info on careers. Libby Wo n g is withWo l fe & Wyman in Irvine, practicing litigation in theareas of real property and mortgage banking. R o nTh o m m a r s o n remains with Sheppard Mullin inl a bor and employment. Thomas Wa l s h m o v e din-house to Earth Te ch, a Tyco company, and isvery happy. Gregory Shanfeld is with Price LawGroup in Encino. Robert Harmala r e c e n t l yjoined Venable, Baetjer, Howard in Wa s h i n g t o n ,D.C. M i chael To m a s u l o is with Lyon & Lyon inLos Angeles, working in IP litigation. Vi n c e n tH e r r o n is still with Latham & Watkins in L.A.M i chael Ludwig is now with Foley & Lardner inLos Angeles (darn, just after I left!). G r e g o r yS w e d e l s o n is with the Robertson Pr o p e r t i e sGroup, serving as corporate real estate counsel.Ira Burke m p e r is with Paparelli & Partners inIrvine. Carl Katz joined Collier Shannon Scott inWashington, D.C. Dan Ay a l a works for himselfin Las Vegas, and married Nancy Ramirez (Classof ‘95) in May 2001. John Fa w a z is ManagingEditor of the NFL’s Publishing Group and lovingit. Of course, John was planning to be in the Big

Easy in Fe b r u a r y. Melody An d e r s o n is with ASKFinancial working in the area of bankruptcy. L o r i nE n g q u i s t is still with Ernst & Young, and wasrecently promoted to Senior Manager. D a r aM a r i a s is practicing in the area of transactionallaw and estate planning and spending time withher family, especially her daughter, 4-year-oldM o l l y. Ally and I still want that play date, girlfriend!Now the fun stuff! Kenneth Fr e e l a n d o p e n e da Bed & Breakfast in Santa Barbara called Th eBayberry Inn! Adam Glick spent time with E r i cD a m o n and Eric’s family in Hanover, MA, this pastwinter and spent New Year’s with family and fe l l o walums Neal Rubin, Peter Binko w and R o b e r tTe s l e r in San Francisco. Robert Harmala attendedM i chael Garcia’s May wedding in RosaritoB e a ch. Vincent Herron and his wife recentlyp u r chased a home in Cheviot Hills, reportedly toget closer to Scott Pe a r s o n. Michael Lu d w i grecently went to a Lakers game with ScottPearson and Stevie Py o n, thanks to Scott’sconnections. Ron Thommarson and his wiferecently had a second child, Chiara, who joinsbrother Braden. Ron and his family recentlyp u r chased a new home. Gregory Shanfeld justcelebrated his 5th wedding anniversary. Greg andhis wife Stephanie, have a son, Ethan, and prob-ably had their second child by now. GregorySwedelson and his wife, Neda, had their first baby,a little girl, Soraya Sydney. Ira Burkemper has anew baby, Alexandra. Carl Katz recently marriedMarla, and they honeymooned in Costa Rica. Lo r i nEngquist and his wife, Angelica, are expecting ababy boy in May 2002. Justin Fe f f e r and his wife ,Elizabeth Fe f fer (Class of ’93) became parentsto their first child, Samuel Aaron on December 28.Alex Pe r e z, who has a law practice with his brother, was on “The Weakest Link.” Hisepisode was scheduled to air in early 2002!Congratulations all! Thanks for all the good wishes,everyone!

Lorna D. Hennington, Class Report e rl o r n a d h @ p a c b e l l . n e t

> Class of 1995Greetings! We continue to multiply! D a nG l a s s m a n requested that I limit to “a page or two”


cl a s sn o t e s

On the Honor Roll

Boyd Ru t h e rf o rd ’90 was named associateadministrator for enterprise development of theGeneral Se rvices Administration. In his newposition, he will monitor and implement smallbusiness policies and manage programs thatexpand business opportunities for small,m i n o r i t y - owned and women-owned businessesin federal pro c u re m e n t .

Out of touch ? C a t ch up on Law Sch o o lnews, look up an old professor or e-mail your

class reporter at USC Law o n l i n e[ http://lawweb.usc.edu/lawmag ]

my editorial comments regarding how perfe c tJ a ckson Tyler Glassman is, born September 6,2001. He is awfully cute. Joseph Deng and hisw i fe, Karen Ta n g, welcomed Natalie Xin Deng onOctober 31, 2001. James Lam and his wife ,Anna, welcomed Olivia on October 6, 2001, joiningbrother Matthew. Jim, Joseph and Dan are allworking at Paul, Hastings. John Christopher Pa c ewas also born on October 6th, son of Liz andTerrence Pa c e. Lesley Yo u n g and Roger Te f f t(Class of ’97) welcomed Connor Scott Tefft onDecember 13, 2001. The family moved into a newhouse in Tustin Ranch; Lesley is still at the OrangeCounty D.A.’s office. Ann Marie (Crudo) Wise i sstill at the Los Angeles D.A.’s office. Her son Ty l e ris four and Megan is one. Ann Marie reports thatJim To r o is now at the D.A.’s office as well. Va lHaynes Stidman’s three-year-old, Owen,welcomed baby brother, Pete, on June 22, 2001.The family is “still loving being together at home inM i n n e s o t a .” Pamela Silk is taking a break fromthe legal world to care for Joshua Winston Silk,born on November 10, 2001. She says, “being amom is tons of fun!” Sheri Sch w a r t z and herhusband, Sam, had a baby boy named Max in May2001. Sheri is still at Kelley Drye & Warren in Lo sAngeles. Sheri reports that Reid Breitman’s w i fegave birth to their twins. Chrystn Ke ke a l a n iAlston Eads married Eric Eads on August 14,1 999, and noticed from this column that theyhoneymooned at the Four Seasons Maui at thesame time Pam Rich a r d s o n did – she’s sorryshe missed seeing you Pam! CK and Eric’s verycute daughter, Carter Keahonui Eads, was born onDecember 30, 2000. CK is a Legislative Assistantto Senator Inouye in D.C. Uri Seth Ottensoserjust made partner at Milberg Weiss BershadHynes & Le r a ch LLP (“the class action firm”) inNew York City – a couple of years ahead of theusual schedule. He and his wife, We n d y, have threechildren: Elyssa (7), Haley (3-1/2), and Elliott (1).As for non-baby news: Karin Freeman Ad a m sjoined Howrey Simon Arnold & White, LLP as aSenior Associate in the Insurance RecoveryDepartment. She reports that Joel Vo e l z ke i salso there. Karin married Addison Adams onNovember 17, 2001 (“the day of the USC v. UCL Agame”), followed by a honeymoon in Bora Bora.

Noelle Wilson and Ram Rasmussen weremarried on April 7, 2001. Noelle is working at CBR i chard Ellis in Los Angeles. Sam McDermottreports a “Big Year”: married Christi in June,bought a house in November, made partner atWood, Smith, Henning & Bermon in Costa Mesa inDecember! He adds that he is “pretty happy.”Chris (Smith) Juarez and her husband, Mich a e l ,are partners with one other attorney doing civilwork in Michigan. They’re building themselves acottage and have two “babies,” a Bernese Mt. Dog( S a s cha) and a Weimaruner (Spanto). C h r i sM i l l e r also has two furry babies, Sota andS ch o o n e r, that she adopted at the end of 2001.Chris has “retired” from practicing law after 18grueling months as General Counsel for a publicc o m p a n y. She and her “semi-retired” husband planto travel, play and “make up for the lost hours thatdisappeared since the class of 1995 began prac-ticing law.” M i ke Neue reports that he and K a r y nN e u e are doing well. Mike is still at Irell & Manellaand Karyn is working at The Walker Law Firm inNewport Beach, “primarily acting as outsidecounsel for closely-held businesses.” Ky h mPe n f i l is also still at Irell, doing lots of big trials.She had a “fabulous time” in Istanbul this past yearon a well-deserved vacation after a big trial victory.Andrew Kumamoto reports that he’s still liti-gating patent cases at Cooley Godward. Hehelped win the G e n e n t e ch v. Amgen trial forAmgen, currently on appeal. Jimmy Nguyen i sstill busy as ever at Foley & Lardner. Last fall, hereceived the firm’s Lynford Lardner Award for hisextensive community service work; the awardincluded a $5,000 donation to the Mt. San AntonioCollege Speech Team, in Jimmy’s honor. J i l lFr a n k l i n moved into a 1947 “bungalow” in the

R a n cho Park Area, which she is enjoying fixing up.She is thrilled to announce that the Dept. ofChildren’s Legal Services finally got computersin 2001, including the Internet, and new deskchairs! Jill chaired a community-wide service eventsponsored by the Jewish Federation in December2001, where over 500 volunteers visited over 40sites around L.A. to provide assistance. P h i l l i pS p a r k s is working in the legal department ofWireless Capital Partners, which consults cellphone companies. Phil is still actively engaged inthe music business, writing lyrics and music, andattending lots of concerts and the Poetry Slamfinals in Seattle. And I’m still doing employment lawat Paul, Hastings. I was recently honored to jointhe board of the Children Af fected by AIDSFoundation, an incredibly worthwhile organizationthat I’ve worked with for many years. Thanks toeveryone for writing in, and take care!

Tara Ke l l y, Class Report e rt a r a k e l l y @ p a u l h a s t i n g s . c o m

> Class of 1996Please take note: the next edition of USC Lawmagazine that will include Class Notes will publishin February 2003. That means you have p l e n t yof time to drop me a line so that I can let everyoneelse in our class know how you’ve been doingl a t e l y. E-mail me at: [email protected] do so, in order that we may have a nicelong column next year! Now let’s get to the latestnews from USC Law alumni across the nation.First off, yours truly, Bill Vo ch o s ka, has just joinedthe ranks of proud parents in our class. My wifegave birth to our first child, Nadia, and she’s beau-tiful! M i chael Ke r r is currently working for theNational Conference of Commissioners onUniform State Laws in Chicago. He’s been marriedto DeAnn for 8 years now, and they have 2 ch i l-dren: Annie (4) and Aidan (born September,2001). Prior to joining NCCU SL, he was veryinvolved with the expansion of gambling inCalifornia as in-house counsel to the legislature,including some trial work that eventually wentbefore the California Supreme Court. C h a r l e sD j o u is still serving in the Hawaii House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v es—though he is thinking of running


On the Honor Roll

Adam F. Wergeles ’91 was appointed vice pre s-ident of operations at Concord Un i ve r s i t y, partof Kaplan, Inc. Wergeles will oversee growth andoperations for Concord Law Center, whichoffers an LL.M. in health law. He will alsooversee enrollment for Concord Law School’sJ.D. pro g r a m .

Class reporter neededfor the Class of 2001.


The Alumni Student Sponsor Luncheon once againoffered students a chance to n e t w o r k with USC alumniworking in a range of fields. Clockwise from top left: Tr a c e yJensen ’95 (far right); Jerry Miller ’62; Edwin Stegman’ 5 1 (far right); and Ben Whitwell ’88 ( r i g h t ) .

Al u m n im e n t o r s

for Lt. Governor or County Council next year.Babak Baradaran is at Greenberg Glusker inLos Angeles. Lori Kaczynski Hoch is currentlyVice President and Securities Counsel for Marshall& Illsley Trust Company in Milwaukee (Hey! Howare LaVerne and Shirley doing?), and had twin girlsin October 2001: Madeline & Katherine. M i ch a e lTu r r i l l and his wife Dounia are greatly enjoyingtheir baby bo y, Nicolas, who was born in April2001. Mike is still working at Howrey SimonArnold & White in their Commercial Tr i a lDepartment. John Rosati and I are still sluggingit out together as legal recruiters at Alan Miles &Associates in Santa Monica. For those who maybe feeling the pinch of the economy acutely: wefeel your pain. Here’s hoping the next issue ofUSC Law magazine will find all of us riding a waveof recovery! Sincerely,

William Vo ch o s ka, Class Report e rt r o j a n r e c r u i t e r @ y a h o o . c o m

> Class of 1997A Business Reference Manual ( U SC Law Sch o o lClass of 1997) sponsored by Sheppard, Mullin,R i chter and Hampton was sent to our class

members in March 2002. If you did not receivethe manual and would like a copy, please let mek n o w. Another noteworthy item is our 5th-Ye a rReunion set for Saturday, July 27, 2002 at Sam’sby the Beach in Santa Monica. Thanks to many ofyou who supplied information on our missing classmembers. This edition will focus on those we haveheard from who were not featured in my lastcolumn. Christopher Al e x a n d e r is working withthe U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego; S a b i n aB h a l l a married Josh Clorfeine in October 2000;both practice law in L.A.; M i chael Blanton d o e sbusiness litigation in L.A.; Gregory Brett i sDirector of Business Development for HNCSoftware in San Diego; Joe Brock is a patentlawyer in Sunnyvale; Mark Brubake r m a r r i e dKristina Lock w o o d; Mark does investmentmanagement for The Capital Group Companies inL.A and Kristina does corporate and securities lawin L.A.; Nancy Conroy is practicing in L.A.;Joseph DiMondi does media mergers andacquisitions for Deutsche Banc in New Yo r k ;Carolyn Domen-Broshears and husband RudiBroshears have a boy named Nicholas; S t e f a n iG o l d m a n is married to Steven Goldman anddoes residential land development for KB Home

Greater L.A.; Thomas Hseih is with the At t o r n e yGeneral’s Office in L.A. and is married to Pa tHseih; Carlos Mario Jaramillo has his ownpractice in Beverly Hills; Sherry (Livingstone)K a m p l e r does employment law in L.A.; M i ch a e lKe r r and wife DeAnn Kerr have 2 children, AnneMarie and Aidan; Andrea Kushner m a r r i e dDavid Ross in January 2002 and practices law inL.A.; Bradley Lortz is married to Charlene Lo r t zand is an intellectual property lawyer in L.A.; J o r g eM a r t i n e z does product liability litigation in Irvine;Deenita Dawn Moak does family law inArkansas with classmate Katherine Black m o n -S o l i s; Tezira Nabongo is with an ex e c u t i v econsulting firm in Foster City; Casey Nault d o e scorporate transactions in L.A.; L a Vonda Reed-H u f f is married to Franklin Huff and teaches lawat the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, Universityof Louisville; Tim Rupp is married to Laura Rupp,has a daughter, Lillian Helena, and practices law inCosta Mesa; James Rutten is married to NancyRutten and does commercial litigation in L.A.;Linda Th o m a s is married to Alan Cohen andworks for Hilton Hotels Corporation in real estateand hotel operations; William Vo ch o s ka i smarried to Aurie Vo choska and is with a legal


cl a s sn o t e s


at Sam’s By The Beach in Santa Monica .For information, call (213) 740 - 614 3 .

!

Disqualified for Altered Th i n k i n g ,” available for yourreading pleasure at www. a l ch e m i n d . o r g /s l n e w s a r chive.htm. Athleticism and competitive-ness: Scott Hettema and his Pirch e r, Nich o l sand Meeks teammates beat Ryan Larsen, M a t tM a t z k i n and Eric Wa n g ’ s Teal Warriors ofKatten Muchin Zavis four times during the courseof the Landau Lawyers League Winter BasketballSeason. Scott led his team all the way to the CLeague playoffs. We also maintain a thirst forworlds abroad – just look at Leon Al t m a n w h orecently spent a lovely time in Greece and Tu r k e ywith his wife. Progeny – the best Trojans producemore Trojans. John Tu e l l became the father of aboy when his son Justin was born on August 7. Hisdaughter Jennifer is 3. An active role in our polit-ical sphere: Elisa Montoya handles tech n o l o g y,telecommunications, energy and appropriations forRepresentative Becerra, who chairs theCongressional Hispanic Caucus, Telecom andTe chnology Task Force. Elisa now lives in D.C.Cynthia Hernandez was appointed as co-counsel (along with Ramsey Clark, At t o r n e yGeneral under President Johnson) to defend indi-viduals who were indicted on war crimes relatingto the 1994 Rwanda civil unrest. The trial takesplace in Tanzania, East Africa, in front of the UN -created International Tribunal of Rwanda. (By thew a y, I, Matt Matzkin, sit in an office all day andoccasionally surf the Internet). A diverse practice:Eric Galen’s practice at Paul Hastings nowincludes music and copyright law as well asgeneral corporate and health care law. K. Jun Kimworks in Palo Alto and practices IntellectualPr o p e r t y. Togetherness: Negin Mirmirani, L e a hM e l o n e and Grant Stiefel had dinner togetherone night. A whole pack of Trojans, includingS t i e fel, Sandeep Motwani, Dan Acke r m a n, E.Wang, Luis Guzman, and Matzkin visited LasVegas for undisclosed, but fully legal, (in Ve g a s ,anyway) purposes. Style: For two months now,Rob Marcereau has considered buying a newride. Durability: As of publication, odds are goodthat Mr. Marcereau is still driving his GMC Jimmy.Keen Legal Interest: Abdi To w f i g h called EricWang to discuss a recently published Real Estatearticle by Mr. Wang. Finally, and most importantly,heart: It is with great honor that I pass along the

following message from Luis Guzman, a class-mate from whom we can all learn a little abo u tlove. Luis writes, “If possible, please include a noteexpressing my love and friendship for my class of2000 brothers and sisters.” Yes, Luis, it’s possiblefor me to pass along that note. And with the loveyou share for all of us, it’s possible for the Class of2000 to continue on as the single greatest classin the history of the University of So u t h e r nCalifornia Law Sch o o l .

Matt Matzkin, Class Report e rM a t t h e w. M a t z k i n @ k m z . c o m

recruiting firm in Santa Monica; Edward We i m a nis married to Margie Weiman, has 2 children, Zoeand Ian Robert, and does entertainment litigationin L.A.; Joanna Joyce We i s s is married to JasonWe i s s (class of ‘96), does general business liti-gation in Costa Mesa and teaches law atChapman University; Ted We i t z m a n does corpo-rate securities law in L.A.; Darcey Wo n gpractices estate planning and trust administra-tion in San Francisco and owns a waterfront home(with boyfriend Wilson Lee) in San Mateo;Melody Ya d e g a r practices law in L.A.; andFelicia Yu is married to Jeffrey Liter and doesgeneral business litigation in L.A. Please keep int o u ch.

Mark Watkins, Class Reporter m w a t k i n s @ s h e p p a r d m u l l i n . c o m

> Class of 2 0 0 0And now it’s time to take a closer look as to whatmakes a good alum. What follows are a series oftraits we possess with specific examples for ourvery class. Let’s begin with exposure. To spread theword of Class of 2000 excellence, we must main-tain a high profile. For example, Dan Kippen m a yvery well have seen Gavin Galimi on television(Channel 7) picking up a Thanksgiving Tu r k e y.Commitment is another valued trait. Geoff We gmarried the lovely and famous Hillary Andrews(meteorologist for Fox New York) with alumsLindsay Dinn a n d Josh Isenberg in attendance,followed by a South African safari for the honey-moon. Geoffrey Deboske y married Jennife rTipple (now Jennifer Deboskey) on September2, 2001 (humility is another quality we like to see;for example, Mr. Deboskey notes that Mrs.D e boskey is way out of his league). Justin Suhris engaged with a wedding set for April 2002 andan Italian honeymoon to follow. Chris Laffoonand Liz are now engaged. Social Service is afantastic quality for any alum. Here, I cite Lori andZareh Sinanyan who both mentor at-risk juniorhigh school children through the ArmenianGeneral Benevolent Union Mentorship Pr o g r a m .Frances Campbell conducted pro bo n or e s e a r ch for the Alchemind Society’s Center forCognitive Liberty and Ethics and published “J u d g e


See past class re p o rts, check reunion details,e-mail your class re p o rter and read aboutalumni in the news on the USC Law Schoolalumni Web site, w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / a l u m n i.The page includes links to Law School andalumni news, including USC Law m a g a z i n e ,as well as an alumni events calendar, infor-mation about career services for alumni andthe university's alumni dire c t o ry. You cane ven update your address or make a tax-deductible gift to the Law School with a fewsimple clicks of your mouse. And, after yo u ' vechecked out all the alumni Web site has to offer, let us know what you think by e-mailing a l u m n i @ l a w. u s c . e d u.

There’s more online

Matilda Barnett, a generous donor and loyal

supporter of the Law School, died on Jan. 14. Her

husband was the late Gabriel Barnett, who attended

U SC and the Law School from 1922 to 1924. He

died in 1988. In his memory, Mrs. Barnett gave the

Law School $500,000 to establish the Gabriel and

Matilda Barnett Scholarship Endowment in Law; a

later gift of $250,000 created the Gabriel Barnett

Recreation Room in the student lounge. In 1999, she

gave $1 million to establish the Gabriel and Matilda

Barnett Information Te chnology Center in the law

l i b r a r y. Her last gift of $500,000 created the Gabriel

and Matilda Barnett Research Pr o fessorship in Law

and Business. British by birth, Barnett also worked

to preserve some of England’s architectural treasures,

w h i ch earned her recognition from the Queen Mother.

John R. Cohan, who chaired the annual USC Law

S chool Tax Institute from 1984 to 1995, died on Dec.

29. He was 70. At age 21, Cohan became the

youngest CPA in Arizona state history. In 1955, after

graduating from Stanford Law School, he joined Irell

& Manella in Los Angeles. He retired in 1994, but

continued to teach law. “John was a force of nature,

a strong personality, whose love of the tax institute

kept this important event alive and well,” said USC Law

Pr o fessor Edward J. McCaffe r y, Cohan’s friend and

colleague at the tax institute. Cohan is survived by

his wife, Roberta, three children and nine grandch i l-

dren.

George A. Kasem ’51, the first Arab-American

elected to Congress, died in February from pneu-

monia. He was 82. Born in Oklahoma, Kasem moved

to California as a teenager. He joined the Army Air

Force during World War II, serving in Africa and

Europe. He attended USC as an undergraduate,

obtained a law degree in 1951 and began practicing

law in Los Angeles. As a Democrat, Kasem repre-

sented the Los Angeles-area district in the House of

Representatives from 1959 to 1961. In 1978 he was

named commissioner of Citrus Municipal Court in

West Covina, and served until his retirement in 198 4 .

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Catherine, a

daughter and two grandch i l d r e n .

James G. Kolts ’51, a former Los Angeles County

Superior Court judge, died Dec. 21 of a heart attack .

He was 77. A Los Angeles native, he served in the

I first met Richard Amerian in 1952 at George Washington High School in southwe s t

Los Angeles. At that time, I also met my future wife Betty Lundeen, who had gone to junior

high with Rich. Rich also befriended Jack Morgan ’62, who was in our 10th grade class.

Rich, Jack and I went off to USC undergraduate school and kept on going right to USC

Law School, where we all graduated in 1962.

The three of us we re inseparable. Rich was our scribe. He had an amazing ability to

take the most complex concepts and state them in a simple and concise manner. That talent,

of course, held him in great stead not only in law school but also later when he served as a

justice of the California Court of Appeal. He was also a terrific speaker and debater, thank

goodness, as he loved to talk.

One of my funniest Law School memories of Rich invo l ves exams. In those days yo u

took one test a year — it was like Russian roulette. The exams we re passed out and the clock

would start ticking. Rich would open his blue book and begin making a ve ry detailed outline

in his precise handwriting, while Jack and I sat, frightened and fro zen. Jack would shake his

leg violently. I would break out in a cold sweat. We used up eve ry minute of the exam

time to finish. Meanwhile, Rich would calmly fold his blue book, hand it in early and go get

a cup of coffee.

Rich was a natural-born leader — in his church, his schools, the Armenian commu-

nity and the legal profession. In a life full of outstanding accomplishments, I know he felt

the greatest was being the father of his two children. He was one of the kindest people I have

e ver met. It is difficult to understand how someone with such a big heart could have it

quit on him at such an early age. But I know that Rich has been welcomed to a good place

w h e re he is safe and happy. So, I don’t say goodbye to my old friend. I say a r r i ve d e rc i — until

we meet again.

R i chard Amerian ’62 passed away Nov. 5. He was63. He is remembered here by classmate and friendGeorge Baffa ’62.


o b i t u a r i e s

Army infantry during World War II and, after law sch o o l ,

worked for 17 years as an L.A. County deputy district

a t t o r n e y. He served on the bench from 1969 to 1989

and was widely respected for being fair, decisive, thor-

ough and thick-skinned. In 1992, he headed the Ko l t s

Commission, which found use of excessive force and

mistreatment of minorities by the L.A. County Sheriff’s

Department. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, three

children and two grandsons. (See his class report on

Page 28 for more.)

Fred Okrand ’40, the first legal director of the ACLU

of Southern California, died in Woodland Hills, Calif., in

M a r ch. He was 84. A World War II veteran, Okrand

represented Japanese Americans imprisoned in relo-

cation camps. He also defended Jehovah’s Wi t n e s s e s ’

right to hand out religious pamphlets, teachers who

refused to sign McCarthy-era loyalty oaths, and

freedom of speech for Nazis and Communists. Okrand

is survived by his wife of 61 years, Mimi, two sons and

two grandch i l d r e n .

Albert Lee Stephens Jr. ’38, John F. Kennedy’s first

appointee to the federal court, died of heart failure

on Sept. 6. He was 88. Stevens came from a family

dedicated to the law. His father, Albert Lee Stephens

’03, sat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and

his brother, Clarke (’39), served on the California Court

of Appeal. After graduating from the Law Sch o o l ,

Stephens opened a practice in 1939. He was

appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1959

and appointed two years later, by President Ke n n e d y,

to the U.S. District Court. He served as chief judge

from 1970 to 1979. He is survived by his wife ,

Barbara, two daughters, five grandchildren and a

g r e a t - g r a n d d a u g h t e r. He was preceded in death by

a niece, Marie Stephens ’72 .

We make meaning of our lives in many ways; giving is one of them. Crispus Attucks Wr i g h twas one of those people who made great meaning and took much joy from his gift to theUSC Law School. Cris was mindful of the Biblical admonition that “w h e re your tre a s u re is,t h e re will be your heart also. ”

In 1997, Cris created the Crispus Attucks Wright Scholarship En d owment at the USCLaw School with a $2 million gift. From the moment he made the gift, he was eager to meetthe young law students who would benefit from his genero s i t y. Many of the now 15 studentsmet Cris and came to know of his extraord i n a ry and improbable life and his exuberance.For his part, Cris was delighted by the quality of students who studied here as Wr i g h ts c h o l a r s .

Now that Cris is gone from our company, it falls upon the Law School to tell his story.We will speak of the importance his parents placed on black history and black people ofcourage and commitment. We will describe his father, who, though born into slave ry, earneda college degree and pursued a professional life of accomplishment. We will talk about hism o t h e r, who worked two jobs after her husband’s death in Los Angeles to put her chil-d ren through college. We will talk about a man who succeeded as an attorney and as abusinessman, invested his time and tre a s u re in the Los Angeles black community, and defiedthe social obstacles placed in front of him.

Fi n a l l y, we will tell our students that Cr i s’s life proved Sh a k e s p e a re wrong: The goodhe did on behalf of the USC Law School will not be buried with his bones. Cris was a givingman, and, in giving, he affirmed that part of his nature. In the form of the Crispus Wr i g h tScholarships, his giving will endure .

Crispus At t u cks Wright ’38 passed awayDec. 6. He was 88. His legacy is rememberedby Associate Dean Tom To m l i n s o n .


James Gibson Alverson ’63

Ernest John “EJ” Caldecott ’48

G. William Dunn ’65

David M. Durst ’55

Robert M. Fisk ’49

J. Robert Flandrick ’55

Alex “Denny” Fred ’41

Abraham Gorenfeld ’37

William Charles Hobbs ’64

David L. Jacobsohn ’56

John Loren Newburn ’57

Norman H. Sokolow ’48

Shannon W. Trower ’65

James A. Watkins ’56

Alan I. Widiss ’63

in m e m o r i a m

Sometimes I think that Sept. 11 is the longestday in American history. What do we make ofsuch a day? We are more comfortable re f l e c t i n gon moments past.

Sept. 11 lingers. Its sun arcs slowly acro s sthe sky, casting distorted shadows upon theearth. We long for this day to end. Then wemight see a clearer pattern among the stars.

I woke up to Sept. 11. It was 5:45 a.m. inLos Angeles when the first plane flew into theWorld Trade Center. It was 6:03 a.m. Pa c i f i ctime when the second plane hit. Many knew inan instant that the world had changed. At 6:50I woke to the radio, but the voices we re unfa-m i l i a r. Was it a dream? Or was it a radio play —another War of the Wo rl d s? I turned on CNN,just as the news broke about the Pentagon. At7:05 a.m. I saw the south tower collapse, live onCNN. I turned the television off. I told mydaughter that something terrible had happened.

I live far from the clouds of dust that swe p ta c ross Manhattan. I live far from the field inPe n n s y l vania where the fourth plane crashedinto the ground. Yet in Los Angeles, in tow n sa c ross the nation, in towns across the world,this day seems to have no end.

What do we make of such a day? Pe r h a p swe should think about it at a later time. Pe r h a p sit will be a decade before scholars have thedistance to say anything definitive. Me a n w h i l e ,a round us, Sept. 11 is constructed by others.

“ It’s a new kind of war,” the president says.He says we shouldn’t discriminate againstMuslims, but then hundreds of Muslims aredetained based on tips from neighbors and friends. The attorney general seeks broad new powers for domestic surveillance. We

are doing these things, the president says, to safeguard civilization and to protect our way of life.

The nation is awash in American flags.Amid the strains of the national anthem, ourconcerns about civil rights at home and humanrights abroad seem to strike a discordant chord .

Yet when we look back at other moments ofcrisis, we find words of self-reflection. We findin moments of profound grief a call for self-examination and a call for change.

On April 4, 1968, Ro b e rt F. Kennedy spokeof the death of Ma rtin Luther King, Jr. He said,“ In this difficult day, in this difficult time forthe United States, it is perhaps well to ask whatkind of a nation we are and what direction wewant to move in.” He quoted Aeschylus: “Inour sleep, pain which cannot forget falls dro pby drop upon the heart until, in our owndespair, against our will, comes wisdomt h rough the awful grace of Go d . ”

But can wisdom and self-reflection happenn ow, at a time of war? We might find an answe rin the words of Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn.Toward the end of World War II, he stoodb e f o re too many newly dug graves on the islandof Iwo Jima and delive red a eulogy. The soldiersbeneath the soil had done their job, he said. Itwas instead the living “who are here to be dedi-cated and consecrated.”

Gittelsohn called upon the mourners toembrace democracy, but he did not invoke anarrow conception of nationalism or a faith in Manifest Destiny. Instead he imagined atransformed democracy among the soldiers,and he called upon his listeners to transformt h e m s e l ves.

“ He re lie men who loved America,” he said.“ He re lie officers and men, Ne g roes and whites,rich and poor, together… He re no man pre f e r sanother because of his faith, or despises himbecause of his color. Among these men thereis no discrimination, no prejudice, no hatre d .Theirs is the highest and purest democracy. ”

The burden on the living after World Wa rII was to give meaning to Gi t t e l s o h n’s trans-formed image of America and to work as we l lfor peace in the world. What burden might beplaced in our hands?

Many scholars have argued that momentsof crisis can also be moments of transforma-tion. Perhaps it takes a crisis to up-end thecultural and political status quo. We know thatin American history, moments of crisis havesometimes led to terrible acts of re p ression. Bu tsometimes out of crisis comes meaningful,p ro g re s s i ve social change.

What is our role now, as scholars? We didn’task to be placed in this moment in time. But aswe gaze through the television lens at the cranesm oving rubble and remains at Ground Ze ro, or at the bare hands moving bricks to u n c over a loved one in a collapsed building inAfghanistan, we must take up the burden ofthe living. This moment will be shaped, forgood or for ill, either with us or without us.

Ma ry L. Dudziak is the Judge Ed w a rd J. and Ru e yL. Gu i rado Professor of Law and Hi s t o ry. This essay wase xcerpted from her presentation at the American St u d i e sAssociation annual meeting. Dudziak coordinated aMay conference with the Center for Law, Historyand Culture examining Sept. 11 as a moment of t ra n s f o rm a t i o n .


c l o s e r by Mary L. Dudziak

Thed u tyof the

*

l i v i n g

If you attended USC Law Sch o o l b a ck when card

c a talogs were the primary research tool, you might be

surprised by all that the law library is today. It’s still the

heart of the Law School, the place where students and

faculty collaborate, research and learn. And it’s still a

well-used legal resource for the community. But now it’s

also a gateway to unlimited electronic resources – the

World Wide Web and beyond.

Keeping up with rapidly changing technology while

m a i n taining a premier collection of legal texts is a

costly challenge. USC’s law library will undergo a major

renovation during the next two years to make sure it

supports the needs of 21st-century law students. The

project will make room for more collaborative study

space and an ever-growing collection of books while

strengthening the library’s technological infrastructure.

From wireless networking to reading-sensitive lighting,

the new library will offer the best in service, resources and

learning opportunities. It’s one more step up for an

already top-rung library.

Call today with your tax-deductible gift to the Gabriel

and Matilda Barnett Information Te chnology Center and

the Asa V. Call Law Library. Give back to the library that

helped you climb the ladder of success.

(it’s not just for books anymore)

the usc L AW l i b r a r y

USC Law Sch o o lOffice of Development and Graduate Relations

(213) 740 - 6 1 4 3or give online at w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / a l u m n i

USCLAWThe Law Sch o o lUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, California 90 089 - 0 07 1

Address Service Requested

Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Po s tage PaidUniversity of Southern California

Date post:	10-Aug-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	1 times
Download:	0 times

Pr o f essionalism and Ethics Class Notes USCLAW - USC Gould … · 2009-09-01 · E-Mail:...

Documents