Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons In Brief Newsletters 2019 In Brief Case Western Reserve University School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/in_brief Part of the Legal Education Commons Recommended Citation In Brief, iss. 102 (2019). https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/in_brief/101 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Newsletters at Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in In Brief by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. FALL 2019 ISSUE 102 InTHE MAGAZINE OF CASE Brief WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW Case Western Reserve University School of Law raises $58 million, capped off by a $10 million landmark gift from alumnus to establish the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law HIGHLIGHTS WE RECENTLY CELEBRATED OUR 6 Case Western Reserve University School of Law raises $58 million, capped off by a $10 million landmark gift from alumnus to establish the Coleman P. Burke Center for In Brief x x 125TH ANNIVERSARY Environmental Law FALL 2019 ISSUE 102 10 Opioid Epidemic: Case Western Reserve law grads play central roles in unprecedented EDITOR IN CHIEF We have so much history, we could write a book! opioid litigation Dena Cipriano 12 Fusion program partners with University’s think[box] to give students a first-hand CONTRIBUTING WRITER innovation experience 40 Brian Glaviano 16 CWRU Law launches Yemen accountability project to document war crimes for future DESIGN/PRINTING SO WE DID. prosecution Academy Graphic Communication, Inc. 20 Ohio Attorney General awards funding to human trafficking clinic PHOTOGRAPHERS 22 Keeping Do-It-Yourself Gene Science Safe: iStock CWRU team will provide policy Brian Glaviano recommendations for balancing safety, Kamron Khan innovation Dan Milner 30 The Russia-United States Legal Education Karen Ollis Foundation is evolving the bench and bar in Annie O’Neill “Girls can’t be lawyers.” That’s what a male classmate told Alberta Colclaser when she was young. But Colclaser proved that wrong, graduating from the law school in 1936. She was one of three women in her law Russia, one student at a time. class of 75 students. Even so, Colcaser said the most interesting part of her life came Shutterstock degree—when she helped pioneer international aviation law. At that time, Amelia Earhartafter had earning made herthe firstlaw flight from Hawaii to North America. Colclaser’s work in the office of Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of 44 Law faculty honored for scholarship and State resulted in setting government policies in this new field. While working in D.C. during WWII, Colclaser earned her pilot’s license and served the Civil Air Patrol. Colclaser traveled the world during her career, and 44 eventually left government work to become the secretary of the College of Wooster. She lived there for more service than 35 years, and passed away in 2010 at age 99. IN BRIEF ONLINE DESIGNER Carl Roloff WOMEN 32 In Brief is published annually by WOMEN CHAPTER FOUR 33 Case Western Reserve University School of Law i CHAPTER FOUR SEND CORRESPONDENCE AND INFORMATION TO: Brian Glaviano Manager of Marketing and Communications Here, a Cleveland News advertisement announces a town hall meeting during the national Drawing attention and taking a stand—these debate over the proposed Equal Rights for Women amendment to the Constitution. “book-carrying picketers” were called suspiciously photo- genic in an article describing their protest. Their signs point to the Case Western Reserve University School of Law Milestones scarcity of female law students and hint at a law dance at Hotel Holleden. ber of competing schools in the area, in- Pictured in the picket line: Bettyanne Meyer, Eileen Foley, Iona Caldwell and Joanne 1826 Western Reserve College is found- - cluding the University of Cincinnati Law Kuth. The photo is stamped April 21, 1947. ed in Hudson, Ohio, with the main pur MILESTONES 11075 East Boulevard School, the University of Michigan Law pose of ministerial education. The name School, and the Ohio State University 3 is an homage to the fact that Northern Law School. Cleveland, OH 44106 Ohio was once the Western Reserve terri- MILESTONES MILESTONES tory of the state of Connecticut. 1892 The law school opens in the fall CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER [email protected] 2 without an endowment, library, dean or Western Reserve College moves to 1882 even any full-time faculty. The incoming 10 48 Cleveland and becomes a university. 216.368.1798 1L class had twenty-four students. Annual tuition was $100. The law school had five CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER Seven judges and five influential 1891 part-time professors making $3 per teach- law.case.edu Cleveland lawyers petition the university ing hour, a number that wouldn’t increase trustees to add a law school at Western Re- until after WWI. The first law school serve University in May. Seven days later, building was the Ford Farmhouse, located IN EVERY ISSUE the request was reluctantly approved. The at Adelbert and Euclid. trustees were concerned about the num- © 2019 Case Western Reserve University. This is one of the many picturesque aerial photographs taken at Case Western 4 An Update from the Deans: Q & A $30 Reserve University. Here is the campus view overlooking Wade Lagoon. All rights reserved. 26 Student Profile 29 Featured Alumni 40 Society of Benchers 2019 42 Faculty Briefs CELEBRATING 125 YEARS Get live updates. Join our groups today. This commemorative book 48 Commencement Case Western Reserve University 50 Upcoming Events is available on amazon.com School of Law 12 52 Class Notes From the beginning in 1892, Case Western Reserve 59 In Memoriam for $30. All proceeds go University School of Law set a precedent for pushing 71 Alumni Committees educational boundaries and providing access to students to our Annual Fund, of all races, genders and backgrounds. This photo-driven archival book explores 125 years of diversity, leadership, which supports student world impact and progressive initiatives at the law school. Share in the success of alumni and faculty who contribute If you’ve got a story to share, scholarships. to the school’s tradition of excellence. Learn the law school don’t hesitate to contact us at story—its brave beginning and significant milestones [email protected]. during more than a century. See how the school is poised We’d love to hear from you. for the future, as a national leader in legal education. 16 AN UPDATE FROM THE DEANS Q&A Appointed to lead the law school in 2013, Jessica Berg and Michael Scharf are among the longest-serving law school deans in the country. We caught up with them for an annual update about the law school. Tell us about the theme of this issue of In Brief ? Let’s talk about that $10 million gift. MICHAEL: We are celebrating the conclusion of the most successful fundraising campaign in the history of the law school. Ten years JESSICA: We have an incredible alumnus named Coleman (Coley) Burke, who is an extremely successful New York real estate lawyer, ago, the University Board of Trustees set a goal of $32 million for the law school’s Forward Thinking Campaign. Our alumni’s land developer, and amateur paleontologist. Every year when we would visit his office, Coley would show us a new fossilized generosity exceeded all expectations, donating a total of $58 million, including the largest gift the school has ever received. Most dinosaur that he had collected during his excursions to South America. There were two things Coley loved to talk with us about importantly, over fifty percent of our alums contributed during the campaign, an extremely high percentage compared to other law — his favorite professor Leon Gabinet (for whom he endowed a chair in his honor) and his travel adventures across the globe. Coley schools. This issue of In Brief tells the story of some of those gifts and how they have transformed our school. decided that he wanted to do something to help both the environment and our school by endowing the largest law school environmental law center in the country. And we had just the right faculty member up for the challenge of serving as the Center’s What does the law school do with all that money? director. We are excited to tell the story of the new Burke Center in this issue. JESSICA: Our endowment has grown tremendously and has just crossed the $100 million threshold, putting us in rare company. What other news do you want to share? We now have the 32nd largest endowment of any U.S. law school. As with our annual fund dollars, much of the interest from the endowment goes to fund scholarships to enable us to attract the best and brightest students. Our bar pass rate and MICHAEL: We are pleased to report that the 2020 U.S. News and World Report specialty rankings ranked us in the top ten law employment rate have been steadily improving. And this year our incoming median GPA is 3.63, up from 3.46, the most schools for Health Law, in the top 20 law schools for International Law, and in the top 25 percent of law schools for Intellectual significant increase in years. Property Law. And PreLaw Magazine, a publication of National Jurist, recently ranked us as a “Top School” for Health Law (A+), International Law (A+), Intellectual Property Law (A+), Business and Corporate Law (A), Criminal Law (A-) and Public Interest Law MICHAEL: We also now have 14 endowed chaired professorships, which enable us to attract and retain some of the top law teachers (A-).