A New Name for the Institute the Dwight D
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration at NYU School of Law Issue Number 3 / Winter 2005–06 A New Name for the Institute The Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration wight D. Opperman Co-Director Oscar G. Chase, has long been a val- Russell D. Niles Professor ued supporter of the of Law, “During Sam’s and Institute and its pro- my time as Directors of the Dgrams. In addition to being Institute, we’ve personally a reliable source of wise ad- benefited from Dwight’s lead- vice and moral support for ership and friendship. While the Executive Directors, Mr. we look forward to working Opperman took the lead in es- with him for many years to tablishing an endowment and come, his legacy will inure to corporate funding for IJA. We IJA’s benefit some day in the are delighted to report that distant future.” Mr. Opperman’s generosity In recognition of all that Mr. and support of the Institute Opperman has done for IJA, have taken another momen- NYU, and the administration tous leap forward, in the form of justice throughout our na- of a substantial testamen- tion, the Board of Directors tary gift to the School of Law has honored him by renam- and to IJA. Says Executive ing the Institute as the Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration, effec- In This Issue tive November 11, 2005. Says New Judges Seminar 2 Executive Co-Director Samuel Estreicher, Dwight D. Opperman Oral Advocacy 3 Professor of Law (see p. 5 for a story about the Opperman Chinese Judges’ Program 4 Professorship), “Oscar, the IJA Opperman Professorship 5 Board of Directors, and I are proud and pleased to recognize Dwight D. Opperman IJA Summer Fellows 6 Dwight’s exceptional generos- Special Tribute Section 7 ity. Because of Dwight, we can philanthropy and commitment university for military service be assured that IJA will be able to legal education, especially during World War II. IJA Community News 9 to continue its mission of non- the continuing education of After the war and upon re- partisan research and judicial judges. The son of a railroad turning to Iowa, Opperman Board of Directors 10 outreach programs for at least worker, Mr. Opperman at- used his G.I. benefits to enroll IJA Members 10 another half century.” tended Drake University af- in law school at Drake. During Dwight D. Opperman, for- ter graduating high school in his time in law school, he ex- 2006 Calendar 11 mer chairman and CEO of Perry, Iowa. During his time celled academically and was How to Contact IJA 12 West Publishing Company, is at Drake, Mr. Opperman ma- elected to the Order of the nationally recognized for his jored in music, but left the Coif, the national honor soci- ety for law school graduates. Upon com- formed relationships with many of the as college textbook publishing and ul- pleting his law studies, Mr. Opperman nation’s judges and, most importantly, trafiche. In the mid-1970s, the company took a position as legal editor at West gained an enhanced respect for the ju- launched Westlaw, the legal database Publishing, writing synopses of legal diciary that continues today. that has become West Company’s flag- opinions. He advanced quickly through In 1968, Mr. Opperman was appointed ship product. the ranks at West Publishing and was as- president of West Publishing. Later, he Following the sale of West Publishing signed to work in court relations, travel- was also named chief executive officer. to the Thomson Corporation in 1996, ing the country and meeting with state During his tenure, West Publishing’s Mr. Opperman founded and currently and federal judges to ensure their satis- revenues grew from $50 million to $822 serves as chairman of Key Investments, faction with West Publishing products. million, as Mr. Opperman led his com- a privately-held venture capital firm Through this position, Mr. Opperman pany into a variety of new markets, such that focuses on high-tech ventures. n U.S. Solicitor General Paul D. Clement Addresses Attendees of the 005 New Appellate Judges Seminar which the Court determined that man- datory federal sentencing guidelines conflict with the Sixth Amendment and must be regarded only as advisory. The judgment, he pointed out, affects the 1,200 cases heard each week in the fed- eral courts. Clement, who enjoys California wines, said that the issue of interstate wine sales was one of abiding interest to him, though it was not a case that he ar- gued as the government’s top Supreme Court attorney. The Court struck down bans prohibiting out-of-state wineries from shipping directly to consumers, citing those laws as discriminatory. “I applaud the Court,” Clement said. “I think they got it exactly right.” The Court also took on the Ten Commandments. In one case from Intermediate court judges Darleen Ortega (OR), Judith McConnell (CA) and Paul Higginbotham (WI) Kentucky, county officials had posted the Commandments in courthouses, n July 10-15, 2005, more than Keynote speaker Paul D. Clement, and a Texas suit challenged a 40-year- fifty appellate judges attended Solicitor General of the United States, old state capitol monument. the Appellate Judges Seminar: delivered a welcoming address that “You might find it surprising,” quipped New Appellate Judges Series, a reviewed the Supreme Court’s most re- Clement, “that the two-ton monolith is Oprogram sponsored by IJA, NYU School cent term. Previous Solicitors General constitutional and the 8 ½-by-11 sheet of of Law, and the Federal Judicial Center. who have welcomed the new judges to paper is not.” The six-day conference, co-chaired by the Seminar have included Kenneth W. Also reviewing rationales in medical Professors Oscar G. Chase and Samuel Starr, Walter E. Dellinger, and Theodore marijuana, eminent domain and First Estreicher, IJA Executive Co-Directors, B. Olson (all IJA Board members), and Amendment cases, Clement pointed provided state and federal judges with Seth Waxman. out that the justices consider every ar- up to three years of experience on the Clement noted that with the public’s gument’s merits. “It really does matter appellate bench, in dialogue with a resi- focus on Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s what theory is presented to the Court.” dent judicial and academic faculty, the retirement, and other possible Court va- During the week, substantive judi- opportunity to explore the challenges cancies, the term’s significant cases are cial education topics included a popu- inherent in judicial decision-making in danger of being forgotten. Consider lar three-session segment on Opinion and issues unique to appellate courts. United States v. Booker, said Clement, in Writing (led by Professor Timothy Terrell of Emory University); a mock The social highlights of the seminar oral argument of FAIR et al. v. Rumsfeld included a dinner at the Water Club conducted by Isaac S. Greaney and Restaurant and an outing to see The Dorothy J. Spenner, associates at Light in the Piazza at Lincoln Center, in- Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood LLP; cluding a talkback with cast members and Statutory Interpretation (led by after the show. Attendees included Professor William Eskridge of Yale Law judges from: the U.S. Courts of Appeals School). Resident judicial faculty mem- for the Ninth Circuit; state interme- bers, many of whom are themselves diate courts of California, Colorado, alumni of the Appellate Judges Seminar, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, included: Judge Rosemary Barkett* Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Eleventh Circuit; Judge Martha Craig Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Daughtrey of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Wisconsin; the courts of last resort for the Sixth Circuit; Justice Roderick L. of Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Idaho, Ireland* of the Supreme Judicial Court Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, Oklahoma, of Massachusetts; Judge John Gleeson Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Wyoming; the U.S. Court of Appeals District of New York; Judge Robert A. for Veterans Claims; the Navy-Marine Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals Corps Court of Criminal Appeals; and for the Second Circuit (an IJA Board the Court of Appeal of Ontario. member); Judge Harriet Lansing of Paul D. Clement The seminar was presented in cooper- the Minnesota Court of Appeals; Judge ation with the Federal Judicial Center’s Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain* of the U.S. School of Law teaching faculty included, training program for new circuit judges Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; in addition to Professors Chase and and supported in part by grants from Justice Bea Ann Smith* of the Texas Estreicher, Professors Rachel Barkow, West Group and Cravath, Swaine & Court of Appeals, Third District; and Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff, Samuel Moore, LLP. n Judge Diane P. Wood* of the U.S. Court Issacharoff, Geoffrey P. Miller, Liam of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. NYU Murphy, and Rick Pildes. * Denotes IJA Member Dialogue on Oral Advocacy Before the Federal Bench n the evening of April 26, dozens of new lawyers gathered to hear a distinguished bench-bar panel discuss effective oral advocacy. ProfessorO Oscar G. Chase moderated the panel discussion plus a lengthy round of questions from the audience. The speakers included Chief Judge John M. Walker Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Judge Kimba M. Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, IJA President Evan R. Chesler of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and Daniel L. Berger of Bernstein, Litowitz, Berger & Grossmann LLP. Judge Walker, Judge Wood, and Mr. Chesler are all long-time members of the IJA Board of Directors.