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PSU519:Layout 1 3/25/11 11:40 AM Page 1 LEXICON SPRING 2011 H IGH-VOLTAGE A LUMNI Meet the Financing Renewable Why Brownfields Land Banker Energy are Hot PSU519:Layout 1 3/25/11 3:21 PM Page a2 A LETTER FROM THE DEAN his is a time of significant international connection for The Dickinson School of Law, continuing our tradition of international reach. Our first interna- Ttional student, Issa Tanimura of Tokyo, Japan, gradu- ated in 1892, and our faculty has a long and distinguished history of international collaborations. This summer we will launch an intensive four-week program in Istanbul to introduce American legal principles to lawyers from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.Taught by Dickinson School of Law professors, the program likely will serve as a gateway to our expanding LL.M. program here in Pennsylvania. Our World on Trial project with Penn State Public Broad- casting now includes over twenty partner universities worldwide that serve as sites for the remote juries hearing and deciding the human rights trials featured in each episode. The pilot episode of World on Trial includes juries from the University of Edinburgh, Cape Town University, Hong Kong University, Sciences Po in Paris, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Yeditepe University in Is- tanbul, and Peking University School of Transnational Law in Shenzhen. This issue of Lexicon also features a heartwarming and in- spiring international humanitarian effort undertaken by Lewis Katz ’66 on behalf of a desperately ill young Haitian refugee in Phoenix whose mother and sisters were stranded in Haiti. This issue also brings news about alumni committed to im- proving our environment. Richard Erdmann ’73 has negoti- ated thousands of land deals that have conserved millions of acres of land for local communities. Gregory Blasi ’75 finances renewable energy. Michael Brammick ’90 helps to diversify our global energy supply as vice president of NRG Energy. Former Department of Environmental Protection lawyer Justina Wasicek ’75 spends her retirement encouraging neighborly solutions to environmental issues. These high-voltage alumni inspire, just as the Law School works to inspire new graduates to varied achievements in our global community. With warm regards to our alumni and friends, PSU519:Layout 1 3/25/11 11:40 AM Page 1 EDITOR LEXICON Crystal L. Stryker ’04 EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Veronica Padilla ’12 FEATURES DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Kelly Rimmer 11 FRANK WAGNER REFLECTS ON HIS SUPREME COURT CAREER DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS Robin Fulton 14 HIGH-VOLTAGE ALUMNI EDITORIAL BOARD TRASH TO TREASURE: Professor Harvey Feldman ’69 21 Ellen Foreman THE EVOLUTION OF BROWNFIELD DEVELOPMENT Director of Marketing and Communications Jessica Holst ’98 24 WHAT’S AROUND THE CORNER IN MARCELLUS SHALE DEVELOPMENT Attorney, MidPenn Legal Services Alison Kilmartin ’09 25 WHY I TEACH: Q&A WITH JOHN LOPATKA AND NANCY WELSH Associate, Jones Day Professor Marie T. Reilly 27 FEATURED FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP: AGENCY INTERPRETATIONS Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Alice Richards ’11 Professor Megan Riesmeyer ’03 DEPARTMENTS Professor Victor C. Romero Dyanna Stupar Alumni Relations Coordinator 2 BY THE NUMBERS Hannah Suhr ’11 3 ON CAMPUS Lexicon is published for alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends of The Dickinson 7 ALUMNI NEWS School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University. Correspondence may be adressed 29 FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS to the editor. Portions of this magazine may be reprinted if credit is given to The Dickinson 33 GIVING School of Law, Lexicon, and the author. 36 CLASS NOTES CONTRIBUTORS 40 IN MEMORIAM Lisa Bruderly ’01 Professor Jamison Colburn Pam Knowlton 41 ANNUAL REPORT Curtis Toll ’94 This publication is available in alternative media on request. PHOTOS Ian Bradshaw Photography The Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall Cathy Meals Photography have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard EPA Smart Growth to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as de Jason Minick Photography termined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. It is the policy of the Barry Myers Photography University to maintain an academic and work environment free of discrimination, in NRG Energy cluding harassment. The Pennsylvania State University prohibits discrimination and Peter Olson Photography Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme harassment against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, Court of the United States national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Dis Michael Schennum crimination or harassment against faculty, staff, or students will not be tolerated at Dyanna Stupar The Pennsylvania State University. Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination Jeff Wolfram Photography policy to Jennifer Solbakken, Human Resources Coordinator, Penn State Dickinson School of Law, Lewis Katz Building, University Park, PA 168021017; tel 8148655040. U.Ed. LAW 1119 Penn State University Dickinson School of Law • September 2010 1 PSU519:Layout 1 3/25/11 11:40 AM Page 2 BY THE NUMBERS pages Professor Samuel Thompson needed to share his life’s 5,174 knowledge in his new four-volume treatise Mergers, Acquisitions and Tender Offers: Law and Strategies (Practicing Law Institute 2010). million acres preserved by The 6.7Conservation Fund, spearheaded 39 by Richard Erdmann ’73. federal and state Trasylol cases settled by James Ronca ’77 to date. 15 people who have ever held the position Reporter of Decisions at the United States Supreme Court, a position from which Frank Wagner ’70 has retired. people attended the Marcellus Shale law and policy interdisciplinary symposium hosted by the Penn 211State Environmental Law Review. $50,000 single foundation grant that enabled Richard Erdmann ’73 and Patrick Noonan to found The Conservation Fund. 2 Penn State University Dickinson School of Law • law.psu.edu PSU519:Layout 1 3/25/11 11:40 AM Page 3 ON CAMPUS STUDENTS MEET JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR AND SUPREME COURT LITIGATORS By Pam Knowlton Students in the Civil Rights Appellate Clinic case preparation and explained how newer attor- traveled to the U.S. Supreme Court to observe neys can be valuable in that process. We were all oral arguments in Staub v. Proctor on Novem- genuinely impressed that he took time to meet ber 2, 2010. They also met privately with some with us, especially in the middle of preparing for of the most brilliant legal minds in the country, cases that he has pending before the Supreme including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Court.” During an informal question and answer Last spring Clinic students served as co- session, Justice Sotomayor discussed the differ- counsel on behalf of three civil rights organiza- ences among her roles tions and filed an as a trial judge in the “It was inspiring to meet with amicus brief in support federal district court, the distinguished author and of Staub. The Court ul- an appellate judge on timtely reached an 8-0 the Second Circuit experienced appellate attorney decision in Staub’s Court of Appeals, and David Frederick, who described favor on March 1, 2011. her work on the After observing Supreme Court. oral advocacy as an opportunity oral argument, the stu- Students also met dents met Eric Schnap- with attorney David to educate the Court.” per, the attorney who Frederick, one of the nation’s most respected ap- argued the case on behalf of Staub, and Eric pellate advocates and a partner in the Washing- Miller, Assistant Solicitor General, who argued ton, D.C., firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd & the case for the U.S. Government as amicus Evan, P.L.L.C. Frederick has argued thirty cases curie, and discussed their impressions of the ar- before the Court and has demonstrated his abil- guments. ity to persuade conservative justices to take pro- “Students were not only able to see a cut- consumer positions. ting-edge employment issue argued before the “It was inspiring to meet with the distin- highest court in the land, but then they were able guished author and experienced appellate attor- to work through an analysis of the arguments ney David Frederick, who described oral made before the court by the attorney who actu- advocacy as an opportunity to educate the ally argued it. This wasn’t theoretical, it was real Court,” said master of laws student Sara and they were a part of it,” said Michael Fore- Humphries ’11. “Mr. Frederick spoke to us about man, clinical professor and director of the clinic. Penn State University Dickinson School of Law • Spring 2011 3 PSU519:Layout 1 3/25/11 11:40 AM Page 4 ON CAMPUS PREVIEW OF WORLD ON TRIAL RELEASED Penn State Public Broadcasting released a preview of the pilot episode World on Trial, an educational tel- evision and interactive web series exploring both sides of sharply contested human rights issues. “It’s ex- tremely gratifying to see the pilot episode coming to- gether,” said Philip McConnaughay, dean of the Law School and an executive producer of the series. “In ad- dition to the courtroom arguments viewers get a look inside how juries from around the world would debate these issues as they render verdicts.” Conceived of and hosted by acclaimed human Charles Ogletree, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and director of the rights advocate, author, and Penn State Law professor Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Randall Robinson, the program challenges viewers by Law School, leads the challenge to the 2004 French headscarf law. exploring the tension between Universalist and cultur- ally-relative notions of human rights and the various defenses available to states with respect to alleged human rights abuses within their control. World on Trial is filmed before a live jury. Remote juries at partner universities throughout the world view films of the trial and also render verdicts.