38644out 4/1/10 2:45 PM Page 1 The Dickinson Lawyer The Dickinson School of Law Celebrating 175 Years of Excellence Penn State UniverSity DickinSon School of law alUmni magazine — winter 2010 38644out 4/1/10 2:25 PM Page 2 A L ETTER FROM THE DEAN An anniversary event is as much a time to look to the future as it is to celebrate the past. A special pull-out section of this issue of The Dickinson Lawyer features a 175-year timeline with milestones that reflect how The Dickinson School of Law has helped shape our region, our country, and our world. The section ends with a photo “walk through” of our new and renovated facilities in Carlisle which will be dedicated on April 16. Together with our award-winning Lewis Katz Building at University Park, our new facilities provide our students with several unique advantages. In our courtroom, for example, students were recently able to observe Judge D. Brooks Smith ’76 as part of a Third Circuit panel hearing a last-minute death penalty appeal. In our classrooms, students compare con - stitutional issues with their peers in South Africa and Australia. In our library, students have 24/7 access to a vast collection of resources that puts answers at their fingertips. We’re also celebrating the 30-year anniversary of our clinical program, which began in earnest with our Family, Disability and Arts, Sports and Entertainment Law clinics. In 2008, we expanded our clinics to include opportunities for students to work on immigration and civil rights issues on a national level. Later this year, we will bring our agricultural law expert - ise to a new rural economic development clinic. The level of our academic program has been raised significantly by the addition of new faculty over the past several years—the world’s leading DNA evidence expert, international human rights leaders, and other leading scholars. For the upcoming school year, in honor of the late Dale Shughart Jr. ’74 and in gratitude for his commitment to The Dickinson School of Law, we’ve launched the Shughart Fellows program. In fall of 2010 and each academic year after, the Law School will welcome as visiting assistant professors a small group of scholars of exceptional accomplishment and promise. Our faculty and students will benefit from the per - spective, energy and passion of these emerging scholars. If you have visited our Web site recently or reviewed our monthly e-newsletter, you’ll notice the intellectually vibrant calendar of events—from symposia on compelling topical issues to impressive guest lecturers and our own “Experience Penn State Law” faculty lecture series. All of these events are available to prospective students and the broader legal commu - nity via webcast and podcasts. Looking ahead, Penn State Public Broadcasting is creating a new educational public television series, “The World on Trial,” hosted by creator and co-pro - ducer, faculty member Randall Robinson, who is also an acclaimed author and human rights activist. Each program will feature an hour-long trial staged before representative juries and public audiences which will determine whether nations are complying with or violating human rights laws they helped author. All of this translates to a record-breaking year for the Law School. We’re attracting top students to our program at a blistering pace. This year, we’ve processed more than 5,000 applications…that’s almost double where we were in 2008, and more than triple our 2002 applications. Based on the strength of our faculty of leading scholars, our cutting-edge facili - ties, and your support as an alumni community, our students are poised to be strong lead - ers—in the region, the country, and throughout the world. And that’s something to celebrate. 2 • the dickinson lawyer 38644out_38644out 3/31/10 3:36 AM Page 3 managing eDitor The DICKINSON kelly r. rimmer eDitor LAWYER Dyanna Stupar contribUtorS ellen foreman i n T his i ssUe Director, marketing & communications Pamela knowlton 4 in BrieF crystal Stryker Family Law clinic hits 30-year Milestone • Lewis katz Building wins “Project of the year” award • recent Graduate receives LraP PhotoS assistance • Law school holds Moot on nFL case • immigration ian bradshaw Photography adjudications: court reform & Beyond • President obama Dyanna Stupar nominates Vanaskie to 3rd circuit • Magaziner Family honors Third year Law students • Law school names new Board Members • student elected as Vice chair-student Bar associations for the aBa- LsD Board of Governors • Ashcroft v. Iqbal : has the U.s. supreme court shut the Door on ordinary Plaintiffs? • Penn state Law alumna Begins Fulbright research in new Zealand • Penn state Law The Dickinson Lawyer is published for alumni, stu - students Go Pro Bono over spring Break • Threatened songbird dents, staff, and friends of the Dickinson School of law of the Pennsylvania State University. corre - Gets help From Third-year student • commencement 2009 spondence may be addressed to the editor. Por - tions of this magazine may be reprinted if credit is FacULTy FocUs given to the Dickinson School of law, The Dickin - 16 son Lawyer , and the author. this publication is available in alternative media on 19 BriDGinG Law , G eneTics , anD sTaTisTics request. An interview with Professor David H. Kaye the Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access 22 aLUMni news to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not Producing a Business, Producing Talent—Making rain in the Music related to ability, performance, or qualifications as Business • results Matter To special education Lawyer • determined by University policy or by state or fed - eral authorities. it is the policy of the University to international ambassadorial scholar • 2009 alumni & reunion maintain an academic and work environment free weekend in review • recruit at Dickinson • investing for the of discrimination, including harassment. the Penn - Future • Upcoming alumni events • search for Director of alumni sylvania State University prohibits discrimination and harassment against any person because of age, relations ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national ori - gin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Discrimination or harassment 31 LisTeninG PosT against faculty, staff, or students will not be toler - ated at the Pennsylvania State University. Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to gwen marchek, human resources officer, Penn State Dickinson School of law, beam building, Uni - versity Park, Pa 16802-1910; tel 814-865-4232 U.ed. DSl 10/15 winter 2010 • 3 38644out_38644out 3/31/10 3:36 AM Page 4 in brief FaMiLy Law cLinic hiTs time, juggling deadlines, and moving cases through 30-year MiLesTone the system.” The Dickinson school of Law’s Family Law clinic Students hone skills with challenging cases opened its doors in 1979 in carlisle, Pennsylvania. “i have been lucky,” said third-year law student with two students and a handful of clients, the clinic rachel allen. “i’m in my second semester with the operated out of an office adjacent to Trickett hall. clinic, and i’ve handled a wide-range of cases, includ - now, thirty years and some 3,500 cases later, the clin - ing protection from abuse, divorce, child custody, and ic continues to fulfill its mission of giving students dependency. we help people below the poverty level authentic legal experience and opened a second office who are not able to navigate the legal system on their in state college, Pennsylvania, in January. own.” “For many law school graduates, time spent in allen has already accepted a position to start after clinical learning environments is the most memo - graduation with the Delaware Family court, which rable,” said Dean Phil Mcconnaughay. Up to 40 per - she attributes to getting as a direct result of the excel - cent of our students participate in clinics and extern - lent reputation the clinic has with the court. “when ships, and the Family Law clinic offers the benefits of you’re in the classroom reading cases, you can become live client interaction and the ability for students to jaded,” allen said. “at the clinic, you experience the see their cases through from start to completion with - real people behind the cases. it has made me want to in their two-semester commitment. we’re also able to do more to help.” give back to our host communities through our advo - Law school alumni also credit their experience at cacy work on behalf of clients.” the clinic for launching them into satisfying careers. The clinic moved into the Dale F. shughart com - suzanne shapiro ’90 has been an attorney with saul munity Law center on Pitt street in carlisle in 1992. e. kerpelman & associates, Pa in Baltimore, Mary - originally started under the direction of Professor land, for more than fifteen years, representing disad - Thomas Place and now co-directed with Professor vantaged children who have suffered lead poisoning. robert rains, the clinic gives second- and third-year law students, learning under the supervision of expe - rienced staff attorneys, the opportunity to represent low-income clients in custody, child and spousal sup - port, adoption, dependency, and domestic violence cases. students learn both substantive law and the essential lawyering skills of interviewing and counsel - ing clients, negotiation, drafting pleadings and other court documents, and advocacy. Many of the cases in which students are involved come to resolution within the timeframe of the students’ involvement. while some aspects of practicing family law have changed over the past three decades — for example, more reliance on mediation and no-fault divorces — Place emphasized that one thing hasn’t changed. “The performance of the students in the clinic continues to be extraordinary,” Place said.