University of Maine School of Law University of Maine School of Law Digital Commons Maine Law Magazine Law School Publications Fall 2012 Maine Law Magazine - Issue No. 88 University of Maine School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/maine-law-magazine Part of the Law Commons This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Publications at University of Maine School of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine Law Magazine by an authorized administrator of University of Maine School of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maine Law Magazine Spotlight on INFORMATION PRIVACY Trevor Hughes, Maine Law ’95 Inside Justice for Women Lecture New LL.M. program Human Rights Clinic THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE SCHOOL OF LAW FALL 2012 OPENING ARGUMENTS The Honorable Daniel E. Wathen (Maine Law ’65) served as Chief The Honorable Daniel E. Wathen Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from 1992 to 2001. He now is of counsel at the law firm Pierce Atwood, where he has developed an extensive media- tion and arbitration practice in Maine, Puerto Rico, and throughout the United States. Among his many activities as a civic leader, Justice Wathen is Board Chair for the Maine Turnpike Authority, former Board Chair for the Maine Community College System, former Chair of the National Judicial College, and a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Maine School of Detail from a painting by Christopher Cart Law. He is originally from Aroostook Q: What is the best job you ever had? County and earned his law degree A: With the exception of picking potatoes and shoveling manure, I’ve enjoyed all of them. from Maine Law in 1965. The best job by far was being chief justice. I was given a fair amount of authority, an endless supply of interesting and important cases, and one simple instruction – do the right thing. How could you have a better job than that? Q: What impact did Maine Law have on your life and career? A: Maine Law gave me my voice and my life’s work. In my youth I had been a rebel without a cause. I flunked out or quit college a couple of times before I got “. the quality of education was married in my junior year exceptional, and that remains today.” and became a dean’s list student. Despite my early scholastic record, it appeared to Dean Edward Godfrey and the Admissions Committee that I had an epiphany and, according to the Dean, “we went with the epiphany.” Q: How would you assess Maine Law’s progress since you graduated? A: There are a lot more students, and there is more variety in the curriculum. There were no elective courses and no clinics or skills courses, beyond moot court. But the quality of education was exceptional, and that remains today. Q: What advice do you have for prospective law students? A: Think carefully before developing a specialty in practice. Law today is more complex and specialists are necessary, but there is great joy and freedom in being a generalist and having the confidence to help people with different legal problems. Q: You are known as a motorcycle enthusiast. Have you read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig? A: Yes, I have read it several times. The book somehow captures the feeling I get when I am riding my bike with no destination in mind and just picking any road that I choose. Someone, maybe Pirsig, said that when you ride in a car, you look at the scenery. When you ride a bike, you are part of the scenery. Maine Law Magazine CONTENTS Fall 2012 Dean Peter Pitegoff Magazine committee Rita Heimes Peter Pitegoff Vendean Vafiades Jennifer Wriggins Managing editor & design Peter Weed 12 19 26 Writer FEATURES Trevor Maxwell Copy editing Information Privacy J. Julie Welch 12 Maine Law is a leader in an expanding field Photography (including cover) . René Minnis OUSPT Special thanks 18 Students are thriving at the federal Patent Office Michelene Decrow Alexandra Moras Standing up for Justice 19 Anna Welch launches Human Rights Clinic Published by The University of Maine Celebrating 50 Years School of Law 246 Deering Ave., Portland, Maine 22 Maine Law looks back at a rich history 04102-2898 (207) 780-4442 The Old Regime and the Haitian Revolution [email protected] 24 Professor Malick Ghachem discusses his new book www.mainelaw.maine.edu LL.M.’s First Class 26 Ali Farid is one of Maine Law’s first LL.M. students COVER PHOTO Copyright © 2012, University of Maine School of Law. All rights reserved. Maine Law graduate Trevor Hughes is pivotal in the School’s The University of Maine School of Law is success in Information Privacy Law. Story: Page 12. committed to diversity in the Law School (René Minnis photo) and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orienta- tion, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, or veteran status. DEPARTMENTS 4 From the Dean 6 News 14 Alumni Spotlight: Information Privacy 28 Faculty Accomplishments 32 Alumni News 35 Philanthropy Report FROM THE DEAN Building upon Maine Law’s 50-year legacy Dear Friends, court in Maine or Alaska; lawyering in the expanding arena of data privacy or intellectual property; managing a lobster export business or ifty years ago, a new law school opened its doors on High Street a nonprofit enterprise; serving in a government agency or the legisla- in Portland. The school employed three resident professors, a ture; working in a law firm, a legal services office, or simply hanging librarian and an assistant librarian. Twenty-seven students took out a shingle – our recent graduates are contributing to a rich history Fcourses inside a brick building that still had signs from its days as a of innovation at Maine Law. children’s hospital. Just four years later, with a thriving law library, a dynamic Law Review and several more professors, the University of Changing with the Times Maine School of Law earned accreditation from the American Bar As- As reflected in this issue of Maine Law Magazine, our law school sociation. Maine Law was well on its way to becoming an integral is taking action to maximize opportunities for our students. Over the voice for education, public service, public policy, and justice in Maine. past several years, Maine Law has achieved greater autonomy and au- This rapid ascent, according to founding Dean Edward S. Godfrey, thority, enabling and fueling exciting changes. was largely a product of a willingness to Our curriculum continues to evolve and take action in the face of adversity. “The es- reflect new career paths. We are expanding tablishment of a law school by the Univer- our clinical programs, where students learn sity of Maine has been itself an act of high the practical skills that are required by em- daring in the present competitive state of ployers. More than ever, we are connecting American legal education,” Dean Godfrey students with internships and externships wrote in 1963. That legacy of bold action, in a range of fields and practice areas. We fifty years later, still resonates here at Maine have made internal structural changes for Law. Once again, we find ourselves in chal- effective multi-year planning and manage- lenging times. And once again, Maine Law ment. We are competing well for the best is engaged in bold action to advance the students, in Maine and across the nation, school’s mission of education, research, and including an expansion of scholarship aid. public service. We remain a destination point for excellent professors. Shifting Landscape The cover story on information privacy The lingering economic downturn describes our place in an emerging disci- and dramatic changes in the legal profes- pline. In cooperation with the International sion have reduced the availability of law Association of Privacy Professionals and its firm jobs and public sector positions, while CEO Trevor Hughes (Maine Law ’95), we fewer people nationwide are applying to have nurtured a robust new career track in law schools. Any prospective law student the field of data privacy. In several concert- certainly must assess the affordability ed initiatives, Maine Law is expanding the and cost-benefit analysis of attending law school’s institutional relationships, offering school. In the wake of negative media at- tailored education and professional certifi- tention and growing student debt burdens, cation, and placing our students in extern- the very value of a legal education is the ships for credit, internships for pay, and subject of public debate. selected post-graduate jobs with companies Maine Law is navigating this terrain effectively. Our success re- in need of data privacy expertise. Maine Law has emerged as a magnet inforces my firm belief that a law school education is uniquely valu- for leaders in the field, as witnessed by our second annual Data Privacy able and provides the foundation for success in any number of careers. Conference and two week summer institute for credit this year. Analytical discipline and problem-solving skills of a lawyer apply in The privacy initiatives are among the robust mix of activity in business, non-profit organizations, government, public policy devel- our Center for Law and Innovation, which includes the Maine Pat- opment, and, of course, in the judiciary or the practice of law. ent Program, the Intellectual Property Law Clinic, public educa- In this environment, our students as always are resourceful and tion initiatives, and curricular innovation.