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law.arizona.edu | Link                                                                                        March 13, 2013

Greetings!

Our spotlight shines this week on three members of the Arizona Law community: student Joe Bevington, Prof. Jane Yakowitz Bambauer, and alumna Alison Christian. As you will see, we also are ready to offer a final selection of names for this weekly message. Enjoy!

 

Until the footnotes,

 

Marc

 

Student News
Joe Bevington (Class of 2013)

Joe Bevington is a 3L from northern New York who earned a BA in International Relations from Boston University and a Master's in Education from Northern Arizona University. He taught in Yuma, Arizona and the Dominican Republic for five years prior to coming to Tucson for law school.

 

Bevington, Joe

"Three main factors influenced my decision to attend Arizona Law," said Joe. "U of A's program strengths and faculty in various areas, such as human rights, definitely appealed to me. I also was attracted to the school's smaller size and its setting in a smaller city with plenty of fun to be had outside of my studies. Lastly, tuition costs relative to other schools was also quite important."

 

Joe told me about an internship experience he had during the fall semester. "I had the opportunity to work with the Educational Opportunities Section of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division through U of A's Ad Hoc Internship Program. This internship enabled me to combine my passion for education with the practical application of my law school experiences. The lessons I learned from Professor Toni Massaro's Con Law II class really came to life as I delved into educational civil rights cases."

 

When Joe graduates, he's keeping an open mind about how to use his JD. "I've tried to amass a variety of valuable experiences. And while I'm primarily interested in education law and policy, I'm also considering other opportunities in the public sector."

 

Beyond the walls of the College, Joe enjoys exploring the Southwest. "Whether it's hiking in the Chiricahuas, biking around Tucson, or trying a new restaurant downtown, I like to take advantage of the diverse offerings of Southern Arizona." You can connect with Joe through his LinkedIn Profile.

 

Faculty News
Jane Yakowitz Bambauer

Associate Professor Jane Yakowitz Bambauer is a Tucson native with deep ties to the U of A.

 

Even so, we still did our best to win her over as she was deciding where to take her career. "Of all the life-changing career choices I've had to make, this was by far the easiest," said Jane. "The faculty has an impressive national reputation for top-notch research and a dedicated focus on the students. The College lives up to its reputation. My visits were intellectually exhilarating, and I had the chance to meet with students, too. The fit was right."

 

Beyond the relationships built within the College, the university as a whole appealed to her. "My research is multidisciplinary; I do technical research on data privacy. At the U of A, I can take a quick stroll through a beautiful campus and meet collaborators in other departments."

Bambauer, Jane (pony)
Jane taking a break with a therapy pony

 

In the classroom, Jane loves teaching torts. "Although the cases we cover in class are only indirectly related to my data privacy research, the course grapples with the same basic public policy questions that we struggle with in privacy: what is the best way to manage risk? How should we decide contests between two competing interests or activities, and how do we want to distribute the costs of accidents?"

 

"In the early 20th Century, courts were answering these questions in the context of barge accidents, and they used rather rudimentary economics. But the very same tensions between protecting victims and promoting progress play out in complex toxic torts and products liability cases today. Also, I get to teach cases with the BEST facts. I have a flaming rat that runs around causing fires, a cow falling through a ceiling, and a squirrel hunter shooting his friend who was wearing a squirrel hat. Doesn't everyone love torts?"

 

Jane also manages speaking invitations and contributes articles in her field, like "Tragedy of the Data Commons." You can read the Boston Globe article about it here. And her newest article, "Is Data Speech?," just landed an offer from the Stanford Law Review.

 

Jane said that her field is experiencing a lot of change right now. "Congress is considering a half dozen different data privacy bills right now, most of which are designed to give people more control over the personal data that describes them."

 

"For example, a do not track bill would give internet users the power to prohibit websites from retaining certain types of information. There is a live debate about which types of information can, and cannot, be collected if a consumer has signified that he does not want to be tracked. However, these data privacy initiatives have been curiously silent about whether the prohibitions are at odds with the First Amendment."

 

"Last term, the U.S. Supreme Court suggested that raw consumer data receives the protection of speech in Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., yet I have seen little effort among the proponents of Do Not Track to ensure that the proposed laws would pass constitutional scrutiny. This is where my attention has been lately. I have been trying to understand how the First Amendment interacts with data collection, and under what conditions the government would have a sufficiently compelling interest to protect the privacy of web users."

 

Jane's background includes time spent as a professional musician playing Indie rock on the violin. Returning to Tucson as a professor has a special resonance for her. "My late father was a university professor. In my youth, I came to a lot of public talks and events at the U of A. It's an honor to come back and be a part of the rich culture."

 
You can visit Jane's Faculty Profile for more information, and you can also see her video interview from the College's YouTube channel here.
 

 

Alumni News
Alison Christian ('07)

Alison Christian is using her JD to make the world safer for insurance companies. "You're welcome," she insists with a smile.

 

"All jokes aside, my practice area at Christian, Dichter & Sluga is incredibly intellectually challenging and is very writing intensive. I enjoy it immensely. I focus primarily on insurance coverage and bad-faith litigation, meaning that I analyze whether coverage exists under liability policies and advise insurers on how to handle high-stakes claims." The firm also defends carriers against complex bad-faith cases in both Nevada and Arizona. Since no two cases are alike, every time she picks up a policy, she sees it through a different lens. "I am fairly certain that my interest in this rather unique area of law stems from a genetic disorder."

 

But it was those same genes that caused her to go against her family's wishes when choosing a law school. "It should have been a much harder decision for me because I grew up in pure Sun Devil territory - both my parents went to ASU undergrad and my dad went to ASU law school. But when I visited the Arizona Law campus in the spring of 2004 I met with Terry Holpert, and she made the decision to become a Wildcat much easier."

 

"ShChristian, Alisone undoubtedly had a flood of applications on her desk, but when we met she knew exactly who I was, knew what I wanted from my law school, and assured me that Arizona Law would be the best fit. And she was right."

 

Alison has several fond law school memories, but there's one that sticks out. "Ruth Bader Ginsburg came to visit our campus for one of the Marks Memorial Lectures - I believe it was the fall semester of my 3L year - and it was definitely the highlight of my law school career. I remember being in complete awe. She was a very diminutive person, with fragile features and a quiet voice, but she had this presence about her that was inspiring."

 

"It's the first and only time I have ever been in the same room as a Supreme Court Justice. To watch this woman, who is a part of history, tell her story was a memory that I won't soon forget."

 

And while insurance is the focus of Alison's practice now, she is intent on making a difference for all women lawyers.

 

"Fellow attorney Beth Fitch and I recently co-founded a business development program for women lawyers in conjunction with the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel (AADC) called "Ladder Down." We began talking last fall about the disparity between the number of male and female equity partners, the need for more women in leadership roles at firms, and the alarming rate at which women are leaving the practice of law. And we decided to do something about it."

 

"We realized that one of the reasons women are not maintaining positions as top rainmakers in their firms, and not developing independent books of business, is the lack of proper training. There is an expectation that partners have their own clients, yet very few firms have formal training programs in place that teach associates how to actually develop business. The goal of "Ladder Down" is to do just that - teach women lawyers what it takes to become rainmakers, leaders in the community, and mentors to other women."

 

Alison and Beth wanted to create a unique program for Arizona lawyers, so they convinced three community leaders to share their secrets to success with a select group of 24 women lawyers from the AADC.

 

The reaction from the legal community has been overwhelming. "We secured sponsorships from nine firms, and our inaugural class was chosen from an incredibly talented group. We have a diverse range of skill sets, practice areas, and experience levels."

 

"The program is already attracting national attention and I'm very excited to see where it goes. Beth has been asked to speak about it at the Defense Research Institute Diversity Conference in May with the hope that we can encourage more state and local organizations to implement similar programs. Our goal for "Ladder Down" is to change the course of women lawyers by giving them the tools they need to succeed...and so far it is off to a great start."

 

You can find out more about Alison from her Attorney Profile.

 

Footnotes

Name This Email

The results are in, and now you can  cast your vote over the next two weeks for one of the following:

  • Wildcat Wednesday - Arizona Law Rules
  • Wildcat Wednesday - Law School Lowdown
  • Wildcat Wednesday - Law Matters
  • Wildcat Wednesday - Letter of the Law
Special thanks to Athletic Director Greg Byrne for his generosity and indeed his encouragement that we model our weekly message - and now name our message - in honor of Wildcat Wednesday, which is exactly where the idea originated. 

 

Spring Visitors Expand Curriculum, Intellectual Diversity

Five distinguished legal scholars and practitioners serve as visiting faculty for the spring semester as part of the ongoing Visiting Faculty Program at the James E. Rogers College of Law. You can read about them here.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Pima County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Happy Hour

Arizona Law students and young professionals in Tucson are invited to a March Madness Happy Hour on Friday, March 22nd at 5:30pm at Social House, located at 446 N. Campbell Ave in Tucson. Appetizers and soft drinks will be provided. For more information, contact Mark Heckele (President) or Robert Fisher III (President-Elect).

 

Conversations with Bob Mundheim

In the current term, Professor Bob Mundheim teaches a course on corporate governance. As part of that class, Bob hosts five lunchtime conversations with general counsel from Fortune 500 corporations, and top lawyers in private practice, many who come to speak at Arizona Law from New York.

 

The dates and participants in the "Conversations" this year follow. If you are in (or will be in) Tucson for any of these days, and would like to join the conversations, please let us know as seating is limited.

  • Monday, March 18 - Rob Evans, Shearman & Sterling
  • Wednesday, March 27 - Tim Flynn, former CEO of KPMG
  • Wednesday, April 3 - Brandon Becker, General Counsel for TIAA-CREF and formerly Director of Trading and Markets at the SEC
  • Monday, April 8 - John Cannon, Shearman & Sterling
  • Wednesday, April 10 - Gene Sykes, head of Goldman Sachs' mergers and acquisition practice

These are the kind of opportunities that make Arizona Law unique and connect our students and the larger community to the cutting edge issues in corporate law, governance, finance, and regulation.

 

Soll Lecture Series - Professor Jeff Fagan (Columbia)

On Thursday, March 21, from 5:30pm - 7pm, Professor Jeffrey Fagan of Columbia Law School will present the Darrow K. Soll Memorial Criminal Law and Justice Lecture. The lecture will be held on campus in room 164, the Ares Auditorium.

 

Jeff Fagan, the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia University, will speak on "Indignities of Order Maintenance." Jeff is one of the leading criminologists in the United States, and has been at the forefront of scholarly and policy work regarding policing, the death penalty, and other cutting edge topics.

 

A reception will follow the lecture.

 

Visit this link for more information, including how to RSVP.

 

CLE Opportunity

On Wednesday, March 27 from 12pm - 1pm, IPLP is partnering with the State Bar to offer a series of CLEs focused on navigating Indian Law. This month's topic: "The ABC's of Practice in Arizona Tribal Courts," features speakers Mary Guss, Staff Attorney, IPLP and Professor Robert Hershey (invited). For more information, contact Melissa Tatum.

 

Location: State Bar office, 270 N. Church Ave., Tucson, AZ.

 

LCA Dinner - Get Your Tickets Now! (the price goes up soon)

We hope you already have the 39th Annual Law College Association (LCA) Dinner on your calendar. It will take place on April 27, 2013, at the Westward Look Resort in Tucson.

 

We look forward to seeing you as we celebrate: Anna Maria Chavez ('94), Catherine Douglass ('76), Prof. Steven Duke ('59), Larry Hecker ('69, '72), Prof. Thomas Mauet, and The Honorable Frank Zapata ('73).

 

For more information, or to register for the dinner, click here.

 

Warmly, 

Marc Miller

             Marc Signature





 
Dean & Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law
James E. Rogers College of Law

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