Alla outside the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters.

Alla Goldman (Class of 2014, BA '10)

   

Alla Goldman is an enthusiastic member of the U of A community, having received her undergraduate degree in 2010. As a college freshman, in the fall of 2006, she attended Professor Dan Dobb's torts class. There she heard about the doctrine of respondeat superior ... and she was hooked. (Perhaps we should be glad she wasn't in a property class hearing about the Rule in Shelley's Case or the Rule Against Perpetuities). Alla sat in on Professor Dobbs' torts class as a mentee in what is now known as the LEAD Mentoring Program. "At the end of that lecture, I can honestly say that I knew I wanted to attend law school at the U of A," Alla says.

             

Alla is a fluent Russian linguist, having received her undergraduate degree in Russian and political science.  These two interests have landed her in interesting places, beginning with an internship at the State Department in 2008. But that was only her first step into federal service. After she received her BA, she spent a year working on Russian political issues in the Intelligence Community. 

 

Since then she's worked at DOJ, ICE, and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative agency. She spent the spring semester of 2013 completing externships at the Executive Office of the President (a.k.a The White House) and the U.S. Coast Guard JAG in Washington, D.C. In the middle of the semester, her skills as a Russian linguist were utilized and she was detailed from the Coast Guard to DHS Headquarters to re-join the Intelligence Community and work on the counterterrorism investigation into the Tsarnaev brothers' digital trails following this year's Boston Marathon bombing.

 

At the moment, she's taking a break from federal service, and is working on online legal marketing at a Tucson based tech start-up company. 

 

Alla is also busy with her final year of classes including participating in the Immigration Law Clinic with Professor Marcus (see profile below).   According to Professor Marcus, Alla is a tremendous asset to the clinic.  Alla's personal experience of immigrating to the United States as a child from Russia gives her a helpful perspective when dealing with clients in the clinic. 

            

What is Alla going to do after law school? She is passionate about cyber law, national security, and intellectual property. She would love to work on either the public or private side.  She is as interested in work for federal, state, or local government as she is passionate about technology start-ups and government contracting firms.

"With luck, my previous background in the Intelligence Community, FOIA, web development, and IT will allow me to use my degree to solve emerging technical and legal challenges in government, in practice, or in industry."

 

You can connect with Alla on LinkedIn here.

 

 Alla bowling at the White House bowling alley. 

Lynn co-directs our Immigration Law Clinic,  part of the Bacon Immigration Law & Policy Program,
with Professor Nina Rabin.  She recently worked with students on a challenging asylum case involving a young man who fled forced recruitment into a gang in Guatemala.  "The case presented tremendous legal hurdles because so far, the courts have found that the scope of asylum law does not protect most people in such circumstances," Lynn stated.  "In our clinic, we are raising arguments to try to push the courts to view the scope of refugee protection more broadly."

Another case involves a "wonderful, hardworking couple in their 30s who fled Guatemala as teenagers," who have three children that are U.S citizens. Lynn has handled the case since 2001, taking it from the local immigration court all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court (the Court denied cert.). Students were involved in many aspects of the case, including making an oral argument before the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena. After years of advocating for this couple, Lynn finally prevailed in acquiring a visa for the wife. She is still working to gain a secure status for the husband as well.  

Before becoming a professor, Lynn was an active advocate in the immigration bar. When she graduated from law school in 1989 she raised funds to improve detention conditions and access to counsel in the Southwest for immigrant men, women, and children. "By the mid-'90s, Arizona Law students were eager for opportunities to gain hands-on experience representing immigrants." It was then that the faculty approved her appointment as an assistant adjunct professor. "I have had the good fortune of working with compassionate, motivated law students on compelling, challenging cases all this time."  In 1997 the law school formally created the Immigration Law Clinic.   

Lynn has a bustling home life.She is married to Peter Biava, a mental health counselor, and has two "lovely, precocious girls, Amanda Rose (age 6) and Julia Lucia (age 2), as well as a husky (Tico) and standard poodle (Toby)."

Lynn, Nina Rabin, Andy Silverman, and other members of the faculty continue to search for new ways to engage students in the complex interplay of immigration practice and policy. Already a national leader through the law school's Bacon Immigration Law & Policy Program, we hope to have more to announce on this front in the year ahead.

Paul McGoldrick came to us after getting his undergraduate degree at ASU. Originally from Phoenix, he moved to Tucson for his law degree to get away from home, but remain close enough to still visit his large family (seven siblings). Arizona Law ended up being a perfect fit. 

Paul speaks warmly of his teachers including Professors Dobbs, Mauet, and Livermore and the law school friends he made-and has kept.   "At the U of A, I met many wonderful people who mentored me, and gave me experience and the encouragement I needed to get through.  The U of A gave me the opportunity to become a lawyer, and for that I am ever thankful."

Paul with Justin DePaul

His first year out of law school he clerked for Frank X. Gordon of the Arizona Supreme Court. Paul reflected on his judge's kindness and excellent mentorship. After his clerkship, Paul began working at Robbins and Green in the litigation section, where he was exposed to extensive motion practice and discovery. He then left with two of his partners to form a new firm, Grossman O'Grady McGoldrick, where he did insurance defense litigation and plaintiff's personal injury work.

In 1997, he began his current partnership at the firm Shorall, McGoldrick, Brinkmann with his good friend Tom Shorall. He has a civil defense practice, primarily representing lawyers and other licensed professionals. The firm also specializes in plaintiff's personal injury work and alternative dispute resolution matters. Over the last ten-plus years Paul has acted as a private mediator or arbitrator in over one hundred and fifty matters per year. He also serves as a judge pro tem and conducts civil settlement conferences for the Maricopa County Superior Court. Paul is an active member of ABOTA (American Board of Trial Advocates) and currently serves as an officer.

Echo-Hawk spent more than three decades working for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and has been involved in several landmark cases. He is presenting in conjunction with the release of his new book, "In the Light of Justice: The Rise of Human Rights in Native America & the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." The event is free and open to the public.

Echo-Hawk's career spans the pivotal years when American Indian tribes reclaimed their land, sovereignty and pride in a stride toward freedom. An attorney since 1973, he has represented tribal nations on a number of important legal issues, including treaty rights, water rights, religious freedom, prisoner rights and repatriation rights.

During his career with NARF, Echo-Hawk litigated in many of the epic struggles and was instrumental in the passage of landmark laws, such as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 1990 and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act amendments in 1994.

Mark Van Vleet