New York Sublets!

Respond to this post with comments if you want to advertise or request a sublet for the New York metro area for summer of 2009.

DC Area Sublets!

Respond to this post with comments if you want to advertise or request a sublet for the DC/Northern Virginia metro area for summer of 2009.

Chicago Sublets!

Respond to this post with comments if you want to advertise or request a sublet for the Chicago metro area for summer of 2009.

Southern California Sublets!

Respond to this post with comments if you want to advertise or request a sublet for the LA, Orange County, and San Diego metro areas for summer of 2009.

Bay Area/Northern California Sublets!

Respond to this post with comments if you want to advertise or request a sublet for the San Francisco Bay Area & Northern California metro area for summer of 2009.

Texas Sublets!

Respond to this post with comments if you want to advertise or request a sublet in Texas for the summer of 2009.

Boston Sublets!

Respond to this post with comments if you want to advertise or request a sublet for the Boston metro area for summer of 2009.

Random Sublets!

Respond to this post with comments if you want to advertise or request a sublet anywhere (but not New York, DC, Boston, Chicago, Texas, Southern California, or San Francisco--see other posts).

Requesting nominations to serve on the 2008-09 SCB

To accommodate future growth, we are restructuring the SCB and establishing five new committees:

1. Membership, Finance, & Technology
2. Conference & Events
3. Women In the Law
4. Public Service
5. International

We want to try something different this year and invite all student members to submit nominations to serve as committee members/chairs or as regional liaisons. (Note: a “regional liaison” is one who represents a number of student chapters in a specified region.) These positions provide good opportunity to observe the inter-workings of the SCB and associate with some great leaders, both on the attorney level and on the student level. Please note we rely heavily on the recommendations of our incoming and outgoing chapter presidents and regional liaisons.

We are primarily looking for: (1) self-starters to serve on the committees and (2) regional liaisons that are willing to put in time to work closely with your respective chapters and adequately represent their interests. For those interested, do two things by the end of April:

1. Email a short statement of where and why you would like to serve to Ethan Rogers (Chair-Elect) at ejrogers@pepperdine.edu.
2. Register online at http://students.jrcls.org/ so we can review your personal biography.

We will review the nominations and get in contact with you within the next couple of months. With everyone’s support, we can expect another burgeoning year for the JRCLS!

Welcome to The Thread, Volume 2, Issue 1!

The Thread is the semiannual/semesterly newsletter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS) student chapters. This is its second year in operation and its first year in blog format. The blog format makes this less of a newsletter and more of a blogletter, newsblog, a blegger, a nslog. Something. Anyway. It's a result of the student chapters' efforts to switch from static internet content to a more dynamic online community. (More info coming about that in future months.) (One could argue that it is also a result of the depreciation in website savvy between this and last year's The Thread committee. One might be right.)

This blog version may be a place holder, a precursor to bigger and better things, but it's here now, for the moment, and you are welcome to come, read, peruse, and comment.

This issue of The Thread contains the following:

• Meet the SCB!
• The Chair's Message: "Religious Conviction Strengthening the Law: The Example of James E. Faust" by Matt Squires (NYU)
  
• The Spiritual Thought: "Learning Empathy and Compassion in the Legal Profession" by Peter Robison (Vanderbilt)
  
• Fall 2007 Student Chapter Updates

Feel free to read and scroll, post and question.

Have ideas for things we can/should add to the blog? Email jrclsthread@gmail.com.

Want to relive the glory days of last year's The Thread? Visit http://www.jrclsconference.com/thread/vol1issue2.php and http://www.jrclsconference.com/thread/vol1issue1.php.

Want to find out info about this year's national JRCLS conference? Visit http://www.jrclsconference.com/ and get excited for a weekend in the February Arizona sun. (Or indoors underneath roofs in the February Arizona sun.)

Come explore The Thread. And then contribute. Put the I back in contribute. (Or the U/you?) In any case. Read. It's some good stuff.

Meet the 2007-08 SCB!

Q. What is the SCB?
The SCB is the Student Chapters Board (formerly the SCIB, the Student Chapters International Board). It's essentially an administrative and representative body of law students, working on an national/international level to help JRCLS student chapters flourish and connect with the JRCLS organization as a whole.

Q. Who are the people on the SCB?
We are the somewhat awkwardly (but happily) posed people in the picture below.

From left to right, top to bottom: first row Chantal Methot (Central Midwest Regional Representative), Andy West (Mid-Atlantic Regional Representative), Jacob Scott (Northwest Regional Representative), Sarah Olson (SCB Vice-chair), Jed Brinton (Northeast Regional Representative), Stephen Johnson (Southeast Regional Representative), Miriam Norman (Texas Regional Representative), second row Jon Hoagland (International Representative), Shaun Redford (Upper Midwest Regional Representative), Matt Squires (SCB Chair), Ethan Rogers (California Regional Representative), and Zach Madden (Ohio Valley Regional Representative). Not represented in the photo below are Kolette Butler (Rocky Mountain Regional Representative), Aaron Huber and Casey Blais (National Conference Chairs at ASU).

Q. What do you all do?
Email, mostly. And the regular conference call. The regional representatives are supposed to serve as liaisons between the mother organization and the chapters in the various regions of the nation/world. They are, so to speak, in touch with the schools, the people. The chair heads things up, sets the agenda, and participates in a LOT of coordination with the JRCLS higher-ups. He helps plan the national conference. He acts as a student voice in a lot of JRCLS decision-making moments. He works with the Student Chapters Committee (the SCC, an attorney board that works to facilitate the student chapters) on a host of agenda items, some of which are forthcoming. He schedules the conference calls. And he leads us all in times of darkness. The vice-chair acts as the chair's second (duels and the like), as well as the lead on The Thread, the JRCLS student newsletter (this). The national conference organizers organize the national conference. And how.

Q. How did you get to be on the SCB?
We were all active in our local student chapters as 1Ls and/or 2Ls, most of us serving as presidents of our individual school's chapter. Then, when the time came for SCB renewal, lightning struck and we were asked by the SCC to serve.

Q. Can I be on the SCB?
YES. Well, chances are good that if you want to be, you can. Be active in your local organization and let your local chapter president know that you are interested in working in your JRCLS student chapter leadership. If you are your local chapter's president and are a 2L, talk to your regional representative and let them know you would be interested in being on the SCB. It's a good time, if some work, and a great way to see some great attorneys (the JRCLS leaders, not us) in action.

Spiritual Thought: Learning Empathy and Compassion in the Legal Profession

By Peter Robison, President, Vanderbilt University Law School Student Chapter

I've often heard that our church experiences can help us be better lawyers and advocates, but I don't often hear people say that being an attorney can help you be a good member of your church. In fact, I've heard my fair share of lawyer jokes, most of which aren't terribly complimentary. My own grandmother is afraid for my immortal soul because I'm going to be an attorney, and makes me promise every time I see her that I won't be a sleazy defense attorney. However, despite conventional wisdom, I think that by being good legal advocates, we can develop skills and habits that can help us be better stewards and perform our church callings.

For the past three months I've been working in our legal clinic, representing low-income clients in domestic violence disputes. Some of the clients come to us because they have made some very poor life choices. Others are innocent victims that have no one else to turn to. In each case I have learned to set aside all judgment or presumptions and listen to their stories.

I feel like I've learned a lot about empathy, compassion, and responsibility in my limited experience representing my first clients. Half of what I do is just stand by my client and give them some silent support when they really need it. I've also had sit back and watch clients make decisions that I know will ultimately hurt them, but the choice is their's to make.

As I try to become a good legal advocate, I have realized that many of the traits of a good lawyer also make a good citizen, parent, spouse, steward, and church leader. The empathy and compassion I have learned from my professional life can help me in my callings or assignments at church. And if I knew my home teaching families as well as I know some of my clients, I would truly be meeting their needs. Even some of the more mundane legal tasks, such as scheduling and organizing, can come in handy when planning meetings, organizing home teaching, or preparing lessons.

As we have all been told before, the legal profession can be a stressful one, but if we put some of our legal skills to work, it can also help prepare us to serve others.

The Chair's Message: Religious Conviction Strengthening the Law: The Example of President James E. Faust

By Matt Squires, Chair, Student Chapters International Board, at New York University Law School

Just a few nights ago, I had my first experience as a litigant in court. Since I am a third-year law student, I figured what better time than now to join the ranks of small-claim claimants and enforce justice upon shady taxi cab companies that refuse to pay for accidents they cause. After my first of likely many appearances in the Brooklyn small-claims court, however, I’m not sure I have the kind of time it will take, even as a 3L. In an unexpectedly candid conversation, the attorney hired by the cab company made his strategy clear to me: delay, delay, delay, then lose. It comforted me just a little to know that the cab company’s attorney was ripping them off, except for the fact that I was being ripped off even more.

Sitting there hearing other claims, I realized that, like mine, very few involved any kind of real controversy. A majority of defendants defaulted. Many of those that did show up petitioned for a second or third adjournment—putting off their reckoning as long as possible. I know that “tactics” are a familiar part of most litigation, but it must be disheartening for the judges and clerks of that court to be constantly reminded that so many are willing to sell out their integrity for the price of a small claim. The experience made me reconsider the role I hope my values will play as I enter the legal profession and recognize how much I admire successful attorneys within the ranks of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society who have maintained their religious convictions.

The recent passing of President James E. Faust [second counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] gives us all an opportunity as aspiring lawyers to consider how a lawyer’s personal religious conviction can influence his or her practice. Especially in terms of his personal integrity and his lifelong dedication to service, President Faust was a role model whose example and teachings show us how to infuse our academic and professional lives with the principles of righteousness. Referring to honesty as a “moral compass,” President Faust recognized that the pressures of secular learning tempt many to compromise their integrity in order to compete against others. “In reality, we are only in competition with ourselves. Others can challenge and motivate us, but we must reach down deep into our souls and call forth our God-given intelligence and capabilities. . . . We may deceive others, but there is One we will never deceive.”1

It seems like many in the world today operate as if stealing, cheating, and lying is only wrong if they get caught, and even then only if they are liable, which is not often.2 In a J. Reuben Clark Law Society annual fireside, President Faust remarked:

The philosophy that what is legal is also right will rob us of what is highest and best in our nature. What conduct is actually legal is, in many instances, way below the standards of a civilized society and light years below the teachings of the Christ. If you accept what is legal as your standard of personal or professional conduct, you will deny yourself of that which is truly noble in your personal dignity and worth. . . . [T]here is a higher standard of conduct expected of the . . . members of this Law Society.3

Perhaps even more pernicious a threat to our integrity than academic dishonesty or other blatant dishonesty, students and young professionals with religious convictions often find themselves called upon by peers or those in positions of authority to compromise their beliefs in word, if not in deed. As a young man, President Faust faced a barrage of belief-centered questions by his superior officers in an officer’s candidacy interview, which he knew he needed to pass to provide for a family:

“Do you smoke?” “Do you drink?” “What do you think of others who smoke and drink?” . . . “Do you pray?” “Do you believe that an officer should pray?” The officer asking these questions was a hard-bitten career soldier. He did not look like he prayed very often. I pondered. Would I give him offense if I answered how I truly believed? I wanted to be an officer very much so that I would not have to do all-night guard duty and KP and clean latrines, but mostly so my sweetheart and I could afford to be married.

I decided not to equivocate. I admitted that I did pray and that I felt that officers might seek divine guidance as some truly great generals had done. I told them that I thought that officers should be prepared to lead their men in all appropriate activities, if the occasion requires, including prayer.

More interesting questions came. “In times of war, should not the moral code be relaxed? Does not the stress of battle justify men in doing things that they would not do when at home under normal situations?”

I recognized that here was a chance perhaps to make some points and look broad-minded. I suspected that the men who were asking me this question did not live by the standards that I had been taught. The thought flashed through my mind that perhaps I could say that I had my own beliefs, but I did not wish to impose them on others. But there seemed to flash before my mind the faces of the many people to whom I had taught the law of chastity as a missionary. In the end I simply said, “I do not believe there is a double standard of morality.”

He passed the interview and was admitted to officer’s candidacy school but later recognized the event as “one of the critical crossroads of [his] life.”4

As aspiring lawyers, there is much that we can glean from President Faust and other church leaders who have served time in the legal profession about the strength religious conviction brings to the law. There are also many attorneys in the ranks of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society who have successfully tempered their legal careers with integrity and religious conviction. However, we would be able to learn nothing from their experiences and testimonies were they not willing to serve as mentors and role models to those that look eagerly to them for counsel and support. One of the great blessings the J. Reuben Clark Law Society can provide is a robust infrastructure of faith-based support that trickles down from experienced attorneys to less experienced attorneys to students to younger students, but this infrastructure itself requires religious conviction.

Many first-year law students share the experience of being overwhelmed and unsure as they navigate their first few months of law school. In my second week, I was surprised and emboldened when I received a ten-gallon box full of study guides and a CD of outlines from an old friend from my hometown who had recently graduated from law school in another state. My friend’s advice and willingness to mentor me, along with the almost immediate friendship of a group of JRCLS 3Ls, made my academic transition into law school easier, helped me prepare to maintain my integrity in situations I would face, but also strengthened my testimony of the love of serving others that is so central to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know as a junior associate I will face similar uncertainties and moral challenges and be dependant, again, on attorneys of religious conviction for faith-based mentoring.

It can be difficult as busy law students and especially as young associates to find time to mentor and serve those in need of advice and encouragement. By neglecting to take the time, however, we can miss perhaps the greatest opportunity the J. Reuben Clark Law Society offers to “affirm the strength brought to the law by a lawyer’s religious conviction” for what is ultimately the price of a small claim. As President Faust remarked, “We need to bring our sacred religious convictions and standards to the practice of law. To do otherwise would bring an inconsistency to our character. There always needs to be a connection between having an involvement in the law and living the gospel.” If “living the gospel” means that it is a part of our character to be in service of others, and “having an involvement in the law” includes our interrelationships in the legal profession, I hope we as law students can be anxiously engaged mentoring each other and strengthening our integrity and religious conviction. Further, I hope that as we graduate and enter the harried world of legal practice we will be willing, as was President Faust, to serve and share our experience and counsel with rising generations of lawyers and law students striving to maintain their “moral compasses” in a profession where integrity is often both cheap and rare.

Fall 2007 JRCLS Student Chapter Updates (aka The Goings On)

The following is a sampling of the what's been happening in the student chapters around the country and/or the world. (Schools listed in alphabetical order.)
--> Don't see your school but want to submit for next time? Have your chapter president mail update and pictures to jrclsthread@gmail.com.

Ave Maria School of Law
Being located near the disastrous floods that had many residents in Ohio digging out from the floods and trying to get their lives back to what we consider normal allowed our chapter a wonderful opportunity to lend a hand. After only having been in class for a week we were able to get eleven guys together and travel to nearby Ohio where we helped a family remove all the content of their basement. Then the real work began as the group helped rip out the carpet and all the walls in order to clean the basement. The good time did not stop there as that same day was our opening social where we grilled up some dogs and took an opportunity to get to know the new guys (sixteen in all) that have graced us with their presence. This event allowed us all to get to know each other and their families, which has helped ease the fears of law school for the newbies and made the old guys reminisce about the days they never want to repeat. To start finals off with a bang we got together for some good food, great company, and lots of sweets. Helping each other build ginger bread houses it became quite obvious why we have chosen the field of law. Not to get down on our talents, but the kids did much more for the houses then we ever could have imagined. With many activities and speaking events planned for next semester we are excited for the new year!
Submitted by Ryan Bland, President, Ave Maria Law School Student Chapter, Ann Arbor, Michigan

University of Chicago Law School (Dallin H. Oaks Society)
This quarter we hosted an opening social for all of our returning law students as well as first years. It was great to get acquainted with our classmates and their families. We have also hosted a literary group (reading about Church history) as well as a lunch for first years on securing a summer internship. We are looking forward to next quarter as we host the law school talent show, as well as continue our monthly literary group meetings.
Submitted by Chris Trendler, President, University of Chicago Law School Student Chapter, Chicago, Illinois

Franklin Pierce Law School
Earlier this semester, our chapter hosted a lunchtime showing of the "So You Think You Can Raindance?" JRCLS broadcast that was given last year. We had several students of various faiths show up to the event, and several wanted to get a copy of the presentation to show to their own clubs or for personal use. We provided doughnuts, juice, and milk to entice people to show up. It turned out to be a hit! In addition, we have now started a blog site to distribute information regarding our events to the student body and to post how the events went off. (http://jrcls.wordpress.com/) Hopefully, it will continue to be used for upcoming years.
Submitted by Richard Allen, President, Franklin Pierce Law School, Concord, New Hampshire

Gonzaga University School of Law
This fall the Gonzaga University student chapter has continued its tradition of hosting Friday Forums at the Spokane LDS Institute of Religion. These Friday Forums feature lunch and a speaker at noon on a bi-monthly basis throughout the semester. This semester we were privileged to have a variety of speakers. These speakers often share an overview their legal profession path while highlighting specific experiences. These specific experiences are often shared to teach the principles they have found to be critical to maintaining balance and perspective while striving for professional excellence.

Richard L. Mount a partner at the local firm Witherspoon, Kelly, Davenport & Toole, shared valuable advice about managing debt and getting involved in the community. Mr. Mount encouraged the students to develop a budget and then make career and cost-of-living decisions congruent with the budget. Developing and using a budget makes our debt real, which most of us try to avoid; however doing so will help us make the decisions necessary to keep our debt from becoming unmanageable. With some forethought we can make those lifestyle decisions now which will help us manage our expectations before we get carried away with seeking the oft glamorized “lawyer lifestyle.” Mr. Mount, a local school board member, enthusiastically encourages us to get involved in community and charitable causes of which we are interested. Mr. Mount is in support of Gonzaga’s requirement upon law students that they complete thirty hours of public service before graduation. Mr. Mount encouraged us to develop the habit of public service now while in law school, because it will likely become more difficult to develop the habit of public service once we have started our post law school profession. Further, serving in the community provides opportunities for those rich associations which lead to greater opportunities to serve and excel professionally.
Submitted by Jacob Scott, Northwest Regional Representative, at Gonzaga University School of Law, Spokane, Washington

Indianapolis University Law School
The Indianapolis student chapter hosted an event on November 20, 2007, at the IU-Indianapolis School of Law in which Josh Romney, son of Gov. Mitt Romney, was the keynote speaker. Josh spoke for little over half-an-hour to a packed room of graduate and undergraduate students, as well as a number of local Romney supporters. He addressed the audience on the topic of life inside a presidential campaign and answered questions regarding his father's campaign.
Submitted by Mason Pike, President, Indianapolis School of Law Student Chapter, Indianapolis, Indiana

Minnesota Student Chapters
Technical difficulties prohibited us from receiving the February 2007 JRCLS work-life balance broadcast with Brent Belnap. But our attorney chapter obtained a DVD copy of the program and organized a lunchtime showing at one of the downtown law firms. Both attorneys and students were invited. We applaud Brent Belnap for wearing a pink tie--not everyone can pull that off. Because many of the 1Ls were unable to attend that event, we put together an on-campus program inviting four of our attorney chapter members to form a panel discussion on the same topic of work-life balance. We sent a general invitation to the student body. We had a decent turnout, ate pizza, and received some great advice from four successful attorneys. Strategically, the attorneys had different backgrounds: big firm partner, big firm associate, solo practitioner, and in-house counsel. It was great to hear their differing perspectives. Several students thanked us for hosting the event and one even commented that it was the best lunchtime event he had attended this year. Our most recent "event" was a BYU-Utah game party hosted by one of our attorney chapter members. The lone Ute fan in attendance (we were expecting more) was ultimately disappointed, but we all had a great time watching a fantastic game. Finally, our recent chapter growth has prompted us to examine whether any of the four law schools that comprise our chapter is ready to break off and form its own chapter. We are currently in the process of working with Hamline University, with eight LDS students, to make this happen. Other than just trying to stay unfrozen, we're happy as snowpeople here in MN!
Submitted by Shaun Redford, Upper Midwest Regional Representative, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

University of Missouri Kansas City Law School
One month ago we put on a panel for the entire law school with the purpose being the importance of public service. We really wanted to focus on encouraging students to consider a career in politics. We had two state senators, the Missouri Solicitor General, and a Kansas City, City Councilman speak on the panel. We had over sixty people attend, and it was a great success. It was the first activity put on by the school chapter where the whole school was invited to attend.
Submitted by John Oliveros, President, University of Missouri Kansas City Law School Student Chapter

University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law
The University of Nebraska chapter recently hosted a dinner at which the guest speaker was the Honorable Justice John M. Gerrard of the Nebraska Supreme Court. The dinner was held at the Lincoln Nebraska Stake Center. Diner included spiral-cut honey-baked ham and all the trimmings. Invited to introduce Justice Gerrard was Shannon Doering, general counsel for Nebco, Inc., and one of Justice Gerrard’s former law clerks. Justice Gerrard’s topic was “Integrity in the Practice of Law.” Justice Gerrard’s presentation focused on living a balanced life, putting God first, family second, and work third. Justice Gerrard quoted heavily from the New Testament and said he felt comfortable doing so knowing he was amongst believers. Justice Gerrard commented towards then end of his presentation how impressed he was with the turnout. He said he had traveled all the way to North Carolina to address another group of Christian law students and only about a third as many attended. There were approximately thirty local chapter members and many spouses. Additionally another 5-10 alumni members and non-member law students attended. As a gift of appreciation, the local student chapter sent Justice Gerrard a copy of “Life in the Law” and noted in the thank-you card Judge Griffith's talk in the book was a favorite. Justice Gerrard currently employes recent University of Nebraska Law School graduate and JRCLS member Scott Newman as his law clerk.
Submitted by Steve Merrill, President, University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law Student Chapter

New York University Law School
On November 13, 2007, the NYU student chapter of the JRCLS held a lecture, presented by Sarah Barringer Gordon, entitled "Inlaws and Outlaws: The Unique Social and Legal Dynamics of Criminal Prosecutions in Nineteenth-Century Utah." Professor Gordon, a professor of law and history at UPenn, is currently a visiting professor at NYU Law, and she is an expert on American legal history and on the law of church and state. In recent years, she has taken particular interest in the Church's former practice of plural marriage and in the legal consequences of that practice. Professor Gordon is the only person who has read all of the court records of criminal proceedings against nineteenth-century polygamists in Utah, and in this lecture she presented some of the conclusions of her forthcoming book on the subject. One of the most interesting conclusions of Professor Gordon's study is that prosecutions against Mormon polygamists were astonishingly unsuccessful (compared with modern conviction rates), a finding that partially undercuts both apologists and polemicists, all of whom would prefer to believe that empirical data suggest great persecution in the form of high conviction rates. Unsurprisingly, this lecture attracted a diverse audience--of those who attended, a third were JRCLS members, a third were non-lawyer Latter-day Saints, and a third were lawyers and law students from outside the Church community.
Submitted by Daniel Ricks, President, New York University Law School Student Chapter

Stanford Law School
The Stanford student chapter did two unprecedented things during Fall semester: (1) they hosted the law school's regular happy hour (TGIF)--without alcohol (serving, rather, gelato and Italian sodas), while simultaneously (2) co-hosting the law school's first Iron Chef competition. Three teams of three students competed. The teams did all of their preparation and cooking in the law school's courtyard with blenders, grills, toaster ovens, and ice cream makers they'd hauled in. The secret ingredient: pistachios. The judges: the dean of admissions, a beloved and wry torts professor, and the director of the law school's cafe.

The winning menu: Theme: MEDITATIONS ON GREEN

1. Spring: Chilled cucumber, avocado, and pistachio purée with crushed pistachio crème fraîche
2. Childhood: Braised leg of chicken with shallot and pistachio-butter reduction, served on a bed of pistachio-thyme Israeli couscous
3. Environment: Hand-shaken pistachio-vanilla ice cream, topped with hand-chopped candied pistachios.

Over 100 students attended the TGIF/Iron Chef competition, some saying it was the best TGIF the law school has ever had.

Willamette University College of Law
The Willamette University College of Law student chapter hosted the First Annual J. Reuben Clark Law Society Golf Tournament at the Salem Golf Club. All law students, law faculty, and lawyers in the community were invited to participate. The focus for the two-man scramble was to enjoy some great golf, but also to foster a great networking atmosphere among community attorneys and school professors. For a first-time event, the turnout was exceptional, with a field of thirty-six golfers—ladies and men, first-time golfers, once-a-year golfers, and experienced golfers alike, all vying for several prizes. Given that in the weeks preceding the event, most of the golfers had spent the majority of their time studying, the award for worst team score was clearly the most hotly contested. In the end, it was no surprise that the grand prize for best team score went to a pair of local attorneys. With unanimous appeal, the event was a golden success, and many are already pushing for a first semi-annual tournament next Spring.
Submitted by Bryan Bush, President, Willamette University College of Law, Salem, Oregon

Vanderbilt University Law School
On September 9, 2007, the Vanderbilt University student chapter hosted a fireside with Judge Kent A. Jordan of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Members of the student chapter and the Nashville Attorney Chapter attended the fireside, as did many of their spouses. Judge Jordan is a graduate of Brigham Young University and received his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. Judge Jordan has a wide background of expertise, both in the private and the public sector. Prior to his elevation to the Third Circuit, Judge Jordan practiced law in a firm, served as Assistant United States Attorney, was General Counsel at a major corporation, and served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Although he joked that his apparent inability to keep a job made him unqualified to offer career advice, Judge Jordan spoke with students about the types of career and family decisions that they would have to make after graduation. He also gave advice on how to maintain a balance with work and family life, and how to make time for pro bono and service opportunities.
Submitted by Peter Robison, President, Vanderbilt University Student Chapter, Nashville, Tennessee