News for alumni and friends of Indiana Law
APRIL 2019
In this issue:
- Professorship honors Justice Stout
- Academy of Law Alumni Fellows to induct four
- Faculty recognized for teaching distinction
- Posts' gift to fund pro bono programs
- Lederman to receive Sonneborn award
- Students excel in competitions
- In brief
Professorship honors Justice Stout
The video of Justice Stout on What's My Line? is accessible from this link.
The Law School has established an endowed professorship in honor of an alumna who was the first African American woman to serve on a state supreme court in the United States.
The Juanita Kidd Stout Professorship has been endowed by $1 million in pledges and gifts from faculty members, friends of the law school, and alumni. The holder of the professorship will be announced later this year. The professorship is also the first in the history of Indiana University to honor an African American woman and the law school’s first scholarship named after a woman of color. The appointment to an endowed professorship is one of the highest honors the law school can bestow upon a faculty member.
“Justice Kidd Stout has long been a personal hero of mine,” said Lauren Robel, IU Bloomington provost, executive vice president, and Val Nolan Professor of Law. “She lived a remarkable life of historic firsts marked by courage and compassion while shattering barriers to women and African Americans in the legal profession.”
Robel has made a lead gift to the endowment, and 11 other law school faculty, alumni, and friends of the law school have added to it. The gift will count toward the $3 billion campaign, For All: The Indiana University Bicentennial Campaign.
Justice Stout earned a JD degree from the law school in 1948 and an LLM in 1954. After graduation, she moved to Pennsylvania and opened a law practice. She then worked in the district attorney’s office and was elected to the Philadelphia Municipal Court in 1959. This victory made her the first African American woman in the country to be elected to a court of record. Later, she became the first African American woman to be appointed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the first African American woman to serve as a state supreme court justice in the United States. She received an honorary degree from Indiana University in 1966 and was inducted into the law school’s Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 1986, the school’s highest honor.
When Justice Stout died in 1998, she left an indelible legacy of service and accomplishment. The City of Philadelphia named the Juanita Kidd Stout Criminal Justice Center in recognition of the difference she made in the lives of thousands of individuals as a lawyer and public servant.
“Establishing this professorship is an important way to recognize one of our most prominent and distinguished graduates,” said Dean Parrish. “I was pleased to join Provost Robel in making a gift to establish this professorship as an enduring tribute to Justice Stout’s legacy, and I am grateful for the other faculty and friends of the law school who joined me in contributing. I would like to extend a special thanks to one of our alums who has asked to remain anonymous, but whose tremendous generosity made this professorship possible.”
Joining Robel and Parrish in establishing the endowment are Professors Alfred C. Aman, Jr., Kevin Brown, Robert Fischman, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Charles Gardner Geyh, Dawn Johnsen, Julia C. Lamber, Leandra Lederman, and Hon. Sarah Evans Barker, senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Parrish added, “The greatest law schools have great minds, faculty who are simultaneously creative scholars and engaging teachers. Endowed professorships are a crucial tool for retaining our world-class faculty, for continually enriching our academic environment and, in turn, for attracting the most talented students. It will be a tremendous honor for a faculty member to be named the Juanita Kidd Stout Professor of Law.”
The creation of the Juanita Kidd Stout Professorship is one of a number of initiatives designed to recognize the law school’s trailblazing alumni, and to celebrate their achievements. Currently, banners outside the law school recognize some of the law school’s most well-known alumni; each fall alumni who have made major contributions to their communities are recognized with Distinguished Service Awards; and each April the school inducts a new class into its prestigious Academy of Law Alumni Fellows.
The creation of the Stout Professorship builds on a number of other recent firsts in the law school’s diversity achievements. This year will be the first with more women than men in the graduating JD class. In 2016, the Indiana Law Journal celebrated having its first woman of color editor-in-chief, Annie Xie, ʼ16, and this coming year, the Journal will have its first Latino editor-in-chief, Jose Moncada, ʼ20.
Academy of Law Alumni Fellows to induct four
On April 12, the Law School will induct four new members into its Academy of Law Alumni Fellows, the highest honor the school can bestow on an alumnus. The 2019 ALAF inductees are:
Philip C. Genetos, ʼ77, a partner at Ice Miller in Indianapolis, which he joined shortly after graduation. He is one of the country’s leading public-finance lawyers, having served as bond counsel on housing, airports, industrial, municipal utilities, ports, and cultural facilities. An active community leader, Genetos has chaired the boards of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the Orchard School, the Park Tudor School, and Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, among others. He is a longtime firm solicitor for the Law School and a former member of Indiana Law’s alumni board.
Zaldwaynaka L. “Z” Scott, ʼ83, was named president of Chicago State University in July 2018. Previously she spent more than 16 years as an assistant US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, served as the state’s first inspector general for the agencies of the governor and public universities, and was in private practice with the firm of Foley & Lardner. Scott serves on the board of directors of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Just the Beginning, an organization devoted to building a more diverse pipeline in the legal field. She is also the former chair of the board of trustees of the Chicago Housing Authority, the nation’s third largest.
John L. Walda, ʼ75, joined Barrett & McNagny in Fort Wayne in 1975 and left in 2001 as partner. From 2002‒2004 he served as IU’s executive director of federal relations and corporate partnerships. In 2005 he was named a partner at Bose McKinney & Evans and senior vice president for federal relations for Bose Treacy Associates, LLC. From 2006‒2018 he was president and CEO of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Walda was president of the IU board of trustees from 1992‒1993 and 1994‒2001. He has also served as national president of the IU Alumni Association and chairman of Clarian Health Partners (now IU Health).
Jose Cleofas Bocobo (1886–1965), class of 1907, was born in the Philippines and returned there following law school. He was a faculty member at the College of Law at the University of the Philippines, where he served as university president from 1934–1939. He was a justice of the Philippine Supreme Court during the Japanese occupation and was later charged with treason but ultimately cleared. He received an honorary doctorate from IU in 1951.
Posts' gift to fund pro bono programs
A $250,000 gift to the Law School from Steven M. Post, '77, and his wife, Ursula, will help fund the school's new expungement help desk and future pro bono programs.
A member of the Law School's board of visitors, Post heard a presentation at a recent meeting about the school's Access to Justice learning project from Prof. Victor Quintanilla. Intrigued by its potential, Post asked how he and Ursula could support its work.
The Posts' gift will help fund the expungement help desk for five years and endow a fund for access to justice programming in general. The endowed portion of the fund will generate about $10,000 annually.
Post is the retired general counsel of L-3 Technologies (formerly L-3 Communications), a New York–based communications company.
Faculty recognized for teaching distinction
The Law School honored five faculty members with prestigious teaching awards on March 29. They are Pamela Foohey, Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award; Jessica Eaglin, Norman J. Hedges, ʼ98; and Mark D. Janis, ʼ89, Trustees' Teaching Award; and Gregory A. Castanias, ʼ90, Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award.
“Our faculty recognizes that teaching is an important part of their responsibility as faculty members, and they receive consistently high marks from our students every year” said Dean Parrish. “There are many wonderful teachers at the Maurer School of Law, and it is an honor to recognize and celebrate them.”
Pamela Foohey was presented with the Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award. Named for the school's former dean, it is the highest teaching honor given to IU Maurer School of Law faculty. Foohey teaches the first-year contracts course, along with upper-level courses in bankruptcy and secured transactions. She was described as “phenomenal and enthusiastic at conveying complex legal doctrine to students” by centering her classes on actual problems that require students to apply doctrinal materials to facts.
Trustees’ Teaching Awards were presented to Eaglin, Hedges, and Janis.
In addition to the school’s core course in criminal law, Eaglin teaches evidence, federal sentencing law, and punishment in theory and practice. She was honored for teaching these “complex and difficult topics with precision and ease by weaving in philosophy, political science, and sociology,” resulting in well-rounded and interesting classes. She was also cited for her dedication to student growth and development. In addition to receiving this honor, Eaglin was recently named an Indiana University outstanding junior faculty member, the first in the Law School’s history.
Hedges is a clinical associate professor and director of the Law School’s intellectual property law clinic. The nomination noted that Hedges describes the clinic as a “small IP boutique firm,” although its impact is substantial. Under Hedges’s direction, it has become one of the largest clinics in the country to be certified by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Hedges was cited for his emphasis on the fundamentals of law practice, including what he calls CLMs: “career-limiting moves.”
Janis is Robert E. Lucas Chair of Law and director of the school’s intellectual property program. In addition to his doctrinal instruction, which was described as “incredible,” Janis was honored for his dedication to students outside the classroom. He personally coaches moot court teams in external competitions, directs students in independent research, and supervises externs. Students described him as the “backbone of Indiana Law’s outstanding IP program and community.”
Castanias, a partner in the Washington, DC office of Jones Day, received accolades for “using real-world examples as an intellectual property appellate litigator to create a unique in-class experience.” Several students said that his course in appellate procedure was “the highlight of [their] law school career.” Castanias has also been instrumental in recruiting students, either as law firm associates or as federal judicial clerks.
A special committee of students presented teaching award recommendations to Dean Parrish, who made the final selections. The students on the selection committee presented the Trustees’ and Adjunct Faculty Awards to the recipients during a ceremony at the law school, and Parrish presented the Wallace Award. Also present at the ceremony were members of the Law School’s Alumni Board and Wallace’s granddaughter, Martha Moore.
Lederman to receive Sonneborn Award
Leandra Lederman, William W. Oliver Professor of Tax Law and director of the Law School's tax program, is the recipient of Indiana University's 2019 Tracy M. Sonneborn Award. The award honors faculty for accomplishments in the areas of teaching and research. Named for the late eminent scientist Professor Tracy M. Sonneborn, the award is given to an exemplary researcher who is also well known as an exemplary teacher. Lederman will deliver the annual Sonneborn Lecture this fall. She is currently on a sabbatical leave as a Fulbright Scholar in Luxembourg. Professor Susan Williams was the law school's most recent Sonneborn winner, in 2014.
Students excel in competitions
As the spring semester draws to a close, Indiana Law students continue to bring home top honors in a wide array of advocacy and drafting competitions across the country.
- Derrian Smith, Zach Miller, and Kaelyne Wietelman won first place in the Global Antitrust Institute Invitational Moot Court, hosted by the Antonin Scalia Law School in conjunction with the Global Antitrust Institute and Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
- Derrian Smith also took first-prize honors in the ABA Antitrust Section's Student Writing Competition.
- Sarah Eddy and Nick Palmieri were the only American team to advance to the finals at the Oxford International Intellectual Property Competition.
- Sarah Lode, Caleb Ohmer, and Alex Van Dyke advanced to the semi-finals in the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition. They also won second place for their brief and for best respondent's brief.
- Allison Hilmer, Hannah Miller, Michael Smyth, and Alexa Urbanic were finalists in the American Association for Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition.
- Mary Morris, Alexa Wilson, and Robert Silman took second-place and best buyer's counsel honors at the Law School's fourth annual Drafting and Negotiation Competition.
- Taylor Fontan was champion of the school's Trial Tournament, and Hannah Miller, Michael Smyth, and Carolyn Haney were finalists. Read more
- Sarah Brown and Dylan Miller advanced to the quarterfinals of the Williams Institute Moot Court Competition at UCLA.
In Brief...
- The Environmental Law Institute has published Prof. Rob Fischman's co-authored chapter on "Forestry" in the new book, Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States. The book addresses legal opportunities and challenges for achieving an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in the United States.
- Prof. Joe Tomain wrote an op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer about the pitfalls of drug testing at his alma mater, St. Xavier High School.
- Prof. W. William Weeks III, ʼ79, co-authored an article, “Climate Change Challenges for Land Conservation: Rethinking Conservation Easements, Strategies, and Tools,” which recently received the 2019 Morrison Prize, an honor established in 2015 and administered through the program on Law and Sustainability at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
- Prof. Sarah Jane Hughes has contributed a chapter to a new book, Cloud 3.0: Drafting and Negotiating Cloud Computing Agreements, available this month from ABA Publishing.
- Prof. Timothy William Waters gave a presentation titled "Revitalizing Self-Determination: Conceptualizing a Right of Secession" at the Faculty of Law, University of Szeged (Hungary) on February 21.
- Alumni happy hour: Friday, April 26, 5:30-7:00, 21c Cincinnati, Metropole Restaurant.