March 2011

Faculty Accomplishments:

Professor Robert Spoo delivered a keynote talk, “Piracy and Trade Courtesy in Nineteenth-Century American Publishing: Close-knit Communities, Informal Norms, and Private Ordering,” at “The Quote’s the Thing”: Negotiating Copyright in Scholarly Criticism, a conference at the University at Buffalo on Saturday, April 2, 2011. The conference was sponsored by the UB Humanities Institute and the Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy.

Professor Robert Spoo is also a nominee for the 2011 University of Tulsa Outstanding Teacher Award. Three award recipients are selected each year by the Faculty Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate from a total of ten nominees across the University. A TU faculty member can receive this award only once.

Professor Judith Royster's participated in a symposium on “Montana v. United States: Pathmarking the Field of Indian Law for Three Decades and Counting” at the University of New Mexico School of Law on March 24-25. She presented on the panel “Montana’s Impact on Indian Treaty Rights and Property Interests.”

Professor Marianne Blair presented, “The Collection and Disclosure of Medical and Social History of Transnationally Adopted Children: U.S. Implementation of the Hague Convention Requirements,” as part of the Capital University Law School 7th Annual Wells Conference on Adoption Law on Thursday, March 17th in Columbus, Ohio.

Student Accomplishments:

Stephanie Conduff (JD ’13) has been named in the “Oklahoma Magazine 2011 - 40 Under 40.” Stephanie Conduff is a Strategic Investment Associate for Cherokee Nation Business.

Kathleen McNulty (JD ’10) and Amy Gioletti (JD ’11) were recently named as finalists in The Presidential Management Fellowship program. There were 850 finalists this year out of 7000 nominees and 1500 semi-finalists.

Edwina Christiansen (JD ’13) has secured a summer internship with Senior Judge John Kane, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver.

Meghan King (JD ’11) recently earned a clerkship with the Connecticut Superior Court, the state trial court of general jurisdiction.

NEWS from Professor McCormick, Boesche Legal Clinic: Immigrant Rights Project:

On February 14, Meghan King (JD '11) and Lindsey Christopher (JD '11) accompanied their client to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service Asylum Office in Houston for an interview on his application for asylum. Meghan and Lindsey had worked closely with the client, a native of Pakistan throughout the fall semester to prepare his asylum petition and then to prepare him for the interview. Their client was a human rights worker who was targeted by the Taliban as a result of his work to promote inter-faith tolerance, the rights of women and minorities, and non-violence. Meghan and Lindsey spent long hours conducting the factual and legal research and compiling the evidence in support of the client’s claim. On the day of the interview, the students demonstrated beautifully how important hard work and preparation are to effective advocacy. They were outstanding representatives of their client and of the College of Law. On Monday, March 7, we learned that their client's petition had been approved. The approval of the client's petition will allow him to be reunited with his family and to live in safety in the United States. The client is extremely grateful for the excellent work and dedication of the students.

Last spring, Eric Reynolds (JD’ 11) and Pedro Mari (JD ’11) represented a client who was a victim of a violent shooting that left the client with permanent injuries. The client was petitioning for a U visa, a special visa for victims of violent crime who provide assistance to law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes. This client's cooperation with police led to the conviction of his attacker. Pedro and Eric worked hard to overcome obstacles to the representation presented by the client’s injuries and disabilities, to advocate on the client’s behalf with law enforcement officials in California, to gather medical records, police reports and expert testimony, and ultimately prepared a petition on the client’s behalf that was granted late in the fall semester. The client is now able to remain in the United States to receive the vital treatment and services he needs.

Also, last semester, a client represented by Amy Gioletti (JD '11) and Lenora Gulley (JD '10) has been granted relief under the Violence Against Women Act. The client, a native of Mexico who had endured years of abuse by her US citizen husband, worked with Amy and Lenora last spring to prepare and submit her application, including gathering evidence in support of a legal argument that would save the client years of delay waiting for an immigrant visa to become available. The client's VAWA petition was approved late last semester and, on March 1, Hans Lehr (JD '11) accompained the client to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service in Oklahoma City for an interview on her application to become a permanent resident. In preparation for the interview, Hans met several times with the client to "moot" her for the interview. Hans also spent a great deal of time familiarizing himself with the client's complicated history and preparing legal arguments in anticipation of some potentially negative determinations the immigration officer might make. Hans was a great advocate for his client at the interview and, although we have not yet received a final decision on the client's petition, we expect a positive decision in the near future.

Finally, another client, represented last spring by Matt Williams (JD '10) and Meghan King (JD '10) was granted a U non-immigrant visa. The client, a native of Mexico, had endured years of brutality from her partner before finally having the courage to come forward to report the abuse and assist in the prosecution of her abuser. Meghan and Matt worked with the client to gather the necessary evidence from witnesses, police investigators, domestic violence counselors and medical records to support the client's claim. As a result of the students' outstanding advocacy on her behalf, the client and her young.

In the five years since students began representing clients in the Immigrant Rights Clinic, more than 60 clients have been granted some form of legal immigration status and many more clients are waiting to have their petitions decided. All of the students who work in the clinic are outstanding and dedicated advocates for their clients, even though many of them are no longer enrolled in the clinic or may even have graduated by the time a decision is made on their clients' cases.