USD Magazine, Winter 2004

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Will Join Campus Events by Denis Grasska T he School of Law is marking irs 50th anniversary wich a year-long celebra– tion of rhe school's rransformacion from one of the country's smallest law schools into one of its most respected. The anniversary will permeate many of the law school's annual events, including the Nathaniel L. Nathanson Memorial Lecture and the Paul A. Mclennon, Sr., Honors Mooe Court Competition. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will judge che moor court competition on Feb. 16, wh ile Justice John Paul Stevens, who delivered the first Nathanson Lecture, will return on April 7 to speak at che 20th anniversary of the event. A new lecture series, The Jane Ellen Bergman Memorial Lecture on Women, Children and Human Rights, will debut chis year. The celebration began with a Sept. 30 on– campus kickoff and continues through the spring semester. The largest event, rhe 50th Anniversary Gala, will be held April 23-25 and includes a reunion for all graduates, as well as reunions for the 16 classes celebrating reunion years. "The gala will provide the fullest opportu– nity for the entire law alumni community to

The California Supreme Court held an special after– noon session at the 1977 dedication

share in rhe celebration of rhis occasion," says Trevin Hartwell, rhe law school's direc– tor of alumni relations and development. The weekend will offer alumni an oppor– tunity ro earn continuing legal education credit by participating in one or more panel discussions. A gala dinner-dance, which includes speeches and multimedia presenta– tions, will rake place Saturday evening. Ocher events include a Sunday brunch, Mass at Founders Chapel and a golf tournament. Throughout the year, reunions and events will be held for individual groups, including the Moor Court Board, female law students, and the writers and editors of Law Review, a student publication celebrating its 40th anniversary. Accredited by the American Bar Association in 1961, only seven years after irs founding, the School of Law has over its history enjoyed a increasingly solid reputa– tion and a national profile. In 1996, che school was inducted into the Order of the Coif, the law school equivalent of the under– graduate Phi Bera Kappa. Only three other Southern California law schools - USC, UCLA and Loyola Law School - have chapters of rhe prestigious society. The law school also has made a mark in politics and government. Former Attorney General Edwin Meese, who served as California Gov. Ronald Reagan's chief of srafffrom 1969 through 1974, joined che law school faculty from 1977 to 1981 and remains a member of rhe school's board of visitors. Many professors have served on stare

of the law school's Joseph P. Grace Sr. court– room. Inset: U.S. Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and John Paul Stevens will visit USO this spring. commissions and have testified before Congress, and law school alumni are found at all levels of local, stare and federal govern– ment. And last year, professors Shaun Marrin and Frank Parrnoy made history by success– fully challenging rhe constitutionality of aspects of California's recall election laws. "Their involvement in rhis recent litiga– tion is an example of the public service rhar has been provided by our faculty and contin– ues to be provided on an ann ual basis," says Dean Daniel Rodriguez, who also cites USD's Center for Public Interest Law and Ch ildren's Advocacy Institute as examples of the law school's service to rhe community. Looking ro che future, Rodriguez says the law school will rake advantage of its proximity to USD's other professional schools and bring an interdisciplinary dimension to che study of law. The school also plans to srarr new biotechnology and intellectual property programs. "This anniversary, to me, is an opportunity to look forward and to be visionary about what che law school will look like 10 years, 25 years, 50 years from now," Rodriguez says. For more on rhe School of Law's 50th anniversary and history, see rhe latest issue of The Advocate at www.sandiego.edu/usdlaw.

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