USD Magazine Summer 2010

[ e t c . ] CHANGING THE RULES Legal Clinic wins major battle for California renters facing foreclosure [ e d i f i c a t i o n ]

school and work experience.” The second element of the Intellectual Property Law Center — the conference component — brings businesspeople, law- yers and academicians together for roundtable discussions and public lectures. A recent conference drew professionals from Harvard, the University of Chicago, Stanford, Hewlett Packard, Qualcomm and Yahoo! to debate a patent law issue. “We want people to think of us as a hub where they can learn things that are useful and also to be aware of the fact that we are producing people they might want to hire,” McGowan says. The final component of the center is a planned website that will feature streaming videos of the public lectures, information for prospective IP law students, and a student-produced blog to showcase their research and anal- ysis on relevant topics. Replacing a traditional law review, the blog will make student analyses timely, easy to digest and easier to find, says McGowan. The Center for Intellectual Property Law & Markets creates momentum on several levels, says Ted Sichelman, USD assistant professor of law and one of the center’s organizers. “It provides a lot more visibility for the IP program at the school,” Sichelman says of the center, which will attract the involvement of more IP attorneys, and, in turn, more students and courses. “You get more intensity in terms of the IP curriculum and extracurricular activities. By having the center, we are able to bring in more funding, have more programs, etc. It plays an important coordi- nating function.” “We’re trying to do something a little different because we are trying to be a bridge between industry and law firms and aca- deme,” adds McGowan. “I couldn’t be happier with the reception we’ve had from our alumni and from the community.”

The School of Business Administration’s undergradu- ate business school was ranked among the top 30 nationally for the second consecutive year by BusinessWeek magazine, moving to 28th, one spot up from last year’s ranking. The magazine ranked 111 schools using nine dif- ferent criteria. USD received A+ grades for teaching quality, facili- ties and service and job place- ment based on surveys of stu- dents. The program’s ranking for student satisfaction rose signifi- cantly, going from No. 40 last year to ninth this year. Its academic quality score rose to No. 31 from 40. The overall program ranking puts USD among the top three undergraduate business schools in the West Coast. USD students can now earn   a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree in architecture. Housed in the uni- versity’s College of Arts and Sci- ences, it is the only architecture program offered at a major univer- sity south of Los Angeles. USD has offered a minor in architecture since 2004. Following the USD Board of Trustees’ approval of the major in March, 11 students have already enrolled in the program. About 20 students are expected to enroll by next fall and the program could grow to as many as 40 stu- dents in the next few years. USD’s School of Law received its highest-ever ranking by U.S. News &World Report in mid-April, moving up five spots from the previous year. In a tie for 56th place, the school has moved up 26 spots in a two-year period. The tax law faculty was ranked sixth in the nation, ahead of such lumi- naries as Harvard. USD’s part-time law program received a ranking of 10th out of 84 other schools with part-time programs.

P by Anthony Shallat

aying your rent on time is no guarantee that you won’t be evicted: just ask

The notice of default acts as a warning to the property owner; only 90 days after the default has been served can a foreclosure be filed. It was during this warning period that the Gilmore entered into her lease. Blanks used the ambiguity in the law to argue that Gilmore was still entitled to finish out her lease. “The default provision of the California law was a key compo- nent in our case,” explains Saad. Over the next few months, Saad and Blanks worked along with law intern Josiah Reid to prove that Gilmore was still protected by PTFA. The legal team sifted through complex property law while working under the supervi- sion of law professor Allen Gruber, who advises the clinic. On Feb. 2, Saad successfully argued Gilm- ore’s case in front of San Diego Superior Court. Saad ’09 (JD) is ecstatic about his court victory.“Many attorneys wait years to go to trial. To argue and win a case right after I grad- uated is amazing.” He’s quick to share credit with everyone involved in the case:“Josiah, Adam and Professor Gruber did a great job. It was a real team effort.” For Gilmore, the victory vindi- cated her own family’s struggle. “This has been a very stressful experience, but we won because we were right,” she says. “These guys are fantastic; they’re patient, kind and caring.” Reid also shares Gilmore’s enthusiasm. “I’ve gotten to experi- ence aspects of litigation that I would never have been able to see if it not for the clinic. The most rewarding part of the case was seeing [Gilmore’s] relief after win- ning the trial,” he says, smiling.

Liz Gilmore. Even though she’d done everything right, she was still faced with the very real possi- bility of being tossed out on the street. She’d had the bad luck to sign a lease for an apartment in a building that was in default. But from now on, that scenario should be a lot less likely: Students and faculty of USD’s School of Law have won a major battle for California renters fighting evic- tion. This past winter, the Land- lord Tenant Clinic succeeded in protecting Gilmore while making legal precedent. The case involved the Protect- ing Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 (PTFA), a bill that keeps ten- ants from having to break their lease due to a property’s foreclo- sure. Often tenants enter into a lease without knowing that the property they’re leasing is in dan- ger of being repossessed by the bank. If the property being rented is foreclosed upon, the lending bank may try to force out the ten- ants before their lease ends. But under PTFA, tenants are entitled to finish their lease regardless of foreclosure. “It’s important to realize that this act protects tenants, not own- ers. This law was designed to save renters from an unlawful eviction,” says Jason Saad, a law clerk who worked on the case. In August 2009, the clinic took on Gilmore’s case. Upon review, law clerk Adam Blanks noticed a discrepancy between PTFA as applied in California and the cli- ent’s case. Blanks realized that in California a notice of default and a notice of foreclosure are different:

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