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News - May 2004
U-M Law School Professor's Article Makes Top 10
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
 University of Michigan Law School Professor Adam C. Pritchard's article, "Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and the Counter-Revolution in the Federal Securities Laws" published in the Duke Law Journal, has been selected by fellow teachers of corporate and securities law as one of the 10 best corporate and securities articles of 2003. The final selections were from a pool of more than 450 articles. Results of the survey will be published in the Corporate Practice Commentator.
U-M Law Grads earn coveted positions at International Courts
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Three University of Michigan Law School alumni have earned positions with international courts this year: two recent graduates will be working for in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its prestigious University Traineeship Program. A third graduate will be a clerk to Judge Theodor Meron, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Sonia Boutillon, '03, and Carsten Hoppe, May '04, have been selected to participate in the ICJ training program. Only a select group of academic institutions are able to nominate students in the highly competitive process for this program. Michigan is one of only two schools to have more than one student or graduate selected by the Court, and this is the first year that the Law School has submitted nominations. Only 10 positions are available each year.
"This will be an opportunity both to deepen my knowledge of public international law and to work closely with leading figures in the field," Boutillon says. "As international relations developments have shown, bridging the gap between different conceptions of international law is crucial to furthering a viable multilateral system."
In addition to earning her J.D. at the Law School, Boutillon earned a B.A. in political science and international relations from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and an M.A. with honors in international and European economic law from the University of Paris X. She is currently an associate with the Washington D.C., law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan and is a member of the New York Bar.
Hoppe plans to begin doctoral studies in public international law following completion of the program. "The Michigan-sponsored position will provide an invaluable learning opportunity along that path," he says. "Completely immersing myself in public international law on the highest level will be the ideal preparation for my dissertation."
Hoppe received his B.A. in economics from the University of Rochester, and since 2001 he has been a fellow of the German National Academic Foundation. At the Law School he has served as the international blue book editor of the Michigan Journal of International Law, and as a research assistant to Professor Mathias Reimann. In 2002 he worked as a summer associate at Kaye Scholer in New York City, and in the summer of 2001 he served as an assistant to then-Commissioner Bruno Simma at the International Law Commission of the UN.
In September another recent graduate, Benjamin Mizer, '02, will become a clerk for Judge Theodor Meron, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ITCR). Mizer is completing a judicial clerkship with Justice John Paul Stevens at the U.S. Supreme Court before moving to The Netherlands to begin his work with Judge Meron.
Mizer was attracted to the clerkship at ITCY for the opportunity to live and work in Europe for a year, but also for an inside look into the work of the Tribunals. He has always been interested in criminal law, "but this job will provide me with a whole new perspective on the legal norms that govern criminal behavior and punishment." He points out that as a result of the war on terror, U.S. courts and the government in general are confronting issues of international law and the law of war. Several of the biggest cases on the Supreme Court's docket this Term dealt with these issues. This has increased his interest in learning more about international human rights law, and how better to do that than clerking for one of the foremost experts in the field who is also the President of the Tribunals. "I can't imagine work that is more important than that of the Tribunals - striving to achieve some sense of justice in the context of two of the great human atrocities of recent history," Mizer says.
U-M Law School Develops Collaborative Pediatric Clinic
Monday, May 24, 2004
Children who live in poverty are more vulnerable to health and developmental risks than children in higher income families. Complex issues contribute to this fact, and assisting these children may require more than simply a medical perspective. For example, a child's asthma may be caused by mold. A multidisciplinary approach using medical and legal advocacy, such as will be available through a new University of Michigan Law School program, can provide the necessary advice, counsel, and direct representation that can challenge persistent legal barriers, such as the presence of mold, that affect children's health and well being.
This fall, the first group of U-M Law students will participate in its Pediatric Advocacy Clinic -- one of the first law school-connected pediatric clinics of its kind in the nation.
The Clinic is part of a larger project, the Pediatric Advocacy Initiative that is being developed by the Law School as part of its community outreach work with the Michigan Poverty Law Program. The Initiative partners legal advocates, including clinical law students, with the University of Michigan Ypsilanti Health Center and the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Designed to supply legal assistance to low-income families in a healthcare setting, the clinic's goal is to improve the health of low-income children and families through legal advocacy and policy reform.
Students taking the clinic will provide a range of advocacy interventions to address issues such as:
- Applying for food stamps or cash assistance;
- Litigating against landlords of substandard housing that cause health problems;
- Providing referrals and representation for victims of domestic violence;
- Navigating the special education system to ensure children receive legally required services; and
- Providing policy advocacy before government bodies and other advocacy organizations.
This fall, the first group of students in the clinic will work with clinic faculty to develop relationships with the doctors, nurses, and social workers in each of the pediatric settings, and will work directly with clients to provide preventive care. Students will also train healthcare providers to help them better advise and advocate for their patients. Clinic casework will cover an array of issues that will likely include public benefits access and coverage; health insurance problems; domestic violence and other family law; housing law, and ethical issues. The clinic is designed to provide a preventive rather than reactive approach to legal advocacy.
Clinical Professor Anne Schroth worked with U-M Law School Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Bridget McCormack to develop the clinic concept and structure. "The clinic will not only serve a community need that has not been previously met," says Schroth, "but it will also provide a unique entry point for students interested in poverty law and the legal issues that can complicate the health of low income children."
Student spearheads effort to collect and ship items for Iraq
Friday, May 7, 2004
The conflict in Iraq touches all of us in some way -- whether through a family member or friend, we don't have to go through too many layers to find a connection to someone stationed there. That is true here at the Law School as well. Third-year student Oscar Estrada is currently serving in Iraq in the Civil Affairs Division.
Student colleague, friend, and former Army Reservist in Afghanistan Terrence Finneran decided that he wanted to do something to help. Following the pattern he used last year to collected and ship items to help civilians in Afghanistan, Finneran collect nine boxes of food, clothing, and school supplies to help Estrada reach out to the people of Iraq, along with some goodies to let him know his friends haven't forgotten him.
When Finneran began the project, he wasn't worried about not reaching his goal, "You can always count on the generosity of the people at the Law School," he says. And that confidence proved to be well founded. The boxes of goods that were shipped weight 166 pounds. Well done!
History and Law Professor wins Guggenheim Award for research
Wednesday, May 5, 2004
 Rebecca J. Scott, the Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of Law has been selected to receive a 2004 Guggenheim Award. According to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Web site, the awards are designed to "further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions. . . ."
Professor Scott, who is a specialist on the history of slavery and emancipation in plantation societies, will use her award to work on "The Law in Slavery and Freedom."
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