Feature News
Low-Income Persons and the Law Topic on Agenda for March Programs
Hamline University is the place to be on March 12-13 if you're interested in the legal challenges that low-income people face. A joint program on Low-Income Persons and the Law--which will gather local and national scholars, law practitioners, policymakers and government officials to address the challenges of providing meaningful legal access for low-income persons and underserved populations--will be co-sponsored by Hamline University School of Law and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS), which is celebrating more than a century-long commitment to providing a full range of high-quality free legal assistance to low-income people.
On March 12 the Hamline Law Alumni Annual Spring CLE, "Justice and Administrative Process: A Low Income Family's Legal Journey through State and Federal Administrative Appeals," will take place. A reception will be held on the evening of March 12 at 6 p.m.
On March 13 The Hamline Journal of Public Law and Policy Spring 2009 Symposium will explore "Barriers to Justice: Responding to the Needs of the Low-Income Population in America." National and local experts will address barriers to obtaining equal and fair employment opportunities and welfare services, including nationally recognized authority on welfare law and low-wage labor Northeastern School of Law Professor Lucy A. Williams; Loretta Frederick, a leading national spokesperson on domestic abuse issues and former SMRLS staff attorney; and The Honorable Tanya Bransford of the 4th Judicial District.
All events will be held at Hamline University. Please contact Deb Lange at dlange@hamline.edu or 651-523-2122 for cost and registration information.
Noted DR Leader Sharon Press Named Director of Hamline's DRI Program
Hamline University School of Law has named Sharon B. Press to lead its nationally ranked Dispute Resolution Institute (DRI). Press will become director of the program and associate professor of law at Hamline on July 1, 2009, when current DRI Director and Professor James Coben returns to a full-time teaching position on the Hamline law faculty. Press is the current director of the Florida Dispute Resolution Center and an adjunct professor at Florida State University College of Law. She has served as guest lecturer at Hamline since 2005.
"I am delighted to welcome Professor Sharon Press to our faculty and as the next director of Hamline's nationally ranked Dispute Resolution Institute," said Don Lewis, dean at Hamline University School of Law. "Her experience as both an educator and an administrator will allow her to continue building on DRI's educational excellence and national reputation. Hamline's Dispute Resolution Institute has achieved preeminence thanks, in large part, to the leadership and vision of James Coben, Bobbi McAdoo and other respected Hamline law faculty members. I'm confident that under Sharon's able direction, Hamline will continue leading the way in developing new and creative approaches to dispute resolution in a global context."
Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Hamline Law Podcasts Make Top Ten List
According to Law Technology News columnist Robert J. Ambrogi, "there are so many worthwhile (podcast) programs that I had trouble winnowing my list to 10." Despite the heavy competition, Ambrogi included podcasts from Hamline University School of Law in his list for a second time (Hamline originally made the list in 2005). Noted Ambrogi in the October 10, 2008 "Ten Legal Podcasts to Keep You Informed" column, "What started several years ago as a single podcast called Conversations in Law (on the Hamline Law School website)--a series on law, leadership and legal education--has expanded into an array of podcasts covering law and leadership, health law, public law, Native American law, dispute resolution and intellectual property. Within the Conversation series, programs range from a discussion of feminist jurisprudence to Kenneth Feinberg recalling the many personal stories he heard as administrator of the 9/11 victim compensation fund."
New podcasts recently added include an interview with Hamline Law Dean Donald Lewis and presentations by Hamline Law Professor Ken Fox on "Peace-building in the Middle East: A case study of the Hamline University Civic Education Projects" and "The Gifts and Challenges of Controversy: Tools for Deep Connection." Check back to the www.hamline.edu/law/conversations site often as additional podcasts of Hamline Law School events and presentations are continually added throughout the year.
On the Fives Reunion: A Memory-Filled Event
HUSL Welcomes Back Law Classes of 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2003
On Thursday, October 2, 2008, in the Peterson "Circle" Lounge at the Law School, the Office of Alumni Relations sponsored the fourth annual “On the Fives” reunion reception for all Law School alumni who graduated five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five and thirty years ago. Graduates celebrated their reunion years by returning to the law school to reminisce with Hamline faculty, staff, classmates and alumni from many different eras.
Franzen appointed to HNBA Board
Hamline alumna Melisa Lopez Franzen '06 has been appointed to serve on the board of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA). The HNBA, which serves as the national voice of the Hispanic legal community, represents the interests of more than 100,000 Hispanic attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistants and law students in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories. Franzen was appointed HNBA's National Representative to the Young Lawyer Division of the American Bar Association. She is a senior specialist for government affairs with Target Corporation. In addition to earning a JD from Hamline in 2006, she earned a MS in public policy from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota and a BA, summa cum laude, in political science in 2001. Franzen is president-elect of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association and recently received the 25 on the Rise award from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Minneosta.
