Dean Jon M. Garon to Step Down in 2008

Jon M. Garon will step down as dean of the Hamline University School of Law in July 2008, concluding five years of service in which he strengthened the school's academic profile, expanded donor support, increased its international presence, and launched a series of innovative academic programs, including Hamline's Health Law Institute and the nation's first JD/MFA in creative writing. Following a sabbatical, Garon will return to Hamline, teaching full-time in the School of Law. Hamline will immediately launch a national search for a new dean for the law school; the new dean will take over duties in July 2008.

Dr. Linda N. Hanson, president of Hamline University, said. "We are grateful to Jon for his leadership and vision as dean of the law school, and we are pleased he will remain a faculty member at Hamline."

During the first four years of Garon's term, the School of Law significantly increased its faculty size, expanding the facilities and remodeling its classrooms to better serve its student body. Garon oversaw the creation and development of the Hamline Health Law Institute, adding a powerful academic voice on issues of health care policy and access to health care. Hamline has also added a health law clinic to provide direct client service in this area. At the same time, the Hamline Dispute Resolution Institute has risen to third in the nation as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. Garon has been personally involved in many of the law school's international efforts, including an expanded LLM for international lawyers, and a full-time JD externship program, which places students both domestically and abroad. To support these efforts, Garon has taught or lectured in Bangalore, India; Bergen, Norway; and Rome, Italy. He has also worked closely with leadership from nonprofit organizations such as the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, Centro Legal, The Innocence Project, and other nonprofit organizations to strengthen their presence in the legal community and provide meaningful opportunity for law students to engage in pro bono activities and make a positive social impact while still in law school. Garon has continued to serve as a faculty member and scholar throughout his term as dean. His most recent book, Own It - The Law & Business Guide to Launching a New Business through Innovation, Exclusivity and Relevance, will be published later this month. Garon also served Hamline in a dual role, acting as interim dean for the Hamline University Graduate School of Management in 2005-06.

"I have truly enjoyed becoming part of the Hamline community," Garon said. "I am excited to continue my service as an active member of the Hamline law faculty and a member of the Minnesota legal community."

 

"I am extremely grateful for the support alumni have given Hamline University School of Law during its first thirty-five years," he continued, "and I am proud to have been part of that tradition during my term as dean. "

Follow this link to read Dean Garon's complete message to alumni.

 

Hamline University School of Law is a collaborative community in which students work together to best serve their clients and society. Its students graduate ready to find solutions, solve problems and transform the world. Creative and innovative teaching and learning attract a diverse student body of nearly 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students to Hamline University. Challenged to create and apply knowledge in local and global contexts, Hamline students develop an individual and community ethic of social justice, civic responsibility, and inclusive leadership and service.

Ranked first in quality and value in Minnesota among comprehensive master's universities with criteria determined by U.S. News & World Report, Hamline is also Minnesota's first university, founded in 1854, and among the first co-educational institutions in the nation.

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Hamline Offers First in the Nation Joint JD/MFA in Creative Writing

Recognizing that today’s lawyers are called upon for creative and thoughtful leadership on complex issues, Hamline University and Hamline University School of Law are responding with an innovative program to produce lawyers capable of exploring social and political issues through fiction and creative nonfiction writing. Hamline students now have the unique opportunity to pursue both a juris doctor (JD) and a master of fine arts (MFA) degree in creative writing. Hamline’s joint JD/MFA in creative writing degree is the first of its kind in the nation.

“There’s no doubt that the world is rapidly changing in this global economy,” Hamline University School of Law Dean Don Lewis said. “To be successful, lawyers and other leaders must be able to think creatively and use disciplined imagination to solve problems. For students who can meet the rigorous admission requirements of both schools, the combined JD/MFA will encourage creativity and personal expression as part of the analytical rigor of law. Our graduates will be well positioned to serve as global leaders, thinkers, writers and, of course, members of the bench and bar.”

The MFA program at Hamline University was established as Minnesota’s first master of fine arts program in creative writing and is distinguished by its multidisciplinary emphasis and its encouragement of multi-genre explorations. The JD program at Hamline University School of Law provides a dramatically expanded interdisciplinary approach to writing and exploration of social and political issues through fiction and creative nonfiction writing. Students may apply to either program at any time.

Graduate School of Liberal Studies Dean Mary Rockcastle (pictured right) said the new dual program will allow Hamline “to create a bridge between two very different programs.” Rockcastle said that in the Graduate School of Liberal Studies, faculty members integrate the craft and values of good writing into interdisciplinary coursework and encourage students to write and publish in multiple content areas.

“Now, we’ll be able to do the same with students in law school, who can take their knowledge and experience as lawyers and write — nonfiction, fiction, screenplays and poetry,” Rockcastle said.

The JD/MFA is just one of Hamline’s many joint degree programs, which also include management, nonprofit management, public administration, and organizational leadership. To learn more about the new joint degree program, which was featured in the July 30 issue of Minnesota Lawyer, visit www.hamline.edu/law/jdmfa.

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Hamline Enters MBA Market

Expanded program will create new collaboration opportunities for law and business

Hamline University’s Graduate School of Management has transformed its Master of Arts in Management (MAM) program into the Hamline University Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. The sophisticated program will feature a distinctive module-based curriculum that combines critical quantitative and financial knowledge with the “people skills” employers are seeking.

“Hamline’s MBA is unique because of its focus on integration,” explains School of Management Dean Julian Schuster (pictured right). “Students will learn to integrate their understanding and application of the traditional business disciplines throughout the curriculum. They will be encouraged to integrate knowledge of the liberal arts into managing and leading organizations. And they will be required to demonstrate integrated understanding of complex business issues and to integrate what they learn into the communities where they work and live.”

The Law School currently offers joint degree programs with the School of Management in its Masters of Arts in Management (MAM), Masters of Arts in Nonprofit Management, and Masters of Arts in Public Administration. Dean Garon said that he expects the JD/MBA to eventually replace the JD/MAM, allowing the School of Law to return to this joint degree program, which started in the early 1990s and was in place until 2001, in association with St. Thomas University.

“The expansion of the business school is a great addition for Hamline and the Law School,” noted Dean Garon. “The collaborative opportunities will enable us to expand programs in both schools and enhance the quality of academic scholarship and student opportunities.”

Dean Schuster said the Hamline MBA will develop proactive, future-oriented, people-centered leaders for organizations and communities. “Students will emerge from our program with a strong sense of self, solid quantitative skills, integrated knowledge of core business disciplines, and the interpersonal and communication skills needed to successfully guide organizations and communities through growth and continuous improvement.”

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The Honorable Louis H. Schiff '80 Receives Florida's Highest County Court Judicial Honor

The Conference of County Court Judges of Florida awarded Broward County Court Judge Louis H. Schiff ‘80 the Harvey Ford Award at its annual conference in July.

As the highest honor bestowed on a county court judge by The Conference of County Court Judges, the Harvey Ford Award recognizes a county court judge who has demonstrated the highest level of profound service to the community, legal profession, and to the Conference of County Court Judges of Florida.

Judge Schiff, 52, was elected in 1996, and serves at the North Regional Broward County Courthouse in Deerfield Beach, where he handles both civil and criminal cases. Some of Judge Schiff’s accomplishments include the following:

• Received the League of Women Voters first “Civics in Action Award” in April 2007.
• Featured in the cover story in the August 13, 2006 USA Today Weekend, “Parents Who Make School Better.”
• Received Hamline University’s “Outstanding Alumnus for Ethics and Community Service” Award in 2000.
• Has served as a volunteer faculty member of the Conference of County Court Judges of Florida D.U.I. Traffic Adjudication Lab and as the chairperson of its Education Committee.
• Has served as a volunteer instructor at the National Judicial College (NJC) at the University of Nevada
  in Reno.

The award is named for Broward County Court Judge Harvey Ford, who died in 1995, and was known for his outstanding and dedicated community and professional service.

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Professor Mary Jane Morrison Reflects on Constitutional Issues During Sesquicentennial

The question of whether or not Minnesota should continue its century-and-a-half practice of electing judges is one with long historical roots. The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) only narrowly approved a resolution for the state to move to a judicial appointment system, with 33 voting in favor of the resolution and 31 voting in favor of taking no position at the MSBA annual meeting in June. Hamline Law Professor Mary Jane Morrison, author of The Minnesota State Constitution, A Reference Guide, reports that this debate dates back 150 years to the time when Minnesota’s state constitution was being drafted.

In the ensuing century-and-a-half, scholars have been debating why the framers chose to endorse judicial elections. Morrison is overseeing a Hamline undergraduate political science student, Angelene Hennes, on a research project into the historical debates that influenced Minnesota's constitutional framers on this issue. The research will be used by Minnesota Women Lawyers to develop a program on the topic in early 2008, as part of the state's sesquicentennial celebration.

"By 1835 there already was a deeply entrenched view in American society that an elected judiciary was better for democracy," Morrison explains. "And between 1845 and 1912, all new states admitted to the Union had elected judiciaries. Some scholars thought this shift was due to a rise of populism, which was a follow-on development to Jacksonian democracy.

"By the 1950s, however, scholars were convinced that the preference of many states for judicial elections had been driven by an emotional reaction from citizens who felt judges had become part of an aristocracy. This perception shifted again in the 1970s when scholars began postulating that the shift to elections had been the work of lawyers who wanted to improve the perception of quality among the judiciary, in essence to professionalize the judiciary," she says.

These ongoing debates among scholars about why respective state constitutional framers chose, in large part, to require judicial elections reflect a larger ongoing debate regarding whether judicial elections enhance or harm freedom. Morrison said she hopes the research she and Hennes are conducting on the topic will lead to a lively presentation, perhaps featuring historical reenactments of the original debates. The presentation should be especially timely as Minnesota debates switching to a judicial appointment system with judges standing for retention elections or reviews.

 

Exploring Constitutionality of Dedicated Fund Clauses

Morrison also will apply her constitutional acumen to another sesquicentennial-related program at the 23rd Annual Policy Analysis Conference sponsored by the Citizens League on October 17, 2007 at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul campus. She will discuss issues around constitutionally dedicated funds, which allow state legislatures to allocate monies raised from a particular source - such as lottery ticket or license plate sales - to be earmarked for one specific purpose only. Morrison published an article on this topic in 2006 in the Minnesota Journal.

While the use of dedicated fund clauses seems to be relatively recent in Minnesota, Morrison says the funding technique dates back to the country's founding, when the federal government grudgingly provided land and/or cash to the new states for public schools.

 

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Hamline Community Joins Effort to Provide Legal Assistance to Veterans

Professor Mary Jane Morrison is among a large group of local lawyers who have committed to provide pro bono legal assistance to members of the military, many of whom struggle to regain a place in society after returning from deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and other war-torn countries. The pro bono effort is organized by the Minnesota State Bar Association Military Affairs Committee and Minnesota CLE. Hamline alumna and Judge Advocate, Captain Lyndsey Kimber ‘03, 34th Infantry Division Legal Advisor with the Minnesota Army/National Guard, helped to organize and teach a seminar on military legal assistance as part of the effort. (Kimber also was instrumental in establishing the Hamline JAG Practicum.)

It was standing room only on August 2 at Dorsey & Whitney for the half-day seminar, which provided information about the Service Members Civil Relief Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and  Re-Employment Act. Hamline alumna Caroline Palmer '99, with the Minnesota State Bar Association, was one of four attorneys at the event providing additional resources to participants.

Hamline Law student Steve Schemenauer participated in the program by describing his deployment experience in Afghanistan.

Schemenauer recently founded the Hamline Veterans Association student organization, which is seeking contributions for a scholarship fund to benefit Hamline law students who are actively serving in the military or are veterans. Contributions can be made through Hamline's Development Office online or by contacting Bill Martin at 651-523-2472 or wmartin04@hamline.edu. Top

Building Ties to the Heart of Europe

An LL.M. student from Germany's University of Trier will be attending classes at Hamline during the 2007-08 academic year as part of a new bilateral exchange program between the law school and the University of Trier. Because the University of Trier does not include a law school (students there earn a basic law degree by attending the undergraduate school for an extra two years), Hamline students taking advantage of the exchange will serve internships at the Clifford Chance Law Firm in Frankfurt.

"The exchange program with the University of Trier builds on the Law School's already strong study abroad program," commented Dean Garon. "It also strengthens our commitment to building Hamline's LL.M. program, which already includes outreach recruitment efforts in India, Brazil, Africa and Israel."

The University of Trier, pictured above, is located on the outskirts of Germany's oldest city, close to the borders of Luxembourg, France and Belgium. Teaching and research focus on European issues, practical application of academic concepts and interdisciplinary subjects, including law. Total enrollment at the University of Trier is 11,500. While new to the Law School, undergraduate students at Hamline University long have participated in a similar bilateral exchange program at the University of Trier. Top