This is an exciting week for the College of Law! On Thursday, March 2nd, the Nebraska Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in our auditorium. We are fortunate to be located in the state capital so that we can provide learning opportunities such as this one to our students. I encourage you to attend even if you have attended in the past. The lawyers will be different; the cases will be different. So, the learning opportunity will be different.
Later that day at 4 PM, the College of Law will celebrate Professor Matt Schaefer receiving the Veronica A. Haggart & Charles R. Work Professor of International Trade Law chair, which will be part of the newly formed Clayton K. Yeutter Institute on International Trade and Finance. This recognition, made possible through the generosity of Roni & Chuck, is well-deserved as Professor Schaefer has done outstanding work in his field. Matt has served as an international trade consultant to the National Governors' Association and Western Governors' Association in Washington, D.C. during the legislative implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and GATT Uruguay Round multilateral trade agreement. He has also served as a consultant to two members of the European parliament in Brussels, Belgium and the states of Hawaii, Texas, and Utah. The other major thread of Professor Schaefer’s scholarship focuses on the inter-relationship between federalism and international and foreign relations law as well as international trade agreements. Matt also was the lead person at the Law College in administering an international trade policy, economics and law-related program in during 2012 and 2013 under a Clayton Yeutter International Trade grant through the US Department of Commerce. The programming included several distinguished international trade law lectures and seminars by visiting distinguished lecturers, including former director of the WTO legal division William Davey, Chair of Sidley and Austin’s DC international trade practice group Andy Shoyer, and Vice-President of Rock Creek Global Advisors Michael Smart. In the Spring of 2014, Professor Schaefer, with the research assistance of 2L Yeutter Scholar Samantha Ritter, drafted a US Supreme Court amicus brief, arguing that the Court should change the “apply anew” standard of review utilized by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to review trade remedy decisions of the Court of International Trade. The brief was signed by professors of international trade law at NYU, George Washington University, American University, Columbia University and the University of Illinois.
March 3rd is also a big day for the College of Law as we host the first ever Women Leading in Law, Business & Philanthropy Conference. This conference is bringing together more than 250 speakers, panelists, and attendees to discuss the leadership skills that are required in order to succeed in careers in private practice, government, business, on the bench, and in our communities. The opportunity to learn from judges, C-Suite executives, an FBI agent, partners in law firms, public servants, and philanthropists simply does not happen every day. If you have not registered, but would like to attend, I encourage you to do so. Some of the panels are full to capacity, but there remains limited space in the others. I hope you’ll join us! You can register to do so here. Of course, later that night the Women’s Law Caucus will host its annual Auction - it is very fun event and supports many terrific causes.
Finally, also on March 3, Professor Emeritus Roger Kirst (who retired in May 2016) will receive the Outstanding Legal Educator Award from the Nebraska State Bar Foundation. This award acknowledges momentous contributions to the field of legal education by a legal educator. Professor Kirst served as a law professor for over forty years and during that time he had an enormous impact on the fields of civil procedure and evidence, both in Nebraska and nationally. Professor John Lenich, who won the award himself in 2011, will introduce Professor Kirst at the Foundation’s award dinner.