Dean Pitegoff Presents At National Conference; Presention To Be Published

Dean Peter Pitegoff was a participant and presenter at a national conference on "Private Lawyers and the Public Interest: The Evolving Role of Pro Bono in the Legal Profession" sponsored by the Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Presenters included Deborah Rhode, Stanford Law School professor and AALS former President; Karen Mathis, immediate past president of the ABA; Rick Abel (UCLA Professor) and Lynn Mather (SUNY-Buffalo Professor), both former Presidents of the Law & Society Association; Bryant Garth, Dean of Southwestern Law School and former Director of the American Bar Foundation; and a dozen other leading scholars on the legal profession. Presentations, including Dean Pitegoff's on "Private Practice in the Public Interest: The Limits of Pro Bono," will be published in a book based upon conference papers.

Professor Ward Presents At American Law Institute / American Bar Association Program

Professor Thomas Ward was on the faculty of an American Law Institute / American Bar Association (ALI-ABA) program in June on "The UCC and Beyond: Current Developments in Commercial Law." This high-profile event took place June 12-13, 2008, at Fordham Law School in New York City, and in cyberspace with a live audio webcast. Professor Ward's primary portion of the ALI-ABA program is a lecture on "Intellectual Property as Collateral: Insolvency Issues."

Professor Wriggins' Published In University of Texas School of Law Publication

Professor Jennifer Wriggins' article "Damages in Tort Litigation: Thoughts on Race and Remedies, 1865-2007" has been published in volume 27 of The Review of Litigation, a University of Texas School of Law Publication. Professor Wriggins is currently writing a book on this subject.

2008 Franco-American Legal Seminar A Great Success

Thanks to the special efforts of Professors Martin Rogoff, Chris Knott, Charles Norchi, and Cab Howard, and the participation of numerous other law faculty members, administrators, students, and alumni, this year's Franco-American Legal Seminar was a tremendous success!

The 2008 Franco-American Legal Seminar took place from March 29 through April 6, 2008. Eight Maine Law students and six law students from oursister law school in Le Mans, France, participated. The French studentswere accompanied by three faculty members from Le Mans. The topic forthis year’s seminar was “Immigrants and Refugees: Entry, Status,Integration.” [For a detailed description of this year’s discussiontopics, see http://mainelaw.maine.edu/students/academic-program/franco-american-seminar.jsp.] At the seminar sessions, French and American students presented the papers that they had prepared and engaged in lively discussions,comparing American and French (and European) approaches to the problemsunder consideration.

In Portland, the French delegation visited the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic and the Cumberland County Courthouse, and then met with Charlie Miller and Jim Houle at Bernstein Shur. The next day, the French delegation met with Matthew Ward, former Director of Maine Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program, for a lengthy discussion of the international, national, state, and local aspects of refugee resettlement. Later that day, the group met with Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion who hosted lunch at the Cumberland County Jail and led an in-depth tour of the facility. On Friday, Cab Howard took the French group to Augusta for the day for meetings with staff members in the Maine Attorney General’s Office and with Governor Baldacci. On Friday evening, all French and American participants aswell as friends and supporters of the program attended a Gala Farewell Dinner at the Roma Café.

Thanks again to Professors Rogoff, Knott, Norchi, and Howard. And thanks also to Dean Peter Pitegoff, Assistant Dean Sherry Abbott, and Professors Orlando Delogu, Colleen Khoury, Deirdre Smith, Tom Ward, andother participants who attended events or otherwise assisted in making this year's seminar a success.

Professor Knott Asked To Write Book Chapter And Article

Associate Professor Christopher Knott has been asked to contribute to two important projects. Professor Knott has been asked to contribute a chapter to an Aspatore/Thomson West book called "Inside the Minds: The Changing Role of Academic Librarianship", which will be written by several academic law library directors. He also has been asked to contribute an article on teaching advanced legal research for a Legal Reference Services Quarterly symposium issue on the role of librarians in the law school curriculum. Both the book and symposium issue are scheduled for publication later this year. In addition, Professor Knott was recently asked by the ABA to join the group of faculty members serving as ABA site team members for law schools undergoing the sabbatical accreditation process; he will serve as a site team member beginning in Fall 2008.

Reference Librarian Christine Helper Published In Legal References Services Quarterly

Reference Librarian Christine Helpler's article "Researching Initiatives and Referenda: A Guide for Maine" was published in Legal References Services Quarterly. The article discusses the history of the initiative and referendum processes in Maine, and provides a detailed bibliography of research materials on the Maine initiative and referendum processes.