Law School Briefs – 4/27/11

Law School Briefs is Indiana Lawyer’s section highlighting news from law schools in Indiana. While IL has always covered law school news and continues to keep up with law school websites and press releases for updates, we gladly accept submissions for this section from law students, professors, alumni, and others who want to share law school-related news. If you’d like to submit news or a photo from an event, please send it to Jenny Montgomery at [email protected], along with contact information for any follow-up questions at least two weeks in advance of the issue date.

IU Maurer inducts fellows

Five Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni were inducted April 1 into the school’s Academy of Law Alumni Fellows. Induction into the academy is the highest honor the law school bestows on its graduates.

According to the law school, the academy consists of an elite group that includes U.S. senators, federal judges, successful business leaders, and distinguished practitioners. The 2011 inductees include a former U.S. attorney, a civic leader and entrepreneur, an accomplished corporate lawyer, an NFL labor lawyer, and a distinguished legal scholar.

“Our newest additions to the Academy of Law Alumni Fellows have achieved success in a number of professions,” said Lauren Robel, dean and Val Nolan Professor of Law. “The inductees also have gone above and beyond to use their talents to make the world a better place. We are honored to call them alumni of our school.”

The 2011 Academy of Law Alumni Fellows are:
 

Applegate

K. Edwin Applegate is a World War II veteran who opened his first law firm in Bloomington in 1949. He was U.S. commissioner, Southern District of Indiana, from 1951 to 1958; deputy prosecutor for Monroe County and municipal judge for Bloomington from 1958 to 1965; and in 1965, as a representative in the Indiana General Assembly, he was primary author of the bill that established Ivy Tech Community College. In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, a position he held until 1970.

Ferguson

Stephen L. Ferguson was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1966, serving four terms while establishing a law practice in Bloomington. He played a key role in the growth of Cook Medical, an internationally known leader in the medical devices industry. In addition to serving as attorney for the company, he has been chairman and chief operating officer of its parent, Cook Group Inc., and has been responsible for renovation and operation of the historic French Lick Resort. Ferguson has been elected or appointed to the boards of directors of many organizations, including serving 12 years on the IU board of trustees, four of them as president, and has been named a Sagamore of the Wabash by three Indiana governors.

Irwin

R. Neil Irwin has been respected counsel to diverse corporate clients and a recognized leader in the Phoenix community. Raised on an Indiana farm, he served in the U.S. Army before attending law school, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and served on the Indiana Law Journal. The senior partner in the Phoenix office of the international law firm Bryan Cave, Irwin has been instrumental in establishing public company relationships in diverse industries, including vehicle rentals, healthcare insurance, renewable energy, and retail sales. He also has been involved in key business and civic organizations that have brought employment, educational and cultural venues, and improved civic infrastructure to the Phoenix region. He is a member of the Maurer School of Law’s board of visitors.

Prevot

Rapheal M. Prevot Jr. served as labor relations counsel for the National Football League in New York for more than 15 years. Previously, he was assistant attorney in the Dade County, Fla., state attorney’s office and a litigation attorney at Adorno & Zeder, a Florida law firm. Prevot was a dedicated member of the National Bar Association and was inducted into the Entertainment, Sports and Art Law section of its hall of fame. Despite living on the East Coast, Prevot was an active member of the Maurer school’s alumni board beginning in 1993 and on the board of visitors since 1997, where he was elected the youngest president in board history. With his untimely death in 2008 at 49, the legal community lost a dedicated and talented professional.

West

Martha S. West, a distinguished legal scholar and professor, is a tireless advocate for women in many walks of life. As a student at the IU Maurer School of Law, she organized the Women’s Caucus and developed a course on women and law. After graduating, West clerked for Judge Jesse Eschbach and then joined Ice Miller in Indianapolis, practicing labor and employment law for three years. From 1979 to 1982 she represented Indiana Chrysler workers at UAW Legal Services. West joined the University of California Davis Law School faculty in 1982, where she taught labor law, employment discrimination, and sex-based discrimination for 25 years. In 1998 she founded the Family Protection Clinic to provide family law representation for battered women and their children. After retiring, West served as general counsel for the American Association of University Professors from 2008 to 2010. She continues to lecture widely on issues relevant to women in education and work-life balance.

IU-Indy prof named Loyola law dean

Indiana University School of Law–Indianapolis announced on April 15 that Professor María Pabón López, has accepted a position as dean of Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans.

A native of Puerto Rico and an expert on immigration law, Professor López will assume her new duties as dean this summer.

Dean Gary Roberts said, “Loyola has a strong focus on Latin America and on social justice, two areas that fit perfectly with her interests and background. So I am excited and very happy for her, although as the dean of this law school I am distraught over losing her. I know all of us here feel the same way. She will be missed terribly and she will always be welcome back here at IU-Indianapolis.”

López joined Indiana University in the fall of 2002 as assistant professor. She was promoted to associate professor in 2006 and has been professor of law since 2008.

A prolific writer, she received many awards during her tenure in Indianapolis, including the 2008 Diversity Attorney in Practice Award from the Indiana Lawyer and the 2007 Rabb Emison Diversity Award from the Indiana State Bar Association. López received the 2006 Trustees Teaching Award from Indiana University.

Notre Dame director search

The Notre Dame Law School invites applications for the position of director of its new Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic. The position will begin for the 2011-2012 academic year.

When it is fully implemented, the clinic will provide students opportunities to work as lawyers to meet the intellectual property and entrepreneurship-related needs of the clinic’s clients. The clinic will have a transactional focus and particularly will assist clients with, among other matters, entity formation, licensing and/or freedom to operate agreements, trademark counseling and prosecution, and patent preparation and prosecution. Specific client matters will be determined by the clinic director, although decisions about the overall direction of the clinic’s work will be made in consultation with the dean and other law school faculty members.

More information about the position is available on the school’s website: http://law.nd.edu/.•

– IL Staff