Law School Briefs – 5/8/13

Law School Briefs highlights news from law schools in Indiana. While Indiana Lawyer 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 email it to Marilyn Odendahl at [email protected], along with contact information for any follow-up questions at least two weeks prior to the issue date.

IU Maurer inducts 4 alumni into school’s law academy

The Indiana University Maurer School of Law has inducted four graduates into the school’s Academy of Law Alumni Fellows. Induction into the academy is the highest honor the law school can bestow on its graduates.

The new fellows are:

• Stephen F. Burns, ’68. He left his father’s law firm to take the helm of Wheaton Van Lines, which he built from a small van line into the fourth-largest moving and storage company in the U.S.

• Robert P. Duvin, ’61. He has built a successful career as a labor and employment lawyer. He was part of the formation of Duvin Cahn & Hutton, which grew from a small firm to a 50-lawyer operation doing work for many of the 100 largest companies in the country. In 2007, the firm became part of Littler Mendelson.

• Colleen Kristl Pauwels, ’86. She spent most of her career at the Law Library of the Maurer School of Law. She transformed the library from a facility that struggled to meet the basic needs of faculty and students into one of the nation’s leading legal research libraries.

• Glenn Scolnik, ’78. He began his legal career at what is now Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP then moved to Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co., Inc. He worked his way up through the organization, eventually serving as CEO for 11 years.

Prestigious teaching awards given to IU Maurer faculty

The Indiana University Maurer School of Law honored three faculty members and one adjunct professor for their work in the classroom.

David P. Fidler, professor of law, and Deborah Widiss, associate professor of law, both received the Trustees’ Teaching Award. Mark D. Janis, director of the Center for Intellectual Property Research, was presented with the Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award.

Joseph D. O’Connor, adjunct professor of law, received the Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award.

IU McKinney student group joins President’s Council

A new registered student organization at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law has joined the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

The Professional Responsibility Association is a certifying organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Award given each year by the council. The award honors Americans who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to volunteering.

The student association is responsible for verifying service hours, nominating potential recipients and presenting the recognition.

“Our organization will promote professional responsibility values and create networking opportunities for students in the community,” association president and McKinney student Justin Wiser said in a press release. “Being able to offer students the opportunity to participate in the Volunteer Service Award program is just another great benefit to joining our organization.”

IU McKinney group recognized for landlord-tenant efforts

Three students and one alumna of the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law have received special recognition for their work on landlord-tenant issues. The four were recognized at the 2013 Robert G. Bringle Civic Engagement Showcase and Symposium in April on the IUPUI campus.

Aida Ramirez, ’12, along with students Alison Becker, Bethany Nine-Lawson and Kim Opsahl met with judges responsible for landlord-tenant proceedings in the nine township courts in Marion County. They addressed issues such as access to court and proceedings for people with disabilities as well as non-English speakers, and the application of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act.

In addition, the students served on an advisory committee on landlord-tenant proceedings that was established by Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg.

IU Maurer professor to lead national security initiative

A professor from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law will lead a $2 million cybersecurity initiative.

Fred Cate, professor of law and director of the Center of Applied Cybersecurity Research at I.U., will serve as interim director of the initiative. His duties include fostering collaboration in higher education on cybersecurity efforts and providing leadership on strategic cybersecurity issues nationally and globally.

The new collaboration will focus on cybersecurity operations and research, complementing the longstanding efforts of EDUCAUSE and the Higher Education Information Security Council. It will devote particular attention to security aspects of high performance computing and networking, notably software-defined networks and cloud services delivered over such networks.

IU McKinney honors alumni for outstanding achievements

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law honored five alumni during a special reception.

In recognizing its five outstanding graduates, the school presented specific awards to mark their achievements.

Mark Roesler, ’82, received the Distinguished Alumni Award. Andrea Ciobanu, ’10, along with Kenan Farrell, Janet Gongola and Kirby Lee, all 2003 graduates, were the recipients of Early Career Achievement Awards.•