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L AW S C H O O L I N A T I M E O F PA N D E M I C

Agata Nowicka C O V E R I L L U S T R AT I O N

Dean’s Message

Features

Of Good Report

THE DOCKET

The Docket

Simone Aldredge

From the Field

Alumni and Friends

In Practice

D. Gordon Smith, Lynnett Rands, Amberly Page,

Beatryx Washington

04 F E AT U R E

A Year of Commemoration

publisher

executive editor editor

Lena Harper Primosch,

ass o c i at e e d i to r

David Eliason,

art director

Bradley Slade,

photographer

F E AT U R E

Law School in a Time of Pandemic

inquiries to dbcoord@law.byu.edu.

FROM THE FIELD

Big Picture Policies

Katie Rane

To read a digital version, please visit issuu.com/ byulawpubs.

The Young Mom Mariah Critchfield

BRADLEY SLADE

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D E A N'S

M E S S A G E

JOHN SNYDER

Leadership in the Pandemic, Racial Upheaval, and Barpocalypse

egal education will never look the same as it did before March 2020. Law schools and law students have faced unprecedented challenges since the World Health Organization declared covid-19 a pandemic on March 11. In confronting these challenges, we are striving to anchor our leadership in the belief that every person is of value and worthy of respect. I offer three examples to illustrate our commitment to this principle. On March 14, as part of our efforts to maintain continuity and minimize disruption, we announced that there would be no change to the traditional grading system for the winter semester. As we learned more about the stark realities and staggering challenges of home-bound study for many of our students, however, it became clear that we needed to reconsider our initial decision. We formed a faculty committee that reviewed decisions made by other law schools, analyzed how student grades have historically changed, consulted comments from multiple student surveys related to grading and student well-being, and contacted potential employers about how changes to grading might affect the employment prospects of our students. The committee made a unanimous recommendation—later adopted by the faculty—that the Law School adopt mandatory pass/fail grading for all courses for the semester. In a memorandum explaining this decision to the students, we wrote: We are convinced that any alternative to mandatory pass/fail grading will have negative consequences for our most vulnerable students. . . . We fear that those whose standings decline are likely to be those hardest hit by covid-19. In this time of crisis—a crisis that is sure to expand and evolve in ways that we cannot now predict—that is an outcome we are unwilling to accept. This focus on the most vulnerable in our society also motivated our advocacy for diploma privilege. In late March 2020 we sent a memorandum to the Utah Supreme Court observing that “the global covid-19 crisis has profoundly affected human society at every level” and urging the court “to respond . . . by equipping the legal community in Utah with the resources needed to confront this access-to-justice crisis.” Our proposal was to adopt diploma privilege, which would allow bar applicants who had graduated from certain aba-accredited law schools to be admitted to the Utah State Bar without taking the bar examination.1 The court granted the diploma privilege on April 21. Bar applicants in most other states still face the risks of contracting covid-19 during in-person exam administration and of dealing with malfunctioning technology during online administration, the effects of delayed administration on employment, and the stress and anxiety caused by uncertainty. The accumulating problems have given rise to a new Twitter hashtag: #barpocalypse. The challenges of preparing for the bar examination have been exacerbated by racial unrest. As we strive to “mourn with those that mourn . . . and comfort those that stand in need of comfort” (Mosiah 18:9), we are also seeking to ensure that byu Law School will be a place where racism is never ignored but directly, consistently, and explicitly opposed. We will invest in change until we have a law school that respects and values people of all races and ethnicities and makes a deliberate effort to ensure that these differences are not just tolerated but actively welcomed. I look forward to reporting in a future edition of The byu Advocate on steps we have taken to advance racial equity and belonging within our community. The United States is a pluralistic society in which differences among citizens produce inconsonant views. Attempts to achieve consensus are often contaminated by divisive rhetoric and the magnetic pull of tribalism. The resulting polarization of society undermines our ability to advance or, even worse, produces violent fragmentation. One of the roles of lawyers is to facilitate compromises among those who do not share a common vision for our society and to embed those compromises in laws and institutions. I hope that members of the byu Law community will embrace a desire for unity and act in accord with that desire. I believe this will happen only when we truly internalize the notion that every person is of value and worthy of respect. n o t e

d. g o r d o n s m i t h

1 More information on the court’s order and the criteria for diploma privilege is available at tinyurl.com/y4frmq3f.

Dean, byu Law School

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EAR OF A Y

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OM ON MEMORATI

byu Law has much to celebrate: the year 2020 marks big anniversaries for women’s suffrage, the American Inns of Court, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, and internship programs in Seoul and London. 100 YEARS OF THE NINETEENTH AMENDMENT

GAINING THE VOTE T

he year 2020 marks the centennial of the rati-

fication of the Nineteenth Amendment to the

Constitution, which provides that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged . . . on account of sex.” byu Law was honored to host the American Bar Association’s traveling exhibit marking that momentous occasion during this centennial year. The display, entitled 100 Years After the 19th

Amendment: Their Legacy, and Our Future, consists of six panels describing the events leading up to ratification as well as later efforts to meaningfully enfranchise all Americans. Some of the events and ideas highlighted in the exhibit are discussed here.

— I A N T H A H A I G H T,

’05, ELECTRONIC RESOURCES AND RESEARCH LIBRARIAN, HOWARD W. HUNTER LAW LIBRARY

ILLUSTRATION BY

SONIA PULIDO

T H E S E N E C A FA L L S C O N V E N T I O N

The Seneca Falls Convention, held in Upstate New York in July 1848, formally launched the women’s suffrage movement. Attendees discussed various resolutions for inclusion in the Declaration of Sentiments. The resolution regarding women’s right to vote was the only one to meet with controversy and debate, but it passed after some attendees, including Frederick Douglass, the single African American in attendance, spoke on its behalf. THE FIRST WOMAN TO VOTE

The Civil War slowed the movement, and reconstruction efforts to extend civil rights to African Americans created difficult political choices. Suffragists split between those who insisted on gaining the vote simultaneously with African American men in the Fifteenth Amendment and those who believed that women’s suffrage needed to be achieved separately. Many suffragists focused their efforts on state and territorial legislatures. The earliest victories occurred in Wyoming and Utah. On February 14, 1870, Seraph Young of Utah became the first woman to vote in a modern US election.1

Suffragists on the picket line, 1917. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

By the time the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, many early suffragists, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, had died. Alice Paul, a leader of the new generation of suffragists, shifted her efforts post-ratification to women’s labor rights. She drafted the text of the Equal Rights Amendment (era) in 1922 while she was a law student at American University. The era was introduced to Congress in 1923, but like the Nineteenth Amendment, decades lapsed before Congress finally passed it in 1972. Thirty-five states quickly ratified the era, but the deadline expired in 1982, with the amendment three states short of ratification. In recent years, however, Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia have ratified the era, setting up an interesting discussion as to its legal standing. Lucy Burns, 1917. Of the well-known suffragists of the era, Burns spent the most time in jail. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT

Although some women gained the vote in 1920, many groups, including Native Americans and Chinese Americans, remained disenfranchised until much later. African American men and women had the legal right to vote but were often systematically kept from the polls. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to remedy that injustice. CONTINUING THE DISCUSSION

Discussions on voting rights are ongoing today. Recent debates have centered on the topics of voter identification laws, the rights of the formerly incarcerated, and now, voting during a pandemic. This centennial serves as an important reminder to cherish our voting rights and recognize that continued work is needed to ensure that everyone can exercise their rights at the polls. note 1 Some American colonies had permitted women to vote. However, those rights were gradually withdrawn until, in 1807, New Jersey became the last state to terminate voting rights for women.

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President Calvin Coolidge and Osage Indians at the White House, 1925. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

EAR OF A Y

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OM ON MEMORATI

40 YEARS

O F T H E A M E R I CA N I N N S O F CO U RT LAUNCHING A LEGACY IN PROVO

hile most lawyers have likely heard of the American Inns of Court, very few may know of byu Law’s pivotal role in its founding.1 On February 12, 2020, the byu Law community gathered to celebrate that history by commemorating the 40th anniversary of the ﬁrst inn meeting, held at the Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah. In the 40 years since that first meeting, the American Inns of Court has grown to become a nationally recognized association boasting nearly 400 inns across the country, with a stated mission to “inspire the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring.”2 Thousands of lawyers, judges, and students participate in the American Inns of Court, becoming acquainted with one another, learning from each other, and teaching the next generation of practitioners. To help pass on the legacy of the inns’ founding, the 40th anniversary event included two important eyewitnesses to the birth of the American Inns of Court: the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Dr. Mark W. Cannon, former counselor to Chief Justice Warren Burger of the United States Supreme Court. Judge Wallace recounted how he and other judges, including Chief Justice Burger, were concerned about the lack of professionalism and trial advocacy skills of lawyers in the United States in the mid-1970s. On a trip to London with the Chief Justice in 1977, Judge Wallace suggested creating an American organization patterned after the British Inns of Court, where new barristers gained

by shawn never s, ’05, Deputy Director, Howard W. Hunter Law Library knowledge from experienced “benchers” in an interactive, practical setting. Interested in the idea, the Chief Justice asked Judge Wallace to explore it further, which he spent the next several years doing. Two years earlier, Dr. Cannon had accompanied the Chief Justice to the dedication of the byu Law School in 1975. At the 40th anniversary event, Dr. Cannon recounted how impressed the Chief Justice was with the new law school, its founding dean, Rex Lee, and byu president Dallin H. Oaks. These favorable impressions were certainly on the Chief Justice’s mind when he began to think of a possible place to begin a pilot program for the American Inns of Court. In the summer of 1979, Dr. Cannon was traveling with the Chief Justice when they stayed at O. C. Tanner’s cabin on the upper Provo River. On August 1, 1979, the Chief Justice asked Dr. Cannon to invite Dallin Oaks and Rex Lee to join him at the cabin to explore the idea of the American Inns of Court. Convinced that President Oaks and Dean Lee would do the job well, the Chief Justice asked them to organize a pilot program that would make the vision a reality. Dean Lee got to work and asked Judge A. Sherman Christensen, senior judge of the US District Court of Utah, to head up the pilot program. Judge Christensen worked closely with a number of byu Law students to successfully flesh out the program, and on February 12, 1980, byu Law students and faculty, local attorneys, and judges gathered at the Riverside Country Club for the first meeting of the first American Inn of Court. Judge Wallace, who was the night’s keynote speaker, reported to Chief Justice Burger

that, “in spite of bad weather and conflicting sporting events, one hundred percent attended. This astounded law school dean Rex Lee, but it indicates the great interest in the program.”3 This great interest in the American Inns of Court idea was not limited to Provo. After the first inn’s successful launch, other attorneys, judges, and students took note, and more inns began springing up across the country. Remarking on the rapid growth in the number of inns, President Oaks stated that this was “an idea whose time had come.”4 In his remarks at the 40th anniversary celebration, Judge Wallace echoed this thought and noted that the movement had been so successful that even foreign countries have begun to adopt the American Inns of Court model. The American Inns of Court has had a wonderful history and continues to have a bright future. It is an honor to know that byu Law played a significant role in helping it become what it is today. notes 1 The historical details of the inns’ founding summarized here come from Paul E. Pixton, The American Inns of Court: Reclaiming a Noble Profession (1997) and J. Clifford Wallace, Birth of the American Inns of Court, 25 Berkeley J. Int’l L. 109 (2007), as well as from the author’s conversations with Judge J. Clifford Wallace and Dr. Mark W. Cannon. 2 American Inns of Court, Our Vision, Mission, and Goals, home.innsofcourt.org/aic/About_Us/Our_Vision _and_Mission/aic/aic_About_Us/Vision_Mission _and_Goals.aspx. 3

Pixton, supra note 1, at 80.

Id. at 79.

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worldwide consortia of scholars, government leaders, and religious leaders engaged in law and religion. “The Center has been extraordinarily successful in helping people who share our interests in religious freedom have an avenue to advance those topics in their own countries. In short, all they really need is a forum,” says associate director Gary Doxey. “When we can get . . . people to take the lead in law reform in their own countries, that’s when you really make a difference.” Scholarship has also grown over the years. The Center is responsible for several first20 YEARS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR of-its-kind publications on law and religion. LAW AND RELIGION STUDIES One such publication is known fondly as “the casebook.” Titled Law and Religion: National, International, and Comparative Perspectives, it represents both US and international law by blythe shupe, perspectives and incorporates comparative Communications Specialist, International Center constitutional law. It has been translated or is for Law and Religion Studies, byu Law in the process of being translated into 12 languages and is used in multiweek certificate n the 1980s and ’90s, the field of law and religion was relatively small and primarily focused on the United States. But W. Cole Durham Jr.—a Harvard Law graduate, a byu Law professor, training programs on religion and the rule of law sponsored by leading academic and legal and the recently elected secretary of the American Association of Comparative Law—was in the right place at the right time. In the months prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Dur- bodies in China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Oxford, UK. ham recognized the magnitude of the changes that such an event would entail. He arranged visits to various capitals in Central and Eastern Europe, and he was in Berlin as the wall fell. These efforts only scratch the surface of 20-plus years of “field-making.” The Durham soon found himself consulting on law reform and constitution making throughout Center is involved in 30 to 50 other events Eastern Europe, organizing comparative law conferences, and weaving together a network each year as a participant, cosponsor, or of experts with the purpose of sharing ideas, collaborating, and contributing to publications. Recognizing the need to establish an institutional base to give greater support to his work, co-organizer. Staff members contribute to law reform projects around the world. And Durham launched the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (the Center) within in December 2018, the Center was a key the byu Law School on January 1, 2000. The Center proclaims the mission “to help secure player in the Punta del Este Declaration on the blessings of freedom of religion and belief for all people.” Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere The Center started with only two people: Durham as director and Elizabeth Clark as (see dignityforeveryone.org). There is still associate director. Now retired from teaching, Durham serves as founding director, with much to be done as the field of law and relibyu Law professor Brett G. Scharffs as director. The Center relies on five associate directors gion changes and the world evolves, and the to lead the work in various regions of the world with the support of volunteer senior fellows Center remains committed to its mission and additional staff members. While the Center itself maintains a small footprint, its reach “to help secure the blessings of freedom of continues to expand as it develops the field of law and religion. religion and belief for all people.” “The kind of impact you can have worldwide when you really are committed to the field . . . is just phenomenal,” says Clark. “Religious freedom is too big a topic for us to do it all. . . . “What does it mean to be human?” asks Clark. “It means caring about the deepest We can lift people from different faith traditions and different countries interested in this things that people care about in their lives, field and give them opportunities.” The Center’s signature event is the Annual International Law and Religion Symposium. about their relationship to God or to the universe or to meaning. These all intersect when Entering its 28th year, the conference has grown from a small event put together “with Scotch you look at questions of law and religion. They tape and bobby pins,” according to Durham, to the premier event of its kind. To date, some are never going to be completely resolved 1,400 people from 125 countries have participated in the symposium, including world religious because they are at the core of culture leaders; leading officials dealing with religious freedom from the UN, the EU, and the US; and history and identity. And that’s and academic, government, media, and civil society leaders from across the globe. EAR OF A Y what makes them fascinating Additionally, the Center co-organizes law and religion conferences annuand why it’s so important to do ally in eight regions of the world. By replicating the symposium’s structure for ANNIVERSARIES our best work.” these conferences, the Center has broadened its reach and helped to develop

FIELD-MAKING IN LAW AND RELIGION

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20 YEARS OF STUDENT INTERNSHIP S WITH KIM & CHANG

REAPING WHAT WAS SOWN by rachel edward s

are one of Kim & Chang’s oldest clients,” Lockhart is referring to a he says. Jones has also maintained ties relationship cultivated decades with byu Law, and for the last 20 years, earlier by byu Law alumnus and Kim & Chang partner Jeffrey D. he has been instrumental in helping students secure clerkships and employment Jones, ’78. After his first year of at Kim & Chang. law school, Jones had no doubts “We have enjoyed the relationship about what his next steps would with byu Law over the years,” Jones says. be. “Very early on I decided that I wanted to practice international Kim & Chang accepts at least one law stutransactional law,” Jones says. “In dent each summer from byu Law and three those days there were only two US other nationally ranked US law schools. law firms doing international work. “Kim & Chang’s clients are global leaders One, Baker McKenzie, came to in their fields. We offer interns the opporbyu Law for a recruiting visit, and tunity to experience the provision of legal I became an intern in their Tokyo services to the world’s most sophisticated office after my 2L year.” and highly experienced companies who do n the Station District of Seoul, South Korea, Baker McKenzie later hired Jones to business in Korea.” an unused highway overpass has been build a Korean practice in their Chicago Lockhart describes his internship with transformed into a pedestrian-friendly pub- office. While in Seoul on business, Jones Kim & Chang as one of the best experiences lic garden. The garden—known as Seoullo of his life. “Their clerkship program is very met the founder of Kim & Chang, Young 7017––is home to 50 families of plants, with Moo Kim, who recruited him to work for the well done. I had two different mentors and more than 24,000 individual trees, shrubs, fledgling firm in 1980. Kim & Chang had 6 was placed in a department within the firm and flowers planted along the kilometer-long lawyers; Baker McKenzie had 1,200. “It was that matched my skills and interests. I was footpath according to the Korean alphabet. It a radical thing for me to do at the time—to able to attend meetings with major clients opened to the public in May 2017. leave the largest law firm in the world and and was exposed to things that a 1L would That same summer, byu Law student go to work for an unknown entity in Korea,” not normally see,” he says. Lockhart was Steven Lockhart, ’19, arrived in Seoul for a says Jones. Jones took a two-year leave of elected as social chair of his intern cohort clerkship with Kim & Chang, the largest and absence from Baker McKenzie to gain legal in Korea and built further connections by most prominent law firm in Korea. Lockhart organizing social and networking events. experience in Korea. Two years turned into was following a 20-year pattern of byu Law five, and ultimately Jones made the move Jeffrey Jones and Steven Lockhart share students who have interned and, in some to Kim & Chang, putting down permanent an appreciation for the distinctive experience of working at Kim & Chang and living in cases, gone on to work for Kim & Chang. roots in Korea. “For me, it was a dream,” Lockhart says. “My “My career path was destined to be South Korea. “Seoul has become a dynamic mother is Korean, and I served a mission for linked with Seoul from the beginning,” and action-packed capital city of more than The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 10 million smart and hard-working people,” Jones says. Like Lockhart, Jones served Saints in Busan, Korea. All of my Korean a mission for the Church in South Korea. Jones says. And it’s a beautiful place to live. relatives live in Korea, and I really wanted to Lockhart adds: “I loved Korea, and I He majored in Asian studies at byu and work there. byu Law gave me the chance to received his JD from byu Law. One of his loved working there. I wouldn’t have had that go, to be successful in that way. I was drink- motivations in returning to Korea was to opportunity without the help of Jeff Jones and ing from wells I didn’t dig and eating from help with the Church’s legal issues there. byu Law. My success is based on being able trees I didn’t plant” (see Deuteronomy 6:11). “I still do legal work for the Church. They to stand on the shoulders of others.”

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stablished in 1840, Devonshires Solicitors llp is a highly regarded Londonbased firm that specializes in social housing finance and clinical negligence claims. It has a long-standing reputation for providing forward-thinking legal services to some of the world’s largest international companies. The firm also has a reputation for excellence among byu Law students, who for the past 20 years have participated in Devonshires’ internship program, putting legal theory into practice in an international environment. With offices in London, Leeds, and Colchester, England, Devonshires’ work extends throughout the UK and beyond. The firm attributes its success to the quality of its people––individuals such as solicitor and partner Nick Grant. Grant joined Devonshires in 2003 and now oversees the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. In addition to leading a growing team of solicitors who handle clinical negligence and personal injury claims, Grant advises The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on ecclesiastical legal matters and supervises byu Law students who participate in Devonshires’ internship program. “byu Law students are very much a fit for Devonshires,” he says. “They are always keen, enthusiastic, and have had excellent training before they come to us.” Grant says that solid preparation and a willingness to embrace British culture are what make byu Law students stand out. “I like to have students join us who haven’t been to the UK before so that it’s truly a new experience for them,” he says. “We try to give our interns as much experience as we can so they can see the different slant of how the legal system works in the UK.” That is what made the Devonshires internship program a perfect fit for McKinney Voss, a 3L from Frederick, Maryland. Voss completed her undergraduate degree 10

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20 YEARS OF STUDENT INTERNSHIPS WITH DEVONSHIRES

SOMETHING OLD AND SOMETHING BLUE

by rachel edward s

Voss poses in front of the London office of Devonshires.

in American Studies, which she says helped her “to see the different narratives that comprise the story of the American continent.” She later interned at the Federal Justice Center in Washington, DC, which also exposed her to the law in a new way. “I began to see the value in having a law degree––it seemed like a practical way to help people,” she says. Voss wasn’t sure which area of law she would eventually practice in, but she knew she was interested in international law. Prior to attending byu Law, Voss served a mission for the Church in Belgium and the Netherlands. “That was a very impactful experience for me. I had traveled before but never lived abroad. During my mission, I learned a new language and became well acquainted with those countries. That’s what piqued my interest in the Devonshires internship,” she says. “I wanted the opportunity to learn about the law from a different perspective.” Opposite: Voss stands in front of the Royal Courts of Justice during the week she spent shadowing barristers. Right: Voss sports her byu Law hat while exploring the White Cliffs of Dover. Below: On a tour of the Inns of Court in Central London, Voss tries on ceremonial barrister attire.

Voss says working for Devonshires gave her that opportunity. For two months she shadowed the team in Grant’s department doing clinical negligence work––similar to medical malpractice in the United States–– and was pleased when she was put to work the first day. “I was asked to do substantive work right away,” she says. “I drafted communication for clients, medical experts, and barristers. I also helped prepare case reports and updates. I became more aware of my time as I learned to juggle multiple projects and balance requests from different solicitors.” A highlight for Voss was when Devonshires arranged for her to spend a week in a barrister’s chambers. In the UK, solicitors consult with clients, prepare legal documents, and, in limited circumstances, represent clients in court. Barristers primarily advocate for clients in the courtroom and provide specialized legal advice. “Solicitors and barristers take different paths in law school. It’s interesting that the British system allows law students to specialize, based on their interests,” Voss says. From its founding, byu Law has sought to provide opportunities for students to go “beyond the boundaries of the classroom with the goal to produce leaders within communities and throughout the world.”1 With a distinguished 175-year history, Devonshires has the background and tradition of excellence to attract high-caliber legal interns who want to work with the best and be the best. For Voss, the 20-year relationship between byu Law and Devonshires is a winning combination. “One of the things that made my experience at Devonshires meaningful is that I wasn’t working for an American firm overseas but a London-based firm; I was getting an understanding of the law from the English perspective,” she says. note 1

“About BYU Law,” law.byu.edu/about-byu-law.

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ILLUSTRATIONS BY AGATA NOWICKA

When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the world was sent into a tailspin. But BYU Law administrators, faculty, staff, and students stepped up and, with ingenuity, compassion, and perseverance, saved the semester from falling prey to the crisis. Here are six of their stories.

Moving the Law School Online b y d av i d a r m o n d byu Law Head of Infrastructure and Technology and Senior Law Librarian Twelve days before the World Health Organization declared covid-19 a pandemic, the aba sent a memo to law schools regarding “Guidance on Standards Likely to Be of Concern in a Disaster or Emergency.” Three days later, members of the Law School Dean’s Council started formulating plans to deal with a university closure. Nine days later, on March 12, 2020, byu and byu Law suspended classes, encouraged students to leave campus, and announced that almost all classes would be taught online. The speed and success of this unprecedented transition was possible largely due to the pioneering work of byu Law professor Larry Farmer (retired). In 2013 Professor Farmer identified Zoom as a cost-effective solution that met the pedagogical needs of his interviewing and counseling classes. Two years later, byu Law IT manager Gary Buckway recommended Zoom to byu’s Office of IT Services, which led to individual accounts being available for all byu students and faculty in 2015. When the university canceled on-campus classes in March, the technological infrastructure for online operations was already in place. But two major challenges remained. The first was how to train faculty on Zoom. Most faculty members had used the platform for meetings, but only a handful had actually taught entire classes using video conferencing. Vance Everett and his team of Law School Media Services students, Gary Buckway and the Law School help desk staff, Law School infrastructure students, and Law Library systems students worked together to support faculty who chose to teach from their assigned classroom—with both video conferencing and recording classes. From our longest-serving faculty member, Cliff Fleming, to our newest, Dane Thorley, the entire faculty demonstrated incredible commitment to teaching under less-than-ideal circumstances. They conducted classes, held office hours, and even met with individual students using Zoom. byu Law continued to function only because of the faculty’s willingness to teach in a new and different way and their commitment to serving and supporting each other. The second challenge was how to administer exams without online proctors. Once again, the community stepped up. byu Law associate dean Justin Collings led a working group that, with substantial contributions from Vance Everett and Lisa Powelson, developed a system that delivered multiple-choice and exam instructions and used Gmail to submit essay and short-answer exams. Law School events coordinator Candice Poole developed the Gmail autoresponse rules that helped students receive confirmation of submitted exams. Law School registrar GaeLynn Kucher Smith; her assistant, Julie Hamilton; fourth- and fifth-floor secretaries Anne Apuakehau and Janeen Christensen; and Dianne Davenport, the collection and student services librarian, all assisted as proctors, posting exams online, serving as frontline tech support, and solving any problems that arose during the exams. Nicol Legakis, who supervised the Law School’s administrative office (“the Fishbowl”) during the crisis, coordinated rescheduled exams, managed ada accommodations, and tracked the status of exams through completion. The process was hectic, impromptu, and exhausting, but thanks to solid infrastructure, very fortunate timing—byu’s cancellation occurred just late enough in the semester to avoid having to treat all classes as online courses—and the efforts, generosity, and commitment of the entire Law School community, the semester finished with few serious problems. The semester was a model of collaboration between faculty, staff, and students who came together in incredibly challenging circumstances and worked hard to fulfill the byu Law mission—“to teach [and learn] the laws of men in the light of the laws of God.”

Going Pass/Fail by justin collings byu Law Associate Dean for Research and Academic Affairs and Professor of Law In mid-March 2020, just as we were frantically scrambling to shift to online learning, Dean D. Gordon Smith asked me to chair an ad hoc committee on grading. Our charge was to explore whether we should modify our traditional grading rules in response to the covid-19 pandemic. Just a few days earlier, my initial response to the prospect of pass/fail grades had been incredulous and dismissive. Are you kidding?! I remember thinking. Of course not! But as the covid-19 crisis unfolded—in hours that felt like weeks and in days that felt like years—we gained a better sense of what the restrictions would mean for our students. And we learned firsthand what they would mean for us. We took a hard and unsettling look at how we might administer exams remotely with little time to prepare. Students continued to discuss the grading question, with thoughtful interventions on all sides. All of this led the dean to form our ad hoc committee. As I discussed matters with the committee, and as I read through countless student emails and survey responses, I continued to wrestle with the question in my own mind and heart. I wanted a solution that would offer the best of both worlds—relief to the students 14

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hardest hit by covid-19 but also a chance for students who had worked hard to improve their class ranking and harvest the fruits of their labors. At one point I thought I had concocted an ingenious solution. But a moving email from a colleague persuaded me that, under the circumstances, the best of all worlds did not exist. There was simply no way to allow some students to climb without requiring others to descend. And those going down would likely be those least able to absorb the shocks imposed by covid-19. Gradually, and a bit reluctantly, I concluded that we needed to move to pass/ fail grading. As I reached that conclusion, I remembered an answer to an earlier prayer— an answer I had initially misunderstood or ignored. Several days earlier, after praying for guidance about grading, a scripture had come into my mind: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). Looking back, I sensed that in this unprecedented situation, we needed to look beyond utilitarian considerations of costs and benefits and be guided instead by an overarching concern for “the least of these”—those affected the worst by the covid-19 crisis. I voted in favor of pass/fail, both on the committee and in the faculty meeting. So did most of my colleagues. I think that was the right conclusion, but I also felt—and feel—a deep appreciation for those students and colleagues who hoped and pushed for a different outcome. Indeed, the entire experience of moving to pass/fail grades deepened my gratitude for the blessing of working with the remarkable faculty, the inestimable staff, and the incomparable students of the byu Law School. The deanery’s letter explaining the grade changes to the Law School community concluded with these words: “Now is the time to show the world what we are made of. Now is the time to renew our commitment to our common cause—to learn the laws of men by the light of the laws of God and to care for every member of our community with Christlike compassion and concern.” As we continue to cope with the covid-19 crisis and its fallout, we remain fiercely committed to that singular cause.

The Day Dawn Is Breaking b y c h e r y ya n g , 3 l

I hear the rumbling of the train. Great. I open my eyes and lie in darkness as the city begins to stir. I hear the distant hum of motors swelling as the roads come alive. Desperate, I squeeze my eyes shut. For the second night in a row, the city wakes before I can sleep. I miss the days when I could fall asleep instantly. You know, the ones when you crash onto your bed after an eventful day? When you run from one law school classroom to another, flitting between activities, internships, jobs, meetings, appointments, filling whatever time you have in between preparing for class or hammering out an assignment? The ones when you get to see your friends and laugh at the carrels, commiserate in the hallways, or catch up over a meal? The ones when you eventually find yourself in bed again and reflect on where you have been and what you have done, and you are amazed that it all happened in one day? My watch buzzes on my wrist. It informs me that I have failed to reach my movement goal once again. I flip over and lie on my belly. The tempo of the trains rises steadily as dawn breaks. You would think that with social-distancing measures and stay-home orders, there would be less commute. Yet the trains continue to come and go. I am again reminded of the weird dissonance between how much has changed and how much has . . . not. Despite all that is happening, there are still classes to sit for, finals to take, and jobs to find, albeit in a form different from what we expected a few short months ago. I still receive assignments from my internship in Utah, even though I complete them from an apartment in Singapore—a salient reminder that there are still people in need of legal expertise, perhaps more so now than ever. I feel the uncomfortable heat of my body on the bed. I flip onto my side. I open my eyes. Darkness has broken; I see my shadow start to form on the white wall. Despite all that is happening, the sun rises as surely as it sets. I sigh. Sleep seems futile. I weigh my options. I could stay in bed, wallow through frustration, and continue to fight insomnia—whether or not sleep comes is uncertain. Or I could get up and start my day. I choose the latter. t h e

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When Your Stiff Upper Lip Fails b y l au r e n h e p e r i , ’2 0 “They wouldn’t actually cancel graduation.” I was in the Fritz B. Burns Memorial Lounge with two of my classmates, discussing the rumors flying around the school—the ones insisting that now that on-campus classes were canceled, graduation would be too. “I really hope not,” Heidi said. “But then again, I didn’t expect them to cancel classes.” It had been a shock to us all. There had been murmurs about the possibility of canceling classes, but those murmurs hadn’t seemed substantial. And yet there we were, dismissed from campus weeks early with the possibility of a canceled commencement hanging over our heads. “They wouldn’t actually cancel graduation,” I repeated, more to assure myself than anything else. “You’ll see.” And so we did. Graduation was canceled. My three-year career at byu Law ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Classes moved online; classmates disappeared without saying goodbye. Instead of spending the last few weeks working up the emotional energy to say goodbye to a huge portion of my life, everything just fizzled out. I have the covid-19 virus to thank for the cancelations and closures and life interruptions. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the virus as a pandemic. Almost overnight, the trappings of modern life seemed to go silent—deserted shopping malls and sports arenas, closed signs on restaurants. My life aesthetic changed from a grinning Reese Witherspoon’s graduation speech in Legally Blonde to a postapocalyptic World War Z— without Brad Pitt. Don’t be selfish, I told myself. People are dying. Canceled graduation plans are the least of the world’s problems right now. And then my graduation robes arrived in the mail. It was the final blow to my stiff upper lip. I locked myself in my bedroom and cried. Later, I called Mallorie using FaceTime. Mal was a 3L when I was a 1L; over the years she became a mix of mentor and best friend. I poured my heart out to her, told her how devastated I was about graduation being canceled, how guilty I felt for worrying about such a small thing when the world was reeling. Mal’s response was the mix of real-talk and compassion that I’ve come to rely on. She looked at me with serious eyes and said, “Lauren, let yourself mourn. It might not be a big issue to the whole world, but it’s big for yours. Once you’ve cried it out, let yourself celebrate. Because you did it, kid. You did a hard thing—a really hard thing—and you came through. You got the degree. No one can take that away from you.” As the effects of the pandemic continue to unfold, I’ve taken those words to heart. I don’t know what the future holds for me, what disappointments and successes, trials and triumphs await. I am learning that there’s a time to grieve and a time to celebrate, and sometimes they overlap. And yet, no matter what, we keep moving forward. 16

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A Lesson in Resilience by nicol legakis IT Help Desk Supervisor and Administrative Assistant I watch the world from “the Fishbowl,” the administrative heart of the Law School. The nickname is carried over from the Law School’s first home, where the administrative offices were walled in glass. Anyone working there was on display for all the world to see. The thing about a fishbowl is that the looking glass goes both ways. Passersby can see in, but I can see out. And this spring, I saw plenty. We were told that the covid-19 pandemic would be much worse than sars or mers, but I didn’t know exactly what that meant. Things escalated quickly, and by the second week of March, the Law School had some difficult decisions to make and very little data to go on. We chose caution and began canceling events: first to go was the much-anticipated

Barristers’ Ball, then classes, conferences, and graduation. We suddenly faced the enormous challenge of putting an entire law school online, and many staff members transitioned to working remotely. So our small band of IT and media services personnel stepped up and worked their magic. With the support of adaptive faculty and resilient students, we got the Law School ready for remote classes in a matter of days. With that done, I paused to take a breath, and a new problem arose—how were we going to administer final exams remotely? It would take entirely new protocols and untried programs. We needed to ensure quality control and maintain social distancing. Professors would have to change their finals only weeks before the exam period began, and students would have to be flexible while juggling the weight of finals and the stress of the unknown. We needed to train ourselves and the proctors to upload the exams and provide test support to the students. Much of the work would have to be done from home. It was a truly Herculean task. Almost unbelievably, we did it. The challenges of covid-19 have felt like a hundred-headed hydra, with new issues rising up in the place of every problem solved. But in the Fishbowl, I have seen miraculous things. I have watched coworkers sacrifice for the good of the school while dealing with the death of loved ones, cancer treatments, health issues, anxiety, family struggles, and more. I have watched people who had every reason to “check out” choose instead to “step up.” I have seen flashes of inspiration provide solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems. And this was just in my little corner of the Law School. There were undoubtedly many acts of kindness and sacrifice that went unnoticed. My memories of the covid crisis will not be “sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows,”1 to be sure, but the main impression I have from that experience is faith in the human spirit. In the Fishbowl I have been witness to the truth of King Benjamin’s counsel: “[W]hen ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17). note 1 “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows” (1963), song by Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Liebling, sung by Lesley Gore.

A Historic Response to an Unprecedented Crisis by catherine bramble byu Law Advocacy Faculty Member and Director of Academic Advisement and Development The clock on my computer read 3:02 a.m. I rubbed the blur from my eyes and stared back at a screen filled with single-spaced pages of text, trying to recall the last time I stayed up until the night began to turn to day. To the surface came a faint memory of a clock reading 2:30 a.m. while I sat on my parents’ plaid couch frantically creating a table of authorities for my appellate brief as a first-year law student. This time the words I had been weaving together were not for a fictional brief for my professor; they were for the Supreme Court of Utah. Five days earlier, on March 22, 2020, 11 legal scholars from institutions across the United States published a white paper entitled “The Bar Exam and the covid-19 Pandemic: The Need for Immediate Action.” The authors argued that the need for access to justice would increase significantly over the coming months due to the secondary effects of covid-19, from unemployment claims to insurance disputes to bankruptcies to a backlog of criminal cases. At the same time, the authors argued that a July bar exam was unlikely to occur in many jurisdictions. The paper proposed six alternatives and ended with a call for immediate action: “These are unprecedented times and we must work together to ensure we do not leave the talented members of Class of 2020 on the sidelines when we need every qualified professional on the field to keep our justice system moving.”1 The white paper circulated quickly across the legal academic community, and within 48 hours the deans of the law schools at byu and the University of Utah were in communication with the Utah Supreme Court. Concern about access to justice and the use of bold and innovative solutions to address the problem are not new concepts for the court. But covid-19 created the perfect storm, bringing into the spotlight and exacerbating the preexisting issues of access to justice while also creating conditions that would prohibit the newest group of law-trained professionals from joining the frontlines. The court was not interested in waiting indefinitely for the storm to let up. At the request of the justices, byu Law School and the U of U College of Law prepared a joint memorandum advocating the adoption of an emergency diploma privilege that would allow candidates to be admitted to the Utah State Bar without passing the bar exam. This was the memorandum prompting my 3:02 a.m. work session. After much conversation and collaboration, the final memorandum was submitted to the court on Friday, March 27. On April 2, the court held a joint conference with representatives from both law schools and the Utah State Bar. That first joint conference was followed by many late-night, earlymorning, and weekend emails; hours of additional discussion; drafts and redrafts; and finally a proposed order that was published to the court’s website on April 9 for public comment. Over the next seven days, over 500 comments of praise and criticism came in from all over the country as the court received national attention for its decision to lead out in proposing such a solution. After the comment period closed, the court again carefully considered each provision of the proposed order, making adjustments as needed. On April 21 Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant signed a temporary amendment to bar admission allowing qualified candidates to become Utah Bar–licensed attorneys following the completion of 360 hours of supervised practice. The order was historic—the first of its kind in the United States. It created a pathway for 2020 law school graduates to obtain licensure in Utah in spite of the continued uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Unprecedented crisis calls for unprecedented courage and innovation. I am grateful to have witnessed firsthand such courage and innovation by the Utah Supreme Court. note 1 Claudia Angelos et al., The Bar Exam and the covid-19 Pandemic: The Need for Immediate Action. Legal Studies Working Paper Series, No. 537, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University, Mar. 22, 2020.

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A Tailored Law School Experience --------------

B Y K AT I E B A R N E S , ’2 0

OF GOOD REPORT

rite down questions you have during the call, and we can review them after,” the partner said to me as he dialed the conference line. This was one of my first assignments at my 2L summer internship, and I was nervous. I didn’t want to ask stupid questions. But as the conversation moved from formalities to technical details, I followed along with ease and felt confident in my knowledge on the subject. I attribute this success to my BYU Law professors, especially to Professor Curtis Anderson. After spending more than 20 years practicing in the private sector and as in-house counsel, Professor Anderson joined the BYU Law faculty in August 2015. He had been a partner at Baker Botts in Dallas, Texas, and general counsel of the Match Group, a public company that consists of many online dating and education companies around the world. Professor Anderson completed his undergraduate studies at BYU as valedictorian of the Department of International and Area Studies and graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from BYU Law in 1994. As a law professor, he combines his professional credentials with a personal interest in his students. I first

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met Professor Anderson as a 1L. Multiple upper-level students said he was someone I needed to know. They were right. Shortly after we met, he discovered that I didn’t have family in the area and invited me to his family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Later he helped me evaluate summer internship offers and choose the best one for my goals. Professor Anderson has become a valued mentor to me in navigating law school and life as a corporate lawyer. Professor Anderson’s expertise includes complex mergers and acquisitions, public and private financings, and general corporate matters. He teaches transactional skills courses and supervises clinical alliances with law firms and companies for students interested in a

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transactional law practice. It’s common knowledge in the Law School that the best way to prepare to practice transactional law is to take “Anderson’s drafting classes.” Professor Anderson doesn’t judge students for what they know (or don’t know) before entering the classroom. Instead, he takes time to provide multiple explanations until students understand a concept. And multiple explanations are often necessary. Professor Anderson’s drafting assignments often felt like learning how to swim in the ocean— trying to stay afloat as the waves threaten to push you under. But we were not left alone to flounder. Professor Anderson crafted his assignments to teach us how to pay attention to the project as a whole as well as to the small details that could make or break a document. Sometimes he walked us through specific legal concepts like investor approvals, distribution waterfalls, and exit provisions before we put them into practice. Other times he told us to take our best shot at a document

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CURTIS ANDERSON

and then he would clear up any confusion afterward, simulating a real law firm experience. Professor Anderson made sure each assignment expanded our knowledge of corporate law, and that approach set me up to perform well and really enjoy my corporate law experiences. Professor Anderson consistently demonstrates a creative and tailored approach to teaching and a willingness to think outside the box. In his mergers and acquisitions drafting class during winter semester 2020, he paired students to work with one another as counsel for the buyer or the seller. This structure helped students learn essential documents and procedures as well as how to work with other attorneys and build relationships with opposing counsel. And this approach extends beyond the classroom. In February 2020 at an auction held by BYU Law’s Public Interest Law Forum, a group of students, including me, won a game night hosted by him. The game night was originally scheduled to take place in Professor Anderson’s home, but as the events of March unfolded, it looked like it would be one more casualty of COVID-19. However, when I received the email from Professor Anderson about the event, I laughed at myself for thinking he would let a global pandemic get in his way. The night of the event, he had food delivered to each of us from a local restaurant and set up an online game that we played from our homes. Professor Anderson had provided yet another tailored approach that enriched my law school experience.

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H I G H L I G H T

LISA GROW SUN

Making History, Making a Difference

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B Y K Y L E TA N N E R , 2 L

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or incoming students, the second line of Professor Lisa Grow Sun’s faculty biography invokes awe: she was the first woman at Harvard Law School to graduate first in her class. Harvard’s tradition spans over 200 years,1 and Sun branded her indelible mark in that history. Born to Robert and Linda Grow during her father’s first week at BYU Law, Sun seemed destined to return to the base of Y Mountain to teach at her father’s alma mater. But she didn’t always see it that way. “I was considering going to medical school,” she

says. “I eventually decided that I was never going to get over my queasiness around blood, so medical school was out.” She had watched her father use his legal skills to solve problems, and she desired to solve similar issues in her community, so law was a “natural fallback.” Of course, even in her fallback field, Sun made history. In addition to ranking first in her class at Harvard Law, Sun was the first woman to graduate summa cum laude, the first student to graduate summa cum laude in 15 years, the notes chair of the Harvard Law Review, a senior editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and an editor of the Harvard

Journal of Law and Technology. She was also involved with the Harvard Defenders, a student practice group dedicated to pro bono work. After law school, Sun kept climbing. Immediately following her graduation, she clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and then for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court. She describes Justice Kennedy as “a classic oldschool lawyer” and notes that he was “a generalist who had done all kinds of legal work for all kinds of clients.” Sun basked in this wealth of experience, as Justice Kennedy would always gather the clerks together and discuss each case. “He always seemed to have some interesting, practical experience that was relevant to the case we were discussing,” she says. Even after her illustrious time at law school and with the Supreme Court, she set her sights on returning home. When she was interviewed by the Deseret News following her graduation, she remarked that she eventually wanted to go into teaching and settle in Utah. But the journey back to the Wasatch Front was not a simple drive along I-80 from Washington, DC. After her clerkship, she overshot Provo and landed at Stanford Law School as a lecturer in law teaching classes in administrative law and federal jurisdiction. After a few years, Sun and her growing family traveled to Beijing, where she lectured on civil procedure as a visiting professor at one of the country’s premier universities. Then, with the world in her reach, she chose BYU Law.

Yes, her family was here and the mountains sang their siren song, but her choice went deeper than that. She expounds: “I knew that the Law School attracted first-class students and that I would have amazing colleagues.” Beyond that, she felt a stronger purpose to be at BYU. “It was also important to me that my church’s law school have more women on the faculty,” she says. Sun has continued to rise at BYU Law, where she teaches disaster law, constitutional law, and torts. She’s at the forefront of the emerging field of disaster law and has coauthored the leading disaster law textbook. But perhaps the only thing that can outshine Professor Sun’s résumé and intelligence is her compassion. While new students often imagine their professors as dogged and relentless, Professor Sun defies the Kingsfield stereotype2 and teaches with grace and sincerity. Her warm disposition sets newly minted 1Ls at ease, and she responds amiably to student comments. She does not belittle or embarrass even the leastprepared cold-called student yet still inspires dedicated learning. We are honored and blessed to have her as part of the BYU Law community. NOTES

1 Women were not admitted to Harvard Law School until 1950. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was among the first enrolled women. See Harvard Law School, History of Harvard Law, hls.harvard.edu /about/history. 2 Charles Kingsfield is a character who teaches at Harvard Law School in The Paper Chase (1971), a novel written by John Jay Osborn.

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A New Look, a New Name, and a New Approach to Career Planning --------------

B Y U L AW ' S C A R E E R D E V E LO P M E N T O F F I C E /

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o one knows for certain when things will return to “normal” at BYU Law, but when faculty and students do return to campus, they’ll find some significant changes in career services. In addition to a completely renovated office space and two new career advisors, the department has a new name: the Career Development Office, which dean of career development Rebecca van Uitert says more accurately portrays the vision, role, and goals of the team. “We don’t just want to offer services to students; we want to help them develop lifelong skills and competencies that will serve them throughout their entire careers,” she says. The newly redesigned Career Development Office is not only modern and beautiful, it’s more functional. “Each member of our team has their own office space,” says director Shannon Grandy, ’11, “which allows us to help students in a more personal way.” There is also a new conference room to accommodate visitors to the Law School and team meetings. Grandy says, “In our department, we take an all-hands-on-deck approach. We bounce ideas off of each other— we have synergy. We

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each have different roles to play, but we are united in wanting to provide a high level of support to students.” The department isn’t the only thing getting a new name; career counselors are now referred to as career advisors— a subtle change that Grandy believes is better suited to the role. “In addition to counseling with students, we are here to leverage our experience on their behalf,” she says. Each student is assigned a career advisor at the beginning of their 1L year who will work with them throughout their law school career. In the last few months, Grandy and Dave Colton, ’82— who divides his time between Career Development and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies—were joined by two new career advisors: Tiffany de Gala, ’02, and

Glen Collyer, ’86. “Dave, Tiffany, and Glen are seasoned attorneys who have had successful careers and who continue to have great enthusiasm for the practice of law. They bring a lot of life experience and are excited to give back in this way,” Grandy says. Van Uitert envisions a holistic approach to career advisement that takes into account the shifting landscape of the legal profession. “The reality is that the employment market is changing. It’s very dynamic,” she says. “We make it a priority to be at the forefront of these developments and to ensure that our students are participating in them instead of watching them happen.” To that end, van Uitert developed the Milestones Program, which is a required course for 1L BYU Law students designed to help

them cultivate competencies that will transform them into leaders in their distinct professional paths. Grandy says, “Many attorneys switch jobs within the first five years after law school. Our vision is to arm BYU Law graduates with the competencies and professional identity to navigate these changes and secure meaningful employment of all types throughout their careers.” While van Uitert and Grandy are excited about the changes to Career Development, they hope one thing will stay the same. “We want the messaging to be loud and clear that we are here to help every single student,” says van Uitert. “Our goal is to be innovative and right at the edge of developments in the legal market while helping all our students explore the options. We are uniquely situated in the Law School to do that.”

OF GOOD REPORT

Why Stories Matter --------------

THE BYU LEGAL STORYTELLING FELLOWSHIP

he mission of the BYU Legal Storytelling Project (formerly LawStories) is to teach law students the theory and practice of great storytelling and to help them recognize the vital role storytelling plays in effective legal practice. The Storytelling Project encompasses in-house and national storytelling events, a book-of-the-semester experience intended to initiate deeper reflection on the role of law in human affairs, and a fellowship program in which selected students receive specialized training and exposure to the principles and practice of effective storytelling. MEET THE 2019–2020 FELLOWS

Mariah Critchfield is committed to using storytelling to advocate for immigration clients. She believes that an attorney who understands someone’s story and can tell it effectively will empower that person and help them succeed.

Kyle Tanner honors storytelling as the original art form by creating stories about quotidian tasks that brush against deeper themes. Storytelling matters to him because it bridges people to each other and to the divine.

Chery Yang is dedicated to the art of storytelling. She wants to use her art to connect with and develop understanding within and between communities.

Lauren Heperi loves nothing as much as a good story and believes storytelling to be an important means of finding and building peace. She hopes to continue blending her work in the legal profession with her talents as a storyteller.

Brandon Graves has found that some of the greatest barriers to equality are silence and seclusion. He firmly believes that hearing and sharing people’s stories is central to combatting injustice and aims to increase awareness through storytelling.

NOTE

Brandon’s story “Detention and Deep Water” was featured as part of the BYU LawStories on the Mainstage national storytelling event. Audio and video recordings of this story and others’ stories can be found at lawstories.byu .edu/2020-event/mainstage.

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FACULT Y

Kif AugustineAdams, Facilitating Freedom of Belief and Practice in 21st Century Europe, Faith and Freedom Summit Magazine: Practicing What We Preach in Europe 50 (June 28, 2018). ——— Kif AugustineAdams, Speed Matters, 61 How. L.J. 239 (2018) (with Candace Berrett & James R. Rasband). Kif AugustineAdams, Counting Chinese People in a Catholic Country: Religious Difference, Racial Discrimination, and the 1930 Mexican Population Census, 76 The Americas 607 (2019).

Stephanie Plamondon Bair, Anti-Innovation Norms, 112 Nw. U. L. Rev. 1069 (2018) (with Laura G. PedrazaFariña). ——— Stephanie Plamondon Bair, Malleable Rationality, 79 Ohio St. L.J. 17 (2018).

Stephanie H. Barclay, Constitutional Anomalies or As-Applied Challenges? A Defense of Religious Exemptions, 59 B.C. L. Rev. 1595 (2018) (with Mark L. Rienzi). Stephanie H. Barclay, A Dialogue About Religious Beliefs and Third-Party Harms in Family Law, 52 Fam. L.Q. 413 (2019) (reviewing The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law (Robin Fretwell Wilson ed., 2018)).

OF GOOD REPORT

2019

2018

Clark D. Asay, Patent Schisms, 104 Iowa L. Rev. 45 (2018). ——— Clark D. Asay, Saving Software’s Fair Use Future, 31 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 535 (2018) (with Pamela Samuelson).

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Elizabeth A. Clark, Headscarf Bans, Equal Treatment, and Minority Integration into the Workplace, 93 Notre Dame L. Rev. Online 69 (2018). ——— Elizabeth A. Clark, Neutrality, Public Space, and Discrimination by Religious Organizations in the United States, 2018 Quaderni Di Diritto e Politica Ecclesiastica 127 (2018). Stephanie H. Barclay, Original Meaning and the Establishment Clause: A Corpus Linguistics Analysis, 61 Ariz. L. Rev. 505 (2019) (with Brady Earley & Annika Boone).

Elizabeth A. Clark, Religious Freedom and the Functioning of Religious Organizations in the U.S., in Religion in the Context of Globalization: Legal Aspects of the Functioning of Religious Organizations (Henryk Hoffmann et al. eds., Nomos 2018). ——— Henryk Hoffman, et al. eds. Religion in the Context of Globalization: Legal Aspects of the Functioning of Religious Organizations (Nomos 2018) (Elizabeth A. Clark was a part of the editorial committee.).

Justin Collings, An American Perspective on the German Constitutional Court, in The U.S. Supreme Court and Contemporary Constitutional Law: The Obama Era and Its Legacy 273 (AnnaBettina Kaiser, Niels Petersen & Johannes Saurer eds., Nomos & Routledge, 2018). ——— Justin Collings, Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde on Constitutional Judging in a Democracy, 19 German L.J. 161 (2018). Justin Collings, Constitutional Patriotism and Constitutional Memory: The Basic Law as a Place of German Memory, 74 JuristenZeitung 1109 (2019). ——— Justin Collings, The Supreme Court and the Memory of Evil, 71 Stan. L. Rev. 265 (2019).

Brigham Daniels, Can Information Outreach Increase Participation in CommunityDriven Development? A Field Experiment Near Bwindi National Park, Uganda, 106 World Dev. 407 (2018) (with Mark T. Buntaine & Colleen Devlin). ——— Brigham Daniels, Come Hell and High Water: Climate Change Policy in the Age of Trump, 13 FIU L. Rev. 65 (2018). ——— Brigham Daniels, Just Environmentalism, 37 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 1 (2018) (with Michalyn Steele & Lisa Grow Sun). Brigham Daniels, Commons Storytelling, in Handbook of the Commons (Routledge Press 2019).

Elysa M. Dishman, Enforcement Piggybacking and Multistate Actions, 2019 BYU Law. Rev. 421.

J. Clifton Fleming Jr., Expanded Worldwide Versus Territorial Taxation After the TCJA, 161 Tax Notes 1173 (2018) (with Robert J. Peroni & Stephen E. Shay). ——— J. Clifton Fleming Jr., Federal Income Tax: Doctrine, Structure, and Policy (4th ed.): 2018 Cumulative Update for Students and Teachers (2018) (with Joseph M. Dodge & Robert J. Peroni). ——— J. Clifton Fleming Jr., To What Degree Does Customary International Law Require Accommodation of a Source Country’s Right to Tax High, Tax Low or Not at All?, in A Commitment to Excellence: Essays in Honor of Emeritus Professor Gabriel A. Moens (Augusto Zimmermann ed., Connor Court Publishing 2018). J. Clifton Fleming Jr., Federal Income Tax: Doctrine, Structure, and Policy (5th ed., Carolina Academic Press, 2019) (with Joseph M. Dodge, Francine J. Lipman & Robert J. Peroni). ——— J. Clifton Fleming Jr., The Games They Will Play: Tax Games, Roadblocks, and Glitches Under the 2017 Tax Legislation, 103 Minn. L. Rev. 1439 (2019) (with David Kamin et al.).

PUBLISHED

Frederick Mark Gedicks, Working Without a Net: Supreme Court Decision-Making as Performance, 2018 BYU L. Rev. 57. ——— Frederick Mark Gedicks, Rule of Law, Socially Constructed Reasons, and Marriage Equality, 6 J.L. Religion & St. 115 (2018).

Christine Hurt, Private Ordering of Publicly Traded Partnerships, in Can Delaware Be Dethroned?: Evaluating Delaware’s Dominance of Corporate Law 201 (Stephen M. Bainbridge et al. eds., Cambridge U. Press 2018). ——— Christine Hurt & D. Gordon Smith, Bromberg and Ribstein on Limited Liability Partnerships, the Revised Uniform Partnership Act, and the Uniform Limited Partnership Act (2001) (2d ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2018) (with Alan R. Bromberg & Larry E. Ribstein). Christine Hurt, Partnership Lost, 53 U. Rich. L. Rev. 491 (2019).

Matthew Jennejohn, Deal Structure, 113 Nw. U. L. Rev. 279 (2018) (with Cathy Hwang). ——— Matthew Jennejohn, The Architecture of Contract Innovation, 59 B.C. L. Rev. 71 (2018). Matthew Jennejohn, The New Research on Contractual Complexity, 14 Cap. Mkt. L.J. 381 (2019) (with Cathy Hwang).

Aaron L. Nielson, A Qualified Defense of Qualified Immunity, 93 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1853 (2018) (with Christopher J. Walker). ——— Aaron L. Nielson, A(nother) New Plan for Clerkship Hiring, 102 Judicature 70 (2018) (with Diane Wood). ——— Aaron L. Nielson, How Agencies Choose Whether to Enforce the Law: A Preliminary Investigation, 93 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1517 (2018).

Eric Talbot Jensen, The Use of Force and Cyber Countermeasures, 32 Temp. Int’l & Comp. L.J. 127 (2018) (with Gary Corn). Eric Talbot Jensen, Leveraging Emerging Technology for LOAC Compliance, in The Impact of Emerging Technologies on the Law of Armed Conflict (Eric Talbot Jensen & Ronald Alcala eds., Oxford U. Press, 2019) (with Alan Hickey). ——— Eric Talbot Jensen, National Security Law: Principles and Policy (2d ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2019) (with Geoffrey Corn, Jimmy Gurulé & Peter Margulies).

The Impact of Emerging Technologies on the Law of Armed Conflict (Eric Talbot Jensen & Ronald Alcala eds., Oxford U. Press, 2019). ——— Eric Talbot Jensen, The Law of Armed Conflict: An Operational Approach (2d ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2019) (with Geoffrey S. Corn, Richard Jackson, M. Christopher Jenks, & James A. Schoettler).

Aaron L. Nielson, Accessing Agency Procedure, Reg. Rev. (2019). ——— Aaron L. Nielson, How Agencies Should Use Waivers and Exemptions, Reg. Rev. (2019) (with Jennifer Nou). ——— Aaron L. Nielson, The Policing Prosecutors: More Lessons From Administrative Law?, 123 Dickinson L. Rev. 713 (2019).

Aaron L. Nielson, Nonenforcement and the Dangers of Leveraging, 3 J. Reg. Compliance 19 (2018). ——— Aaron L. Nielson, Optimal Ossification, 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1209 (2018). Aaron L. Nielson, Sticky Regulations, 85 U. Chicago L. Rev. 85 (2018). ——— Aaron L. Nielson, The Paradox of Discretionary Competition Law, 2 European Competition & Reg. L. Rev. 156 (2018).

D. Carolina Núñez, Citizenship Gaps, 54 Tulsa L. Rev. 301 (2019) (reviewing Carrie Hyde, Civic Longing: The Speculative Origins of U.S. Citizenship (2018), Kunal M. Parker, Making Foreigners: Immigration and Citizenship Law in America, 1600-2000 (2015) & Richard Sobel, Citizenship as Foundation of Rights: Meaning for America (2016)).

Brett G. Scharffs, Law and Religion: National, International, and Comparative Perspectives (2d ed., Wolters Kluwer 2019) (with W. Cole Durham, Jr.). ——— Brett G. Scharffs, Religious Freedom and the Law: Emerging Contexts for Freedom for and from

Religion (Brett G. Scharffs, Asher Maoz & Ashley Issacson Woolley eds., Routledge, 2019).

Gladriel Shobe, Private Benefits in Public Offerings: Tax Receivable Agreements in IPOs, 71 Vand. L. Rev. 889 (2018). ——— Gladriel Shobe, The Substance over Form Doctrine and the Up-C, 38 Va. Tax Rev. 249 (2018).

Jarrod Shobe, Agency Legislative History, 68 Emory L.J. 283 (2018). Jarrod Shobe, Enacted Legislative Findings and Purposes, 86 U. Chicago L. Rev. 669 (2019).

Paul Stancil, Discovery and the Social Benefits of Private Litigation, 71 Vand. L. Rev. 2171 (2018).

Research Handbook on Fiduciary Law (D. Gordon Smith & Andrew S. Gold eds., 2018). D. Gordon Smith, Business Organizations: Cases, Problems, and Case Studies (4th ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2019) (with Cynthia A. Williams).

Michalyn Steele, Congressional Power and Sovereignty in Indian Affairs, 2018 Utah L. Rev. 307. ——— Michalyn Steele, Identifying and Reducing Disparities in Mental Health Outcomes Among American Indians and Alaskan Natives Using Public Health, Mental Healthcare and Legal Perspectives, 45 Admin. & Pol’y in Mental Health & Mental Health Serv. Res. 5 (2018) (with Hannah E. Payne, Jennie L. Bingham & Chantel D. Sloan). ——— Michalyn Steele, Cultivating Professional Identity and Resilience Through the Study of Federal Indian Law, 2018 BYU L. Rev. 1429 (2019).

Dane Thorley, Trial by Skype: A CausalityOriented Replication Exploring the Use of Remote Video Adjudication in Immigration Removal Proceedings, 59 Int’l Rev. L. & Econ. 82 (2019) (with Joshua Mitts).

Lisa Grow Sun, Disaster Law and Order, in Research Handbook on Climate Disaster Law: Barriers and Opportunities 133 (Rosemary Lyster & Robert R.M. Verchick eds., Elgar, 2018).

John W. Welch, Joseph Smith’s Iowa Quest for Legal Assistance: His Letters to Edward Johnstone and Others on Sunday, June 23, 1844, 57 BYU Stud. Q., no. 3, 2018, at 111. John W. Welch, Paul and the Covenant, in The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law 437 (Pamela Barmash ed., Oxford University Press, 2019) (with Jacob Rennaker). ——— John W. Welch, Roman Law Relating to the New Testament, in New Testament History, Culture, and Society: A Background to the Texts of the New Testament 160 (Lincoln H. Blumell ed., BYU Religious Studies Center, 2019).

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John W. Welch, Recovering Our Forgotten Preamble, 91 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1021 (2018) (with James A. Heilpern). ——— John W. Welch, Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon: “Days [and Hours] Never to Be Forgotten,” 57 BYU Stud. Q., no. 4, 2018, at 11. John W. Welch, Sacred Space, Sacred Thread: Perspectives Across Time and Traditions (John W. Welch & Jacob Rennaker eds., 2019). ——— John W. Welch, The Parables of Jesus: Revealing the Plan of Salvation (Covenant Communications, 2019) (with Jeannie S. Welch).

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2018

IN 2018 AND 2019

Brett G. Scharffs, Islam and Religious Freedom: The Experience of Religious Majorities and Minorities, 93 Notre Dame L. Rev. Online 78 (2018). ——— Brett G. Scharffs, Piece of Cake, 102 Judicature 67 (2018) (with Frank S. Ravitch). ——— Brett G. Scharffs, The (Not So) Exceptional Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution, 33 J.L. & Religion 137 (2018). ——— Brett G. Scharffs, Trinity Lutheran and Its Implications for Federalism in the United States, 20 European J.L. Reform 241 (2018). ——— Brett G. Scharffs, Understanding Love: With and Without God, in Law, Religion and Love: Seeking Ecumenical Justice for the Other 15 (Paul Babie & Vanja-Ivan Savić eds., Routledge, 2018).

2019

SCHOL ARSHIP

OCTOBER 6–9 OCTOBER 3– 4

JRCLS Leadership Conference

26th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium

2019

2019–20

BY U L AW S CHOOL C ONF ER ENCE S F E B R UA RY 5 –7

Law & Corpus Linguistics Conference

N OV E M B E R 7– 8

NOVEMBER 1

Rocky Mountain Junior Scholars Forum

ABA Regional Negotiations Competition

2020

F E B R UA RY 27–2 9

JRCLS Annual Conference in Phoenix

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MARCH 4–6

J U N E 1 7–1 9

Winter Deals Conference

Religious Freedom Annual Review

OCTOBER 16

United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces Oral Argument

OCTOBER 18

Law and Leadership Conference

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Inviting Greater Light -------------CHANGES TO THE GUY ANDERSON MOOT COURTROOM

OF GOOD REPORT

hrough the generous support of BYU Law alumni and friends, a comprehensive renovation of the Guy Anderson Moot Courtroom was completed in November 2019. The renovation was initiated as part of former BYU Law dean James Rasband’s campaign to bring

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light into the law building in service of the Law School’s mission “to teach the laws of men in the light of the laws of God.” One of the main features of the renovation is the skylight, which arches nearly the full expanse of the room from north to south, inviting in substantial light.

New to the Law School --------------

Barbara Melendez, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging Melendez is a former shareholder and practice chair who focused on employment immigration and compliance law as well as a lecturer and panelist committed to promoting leadership, diversity, equity, and belonging in all areas of the legal profession.

Bryan Hamblin, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Hamblin is the former director of admissions at BYU Law and a higher-education professional with a breadth of experience in student affairs and enrollment services.

Michael Middleton, Assistant Dean for External Relations Middleton is the former BYU Cougar Club director and assistant athletic director, an adjunct BYU public speaking instructor, and a script writer for Bonneville Communicationsâ€™ Music and the Spoken Word.

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Up-and-Coming Scholarship

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S U M M A R I E S O F F O U R B Y U L AW P A P E R S P R E S E N T E D AT T H E R O C K Y M O U N TA I N J U N I O R S C H O L A R S F O R U M

Innovation’s Midas Problem By Stephanie Plamondon Bair, Associate Professor of Law

OF GOOD REPORT

ost people believe that technology, or innovation, is good for innovation. Technology removes technical barriers to further innovation, improves productivity, and gives rise to new creative opportunities. This is the story that often gets told. And it may be mostly true. But what often gets overlooked in the telling of this celebratory tale is the possibility that innovation could also be bad for innovation. Accumulating evidence, for example, is demonstrating how our interaction with particular innovations is altering our brains in ways that are harmful for innovation. Technology

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use seems to be negatively impacting both our attention spans and our ability to filter out unwanted information. Because creativity—and even run-of-the-mill productivity—depend on these skills, this is potentially bad news for innovation. Technology use is also hindering our ability to read emotional and social cues. Given that emotional intelligence is strongly linked with creative potential, this is concerning from an innovation perspective. The upshot is that, in our rush to uncritically embrace new technologies in the name of innovation, we may be inadvertently undermining the very goals we are seeking to achieve. A more nuanced understanding of how innovation both promotes and hinders further innovation should help us craft a more nuanced—and successful— innovation policy. How might we do this? For one thing, when we talk about technology and innovation, we might do well to remember that we are not simply static subjects imposing our collective will on the object of technology, using it to our advantage in the ways we see fit to promote innovation. Technology is also acting on us, and the results of that action might not always be beneficial from an innovation perspective. Given this, we should begin to be more selective about which technologies we promote for creation and widespread adoption. Various

policy levers could help us with this task, including intellectual property law, funding regimes, and even social and behavioral interventions. The result should be a world in which innovation does, in fact, promote socially beneficial innovation.

Testing Williams-Yulee By Dane Thorley, Associate Professor of Law

n Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar (2015), the United States Supreme Court ruled that a Florida law banning direct campaign solicitation by judicial candidates was not a violation of the First Amendment. In doing so, the majority relied on several untested empirical claims, including the assertion that direct solicitation has a distinctly stronger impact on the public’s confidence in the judiciary than indirect solicitation. In this working paper, Dane Thorley evaluates these empirical claims. He conducted a nationally representative survey experiment that presented subjects with a hypothetical vignette in which a state triallevel judge runs for election and utilizes one of various campaign fundraising tactics. The survey then asked subjects questions relating to the trust and legitimacy that they associate with both the judicial system presented in the vignette and

their actual state- and federallevel government institutions. The results suggest that the public does not discern any significant difference between direct and indirect judicial solicitation but does see other judicial campaign features (promises of recusal and the amount of the donations) as salient in regard to trust and legitimacy. These findings are at odds with the empirical assumptions that the majority relied upon in the WilliamsYulee decision and highlight the often tenuous assumptions that the Supreme Court Justices rely on when making empirical claims.

An Economic Approach to Religious Exemptions Forthcoming in Florida Law Review By Stephanie Barclay, Associate Professor of Law

xternalities in the context of religious exemptions have

become particularly salient in the wake of hotly debated Supreme Court cases like The Little Sisters of the Poor, Masterpiece Cakeshop, and Hobby Lobby. Some argue that religious individuals should be required to internalize the costs they impose on third parties and thus should be denied religious exemptions. These new progressive theories about harm trade on rhetoric and normative intuitions regarding externalities and costs. But curiously, these theories also largely ignore an

influential theoretical movement that has studied externalities and costs for the last 50 years: law and economics. This article thus poses a thought experiment: How would our normative rhetoric and doctrinal assessments change if we viewed religious externalities through the lens of a well-known economic theoryâ€”the Coase Theorem? Such a lens offers three novel normative insights. First, we would recognize that the mere existence of a religiously caused externality would not provide a sufficient justification for government restriction of religious rights,

as many scholars currently argue. Instead of this onedimensional approach to harm, we would recognize the ubiquitous nature of competing and complex reciprocal externalities involved in the protection of any legal rights. Second, we would pay closer attention to the reality that religious beliefs can sometimes inhibit voluntary transactions when such bargains would create a conflict of conscience. Economic theorists have provided principles for other sorts of analogous situations in which high transaction costs or idiosyncratic valuation make voluntary bargains unlikely. Applying these principles to religious conflicts can help avoid unnecessary human suffering. Third, we would carefully explore outcomes that would result in the lowest amount of net harm. This often includes changing government actions that are causing unnecessary conflicts. In other contexts, where conflict is inevitable, we would be forced to more candidly confront problems of incommensurabilityâ€”an issue that is particularly acute with respect to dueling claims of dignitary harm. An economic lens also provides a positivist account of multiple aspects of a religious exemption doctrinal framework in the context of strict scrutiny. In addition, an economic approach can facilitate a more clinical method for assessing hot-button claims to harm on both sides of the ledger in religious exemptions conflicts.

Settling Data Protection Law: Multistate Actions and National Policymaking Forthcoming in Alabama Law Review (2021) By Elysa Dishman, Associate Professor of Law

he state of data privacy and cybersecurity law in the United States is as unsettled as it is unsettling. Congress has repeatedly failed to pass a comprehensive data privacy and security statute, leaving a confusing patchwork of federal and state laws and enforcement actions to regulate a critical component of the modern American economy. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the primary federal agency that oversees data protection. However, the FTC must rely predominantly on settlements of enforcement actions, rather than rulemaking, to regulate data protection. Even though settlements only bind the parties to the settlement, they communicate standards more broadly to corporations. Settlement terms ultimately become de facto regulations by shaping corporate practices nationwide. But the FTC is not the only enforcer to regulate data practices via settlement. State attorneys general (AGs) have become increasingly prominent data policymakers. AGs have banded

together in multistate enforcement actions in response to high-profile data breaches. Like the FTC, AGs require corporations to undergo structural reforms as terms of multistate settlements. But AGs have charted new paths in multistate settlements, innovating settlement terms. These innovations act as a catalyst to spur the FTC to demand more rigorous structural reforms in their settlements going forward. The future of data regulation will likely be shaped by more aggressive federal and multistate enforcement settlements. There is reason to be unsettled about this future of data protection. Concerns have been raised about agencies engaging in regulation by settlement in general and more specifically about the FTCâ€™s practice of regulating data practices in this manner. However, those concerns have not been considered in light of the rise in multistate databreach actions. This article is the first to explore how the unique attributes of multistate enforcement exacerbate existing concerns about regulation by settlement and at the same time raise entirely novel ones. It also discusses how AGs can continue to play a vital role in data protection policymaking while reducing concerns about regulation via multistate settlement. t h e

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THE DOCKET

o commemorate Black History Month, the Law School had the privilege of hosting Beatryx Washington as its guest lecturer during a memorable event for law students and faculty members on February 25, 2020. Washington currently serves as the senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of O. C. Tanner, the global leader in cloud-based technology and services that improve workplace culture and employee recognition in thousands of multinational companies. She has been recognized as being among Utah’s best in-house counsel: she has received Utah Business’s Corporate Counsel Award and the Utah Minority Bar Association’s inaugural Corporate Counsel of the Year Award and has been listed as one of Utah Business’s Legal Elite since 2018. On the evening of the Law School event, the room was full and all eyes were on Washington. During her lecture and subsequent Q&A session, she shared a compelling story of her upbringing and path to success. Washington was raised in Mississippi, where her family has lived for generations. She expressed great admiration for her grandparents, who were heavily involved in the civil rights movement. Her grandfather was the president of the local chapter of the NAACP in Natchez, Mississippi, and led African American residents to sign a petition to desegregate the town’s schools. Her grandmother assisted the Freedom Riders and fought for her right to vote, ultimately

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Beatryx Washington --------------

BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPEAKER /

becoming the first African American woman to vote in Holmes County, Mississippi. Her grandparents were determined that their children would receive an education, no matter the obstacles of segregation present at the time. As Washington explained, “Education meant access to opportunity.” Washington’s parents, who were raised during the Jim Crow era, each obtained PhDs and carried on the expectation that Washington and her brother would also obtain doctoral degrees one day. Washington received her undergraduate degree in political science from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and her juris doctorate from DePaul University College of Law. She pursued law school simply to fulfill her parent’s expectations, with no intent of actually practicing law. Little did she know that she would become an expert in federal contract law and one of the strikingly few African Americans in senior leadership roles in the United States. She began her legal career in Chicago, working for Hill & Knowlton as a litigation specialist for the public relations team. However, after her father suffered a major stroke, Washington left Chicago for St. Louis to care for him. Throughout her remarks, Washington stressed that her family and faith are of utmost importance in her life.

BY SIMONE ALDREDGE, ’20

While taking care of her father, Washington worked first as a contract administrator for a military contractor and later for an aerospace company that built military aircraft parts for Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Washington later made the move to Salt Lake City with her husband, where she became senior legal counsel for EnergySolutions and then general counsel for LifeVantage before joining O. C. Tanner and becoming a pillar of that company’s operations. Washington raved about her experience at O. C. Tanner: “I have the best job you could have and still be a lawyer.” She also highlighted her ability to spend time doing what matters most to her. She said, “I am confident that I will not worry about a client contract on my deathbed. However, I hope not to have any regrets about the amount of time I have spent with my children.”

At the conclusion of Washington’s address, the audience asked her questions about her career, her experience as an African American female attorney, and her advice for law students. She encouraged the law students to pursue jobs in which they can be themselves and show up as they are. Most importantly, she advised, “Don’t dismiss any part of your life’s journey. There’s a purpose for it all.” After the event officially concluded, many law students and faculty members approached Washington, one after another, to shake her hand, extend their appreciation, and engage in discussion. Washington’s experiences, powerful message, and thoughtful responses left an imprint on the BYU Law community.

In Our Libraries --------------

T H R E E B Y U L AW P R O F E S S O R S G I V E A G L I M P S E O F W H AT T H E Y A R E R E A D I N G O R L I S T E N I N G T O

PODCAST

Cautionary Tales BY TIM HARFORD

BRADLEY SLADE (2)

Reviewed by Jarrod Shobe, Associate Professor of Law

BOOK

Big Lies in a Small Town BY DIANE CHAMBERLAIN

Reviewed by Kristin Gerdy Kyle, Teaching Professor and Director of the Rex. E. Lee Advocacy Program

THE DOCKET

Diane Chamberlain pieces stories together like a master quilter, stitching fragments of narrative cloth into a single, well-told story that captivates the reader. Big Lies in a Small Town is no exception. The tale follows two artists: Morgan Christopher and Anna Dale. In 2018 Morgan is serving a three-year sentence for a crime she didn’t commit when she is offered a way out: she must restore a nearly 80-year-old mural in the town of Edenton, North Carolina. An

art student at the time of her incarceration, Morgan knows nothing about restoration but reluctantly agrees. In 1940 New Jersey artist Anna wins a competition to paint the mural for the post office in Edenton. She is excited to learn about the town and gain inspiration for her piece but meets hostility from the townspeople when she plans to paint a local historical event through the lens of all the community’s people. Mysteriously, both Anna and the mural disappear. Back in the present, Morgan dives headfirst into the restoration and the surrounding mystery. Chamberlain’s story is emotionally engaging, full of intrigue, and rich in detail. It addresses important issues of art, justice, abuse, racism, mental health prejudice, misogyny, and xenophobia.

The long days of coronavirus quarantine have involved lots of yard work and hikes in Provo’s mountains. This also means that I have been listening to lots of podcasts, and one of my favorite recent discoveries has been Cautionary Tales by British economist and journalist Tim Harford. The themes and topics are fascinating, focusing on the myriad ways human decision-making is flawed. Covering everything from the story of a British general who developed the idea of blitzkrieg (which was subsequently ignored by the British military and used by the German military to great advantage) to the Oscars mix-up that resulted in La La Land being briefly named Best Picture to the deadly competition to build hydrogenfilled airships in the 1920s (my favorite episode), Harford is an excellent storyteller who draws you in and transports you to another place and time. The stories illustrate concepts from modern psychology, the social sciences, and economics in a lively and often tragic or darkly comedic way. I was left impatiently waiting for another season.

BOOK

The Call of Service: A Witness to Idealism BY ROBERT COLES

Reviewed by Brigham Daniels, Professor of Law I am rereading one of my favorites: The Call of Service by Robert Coles. The book takes a deep dive into why people perform service, what they count as service, and how they meet challenges along the way. To make his points, Coles provides vivid pictures of people he met during his childhood, during his years at Harvard, and as an activist in the civil rights movement. It is a beautiful book that leaves the heart fuller and deepens one’s desire to make the world a better place. The subtitle of the book is A Witness to Idealism. Though Coles holds out others as heroes that he seeks to understand, he is the witness in the book. He takes time to reflect on the awe and admiration he has felt in others. While the book is secular, to me it is spiritually important. It is a testimony of the power of goodness and a prayer that the reader hear the call of service. Our current world is in so much need of goodness. While this book is a couple of decades old, I believe it is a book that provides a lot for us today.

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n October 18, 2019, BYU Law hosted the inaugural Law and Leadership Conference. The conference topic—access to justice—was inspired by the August 2019 report from the Utah Work Group on Regulatory Reform titled Narrowing the Access-toJustice Gap by Reimagining Regulation. Presenters and panelists discussed causes and effects of the access-tojustice gap and innovations and reforms to legal services regulation, technology, and education that are needed to bridge the gap. Here are highlights from the presentations.

Margaret Hagan, director of Stanford Law’s Legal Design Lab

D. Gordon Smith, dean of BYU Law School

Crispin Passmore, founder and managing director, Passmore Consulting

Narrowing the Access-to-Justice Gap --------------

BYU L AW AND LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2019

THE DOCKET

The Essence of Access to Justice In his opening remarks, D. Gordon Smith, dean of BYU Law, spoke about Maynard Dixon’s painting Forgotten Man, which hangs outside BYU Law’s Guy Anderson Moot Courtroom: “The ‘forgotten man’ sits alone on a curb unnoticed by passersby; his gaze is directed downward, his face is a study of dejection. He is alone in a crowd, separated by his loss of purpose and the apparent inability or unwillingness of others to look beyond their own concerns.” For Dean Smith, the painting serves as a reminder to use one’s legal education to serve the less fortunate. “The civil justice system in the US is currently tied for 99th out of 126 countries in terms of access and 32

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affordability,” he said. “Without access to justice, people are unable to have their voices heard, exercise their rights, challenge discrimination, or hold decision-makers responsible. We have a crisis on our hands. My hope is that as we discuss this topic today, we feel empowered to do something about it.” KEYNOTE ADDRESS:

What’s Possible in Law “For decades, many of us have believed that it’s impossible to create a civil justice system in which anyone can receive adequate help navigating the system,” said Gillian Hadfield, professor of law at the University of Toronto. “We need to start believing that it is.” Hadfield believes that the law “need[s] faster, smarter, more agile legal solutions” and contended that the current status of regulation,

B Y R AC H E L E DWA R D S

including how legal services are paid for and who can invest in legal businesses and technologies, is the core factor blocking access to justice. “When you control those things, you limit the capacity for innovation and investment,” she said. Hadfield believes that Utah’s “regulatory sandbox,” in which innovators can work with the regulator to collect data on risk-appropriate regulation, will incentivize companies that could be developing legal technologies to join the legal ecosystem. “These technologies will allow lawyers to offer services to more clients in a less costly, more efficient manner,” she said. PA N E L : An Incubator for Legal Services Reform The 2007 Legal Services Act allows nonlawyers to join law firms and permits the public

trading of law firms in England and Wales. “Since then we have more lawyers delivering more services in more ways to more people,” said Crispin Passmore, who has worked in the UK legal sector for over 25 years. Panel chair Justice Constandinos Himonas of the Utah Supreme Court said, “Many people are concerned about what will happen to the legal profession with regulation reform.” He contended that successfully reforming the civil legal system requires an independent regulatory sandbox to test out innovations. Gillian Hadfield of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law agreed: “The ideal structure is an independent regulator authorized by the Supreme Court to regulate entities providing legal service in the state,” she said. “We need a new kind of regulator, and we

efficiencies in the delivery of legal services. He said, “Every area of law has elements that can be automated. If we recognize and streamline processes at these points, we can amplify the number of people we serve.” Lincoln Porter, the chief technology and information officer at SixFifty, agreed. He said that using technology for standard cases frees lawyers to do the work that computers can’t.

Gillian Hadfield, Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society, professor of law and professor of strategic management, and director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, University of Toronto Faculty of Law

Innovating Legal Education In a panel on the future of legal education chaired by Dean Smith, Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner of the University of Utah College of Law stated that law schools must diversify their faculty, staff, and students. “Diversity breeds innovation,” she said. “When individuals who are a part of the legal community understand the communities who are perpetually underserved, they will be in a unique position to understand the barriers that exist.” Kellye Testy, president of the Law School Admissions Council, asserted the need for new pathways in legal education. She said, “I envision centers for justice and prosperity where we prepare students to solve the problems of the world and give them the competency to promote justice.” The University of Arizona is the first university in the US to offer a bachelor’s degree in law, and the Arizona Supreme Court has authorized a limited licensing experiment that will allow nonlawyers to provide legal services in specific cases. Marc L. Miller, who is dean of the UA College of Law, said, “This could well be part of the access-to-justice puzzle.” PA N E L :

need to build it from the ground up.” According to Margaret Hagan, who directs Stanford Law’s Legal Design Lab, a sandbox allows “regulators [to] see whether a new offering is desirable and will benefit people by looking at real data.” L U N C H E O N A D D R E S S : Too Much Law, Too Little Justice “Three decades ago, then president Jimmy Carter chided the American Bar Association for perpetuating a system in which 90 percent of our lawyers serve 10 percent of our people,” said Stanford Law professor Deborah Rhode. “Much has changed since then, but much has remained the same. What passes for justice falls far too short of our aspirations.” She went on to say, “Working-class Americans are often priced out of the legal system or receive far fewer legal services than they actually require.” Rhode said that the starting point for

legal reform is to do exactly what Utah has done—establish a regulatory body independent of the bar to oversee the nonlawyer market and collect data on what’s actually working both in the delivery of services and in the regulatory structure itself. “Greater access to trained, nonlawyer experts and user-friendly technology will enable more Americans to navigate the legal system directly,” she said. “We need to seize the momentum that has started here and offer some viable regulatory alternatives.” PA N E L : Increasing Legal Services Through Technology “In Utah, only 7 percent of lawsuits involve cases in which

each party is represented by a lawyer. That means that 93 percent of cases are underrepresented,” said SixFifty president Kimball Parker, who chaired a discussion on technology and the access-tojustice gap. Stanford Law lecturer Margaret Hagen considers legal education to be the starting point for creating innovative technologies. “Activating students as leaders who can be entrepreneurial and incubate ideas within the safety of the university will create a continuum of innovation,” she said. Dan Roberts, who is president of Savvi Technologies, believes that the timing is right for law firms and legal aid clinics to adopt technologies that create

“The access-to-justice gap is the difference between the legal needs of ordinary Americans and the resources needed to meet those needs.” —the

u ta h wo r k g r o u p o n r e g u l ato ry r e fo r m

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Anxiously Engaged --------------

A GLIMPSE INTO THE GOOD WORK BEING DONE B Y B Y U L AW ’ S S T U D E N T O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

Developing Identity and Purpose: First Annual Women in Law Seminar

THE DOCKET

In September 2019, BYU Law’s Women in Law organization hosted its first annual Women in Law Seminar. The program was sponsored by Kirton McConkie and Dorsey & Whitney LLP and included presentations and workshops led by BYU Law faculty members and prominent guests. Dean Carolina Núñez, Professor Michalyn Steele, Dean Rebecca van Uitert, Dean Justin Collings, and Professor Kif AugustineAdams each spoke about their careers and developing their professional identities. Dr. Susan Madsen, founder of the Utah Women and Leadership Project, delivered the 34

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keynote address, in which she urged attendees to take charge of their futures and develop their leadership identity, purpose, and calling. As part of the presentation, attendees broke into two sessions: one for women, which focused on purpose, and another for men, which centered on inspiring positive change. Participants enjoyed dinner together before attending the final workshops. Dean van Uitert held a workshop that encouraged attendees to seek feedback and self-reflect with an attitude of self-acceptance and understanding. Two student-led workshops focused on developing a growth mindset and fostering the courage to fail. The Women in Law Seminar was a remarkable event that left an impression on all who attended.

Practicing Legal Negotiations: Alternative Dispute Resolution Society The Alternative Dispute Resolution Society hosted the American Bar Association’s regional Law Student Division Negotiation Competition in November 2019. Students from seven states came to BYU Law to practice and advance their negotiation skills through simulated legal negotiations. Forty-five attorneys from the Utah Bar volunteered their time as judges. The students were competing for the opportunity to advance to the national competition at the ABA headquarters in Chicago. Raising Refugee Awareness: Immigration Law Forum In 2019–20 the Immigration Law Forum (ILF) hosted many events, including a slam poetry contest and a presentation by Jeremy Christiansen, who recently won recognition of citizenship rights for his American-Samoan client in a case before the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Fitisemanu v. United States. Club members also submitted comments to support the Utah Supreme Court’s decision to admit DACA recipients to the Utah Bar and tutored individuals who are preparing to become United States citizens. One of the year’s highlights was a refugee awareness activity. ILF members gathered in the Sorensen Student

Commons at BYU Law to tie blankets for refugees abroad. Later, James McConkie, a BYU graduate and cofounder of the Refugee Justice League, spoke to the club about his work with refugees in Utah. The Refugee Justice League engages in legal advocacy for the constitutional rights of refugees in the United States. In conjunction with McConkie’s presentation, representatives of the organization Their Story Is Our Story shared powerful refugee stories. The activity ended with a delicious southern Nepalese soup and naan bread catered by the Bhutan House Restaurant. The restaurant is owned and operated by a Bhutanese family who spent 20 years in a refugee camp before finding a home in Utah.

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Big Picture Policies

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A SEMESTER IN THE WASHINGTON SEMINAR

B Y K AT I E R A N E , ’ 2 0

FROM THE FIELD

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ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

ive BYU Law students headed to Washington, DC, the first week of fall semester 2019. And they liked it so much that they decided to stay the whole semester instead of returning to school. While their classmates sat reading and listening to lectures in Provo, the five rogue students mingled with judges and senators; drilled into the inner depths of the Department of Defense; took trips to New York City, Gettysburg, and George Washington’s Mt. Vernon; and ate world-renowned cupcakes. Fortunately, this isn’t a hypothetical on a professional responsibility exam; this was my experience last fall semester thanks to BYU Law’s Washington Seminar program. For nearly 50 years, BYU’s main campus has sent a group of around 30 undergraduate students out to Washington, DC, each semester to complete internships around the city. Beginning in 2017, through the efforts of Dean D. Gordon Smith, BYU Law students have joined the Washington

Seminar group each semester. Faculty at BYU Law assist participating law students in finding internships with law firms, politicians on Capitol Hill, government agencies, and the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. I had the opportunity to work with the American Immigration Council, a

nonprofit think tank focused on legal immigration issues. I became interested in immigration after hearing Dean Carolina Núñez and Professor Kif Augustine-Adams talk about their experiences providing legal services to women and children in immigrant detention in Dilley, Texas. I became interested in

immigration policy after I spent some time in Dilley and had to explain over and over and over again to women who had endured horrific violence that US asylum law does not always protect them. As I explained the law and the seemingly arbitrary protections it offers, I found myself questioning why US asylum law blocks people

JACOB ELIASON

like the women and children I met. I was interested in learning more about the big-picture policies underlying the law. I wanted to understand why these mothers and children— who had quietly but firmly put their lives on the line to end cycles of abuse and create a better future—were being sent back into extremely dangerous situations in their home countries. I headed off to DC hoping to find answers and thinking that if anyone could explain the policy behind asylum law, I would find that person in the nation’s capital. Although I never stopped searching for answers, my time in DC was a blast. Coming from a small hometown, I was amazed by how much I liked the city. I was also amazed by how early everything closed. No middle-of-the-night snack runs to the Subway across the street—even the grocery stores closed by 8:00 p.m. Thankfully, there were many evening activities that were more fun than going to the grocery store. Students participating in the Washington Seminar stay at BYU’s Barlow Center, which is located between Georgetown—a quaint neighborhood with shopping, good food, and access to the Potomac River waterfront—and the Foggy Bottom metro station. It was easy to hop on the metro and ride to a museum, to the National Mall to see the monuments, or to any number of fun and exciting places. We even got to attend oral argument at the Supreme Court. I was also impressed by the professionalism of DC. Each morning the city seemed to be dressed in conservative colors as people from all different

The Barlow Center in Washington, DC, houses BYU students each semester.

backgrounds filled the streets in suit pants and pantsuits, dress shirts and dress suits; packing onto the metro in the morning, walking around the blocks at lunch, and taking the metro back home in the evening. Walking through the crowds, I’d hear snippets of people’s conversations—often about politics. Everyone seemed busy and everyone seemed informed. It was a great experience to blend in with the hustle and bustle and to feel that, even though I was just a law student, I was a part of the purposeful professionalism that kept the city moving. Some people were overwhelmed by the fast pace of the work or became tired of the formality surrounding it all. If I had stayed there long enough, I might have tired of it too, but in my single semester, I found meaning in the hurried hassle of it all. I also found meaning in my work. My supervisor and coworkers treated me more like a colleague than an intern. By welcoming my opinions

in staff meetings, assigning me substantive projects, and including me on team projects, they gave me a chance to push myself and helped me see how the skills I’d been acquiring in a classroom were actually valuable in a real-world setting. I enjoyed writing blog posts about legal immigration issues, analyzing federal immigration regulations, and working with legislators to provide immigration briefings and submit statements for the record in congressional hearings. My coursework during the seminar also provided a great learning experience. Law students and BYU undergraduate students participated together in a class each Friday, where we learned about everything from community-level civic engagement from the director of government relations at Lime (a startup electric scooter company whose scooters I enjoyed riding to work) to the workings of the Pentagon from a US colonel in the Office of the Under Secretary of the Defense. Law students in the seminar also took Professor Aaron Nielson’s administrative law class. Most of the time Professor Nielson taught us remotely from Provo, but he visited us a number of times in Washington, DC. We had class in a top-floor conference room of Kirkland & Ellis, while the students in Provo connected virtually. We didn’t realize it at the time, but we got a head start on virtual education, which came in handy winter semester 2020. As I studied administrative law in class and researched federal regulations in my internship, I began to unravel some of the complexity surrounding immigration law

and found some answers to my questions. Words and phrases like delegated authority, discretion, and executive departments took on more significance. I learned how government agencies interact with Congress and the laws that Congress prescribes. I learned that those agencies create their own rules and regulations— rules and regulations that directly impact my life, your life, and the lives of the women and children in Dilley. Beyond my textbook reading, I also saw firsthand how in the professional frenzy to get things done and make things happen, it’s possible that some rules and regulations turn, like the cogged wheels of an old grandfather clock, without much regard for the individual lives that hang in the balance like the swinging pendulum. The effects of policy on individual lives are not wholly or purposely ignored, but the policy-making political machinery of DC responds to the people who send their representatives there. It responds to the people with advocates in the room. My experience in the Washington Seminar gave me an inside view of the workings of government—a perspective that broadened my understanding of legislation and policy-making and that will change my practice in important ways. However, it has also taught me that, while a lot gets done by powerful people and intelligent minds in Washington, the answer to my questions about how to shape immigration policy to protect individuals like the women and children I met in Dilley, Texas, won’t all come from DC. The answers will come from people like you and me.

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A Look at Seven BYU Law Grads -------------B Y R AC H E L E DWA R D S

FROM THE FIELD

Getting Comfortable with Difficulty “I love seeing how legislation works,” says Alex Westenskow, ’20. “I love the process—it’s frustrating, awful, and interesting.” Which is one reason why Alex studied law. “I made the goal to attend BYU Law in 2011. Even though life hit and stuff happened, I just kept pushing until everything lined up,” he says. Prior to law school, he studied political science at Utah Valley University, where he worked at the Center for Constitutional Studies. Later he took a position as communications advisor for US Senator Mike Lee. While at BYU Law, Alex interned with the Salt Lake City Immigration Court. He says, “Seeing what individual immigrants go through, what the attorneys go through, and how judges evaluate cases was life changing. I knew I had found where I was supposed to be.” 38

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Alex has been selected to be part of the Attorney General’s Honors Program—the nation’s premier entry-level federal attorney recruitment program. Following graduation, he will clerk for a US immigration court in Arizona. “It’s a tender time for people who have pending immigration status. There are many families that don’t know what’s going to happen,” he says. “The most valuable thing I learned at BYU Law is to embrace what’s hard rather than distancing myself from it. You can be comfortable with difficulty.”

Discovering Tax Law Brittney Herman, ’20, has come full circle. She was born in Utah but moved with her family 15 times, living in 10 different states, before returning to Utah to attend BYU Law. An English literature major and music minor at Tennessee Technological University, Brittney was surprised to find herself gravitating toward taxation in law school after

interning for the IRS. “Other areas of law are very theoretical,” she says. “I like that with tax law you can come up with a definitive answer.” Dean Christine Hurt has been an influential mentor. “There are often very few women in tax classes. Dean Hurt has been fantastic, making me feel that I belong in tax and that I have the capability to do what I want to do,” Brittney says. She will pursue an LLM in taxation at Georgetown University this fall and take a clerkship with a US tax court before returning to work at the IRS. Brittney is also passionate about raising the standard of sex education laws. During her 2L year she launched We Will, a nonprofit focused on the prevention and mitigation of sexual assault. “In states where there are better sex education laws, there are fewer sexual assaults,” Brittney explains. “I love that BYU Law has supported me in creating the nonprofit.” Opting In “Growing up in Dubois, Wyoming, population 971, I never really thought that I would explore the world,” says Katie Barnes, ’20, “but I’ve had the opportunity to live abroad and travel.” Katie and her four siblings were homeschooled, and she spent her childhood

exploring her family’s 32-acre farm on her mustang. After graduating from Southern Utah University with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Katie spent six months teaching English in China. When she returned, she started thinking about law school and worked at a small firm to get a feel for the law. “I was mostly doing grunt work, but I absolutely loved it,” she says. After her first year at BYU Law, Katie had a decision to make. “I loved my contracts class and thought about becoming a transactional attorney; I also thoroughly enjoyed participating in moot court, so I thought maybe I should choose litigation. I decided to flip a coin,” she says. Transactional law won the toss, and Katie spent her 1L summer working to earn a 2L summer internship at Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto, California, where she will return in October as a corporate associate. Katie says law school taught her not to close doors for herself unnecessarily: “Sometimes by not closing doors, amazing things can happen—don’t opt out.” Helping the Helpless Miranda Sherrill, ’20, was 16 when her parents were given custody of four of her cousins who had been in the foster care system. The experience opened

her eyes to ways the law could help people. “When we took my cousins into our home, I saw all the problems in their lives,” she says. “I wanted to help but felt that all I could do was offer a Band-Aid.” Miranda studied political science at the University of Chicago and interned with the Chicago mayor’s office and a policy think tank, which reinforced her interest in law school. “My mentors told me that having a law degree was important for the kind of work I wanted to do,” she says. While at BYU Law, Miranda discovered her passion for antitrust law. During her 2L summer,

she interned with Jones Day in Washington, DC, and worked on several antitrust projects. After graduation, Miranda will clerk for the Supreme Court of Georgia and the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She then hopes to join Jones Day’s antitrust group. Miranda says BYU Law has changed the way she thinks about helping other people: “Unlike the way I saw the world before, where people were just helpless, I am always thinking through ways that the law can help.”

decision. An economics major, he was uncertain about his career path, but, taking a classmate’s advice, he applied for and landed a job at University Growth Fund (UGF), the largest student-led venture capital firm in the United States. “Since then, my career pursuits have all been centered around working in the venture capital space,” he says. At UGF, Peter worked with a BYU Law student who had accepted a job with a startup-focused law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. “That was exactly what I wanted to do,” Peter says. Originally from Twin Falls, Idaho, Peter never envisioned himself at BYU Law. “I’m not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I’ve met a lot of good people who really like BYU. That put it on the map for me,” he says. After graduation, Peter will join the venture fund formation group at Gunderson Dettmer in Silicon Valley. “In law school you hear a lot about what your peers are doing, and you think maybe you need to be doing all those things,” says Peter. His advice: “Have the confidence to know what you like, and double down on that.”

Doubling Down on Startup Law When Peter Seppi, ’20, was a sophomore at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, he made a trajectory-changing

Bringing About Education Change When Rhonda Peck, ’20, served as president of the Student Bar Association from 2018 to

2019, her focus was on building a cohesive student community, so she threw herself a birthday party and invited everyone at the Law School. “I love bringing people together and creating opportunities for people to build relationships and friendships,” she says. “I wouldn’t have enjoyed my law school experience without putting that part of myself into it.”

Rhonda graduated with joint degrees in law and educational leadership and plans to pursue a PhD in higher education. “I am fascinated by educational reform and competency-based learning,” she says. Rhonda is open about her own educational struggles with dyslexia. Not expected to read past a fifthgrade level, she graduated with honors from BYU–Hawaii with a bachelor’s degree in political science. “When life gets discouraging, I think about the people that I know who have been marginalized or who haven’t been given the same opportunities as me,” she says. “My legal education has taught me how to use the privilege that I have and leverage it.” She interned with the Utah System of Higher Education working on policy revisions— something she found “enthralling.” And at BYU Law, she says, “I have learned to have more compassion and to see things from different angles.”

Moving into the Corporate Sphere By the time he was 10 years old, Tyler Kivley, ’20, knew law was in his future. He says, “Instead of dreaming of becoming a sports star or a firefighter, I wanted to become a lawyer.” Raised in Modesto, California, Tyler earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from BYU. After law school he plans to return to his home state to work at Wilson Sonsini, a firm in the San Francisco Bay Area that specializes in business, securities, and intellectual property law. “I’m interested in the general corporate sphere, specifically fundraising and deal making,” he says. Tyler credits BYU Law professor Matthew Jennejohn for piquing his interest in corporate law during his 1L year while working with him on a project dealing with mergers and acquisitions. Then, as a 2L he was involved in BYU’s Corporate Law Society, a club for students interested in corporate and transactional law. Tyler says the most valuable part of his law school experience is the lifelong friendships he has made. “There are a lot of incentives and temptations that first year to play it solo and just take care of yourself,” he says. “My friends at law school broke that down very quickly. Law school is temporary, but these relationships can be permanent.” t h e

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FROM THE FIELD

n Sunday, July 28, 2019, 20 high school students from all over California arrived in Provo ready for BYU Law Camp (formerly known as the BYU Civics, Law, and Leadership Camp). But first they stopped by the home of the TJ Brinkerhoff family for a barbecue and an evening of fun. The students traveling by car were also fed in Las Vegas on their way to Provo at the home of Chris Johnson, who is a friend of the Brinkerhoffs. Johnson learned about BYU Law Camp from his cousin LaShawn Chester, and when he heard that the California students were chosen by their pastors because of their commitment to the values taught by the Savior, he wanted to help not only by feeding them but also by making a donation with the promise to continue each year. Brinkerhoff, Johnson, and Chester are just a few in an ever-growing community of partners who have joined together to offer a life-changing opportunity to high-caliber California youth. BYU Law Camp is an important part of a continuing relationship between the John A. Widtsoe Foundation, the North America West Area Public Affairs Council of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS), and churches and community organizations 40

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The Civics Camp Initiative --------------

BUILDING COMMUNITY

BY LARRY EASTLAND, CHAIRMAN OF THE

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S , J O H N A . W I D S T O E F O U N D AT I O N

throughout California. What began a few years ago with three high school students from the Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles has grown to a commitment of 20 students a year attending BYU Law Camp from Baptist churches, Hispanic evangelical churches, and nonprofit, youthcentered, inner-city organizations across California. It is a relationship that has yielded impressive fruit.1 Starting the Civics Camp Initiative Relationships of trust develop over a long period of time. This one began at a funeral more than a decade ago. When the daughter of a fellow marine officer and friend was tragically killed in an automobile accident, I spoke at her funeral at Pilgrim on behalf of Marine Corps

families. This led to a partnership between Pilgrim and the Santa Monica Young Single Adult Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I was bishop at the time. Members of the YSA ward began tutoring high school students at Pilgrim every Wednesday evening. Those sessions gradually moved from tutoring to mentoring, and now Pastor Albert Nicholas of Pilgrim and Bishop Trevor Brazier of the YSA ward are seeing college graduates from among the early participants. In 2017 BYU Law announced that it would hold a weeklong residential camp for high school students interested in civic engagement, law, and leadership. Students attending the camp would be instructed on principles of law and effective leadership, introduced to legal

professionals and scholars, and given an opportunity to put what they learned into action. The LA Chapter of the JRCLS agreed to sponsor three students from Pilgrim to attend the camp. The goal from the beginning was to enable highly motivated students with a firm commitment to the values represented by BYU to attend the camp regardless of the financial circumstances of their families. The scholarships provided by the LA Chapter covered the costs of the camp, transportation to and from Provo, and an allowance for the students’ needs before and during the camp. The experience of the Pilgrim youth in 2017 was so positive that Pilgrim and the LA Chapter partnered again the following year to send

more students to BYU Law Camp. In 2019 the partnership expanded to include the California Missionary Baptist Convention of 300 churches and other churches and civic organizations across California. The generous example set by members of the LA Chapter and other donors in 2017 has been magnified in subsequent years, with donations from various organizations and individuals reaching $23,000 in 2019. These efforts have resulted in the creation of the Civics Camp Initiative. And this community of individuals,

for our young Californians is Pastor Nicholas, who sent the initial group of students to BYU Law Camp in 2017 and continues to send more each year. Reverend E. Wayne Gaddis, who is president of the California Missionary Baptist Convention, a recipient of the JRCLS (Washington, DC) Religious Liberty Award, and a distinguished fellow of the John A. Widtsoe Foundation, works tirelessly all across America to bind up the wounds of those in need (see Psalms 147:3). He is now a full partner in the Civics Camp

like Alana Troutt, have provided connections to organizations such as Improve Your Tomorrow, which sent students to the camp in 2019. The NAWA Public Affairs Council is a prime sponsor of the Civics Camp Initiative and has reached out throughout California to additional congregations and nonprofit centers to find high school students coming from at-risk circumstances. The John A. Widtsoe Foundation, which, in association with the University of Southern California and Chapman University, strives

to bring scholars and leaders of faith together, has become the home of the Civics Camp Initiative, coordinating donations and providing staffing for logistics and administration.

congregations, and organizations committed to public service in collaboration with BYU Law Camp has provided students with a greater understanding of the society in which they live, how it works, and how it can work for them and those they will serve. Gathering a Group of Contributors Among those who have dedicated significant time and resources to make this unique opportunity possible

Initiative, and the students in his congregation are anxious for the opportunity to attend BYU Law Camp next year. LaShawn Chester, whose daughter was one of the first students to attend BYU Law Camp, has become the executive director of the Civics Camp Initiative. She has accompanied the students to and from Provo and has acted as liaison with BYU Law Camp staff. Her daughter is now a senior mentor for other students attending the camp. Other individuals,

Changing the Future for Students The most important contribution, however, has been made by the students themselves. Not only have they been enriched by the BYU experience, but they have enriched the experience for other youth. The students sponsored by the Civics Camp Initiative are taught by their leaders about the BYU Honor Code and commit to continue to live by the teachings of Jesus Christ and use what they learn to better their communities. They and their families

take the risk of stepping out of their own communities to join with other youth in Provo, many of whom are of another faith, far from the urban life of California cities. The students develop relationships across congregations and faiths and make lifetime friendships with youth from various backgrounds and ideologies. They leave Provo as part of a greater group of youth who have learned from each other, grown to love and appreciate their similarities and differences, and created shared experiences. But it doesn’t end there. The Civics Camp Initiative is working to ensure that, once the students return home to California, they are connected with a nearby JRCLS chapter, where they can meet with local attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals and be given a mentor to further their education in the law and in the principles of leadership as they prepare for the future. BYU Law Camp and the Civics Camp Initiative are doing far more than bringing high school students together for one week in August. They are bringing congregations together. They are developing young people who are dedicated to giving back to their community. The good that this does in the California communities is incalculable. NOTE 1 See, e.g., Cora Jackson-Fossett, “Pilgrim Baptist Teen Boosts Leadership Skills at BYU Law Camp,” Los Angeles Sentinel, August 14, 2019, lasentinel.net /pilgrim-baptist-teen-boosts -leadership-skills-at-byu-law -camp.html.

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I first met Wendy Archibald in 2008 when she dropped by my office after being hired as the dean of students at BYU Law School. She introduced herself, asked if I had time to talk, then dropped down in an office chair, not to tell me about her job and what she expected to do for the students and me but to simply chat. We found many connections that day—theater, music, food. We were friends when she left. Wendy Archibald believed that we are all connected—that everything we do affects the people in our lives and their reactions in turn affect others. The following quote by Robert F. Kennedy was enshrined in her office: Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.1

ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

Drop a pebble in a still pond and watch the ripples travel, spreading and expanding as they move outward. The ripples become a current, moving from person to person, gradually increasing the pebble’s influence. The ripple effect is a connection between those in need and those who want to help. The ripples Dean Archibald created are washing over the world, connecting her to countless souls. 42

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The Ripple Effect --------------

WENDY ARCHIBALD’S LIFE OF CONNECTION (1958–2019) B Y J A N E W I S E , A S S O C I AT E D I R E C T O R , B Y U I N T E R N AT I O N A L C E N T E R F O R L AW A N D R E L I G I O N S T U D I E S

Compassion Ripples Dean Archibald changed my life as she changed the lives of hundreds of other students. I have never met anyone with such ferocious compassion. She was so loyal, so energetic, so funny, and so kind. I wanted to grow up to be just like her. She empathized with me at times when others wouldn’t have, at times when I had made terrible decisions. She was there at my lowest moments. I found myself in Utah just months after my brother’s death. She listened to me grieve and cry and yell against the encroaching darkness. While I was there, I told her about my sister who was struggling to take care of her

three children. Dean Archibald told me that it only took one devoted adult to change the direction of a child’s life. Those words stuck with me. I wish I could tell her now that I am not miserable anymore. I wish I could tell her what a difference she made in my life.2 As a child, Wendy came across a stray dog and was shocked when told the dog had no home. She then declared that all strays could come home with her. From that time on, anyone who felt marginalized or excluded would always be welcome in her home. Wendy knew who she was and what she had to

offer. Every day she used her spiritual gifts to bless the lives of students. She knew when to listen, when to empathize, when to speak, and when to give valuable insight or ask questions that helped students find their own solutions. Communication was her love language. When she was diagnosed with cancer on August 19, 2019, one of her main concerns was that she didn’t want her diagnosis to overshadow or take away from any student concerns. She knew all too well the struggles that students were going through, from cancer to divorce to depression. Up until the time she quit working

because brain surgery was necessary, she didn’t shift the focus to herself but insisted on taking care of the students for whom she was responsible. Joy Ripples Dean Archibald was the best. Her smile warmed the whole law school—and she wore it fearlessly even when I know it was tough. Her laugh was rich and relentless—and she used it to lift heads, hands, and hearts. And her eyes were true—she saw everyone she met. Wendy radiated joy, and more importantly, that is what people felt. Don’t assume that those she most affected were those influenced while she was dean of students; her influence began the day she walked into the Law School building in the fall of 1990, where her interactions with others changed not only their law school experience and their legal career but their very lives, just by association with her. She dressed in bold colors. She loved bling—pins, necklaces, earrings. She said, “I always want to look happy.” She came to law school prepared. She knew what she wanted to do with her life. On the law school application, she was asked, “How and where do you intend to use your legal education?” She wrote a short sentence: “I hope to use my legal training in public service.” Her intent was to help others— to do good—and the way she did it was to radiate joy. Attached to her law school application was her résumé. She had listed all the things she had done as a student at BYU, her work in the travel industry, and then her work in public policy in Washington, DC. At the end she had a section called

“Complementary Experience.” There she put down that she had served as a hospice volunteer with this description: “Provided emotional support for terminally ill patients and their families during crisis.” It applied perfectly to her work as dean of students. Advocacy Ripples I met Dean Archibald at an event for prospective law students. She spoke with me very sincerely and shared experiences that helped me make the decision to attend law school. She was a light to everyone within her sphere. . . . She was so kind and supportive when I told her I was expecting my first baby as I was finishing my 3L year (I graduated in December with her help), and her love and support of that crazy last semester was invaluable. She told me that I could do it and that we would figure it out—and she did and we did. She held my baby and praised my final semester efforts, and I could feel her love and passion for her students and their journey through law school. She was a fabulous light and a delight, and I will always remember her kindness. Wendy grew up on an Idaho dairy farm where she learned the value of hard work. She could stack hay, top corn, pull weeds, dig post holes, cut wood, and care for the horses, cattle, and other animals with the best of them. This is where Wendy learned how to work hard, and she never stopped; she just refocused that work ethic into fierce advocacy skills honed in law school. One of her favorite things about attending BYU Law School was that she could go

“Dean Archibald changed my life as she changed the lives of hundreds of other students. I have never met anyone with such ferocious compassion. She was so loyal, so energetic, so funny, and so kind. I wanted to grow up to be just like her.”

to class, fight tooth and nail over issues with her classmates, and then happily go to lunch with those same friends. Taking up a particular cause or policy didn’t change personal connections for Wendy. Wendy saw everyone as children of God, her vision unaffected by skin color, sexual orientation, gender, or disability. She was a fierce advocate defending those under her purview, and she worked Monday through Friday, weekends, holidays, and into the wee hours of the night for students in need. In the two years before her death, Wendy had her knees replaced, her hips replaced, her feet worked on, and two eye surgeries, partly because she loved to move freely and wanted to see clearly and partly because she knew she didn’t belong to herself. She was the Lord’s servant to her family, her students, and the others she served. She wanted to be the best she possibly could be.

way she could. I appreciated her sense of humor that could ease an awkward situation, her continued friendship after graduation, and most importantly her testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The joy that Wendy radiated, her compassion, and her advocacy were a reflection of the love of our Savior that she felt toward every person she ever met. She embodied what Joseph Smith taught when he said, “A [woman] filled with the love of God is not content with blessing [her] family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole of the human family.”3 She was so full of love that it couldn’t be contained. NOTES 1 Robert F. Kennedy, “Day of Affirmation Speech,” University of Capetown, Capetown, South Africa, Jun. 6, 1966. 2 This and other italicized student/ alumni comments were taken

Love Ripples Dean Archibald knew my name seemingly before I even stepped into the Law School. She was, I realize now, like that with everyone—quick to know you, quick to love you, and quick to heal you in whatever

from a Facebook memorial page dedicated to Dean Archibald. 3 Joseph Smith, Letter, Nauvoo, IL, to Quorum of the Twelve, England, Dec. 15, 1840, p. 2; handwriting of Robert B. Thompson; eight pages; JS Collection, Church History Library.

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Justice for All --------------

A NEW EXHIBIT IN HONOR OF THE CARL J C H R I S T E N S E N C I V I L J U S T I C E I N I T I AT I V E B Y R AC H E L E D WA R D S

ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

n January 24, 2020, BYU Law unveiled an exhibit honoring the new Carl J Christensen Civil Justice Initiative, an endowed fund established for the purpose of promoting a civil justice system that is open and fair to all participants. Located in the south wing of the foyer of the Law School, the exhibit features photographs and synopses of three momentous cases in US jurisprudence, each of which illustrates a trial strategy, testimony, or judgment that changed the civil justice system in the country. The initiative is named in honor of Carl J Christensen (1929–2016), a former district court judge in Las Vegas, Nevada, who dedicated his life to the practice of law and the pursuit of justice for all. Judge Christensen served Clark County courts in Nevada for over 22 years. After retiring from the bench, he continued working alongside his son Thomas Christensen, ’82, in his Las Vegas practice, trying his last case at the age of 80. Addressing the BYU Law community at the unveiling ceremony, Thomas 44

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Christensen spoke about Judge Christensen’s life and legacy, focusing on his father’s conviction that “every individual deserves access to justice.” Christensen recognized Dean D. Gordon Smith for his leadership role in the access-tojustice movement in the state of Utah and expressed hopes that the Christensen endowment would further the aims of that project and others like it. “BYU Law is the place where the best trial lawyers and trial judges are educated, where the best thoughts about our civil justice system are created and exposed,” Christensen said. “We are calling this an initiative because it is just the beginning of the focus on the civil justice system. I hope that as time goes by, BYU Law will continue to foster students, professors, and programs that will advance civil justice in the legal system.” The Christensen exhibit includes large-scale black-andwhite photographs capturing key moments and individuals associated with the legal outcome of the three featured cases, along with a discussion of the significant impact of each case on the civil justice system. 1 In Brown v. Board of Education, the trial strategies

employed by future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and his colleagues at the NAACP paved the way for one of the most significant legal decisions in US history, in which the United States Supreme Court held that segregation on the basis of race had no place in public education. 2 The Supreme Court’s decision in Wisconsin v. Yoder highlighted the significant role that expert testimony plays in trial proceedings when it relied heavily on such testimony in holding that an Amish community provided an adequate alternative mode of continuing informal vocational education for its school-aged children.

3 The judgment issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corporation, affirming a wrongful death verdict on behalf of individuals harmed by the use of asbestos-based insulation, ultimately led Congress to pass legislation prohibiting the use of such insulation in public buildings. The generous contribution of the Carl J Christensen family and other donors will create opportunities for BYU Law to promote fairness in the civil justice system. For more information on the exhibit or to make a donation to the Civil Justice Initiative endowment, please visit law.byu.edu/christensen-cji.

The Joys of Consecrated Service -------------B Y A M B E R LY P A G E

ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

The sunlight pouring through the large windows into the Stephanie S. and John L. Sorensen Student Commons fit perfectly with the joyful countenance of John Sorensen as he circulated the room, welcoming everyone with characteristic kindness and enthusiasm. The Sorensen Student Commons, named in recognition of the generosity and support of the Sorensens for BYU Law, provides students with a place to gather for meals and conversations, blow off steam by playing ping-pong, catch their breath on the couches, or conduct business in cocurricular offices. On this beautiful November day, BYU Law faculty, staff, students, and friends found seats wherever they could to enjoy yet another generous gift from the Sorensens—a catered lunch and some important food for thought for the future. “It is a tremendous honor to be with you today,” John Sorensen began. “In my opinion, you have the unique privilege and honor of attending the finest law school in the world—not the finest and best law school in Utah, or the western US, or all of the US, but the whole world!” Sorensen reminded BYU Law students that

they had chosen to study law in a “hallowed place” and that their presence at the school was not an accident. He said, “It is entirely by divine design that you are here now. Please feel and know that divine design is a blessing and a stewardship. It is our duty to learn and then go and do. You are the rising leadership generation for this school and for The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Sorensen noted that prospective lawyers “study, study, and study to pass the bar [exam] so that they can practice law,” but he reminded students that “we all will stand to be judged before ‘the pleasing bar of God’ [Jacob 6:13]. We will all meet our eternal Judge and our Savior. If we are thoughtful and careful, we can plan exactly how our judgment will turn out.” Sorensen identified six values that would help students prepare for that “pleasing bar” and lead to personal and professional success and satisfaction: service, integrity, enthusiasm, determination, humility, and intention. “Focus on what you will do with your education and professional career to bless and serve others and to build the kingdom of God on the earth,” Sorensen said. “We must conduct our personal lives and our professional careers so we can . . . be viewed as having outstanding moral character and

exceptional reputation in what we say, what we do, and how we behave.” Sorensen urged students to research potential employers and choose an employer with a reputation for and commitment to ethical and moral excellence. “When our lives are finished and we return to the God who gave us life, He will not be interested in how much money we earned but rather how we earned it and what the outcome was of the profits we helped create,” he said. Sorensen cited the influence that having a “yes attitude” has in his life and counseled: “Optimism and enthusiasm are critical for success. . . . Every business has problems—even, from time to time, embarrassing weaknesses. The foundation for finding and implementing solutions to the problems, challenges, and even the harsh realities of failure is an untiring enthusiasm and a positive attitude.” With regard to determination, Sorensen cautioned: “Without determination, the inevitable roadblocks, setbacks, disappointments, and failures will stop us from reaching our

professional goals and our personal goals.” He recommended that students spend some time studying the topic of determination and partner that determination with humility. “I have noticed that those who work very, very hard and combine their hard work with humility have greater happiness and more success,” he said. “We need to keep our egos in check at all times, always acknowledging that any success we have in life . . . is from God.” Finally, Sorensen encouraged students to act with intention. “I try to start every day asking, ‘John, what are you doing to seek the kingdom of God—and, even more importantly, to build the kingdom of God?’” Sorensen promised the students that “personal happiness grows, even explodes in joy, the more we love and serve others.” It was clear that Sorensen knew whereof he spoke: his joy was palpable and evidence of his service and love was manifest throughout the Sorensen Student Commons. The BYU Law community has been and will continue to be blessed by the kindness and generosity of the Sorensens.

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LEGAL TECHNOLOGY TIP

Redaction 101 By Tina Wilder, Legal Technology Librarian, Howard W. Hunter Law Library

-------------Redaction is the process of permanently removing information from a document and is utilized to protect confidential information, including social security numbers, private health information, financial records, trade secrets, and otherwise privileged information. Redaction mistakes can be very costly both financially and reputationally. At the Hunter Law Library at BYU Law, we hold regular technology trainings to help students learn skills and become familiar with tools they will use in practice. Our students have been eager to understand what proper redaction looks like and how to avoid a redaction mistake that would make headlines.

Pdraftraph

Here are three tips for protecting client information and avoiding redaction mistakes: 1 Use the right tool for the job. During a major case last year, a news outlet reported that attorneys accidentally leaked grand jury information when they publicly filed court documents without properly redacting the sensitive information. In explaining the mistake to the court, the attorneys said they had utilized Microsoft Word to redact the information instead of their redaction software. Using the right tool for the job ensures that the redaction is properly performed. Adobe Acrobat has a tool designed specifically for redaction. Begin by applying OCR (optical character recognition) to the entire document. This will make the text in your document searchable and selectable. Next, select Redact Text & Images under the Edit menu.

PRACTITIONER TIP

Practicing as In-House Counsel By David Bertoch, ’85, Executive Counsel, ExxonMobil Corporation

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IN PRACTICE

After graduating from BYU Law, I clerked for Justice Robert E. Bakes of the Idaho Supreme Court. His mentoring both professionally and personally was incredibly formative for a newly minted JD. On completing my clerkship, I was anxious to get into private practice and was especially interested in litigation practice. I learned from the Law School placement office that Exxon USA was accepting applications and that the contact was Wallie Rasmussen, 46

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whom I had met while cochairing an environmental law symposium at the Law School. On a lark I submitted my résumé and was invited to come to Houston for an interview. A week after the interview, I received a job offer. I accepted and never looked back. Here are my top tips on practicing as in-house counsel: 1 Learn as much as you can about the business. You pick your client up front, so it pays to learn as much as possible before taking the job. What industry are they in, and what

judg Use the cursor to highlight the text being marked for redaction, then choose Apply.1 You have just redacted the information. Be sure to save your work. 2 Always redact a copy, not the original. Redaction is the permanent removal of information from a document. Thus, it is important to perform redaction on a copy of a document and not the original. Adobe Acrobat will automatically create a copy for you with the word Redacted in the file name. Be sure to use Save As, and save this copy in your client’s file.

is the business culture? How big is the legal department and how diverse is the practice? At ExxonMobil the practice areas are as diverse as in the biggest law firms. I started my career in the litigation group, but I have also practiced occupational safety and health, environmental compliance, large-scale transactional matters involving billions of dollars of investment, and, most recently, international trade and investment protection. 2 Learn as much as you can about how the company is managed, i.e., how management makes its business judgments. This advice, which I received from Wallie, has been invaluable because it has helped me craft my advice to be the most persuasive and add the

3 Test the results to ensure

the redaction was performed properly. To verify you have properly redacted your document, select text or images from the area you redacted. Then copy and paste your selection into a new Microsoft Word document. If information is revealed in the Word document, your redaction has not been applied properly. If no information is revealed, you have redacted correctly. NOTE 1 In prior versions of Adobe Acrobat, the redaction tool could be found by selecting Manage Tools under the Edit menu or typing “redact” into the Tools search bar. Once the tool was open, users would choose “Mark Items for Redaction” and then “Text & Images,” use the cursor to highlight the text to be redacted, and select Apply to complete the redaction.

most value. In addition to acting as legal advisors, ExxonMobil lawyers are expected to offer sound business advice when called upon (always making it clear when they are acting in the former capacity). 3 Be a strong team player, collaborator, and problem solver. As an early mentor in my career taught me, speak up and offer your advice; it’s what you’re being paid to do. Finding ways to achieve the company’s business objectives while ensuring legal compliance, avoiding undue risks, and protecting the company is perhaps the most rewarding part of in-house practice. As you do that, you will gain the trust and confidence of senior management, which in turn makes you a more effective lawyer.

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124

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2 0 1 5 –2 0 1 9 G R A D U A T E E M P L O Y M E N T What They Do

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Law and Corpus Linguistics

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BYU Law is leading the application of corpus linguistics to legal interpretation and analysis by producing scholarship and research tools, including the Corpus of Founding Era American English (COFEA).

Innovation Law Professor Stephanie Plamondon Bair brings insights from neuroscience to shape scholarly discussions of innovation and intellectual property law, including work examining poverty’s impact on creative decisionmaking and questioning IP’s role in promoting distributive justice.

Transactional Design Professor Matthew Jennejohn analyzes patterns in the development of innovative contractual structures, which helps explain how complex business transactions contribute to economic growth.

Disaster Law As a pioneer in the field of disaster law, Professor Lisa Grow Sun writes about disaster preparation, mitigation, and response, exploring how popular misconceptions about human behavior during disasters and the importation of national-security and war rhetoric have adversely affected disaster law and policy.

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The Young Mom --------------

BY MARIAH CRITCHFIELD, 2L

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We spoke for a few more minutes before I realized the executive director of the coalition had started talking with the law school group. I excused myself to go back over to them. During the tour, we walked through the industrial-sized kitchen and the living spaces upstairs. Decal quotes on the walls exuded an aura of community and good will. The services offered by the coalition were relevant and thoughtful: laundry machines, a barber shop, and a computer lab, among other things. I was impressed. After a brief training, I got to work taking notes for an attorney as clients came to our table seeking legal advice. We met one man grappling with possible bankruptcy and another wondering how to respond to a protective order. Their stories were compelling, but after the event, I found myself thinking more about the young mom I had talked with earlier that morning.

I had identified with her— we were at such a similar stage of life—and yet our lives looked so different. She was looking forward to getting a 20 dollar check and celebrating her baby’s first birthday in a motel room. I was looking forward to going back to my apartment and little family with another week of a graduate program under my belt. Balancing the pursuit of a legal education with my family has been an adventure. My husband and I are both in school, and I feel constantly torn between making time for my classwork and making time for my little girl and our home life. But that evening as I thought about the friend I had made at the coalition, I decided that maybe the challenge of balancing education and family wasn’t such a terrible thing. Some days I go to class tired or not completely prepared because my daughter has been sick or our babysitter is out of town and I have been playing

with animal puzzles instead of briefing cases. However, those experiences aren’t inhibiting my growth as an attorney; in fact, I think they might be enhancing it. My experience as a young mother has shaped how I think as a law student. Instead of half noticing someone in a lobby before proceeding casually on a tour of a building that her family depends on, I see myself in that woman. I am more aware of challenges that might be slowing her steps as she treks across the lobby. I want to listen to her challenges, and I want her to know she is heard. I am only at the beginning of my legal education. I cannot yet offer much to others in terms of legal advice. But there is much I can offer in terms of compassion. I hope that as my skills, experience, and efficacy as a lawyer increase, my compassion does as well. I hope that I never lose sight of that young mom walking in the coalition lobby.

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BRADLEY SLADE

ack and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth went the young woman with the stroller on the other side of the Provo Food and Care Coalition lobby. Each time she passed the information kiosk in the lobby’s center, I could see her from where I stood with my law school classmates, waiting for a tour. We had been invited to the building for a pro bono event where we would work with attorneys to provide advice to clients in need of legal assistance. As the young mom paused near the entryway, I recognized her expression. I had had that look on my own face many times. She was tired, stressed, and just wanted everything to work out. I crossed the lobby and approached her. “How old is your baby?” I asked her with a smile. “He’s turning one tomorrow,” she replied. “Happy birthday!” I smiled at her son. He was a smiler himself, but he was done being in the stroller. His mom pulled him out and held him on her hip. “I have a two-year-old,” I said, “and she can only put up with the stroller for so long, too!” The woman told me that her husband was meeting with one of the coalition employees. Once he finished, they needed to get a check from her last job and catch a bus to the motel where they were living. The bus came only once every hour.

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