UT Law graduates are first in the state for first-time test takers on the Ohio Bar Exam

Students who graduated from The University of Toledo College of Law and took the Ohio Bar Exam for the first time in July 2006 came in first in the state with a 94 percent passage rate, according to results released by the Supreme Court of Ohio.

“The class of 2006 is to be congratulated,” said UT College of Law Dean Douglas E. Ray. “The passage rate is a tribute to the quality of our students, the quality of our faculty and curriculum, and the many hours our graduates devoted to their studies.”

This isn’t the first year in recent history in which UT Law graduates have achieved impressive scores. In 2004, UT Law grads achieved a 90 percent passage rate for first-time July test-takers and a 93 percent passage rate for first-time February test-takers, tying for second in the state.

Graduates who just heard the news of their passage on the Bar exam were happy and relieved that their hard work paid off, as well as grateful for the years of law exams that exposed them to Bar-style essays. The Ohio Bar Examination includes one and a half test days of essays and one full test day of multiple choice questions, for a total of two and half days of testing.

“One thing that was extremely important was the preparation I received at UT Law and my professors’ insistence on modeling law exams after Bar-style essays,” said Jim Duggan ’06, who works at the Toledo law firm McMillan Sobanski & Todd, and found out about his passing score by checking the Supreme Court of Ohio’s web site at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 27, the day the results were released.

Christopher Timmermans ‘06, who also found out about his bar passage by checking the Supreme Court of Ohio’s web site, was busy at work that day at the Toledo law firm Cooper & Walinski. He said he was relieved to have the Bar Exam safely behind him: “Now I can concentrate on being a lawyer.”

New York University Press Publishes Book by UT Law Professor Rebecca Zietlow, the Charles W. Fornoff Professor of Law and Values

New York University Press, one of the most prestigious academic presses in the country, has published Professor Rebecca Zietlow’s first book, Enforcing Equality: Congress, the Constitution and the Protection of Individual Rights. The book was released by NYU Press on October 1.

The book focuses on the question of which entity is better suited to protect individual rights of citizens – Courts or Congress? The answer, according to Professor Zietlow’s extensive historical research, is Congress. Many argue that the courts have, throughout history, championed individual rights. The Rehnquist Court, they believe, was the anomaly making it more difficult for plaintiffs to enforce federal rights. Actually, Zietlow argues, the anomaly of the Court’s history is the more liberal Warren Court.

“Throughout our history, Congress has been more protective of our individual rights than the Courts,” she explained.

For more information about the book, click here.

Math for Lawyers: Multiple Fine Wines + A Fine Cause = One Fine Time

The Public Interest Law Association, a group of UT Law students dedicated to finding and forging opportunities for public interest work, is sponsoring a wine-tasting and silent auction, to which all attorneys are invited, on Feb. 8, 2007 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Proceeds from the event, held at Diva Restaurant in downtown Toledo, will help fund fellowships for UT Law students who are dedicating their summers to furthering the public interest.

Many students depend on fellowships to help offset the cost of taking unpaid summer internships – jobs that give students the chance to use their legal skills to help address unmet community needs. Without fellowships, many law students would not be able to take those jobs, according to UT Law career services specialist (and graduate) Jessica Mehl ’05. “We are seeing a huge growth in law student interest in public service opportunities, but that growth in interest has not been matched with a growth in funding for public interest minded students,” Mehl says. 

The event will feature an array of wines and chances to take some of the finest bottles home through a silent auction. The event is geared toward both experienced wine connoisseurs as well as recent graduates who would like to learn more about how to impress with a great wine selection. For cost of the event, and more information, click here. To reserve your spot, please call 419.530.2851. Payment or donations will gladly be accepted by credit card.

UT College of Law hosted authors, academics, scientists, environmentalists and attorneys at the Sixth Annual Great Lakes Water Conference

Professor Kenneth Kilbert served as chairman of the conference. Professor Kilbert joined the UT Law faculty in August after practicing for nearly 20 years in Pittsburgh, Pa., focusing on environmental litigation.

The University of Toledo College of Law continued its tradition of hosting important discussions on the future of the nation’s most treasured natural resource during the Great Lakes Water Conference on Dec. 1. The conference brought together experts from across the country and from Canada to examine some of the issues most compelling to the Great Lakes region.

"Leaders in law, policy and science tackled some of the toughest issues threatening the Great Lakes," said Kenneth Kilbert, environmental law professor at The University of Toledo College of Law, and chairman of the conference. "For persons interested in the future of our region, this annual conference is a must-attend event."

Speakers included representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Wildlife Federation, Climate Action Network Canada, and more. They spoke about climate change, wetlands regulation, and the most recent developments in the effort to unite the Great Lakes region on a common water policy.

Peter Annin, former Newsweek journalist and author of The Great Lakes Water Wars, was the morning keynote speaker at the Sixth Annual Great Lakes Water Conference.

The conference also featured two keynote speakers. Peter Annin, former Newsweek journalist and environmental reporter who has recently authored the book The Great Lakes Water Wars, kicked off the morning session of the conference. Vicki Thomas of the U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office in Chicago began the afternoon session with a talk about the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes..

The three panels explored three diverse topics, beginning with climate change, one of the most hotly debated and crucial issues in our nation and the world. Panelists discussed the impacts of global warming upon the Great Lakes region, the dispute over the United States’ regulation of greenhouse gas emissions soon to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, and Canada’s contrasting approach.

More than 100 people from across the Great Lakes region attended the conference, including attorneys, environmental activists, scientists and public officials.

The second panel addressed the legal landscape of wetlands regulation following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v. United States, in which a Michigan land developer successfully challenged the federal government’s authority to prevent development of his land under the auspices of the Clean Water Act. Panelists discussed what the government and developers are doing in the wake of Rapanos.

The third panel continued the Great Lakes Water Conference tradition of updating the community on developments in the effort to unite the Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces in a common water policy, including a strategy to prevent large-scale diversions of Great Lakes water to other parts of the nation and the world.

Save the Date: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to visit UT Law on March 13, 2007

The University of Toledo College of Law will welcome U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on March 13, 2007. Justice Scalia will give a talk, open to the public, at 2 p.m. in Doermann Theater on The University of Toledo campus.

The University of Toledo College of Law has hosted two other Supreme Court Justices in recent years – Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (now retired) in 2004 and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2006. Justice Scalia also visited the College of Law in March 2003.

 

A Message From Law Alumni Affairs Director Heather Karns:

A special thanks to all alumni who came out to receptions held across Ohio and elsewhere this fall – Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and at the State Bar of Michigan meeting in Ypsilanti. Stay tuned for communications from the Law Alumni Office about upcoming receptions and locations.

 
The entire College of Law community wishes you the happiest of holiday seasons