Notes About Members and Colleagues

• The University of Virginia Board of Visitors, in conjunction with the University School of Law, recently appointed ALI Council member Kenneth S. Abraham as a David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law. The professorship recognizes the most distinguished and accomplished senior faculty.

• Shirley S. Abrahamson, Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and a member of the Institute’s Council, was honored September 6 in the State Capitol rotunda in recognition of several important anniversaries marked in 2006: the 10th anniversary of her elevation to Chief Justice, the 30th anniversary of her appointment to the high court, and her 50th year as a lawyer.

• Luke J. Bierman, a Fellow in Government Law and Policy at Albany Law School’s Government Law Center, has been appointed to a new statewide task force created to improve town and village courts. The 14-member panel, formed by the New York City Bar Association and including judges and lawyers, will develop proposals to improve the state’s town and village court systems.

• Alfred Blumstein, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and an Adviser for the Institute’s Model Penal Code: Sentencing project, is the cowinner of the 2007 Stockholm Prize in Criminology. Professor Blumstein, who teaches urban studies at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, was awarded the prize for pioneering research into criminal behavior.

• In July, Elizabeth J. Cabraser, an ALI Council member, received a Distinguished Leadership Award from the Legal Community Against Violence, a San Francisco organization, in recognition of her extraordinary commitment to ending gun violence.

• ALI Council member Gerhard Casper, President Emeritus of Stanford University, has been named to the Chair of American Law and Governance in the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. As a Scholar in Residence, his main research will focus on Max Weber’s views on democratic governance.

• William G. Guerri was one of 24 honored at the St. Andrew’s Resources for Seniors "Ageless-Remarkable St. Louisans" 2006 celebration. The event recognized those who continue to make a positive impact throughout the community through volunteerism, philanthropy, and/or their career.

• D. Brock Hornby, U.S. District Judge for the District of Maine and an ALI Council member, was the keynote speaker at the 25th anniversary celebration of Gulfcoast Legal Services in Bradenton, Florida, where former ALI Council member Jack Martin of Boca Grande, Florida, received a Spirit of Justice Award for his outstanding lifetime achievement in pro bono service.

• In recognition of the contributions of Mary Kay Kane, also an ALI Council member, as chancellor and dean, the six-floor structure at 200 McAllister Street, which houses the University of California, Hastings College of the Law administrative and student service functions, faculty offices, dining commons, bookstore, and law library, has been renamed Mary Kay Kane Hall.

• Roberta D. Liebenberg of Philadelphia was one of seven named a "Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania" at ceremonies in Harrisburg for her work as an attorney "in handling complex commercial litigation and class actions."

• Carol Bensinger Liebman, Clinical Professor at Columbia University School of Law, has been selected as the first-ever Mediation Settlement Day Frontline Champion. This annual event is sponsored by NASD Dispute Resolution, in conjunction with the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Unified Court System, and over 100 national and regional alternative-dispute-resolution programs, bar associations, community-based programs, public-service organizations, and schools.

• On October 14, The Yale Law School Association, the alumni organization of Yale Law School, presented the Award of Merit to three Chief Justices: Margaret H. Marshall of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, a member of the Institute’s Council; Drayton Nabers, Jr., of the Alabama Supreme Court; and Randall T. Shepard of the Indiana Supreme Court. The recipients of this Award are recognized for having made a substantial contribution to public service or to the legal profession.

• Barbara W. Mather and Michael H. Reed of Philadelphia were among the 17 partners from Pepper Hamilton LLP recognized by Chambers USA as leaders in the 2006 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

• Charles E. McCallum of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been named chair-elect of the American Bar Association’s Section of Business Law. Mr. McCallum, who concentrates his practice in corporate and international business law, will become chair of the 45,000-member section in August 2007.

• Professor John D. McCamus of the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, an Adviser for Restatement Third, Restitution and Unjust Enrichment, has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada.

• David B. McCormack of Charleston, South Carolina, has been selected as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. This appointment is the highest recognition by one’s colleagues of sustained outstanding performance in the profession, exemplifying integrity, dedication, and excellence.

• William C. Powers, Jr., was installed as the 28th President of The University of Texas at Austin on September 29. Formerly dean of the university’s School of Law, President Powers is the Co-Reporter, with Professor Michael D. Green, for Restatement Third, Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm, and was Co-Reporter, also with Professor Green, for Restatement Third, Torts: Apportionment of Liability.

• Nancy B. Rapoport, professor at the University of Houston Law Center and its dean from 2000 to 2006, has been named the Gordon & Silver, Ltd. Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s William S. Boyd School of Law. This professorship is conferred upon a leading teacher and scholar in the area of commercial, bankruptcy, and business law.

• Mark Reutlinger, Professor Emeritus at Seattle University School of Law, has published the second edition of his book, Washington Law of Wills and Intestate Succession (Washington State Bar Association 2006). First published (with coauthor William Oltman) in 1985, it is the only comprehensive treatise on the subject in Washington State.

• Ronald D. Rotunda, University Professor and Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia, has published: "Frische Datteln für die Häftlinge," Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), January 2, 2006, at p. 2 (published in German); "The Propriety of a Judge’s Failure to Recuse When Being Considered for Another Position," 19 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 1187 (2006); the second edition of Principles of Constitutional Law (West Group 2005), with Professor John E. Nowak of the University of Illinois College of Law; the fourth edition of Legal Ethics: The Lawyer’s Deskbook on Professional Responsibility (ABA-Thomson-West 2006), with Professor John S. Dzienkowski of The University of Texas School of Law; and "CMS Information Policy Under Medicare ‘Part D’ Creates 1st Amendment Problems," 21 Legal Backgrounder (Washington Legal Foundation, No. 21, July 7, 2006).

• Marsha E. Simms of New York City has been elected Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She serves as Co-Chair with Robert E. Harrington of Charlotte, North Carolina.

• William K. Slate, II, of New York City has been elected a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Richmond. A 1968 graduate of the University’s School of Law, he is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Arbitration Association.

• ALI Council member Robert A. Stein recently stepped down after serving 12 years as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the ABA to return to teaching at the University of Minnesota Law School. During his tenure the ABA experienced notable growth in membership and diversity.

• Symeon C. Symeonides, Dean of the Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon, has been elected to two new international law association positions. At a meeting held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, he was elected vice president of the International Association of Legal Science. He also was elected president of the American Society of Comparative Law, the premier international comparative law organization.

• Patricia M. Wald, former Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and a member of ALI’s Council, served on the ABA’s Task Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the Separation of Powers Doctrine, which issued a report and recommendations to the ABA House of Delegates at its annual meeting in August.

• On October 9, Martha Lee Walters was sworn in as a Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court. Currently serving as Chair of the Executive Committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, Justice Walters will become its President in the summer of 2007.

• ALI Council member Herbert P. Wilkins, the former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and currently the Huber Distinguished Visiting Professor at Boston College Law School in Newton, Massachusetts, has been reappointed as chairman of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission for a three-year term.