A message from Willamette College of Law Dean and Professor Brian Gallini
A state of firsts, Oregon is no stranger to blazing a new trail. Oregon has been at the forefront of laws dealing with reproductive health, voters’ rights, climate change and equality. Now, in another historic moment, the state is leading the country in conversations about reimagining attorney licensure.
Alterative Ways of Licensure
In anticipation of opening new pathways for law students, Willamette Law plans to hire a cluster of faculty over the next two years to enhance and expand experiential learning in the curriculum.
Hiring Additional Faculty
In January 2022, Willamette Law announced that it would terminate conditional scholarships for future admitted students. All awards going forward will be renewable on the basis of academic good standing. The College of Law also engaged in a holistic review of scholarship awards held by current students in order to partially mitigate the effect of the conditional scholarship model under which they were admitted.
Conditional Scholarships
All students and alumni who attend any of the three public universities in the state — University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Alaska Southeast — are eligible for admittance to Willamette Law based on transparent academic credentials.
4+3 Program with Alaska
Willamette Law now offers a new Health Law Certificate Program along with five other robust programs. Willamette’s certificate programs emphasize the unique and comprehensive training that participants complete in certain legal areas.
Two of Willamette Law's business scholars and professors earned promotions this past March. Professor Karen Sandrik, who is also associate dean for faculty, celebrated a decade at Willamette in 2022 and was promoted to full professor. Professor Aaron Simowitz, who has taught for six years at Willamette, was granted tenure and is now an associate professor.
A tumultuous journey to celebratory graduation.
It was intended to be quick. When Willamette Law closed its doors on March 16, 2020, staff anticipated reopening just a month later. There was still time for on-campus finals, graduation, and bar prep. But, that’s not what happened.
As a young lawyer, Associate Dean Jeff Dobbins served as a clerk for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and saw the effort the Justice made to learn about a case as a whole while focusing on the legal questions at hand.
In her new role, Professor Robin Morris Collin will lead environmental justice efforts in communities disproportionately harmed by pollution.
Willamette Law is pleased to announce Professor Stephanie Davidson as its new director of the law library and associate professor of law
Grey is a voice in the international monetary conversation.
Matthew Fitzgerald JD '02 was promoted to JAG colonel.
Under a new partnership with Legal Innovators, Willamette Law students have increased access to top career opportunities.
Gabriel Parton Lee JD'16 anticipated going into labor and employment law after graduation, but in 2018, his career took what could only be described as a "wild" turn.
The Class of 2021 wasn’t presented with the diploma privilege extended to 2020 graduates. Instead, they prepared for the bar exam at home.
For decades, companies and attorneys have instructed teams of engineers, researchers, and computer scientists to ignore patents. The reasoning for this advice: if there is no pre-suit knowledge of a patent, then it is nearly impossible for a patent holder to prove that enhanced damages are warranted.
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In a new article forthcoming in the UCLA Law Review, Professor Keith Cunningham-Parmeter, an expert on labor and employment law analyzes the problem of customer discrimination against workers in online reviews.
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