William S. Richardson School of Law
University of Hawai'i at Manoa

KE KULA KANAWAI
"The Law School"

Our headline news this week is that DEAN LARRY FOSTER has announced that he will be stepping down as Dean as soon as a successor is found, probably in early 2003. DEAN FOSTER plans to devote more time to work on comparative law activities focused on the Asia-Pacific region as a member of the faculty. DEAN FOSTER is teaching an advanced law course in Directed Chinese Readings this semester.

A graduate of the law school who also holds a doctorate in Chinese language and literature, DEAN FOSTER returned to the law school in 1987 as Associate Dean and became Dean 7 years ago. His accomplishments are so many but with his support, the environmental law and Pacific-Asian law programs, our moot court teams, our faculty publications, teaching awards and community service, and fundraising for faculty development and student scholarships have all flourished. He has forged close working relationships with the downtown bar, the local bench and the international legal community, particularly the Asia-Pacific region. The school's diverse student body including over 50% women has maintained an excellent bar passage rate. Our graduates are well respected and are employed in every sector both in Hawaii and on the mainland. The law school, under DEAN FOSTER, has become a well-established and vital member of our university and legal community. He has brought the law school, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1998, to maturity in his own style and we will always be grateful. This is not yet Aloha Larry, but an opportunity to say Mahalo for all that you have done!

DEAN FOSTER leaves this week to meet with law schools and legal employers in Okinawa, Osaka, and Tokyo where he has been invited to speak about American legal education. He will also use the opportunity to promote our law school and our students who plan to work in Japan.

Congratulations to our Environmental Law Moot Court Team, CAL CHIPCHASE 3L, CHRIS KEMPNER 3L and DELLA AU BELATTI 2L, for reaching the semi-finals at the national competition at Pace University School of Law in White Plains NY this past weekend ending up among the top 9 schools with over 60 teams competing. They also won one of the three "best brief" awards – the first time our law school has won one of the coveted "best brief" awards in this competition. CAL, CHRIS and DELLA chose the side of the appellee (the private company defendant) in the Clean Water Act - hazardous waste case. More good news: CAL received the best oralist award in each of his two preliminary rounds. Kudos also to team coach PROF. DENISE ANTOLINI.

The Feb. 22, 2002 issue of KU LAMA, features a cover story and photo of the Pacific Regional Award Winner in the Jessup International Moot Court Team, our own JESSUP MOOT COURT TEAM, KANOE KANE 2L, LEILANI TAN 3L, CHASTITY IMAMURA 3L, WIL YAMAMOTO 3L and VANESSA JANN-JORDAN 3L along with team coach PROF. JON VAN DYKE. On page 7 of the same issue is a photo of law students JOSH MEDEIROS 1L, HANNAH GUTIERREZ 2L, ERIN ATKINSON 1L and DUKE OISHI 2L talking with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy while here for the Jurists-in-Residence Program earlier this month.

RANDY ROTH made three presentations in the ALI-ABA Advanced Estate Planning conference on Maui this past week-end on "Protecting Assets from Creditors Legally, Ethically and Morally," "Selected Recent Developments," and "Current Ethical Issues in Estate Planning."

DAVID CALLIES' participation in the YOU AND THE LAW IN HAWAI'I debate on the "Public Trust Doctrine" as it relates to land and water issues in Hawai'i including the implications of the Waiahole Ditch Supreme Court case was actually scheduled for Friday, 2/22/02 (not as previously noted). The program was also rebroadcast twice over the weekend on Channel 55.

JED DAVIS 3L, IAN HLAWATI 3L, KIM MOFFIE 3L and TRISHA WATSON 2L will be attending the 2002 Western Public Interest Environmental Law Conference next week in Eugene, Oregon. JED, IAN and TRISHA, as Pohaku Grant recipients, will each be presenting their Second Year Seminar papers. KIM received a Gagne Grant to attend.

JILL RAZNOV 2L and HOKULEI LINDSEY3L have been awarded Minority Fellowships by the Hawaii State Bar Association Natural Resource Section and the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. The fellowship includes a stipend of at least $3,000, membership in the HSBA Natural Resource Section, free admission to the Natural Resources Section's annual seminar at the HSBA bar convention, and an environmental mentor. Fellowship recipients have the opportunity to work in the environmental law field for government agencies or non-profit organizations during the summer. Funds are raised by the HSBA Natural Resource Section and matching funds are provided by the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. Major donors to this fellowship thus far include Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, McCorriston Miho & Miller, and Tesoro.

HISPANIC LAW STUDENTS ASSOCIATION's bake sale raised $184.00 towards helping to defray the cost of the Hispanic Moot Court Team's expenses to attend the Hispanic Moot Court Competition in Chicago in March.

CHRIS CHUN 3L organized a luau on Friday at Germaine's on the leeward coast. The fun included JOSEPH LEE 1L performing Tahitian dance and ERIN LUM 2L and DEAN LAURIE TOCHIKI '80 dancing to the Hukilau!

AMY TAKAHASHI '00 is completing an LLM in Tax and a Certificate in Employee Benefits at Georgetown Univ. Law Center. AMY will also be clerking for Judge Robert Faris of the US Bankruptcy Court District of Hawaii in September.

Alumni Association bowling on March 9th at Fort Shafter!

FLO NAKAKUNI '78, DANA ISHIBASHI '86, WILLIE DOMINGO '85 participated in the first Mentor Panel in Criminal Law last week.