DU-Lawyer Summer 2014-FINAL[1]

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STUDENT BRIEFS“I believe his parents really took the initiative to get thestory out, including using social media and African-Americanjournalists,” said McCants Lewis. Ultimately the mainstreammedia picked up the story, and “that coverage then put the standyour ground law into the media spotlight,” she said.Bellido de Luna said that race was certainly a factor in thetrial, most prominently in the cross examination of Martin’sfriend Rachel Jeantel, who Bellido de Luna said is a “sweet,intelligent, capable woman,” who was made to look uneducatedand ignorant because of the way she spoke and dressed.McCants Lewis pointed out that there were culturaldifferences between the jury and Jeantel, which the prosecutionfailed to bring to the jury’s attention—for instance—that Englishwas not Jeantel’s native tongue.“The defense didn’t come out and necessarily throw (race)in your face, but it was there,” said McCants Lewis.The panel agreed that the prosecution failed to effectivelymake its case because it didn’t prepare its witnesses, consistentlycontradicted itself and seriously fumbled its closing argument.“I was a prosecutor for a long time, and this was the worstthing I’d ever seen,” said Birdsong.Eric S. Donato, L’14, is the 2013-2014 executive editor ofJuris Magazine. This article was originally published onwww.jurismagazine.com.Women’s Law AssociationFrom left: Angela Reed Strathman, Lori Love, Christina Horton Duty, Madison Taylor, Nicola Henry-Taylor, Biannely Diaz, Ashley Wilkinson.On April 2, Duquesne University School of Law and theWomen’s Law Association celebrated its 22nd annual Woman ofthe Year event.This year’s event, held at The Common Plea, was the mostwell-attended in the history of Woman of the Year Awardsceremonies, which was no surprise, as our awardees were twoaccomplished and outstanding women. Receiving the RecentGraduate Award was Christina Horton Duty. Duty, a 2010graduate, was an extremely active student during her time atDuquesne Law School and continued on a path of success aftergraduation, working as an associate at Burns White and currentlyat Highmark.This year’s Woman of the Year Award was given to NicolaHenry-Taylor, a 1996 law graduate. Henry-Taylor successfullyruns her own private practice, which focuses mostly oncriminal and family law. She participates in many communityorganizations and is the current chair of the Allegheny CountyBar Association’s Women in the Law Division. Her hard work andtenacity have allowed her to rise up through the ranks of wellknownattorneys in the Pittsburgh legal community, and, at sucha young age, her accomplishments made her a wonderful anddeserving awardee for the Woman of the Year Award.Both awardees not only humbly expressed their gratitudein receiving their respective awards, but also took the time tooffer words of advice and encouragement to the young lawyersand law students in attendance. Duquesne University School ofLaw is very proud and much honored to have the opportunity tocelebrate the accomplishments these two outstanding women.34 THE DUQUESNE LAWYER
Corporate Law SocietyOn Jan. 16, the Corporate Law Society hosted its springsemester Corporate Law Panel, the second such event of its kindfor this academic year. The panelists included Travis Williams,L’96, current COO of the Pittsburgh Penguins and a formerpartner at Reed Smith; Brian Walters, L’95, vice president andgeneral counsel for Matthews International; William Ries, L’74,shareholder and practice group leader at Tucker Arensberg;and Thomas Grealish, BS’83, president at Henderson Brothers.Dean Gormley, along with James Miller, current Corporate LawSociety president, gave the opening remarks, while Peter Horne,current Corporate Law Society treasurer, served as the moderator.The panelists provided a variety of insights ranging fromdescriptions of their daily interactions with their associates andclients to describing what clients and potential employers expector desire from potential new hires. The focus of this discussionwas predicated on providing career advice for law studentsinterested in building their relationship management skills byboth networking with fellow attorneys and through building newclient relations.Brian Walters, Thomas Grealish, William Ries and Travis WilliamsFor more information on the panel or the Corporate LawSociety itself, please email clsduquesne@gmail.com.Energy and Mineral Law SocietyThe Energy and Mineral Law Society hosted an interactivediscussion with Nicholas J. DeIuliis, L’02, president and CEOof CONSOL Energy, Inc., about the current events and policyissues relevant to the energy industry. Beginning by outliningthe history of CONSOL, a 150-year-old corporation, DeIuliisintroduced the various issues that arise with the convergenceof energy policy and legal principles. He explained how thehistory of Pittsburgh has been built around energy industries,beginning with coal and steel, and risingagain with the growth in the Marcellus Shaleplays throughout western Pennsylvania andother neighboring states. DeIuliis elaboratedthat while the energy-rich region is as closeas Greene, Washington and Fayette counties,the industry has quickly become global asresources are shipped to manufacturers inChina and India, whose products then circleback to be sold in the U.S.DeIuliis described the various areas of thelaw that are involved in the coal and Marcellusindustries: From real property, includingsurface and mineral interest ownership;to corporate law topics, such as balancingshareholder expectations with updated SECreporting rules; to constitutional law, involvingthe checks and balances of state and federalindustry regulations.He also explained the relationship of the recent Act 13 decisionto decisions made by municipalities and states concerning theenergy companies. DeIuliis touched upon the importance ofethical negotiations, road use and maintenance agreementsspecific to the natural gas industry. He closed by discussing thecomplexities of geo-politics and the impact energy sources andenergy independence, or energy dependence, can have on globaldecision-makers.Nick Barone, Nick DeIuliis, Trisha Longenette and Emily BittleSUMMER 2014 35
Page 1 and 2: THESUMMER 2014The Duquesne Universi
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTSFEATURESLee Weidman’s Pag
Page 5 and 6: On a different note, I’d like to
Page 7 and 8: Westinghouse represented a myriad o
Page 9 and 10: A Passion for Giving:New Scholarshi
Page 11 and 12: would be to provide on into the fut
Page 13 and 14: emember things but must remember wh
Page 15 and 16: LAW SCHOOL NEWSNew Family Law Clini
Page 17 and 18: Marking Higher EducationJacob H. Ro
Page 19 and 20: FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTSSteven Baicker-
Page 21 and 22: Ronald J. RicciPUBLICATIONS/ARTICLE
Page 23 and 24: Mayor Bill PedutoClass of 1973 rece
Page 25 and 26: CLASS ACTIONS1961Peter Vaira was ap
Page 27 and 28: Amanda H. Sargent was promoted tome
Page 29 and 30: Daniel R. Schimizzi accepted a posi
Page 31 and 32: 2013 AlumniReceptionsPittsburgh, Pa
Page 33 and 34: STUDENT BRIEFSTrial AdvocacyDuquesn
Page 35: The Trayvon Martin Case: Was Justic
Page 39 and 40: ENERGY & MINERAL LAW LUNCH & LEARN:

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