On The Record - Columbus School of Law

A P P R E C I A T I N G E R U D I T I O Ndetainees at Guantanamo Bay has madehis long body of work a perfect match forthe times. Among other distinguishedpositions, Noone is a fellow of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces andSociety and director of InternationalSociety for Military Law and the Law ofWar, as well as president ofthe society’s committee on MilitaryCriminology and Crime.■ In Washington, D.C., there is no lackof legal and financial experts, pundits,think tank academics and opinionshapersof all stripes who are eager tooffer their insights on the great financialmeltdown of 2008. The finite numberof prominent platforms from whichto speak makes landing highly covetedspace in the op-ed pages a verycompetitive business. Professor HeidiSchooner’s article, “A Lashing for theBankers,” landed on one of the biggestprizes: the back page in the Oct. 20,2008, issue of Legal Times, the newspaperof record for the vast legal infrastructureof the nation’s capital. Schooner, who hastaught contracts, corporations, bankinglaw and commercial transactions for 15years at CUA, is a highly regarded experton banking issues with such works-inprogressas “Global Issues in FinancialInstitution Law.” Her Legal Times commentarywarned of pitfalls in the federalownership plan for large banks and predictedmore punishing regulation of thebanking industry in the future.■ Professor Stephen Goldman struckgold, too, in terms of having his professionalexpertise illuminated by the perfectspotlight. Goldman is the former presidentof a successful business thatemployed up to 200 people and later hadhis own management consultancy beforehe moved into the full-time practice andteaching of law. His 2008 book,Temptations in the Office: Ethical Choicesand Legal Obligations drew the attentionof Forbes, America’s leading businessmagazine. It published an interview withGoldman in July 2008 about his volume,which considered how employees’responses to key workplace challengessuch as sexual harassment, conflicts ofinterest, greed and abuse of power aregreatly influenced by management,which must set the tone by embodyingthe values that promote decent behavior.The book’s premise struck a nerve andled to further exposure through interviewswith National Public Radio, U.S.News and World Report and other nationalmedia. It also drew praise from legal colleaguessuch as John W. Adler of Adler,Murphy & McQuillen, LLP, in Chicago,who said, “My only regret on readingProfessor Goldman's new book is that Ihadn't had it earlier in my career. It is apractical, intelligent and readable workon a difficult subject and should be onevery businessman's book shelf.”■ Professor Lisa Lerman’s body of workon the subject of legal ethics has establishedher as one of the leaders in the fieldboth in and out of the profession. Theco-author of “Ethical Problems in thePractice of Law,” published in 2005,Lerman has written many articles aboutlawyers, law firm culture, the legal professionand legal education. While muchof her recent writing deals with issuesrelating to lawyer dishonesty and billingfraud, her scholarship has also tackled thefundamental issue of attorney-client privilege.In September 2008, for instance,Lerman was the featured guest on theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation’s“The Philosopher's Zone.” The radioprogram examined a famous Americanlegal ethics case from the 1970s, oftenreferred to as the Lake Pleasant Bodiescase, in which two attorneys who representedan accused murderer were themselveslater brought to trial for withholdingtheir knowledge of other murderstheir client had committed. An expert onthe circumstances and issues surroundingthe case, Lerman has also been quotedabout it in the ABA Journal, and shedelivered a paper on the ground-breakingcase at the Third International LegalEthics Conference in Brisbane, Australia.As a member of the legal community,Lerman has also demonstrated the braveryto criticize it when necessary. In 2007,she moderated a panel at the ABA’sNational Conference on ProfessionalResponsibility about an awkward and little-discussedsubject: bullying within lawfirms. She noted that it is not uncommonfor one or more of a firm's senior lawyersto verbally, physically or psychologicallyabuse subordinate lawyers and supportstaff.These examples are but a fewamong many instances of legal expertise,thinking and scholarship provided byCUA law faculty members that havebeen brought to bear on critical socialand professional issues. The attention ofthe media to one’s work, however, whilean undeniable ego boost, only one measureof success among many others.Writers, Readers, ResearchersColumbus School of Law professorsare a prolific bunch. During 2007–2008, for example, they collectivelyauthored 48 book chapters, wrote orrevised and updated 22 books, published52 articles in leading U.S. andforeign law journals, and producedmany assorted monographs and bookreviews. They have also left their intellectualstamp on textbooks that arewidely regarded as core course materialsin their respective legal specialties.For example, Professor CliffordFishman’s annually updated Wiretapping& Eavesdropping: Surveillance in theInternet Age is a must-read for any lawstudent or practitioner who wants to keepabreast with ever-evolving issues of electronicprivacy. The same is true forProfessor David Lipton’s Broker-DealerRegulation, which is one of the mostwidely used resources of its kind in thenation. Now in its 6th edition, FatherRaymond O’Brien’s Domestic Relations:Cases and Materials remains a foundationalsource for specialists in family law.The experiential expertise andscholarly output of the law school’s legalclinic faculty rivals any in the country.Two of its professors, Margaret Barry in2009 and Sandy Ogilvy in 2002,have been recognized with the WilliamPincus Award for Outstanding Serviceand Commitment to Clinical LegalEducation from the Association ofAmerican Law Schools, one of the mostprestigious honors in legal higher education.Ogilvy has also established a well-8CUALAWYER /Fall–Winter 2008