Campaign Updates
GordonDerr honors Peter Buck '73 with gifts
The Seattle land use and real estate law firm of GordonDerr LLP recently honored UW law school alumnus, and former Buck & Gordon partner, Peter Buck '73 with the creation of the Peter L. Buck Public Interest Law Association (PILA) Grant in Environmental Law.
"The Peter Buck Grant is a generous endowment that will support and fund public interest legal work with an environmental focus for years to come," said PILA co-president Stephanie Kotecki. "We appreciate the dedication to public interest and the support for law students evidenced by this gift, and are honored to administer the grant."
The GordonDerr gift, which will provide one full PILA grant each year to a UW law student for projects that relate to the environment, is in honor of Buck's passion for helping young lawyers, as well as his expertise in environmental law.
"Pete has always enjoyed mentoring students from the law school, and GordonDerr (formerly Buck & Gordon) has a great history of supporting PILA," said Jay Derr, friend and former partner of Buck. "GordonDerr is proud to carry on this tradition."
Shellan Bequest to Support Mediation Programs
A pioneer in alternative dispute resolution, The Honorable Gerard M. Shellan may be off the bench, but he continues to hear cases as a mediator and an arbitrator. He has heard more than 3750 cases, everything from marriage dissolution to construction matters, and remains one of the most sought-after mediators in the United States.
In talking to law school students from Professors Julia Gold and Alan Kirtley’s classes, he stressed the importance of mediation. Not only does mediation make the court system more efficient, but clients benefit, in time and money, from a respectful process and the successful resolution of their issues. Judge Shellan also emphasized that today’s lawyers need to understand how to prepare for mediation, as opposed to preparing for a trial.
Shellan, who graduated from the law school at Columbia University and retired after a long career on King County Superior Court, strongly believes that mediation is a critical component of the judicial system and that students need a solid foundation in the practice and principles of dispute resolution. To this end, he recently included a $250,000 bequest and a gift of real estate property in his estate plan to support arbitration and mediation education at the UW School of Law. This newest gift is in addition to the $200,000 charitable remainder unitrust he funded in 1993 to benefit the law school. For Gold, director of the Mediation Clinic, this stable funding will allow the clinic to provide services to more people in the community while giving law students important hands on experience with clients.
“Alternative dispute resolution is now an equal part of the judicial system and handles more cases than public courts,” Judge Shellan told the students. “The Mediation Clinic is giving us new lawyers who are prepared for this component of our court system.”
Law Firm Annual Challenge
The Law Firm Annual Challenge (LFAC) was created to give alumni an opportunity to reconnect with their alma mater, to promote meaningful participation in the life of the law school, and to strengthen the Husky network within the legal community. The challenge will serve as the foundation for an organized and mutually beneficial partnership that will sustain and grow the UW School of Law for the betterment of the Puget Sound legal community and beyond. Twenty-seven law firms are participating in LFAC this year, and more than 80 law school alumni have already made a pledge to this year's campaign.
More Support for Students First From Costco Excutives
Two Costco executives recently made gifts to the UW School of Law to support the Students First campaign.
Joel Benoliel '71, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Costco, and his wife Maureen recently endowed a scholarship fund for law students in financial need. The Benoliel gift will provide a three-year award given annually to a first-year student beginning in September 2008. The latest gift from the Benoliels follows two other scholarships they created, one first awarded in 2006 and the other first awarded this year.
Benoliel has been actively involved in the law school for several years. He is currently a trustee of the Washington Law School Foundation, serves on the law school’s Capital Campaign Committee, and is a volunteer for the Law Firm Annual Challenge. He has been on the Dean’s Advisory Committee and was part of the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee.
In addition to the Benoliel gift, Costco co-founder and law school alumnus Jeffrey Brotman was honored with a gift in his name by Brotman’s long-time partner and Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal and his wife, Janet. Funds from the Sinegals gift will be slated to help financially needy law students who are first-generation college graduates, come from underserved areas of our region, or have demonstrated a strong desire in working with underrepresented populations.
Brotman, who received his J.D. from the law school in 1967, has served as a UW Regent since 1998 and is a board member of the UW Foundation. In 1998 Jeffrey and his wife, Susan, were recipients of the UW Recognition Award and, three years later, he received the School of Law's Outstanding Alumnus Award.
Joe Diamond '31, First Law Grad to Give to UW's Students First Program
Just weeks prior to his passing on March 3, 2007, three days shy of his 100th birthday, Joe Diamond along with his wife Muriel made a $100,000 gift to the School of Law to create the Josef and Muriel Diamond Law Student Scholarship. This is the first gift to the law school as part of the UW Students First campaign and, because the donation qualifies for matching funds, (equal to 50% of the contribution), the gift is considerably enhanced. The fund will provide need-based scholarships to students seeking a J.D. from the School of Law and was made in honor of Josef Diamond and his lifelong passion for the law.