UConn Law Welcomes Five New Professors for the 2013-2014 School Year

by Joseph Gasser

UConn Law received several new professors this fall along with the entering 1L class.  Five new professors have joined the staff, both in clinical and lecturing capacities According to Assistant Dean of Students, Karen DeMeola.

Molly Land

Whether in the field of human rights or intellectual property and technology issues, Professor Molly Land has been an advocate for her entire career.  A graduate of Yale Law School, Land lectured at Yale Law and was a Fellow in the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic there before teaching at New York Law School.  Her research and practice interests are international intellectual property rights matters and human rights enforcement, often including the intersections of those areas.  She believes every lawyer, either locally or globally, should give back to his or her community, which can take the form of pro bono work or simply excellent service to clients. Currently, Land teaches Civil Procedure.

Doug Spencer

Associate Professor Doug Spencer joins the Law School in a joint appointment with the University’s Department of Public Policy, based at the West Hartford campus.  He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and has worked at the U.S. Department of the Interior and the World Bank.  In 2004 and 2005, Spencer served as an election monitor in Thailand.  He says that opportunity reminded him that the implementation of democracy both abroad and at home can be a more chaotic endeavor than many realize.  Spencer’s research focus has been election and voting rights. His first class at UConn Law will be Constitutional Law next semester, and he will also offer a semester of Election Law.

Joseph DeGirolamo

The Director of UConn Law’s Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic in East Hartford, Professor Joseph DeGirolamo, joins the law school after over three decades in private practice, both as a partner in a New York City firm and as a solo practitioner.  DeGirolamo earned his law degree at Brooklyn Law School, and is a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office- registered attorney.  According to UConn Law’s website, his work has focused on complex patent litigation, involving medical and pharmaceutical products, as well as “trade secret appropriation, antitrust, false advertising and unfair competition claims.”  Currently, he offers a clinic in Intellectual Property.

John Cogan

John Cogan, Associate Professor of Law and Roger S. Baldwin Scholar, earned his J.D. at the University of Texas School of Law. Cogan practiced in the areas of health and insurance law for about 20 years in many capacities, including as assistant regional counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as executive counsel for the Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner, and as an associate in private firms in Providence and Boston, according to his staff biography. Before coming to UConn Law, he taught at Roger Williams School of Law, Penn State University, Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law, and Duquesne University School of Law. Cogan is a co-author of the Medicare, Medicaid, and Insolvency Handbook, a treatise on Medicare and Medicaid bankruptcy issues.  Cogan teaches Health Law and Health Care Insurance and Finance.

Brendan Maher

An expert on pension and health insurance, Associate Professor Brendan Maher joins the Law School this fall as a Robert D. Paul Scholar.  Maher earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, according to his staff biography.  Before beginning his teaching career, he co-founded the law firm of Stris & Maher LLP, where he “represented ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] beneficiaries before the United States Supreme Court on multiple occasions.” He was twice voted Professor of the Year by students at Oklahoma City University School of Law, where he taught prior to starting at UConn Law. Maher will teach Employee Benefits, Business Associations, and Evidence.

Quick and Easy Recipes for the On-The-Go Law Student

by Cassandra Pilczak

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Roasted Italian Vegetables

This recipe is not only easy, but it’s full of color, flavor, and best of all healthy while tasting amazing. It’s a quick recipe that lets you still grill as the summer weather dies down. Although it is so simple to make, it will surely impress your dinner crowd, or just your own stomach. 🙂

I like to serve it over a bag of 90 second brown rice to get my starch intake. Enjoy!

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed
• 4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless

Directions:

Wash chicken then pat dry with paper towel. Place chicken in a resealable bag. Add the olive oil, garlic, peppercorns, and lemon juice. Close the bag (remove excess air), and massage the chicken for a few minutes. It’s best to let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least 20 minutes, but the longer the better.

Once the chicken has been marinaded, place on your heated grill. Grill for at least 5-7 minutes before flipping.

Cook the chicken until it is no longer pink of each side.

Italian Roasted Vegetables:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 packet Good Seasoning Mix
• 1 red pepper
• 1 small bunch of asparagus
• 1 sweet onion

Directions:

Wash all vegetables. Cut them into bite size pieces (don’t forget ot trim edge of asparagus). Place all vegetables in a mixing bowl and add olive oil and half of the good seasoning mix. Mix all the vegetable so they’re thoroughly coated.

Place them on a baking sheet on aluminum foil. Place them in the oven on high broil, making sure to move them around after 4 minutes.

After around 8 minutes total (depending on how roasted you want them) your vegetables are done!

*You can always sprinkle a little more good seasons on top after they are roasted for extra flavor.

UCONN: Rebranding the University

By Nina Pelc-Faszcza

The University of Connecticut is rapidly gaining national and global recognition. Because of this exciting new potential to be among the most well-known universities in the country and acknowledged for its outstanding academic caliber, the University decided to move forward this year with a strategic rebranding. 

Starting the journey almost eighteen months ago, the University’s communications team conducted extensive research on how to best establish UConn in the marketplace of higher education and athletics, including, but not limited to, surveys from and conversations with current students, prospective students, alumni, donors, faculty, staff, and personnel from other universities. They also conducted research as to how the other top public universities in the country most effectively market themselves.

 What the officials discovered first and foremost from this research is that there is an enormous amount of brand equity in the name “UConn,” especially in the realm of athletics. Additionally, the other top universities that best market themselves tend to use a consistent and straightforward “brand” across the board.  Although the University is already commonly and casually referred to by its nickname, to take full advantage of the increasing name recognition, the decision was made to officially brand the entire University and all of the schools that compose it: UCONN.

The main purpose and effect of this initiative and change is to give the entire University a cohesive image. All of the schools (Undergraduate, School of Law, Medicine, Business, etc.) now share an identical, bold logo and word mark – fully licensed and trademarked. This mark will eventually be phased in on all University items, including signage, advertising, and websites. The University’s traditional oak leaf and seal have not been dropped and are still in place to be used as UConn’s secondary identifiers. 

Patricia Fazio, Assistant Vice President for Brand Strategy for the University, explained that UConn wants to be known and recognized for all of its achievements, not just its athletics. By giving all the schools the same branding, UConn hopes that the entire University will benefit from this cohesion and that it will help us move forward in academic recognition.

The University also updated its Husky mascot, which has changed a handful of times in the last half century.  The new design is a result of the school’s collaboration with Nike as well as input from athletes, coaches, and numerous other members of the University community. UConn seeks to emerge in the world of academia and athletics with confidence, and the strong and sleek new Husky mascot does just that. All of the NCAA sports teams will now wear the same new logo and mascot on their uniforms.

Of course, the rebranding of the University goes well beyond just the new logo and Husky mascot. A consistent logo and mascot helps eliminate confusion in the marketplace, especially in terms of athletics and the association of UConn’s academic achievements with the larger university as a whole. But the rebranding is a deeper and broader initiative to reflect UConn’s steady rise in national rankings in every respect. In her annual State of the University speech last April, University President Susan Herbst explained the need of the University to make strategic decisions “to align our image with who and what we truly are.” The simplest way to do this is through visual identity, creating a strong new image and officially implementing a powerful nickname that is already widely used and accepted.

Fisher Names First Associate Dean for Clinical and Experiential Education

By Sidd Sinha

With new clinical requirements soon to affect every student on campus, one of the most important decisions was deciding who to lead such an initiative. This month, Law School Dean Timothy Fisher named Professor Paul Chill the Law School’s first Associate Dean for Clinical and Experiential Education.

In this new position, Chill will oversee all the school’s clinical and experiential programs, and implementation of the clinical requirement. With expectations of this role to help develop students’ ability to get practical experience, Chill is confident that the program and his appointment will be beneficial to the student body, which is just one of a series of initiatives by the school as a whole.

“I think that this move, along with faculty’s adoption of the Practice-Based Learning Requirement last fall, will go a long way toward situating us on the leading edge of the wave of reform that is sweeping the legal academy nationally,” Chill said.

Chill graduated with honors from Wesleyan University and is a UConn Law alumnus, class of 1985. With his previous duties as a state court magistrate and previous role as supervisor to the Mental Law Health Law Clinic, Chill has shown great depth in a variety of areas that should benefit students who will likely have a wide-range of interests and need someone who can give advice based on knowledge and experience to a large group. Chill has also been responsible for teaching and directing clinical programs that focus on child protection, disability law, civil rights, appellate litigation, and most recently, mediation.

The role of leadership is not foreign to Chill, who also served as the Law School’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2004 to 2008. The announcement by Dean Fisher of Chill’s new role showed a resounding sense of confidence in his ability to improve the already noteworthy clinic program at UConn Law.  Even those students who are skeptical of the new requirement ought to be satisfied that the one leading the direction of the program is prepared, vested, and is someone who has the goals to see the program succeed.

Library Corner: What’s New in the Stacks

by Jocelyn Kennedy, Director for Library Services

Welcome Back to the Law Library! Over the summer, we made several changes to improve student life in the library.  As soon as you walk through the door, you’ll see that we merged the reference and circulation desks into a one-stop information desk. Our Access and Reference teams are ready to greet you as you enter the building and answer any questions you have.  You’ll never have trouble finding reference assistance again.To accommodate different modes of studying, the library has created zones of study in the building:

• RED ZONE: The 1st floor is the red zone. You can expect complete silence.  All food and noise are prohibited on this floor. This is the spot for those of you who crave an austere environment for study.
• GREEN ZONE: The 3rd and 4th floors are the green zone.  These are the floors for engaging in group study, conversation and collaboration.  Quiet conversational noise is permitted in these areas.
• YELLOW ZONE:  The 2nd and 5th floors are the yellow zone.  These are the floors for quiet individual and group study.  Minimal, whispered conversation is permitted in these areas.

Another big change in the library is our food policy.  You are welcome to eat small, contained snacks on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th floors of the library.  Food is not allowed on the 1st floor or at any of the computer workstations.  We encourage fruit, raw veggies and whole grains – but the occasional candy bar or bag of chips is also allowed.  We don’t even mind that PB&J. We do ask that you eat your meals and other aromatic food that may disturb your neighbors or spill, leave grease stains or otherwise create a mess, in the 3rd or 4th floor lounges.  If you do make a mess, please clean up after yourself.  Paper towels are available at the information desk on the 3rd floor.  And help us out by using appropriate trash bins. If the bin is full, let us know.  We continue to welcome covered beverages as well.

We’d love to hear what you think of our changes. Feel free to drop by the desk or send an email to refdesk@law.uconn.edu with your comments.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

Visit the Library’s Webpage here for a full listing of its policies.