What a whirlwind! I spent one week traveling to three cities in two countries, and each stop was a great experience and a chance to see old friends.

I safely arrived in Jacksonville, Florida on Sunday, but, unfortunately, I cannot say the same for my luggage. After spending a good deal of time trying to locate my belongings, I finally arrived at the Ritz Carlton on Amelia Island, Florida to attend the Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference. The first session I attended, that evening, was a New Scholars Workshop. All of the speakers presented interesting papers, and I was especially impressed with Renée Hutchins, a professor of law at University of Maryland School of Law. Her paper on intrusiveness and the Fourth Amendment set out a new two part test based on the technology of the search and whether the information would have been obtainable otherwise. I’m certain I am not doing justice to her ideas, so if you’re interested, give her a call. I’m sure she’d be happy to send you a draft.

Later that evening, still sans luggage, I had dinner with Veryl Miles, the Dean of Catholic University School of Law, John White, the new Dean of UNLV law school, Professor Mitch Crusto from Loyola University–New Orleans and Professor Dorothy Brown from Washington and Lee University. We ate at a little tapas bar on Amelia Island called Espena. While enjoying our delicious food, we discussed the role a dean plays in a law school: the challenges, the expectations, etc. It was good to see them and to catch up with what was going on with them.

The next morning, I listened as Professor Dennis Nolan, University of South Carolina School of Law, moderated a workshop entitled New Approaches to Old Problems in Labor and Employment Law. The speakers presented many interesting and provocative ideas which stirred a lively discussion among labor colleagues. Professor Nolan was perhaps one of the most “interactive” moderators I have ever seen. During the workshop, Professor Paul Secunda, University of Mississippi School of Law, talked about the Workplace Fairness Act, and Professor Jeff Hirsch, University of Tennessee College of Law, discussed moving to one uniform cause of action for all employment discharge cases (yes, all of them). Professor Marsha McCormick, Samford University–Cumberland School of Law, suggested viewing employment discrimination claims through the lens of transitional justice and perhaps adopting a truth and reconciliation model for such claims. Professor Nancy Levit, University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law, presented an interesting paper about the role class action suits play in reforming the workplace in terms of equality and inclusivity. In her research, Professor Levit found that in the cases where the settlement required a greater degree of managerial accountability, greater institutional changes were made.

I spent lunchtime Monday with two of my colleagues from University of Arkansas–Little Rock: Terry Beiner and Terrence Cain. Terrence recently joined the UALR faculty as a tenure-track professor, but he previously taught employment discrimination and civil liberties as an adjunct professor between 2004 and 2007.

Monday evening I enjoyed a fabulous dinner with our own Professor Scott Dodson and his wife Ami, along with a long time labor and employment law colleague and friend Michael Green from Texas Wesleyan. It was a fun meal, and we learned of an exciting new article Professor Dodson just completed on the constitution viewed through the lens of evolutionary biology (or more accurately whether that paradigm fits in terms of constitutional analysis). It is a great piece and I’m sure he’d do a much better job of explaining it to you than I am. (apologies Scott)

On Tuesday afternoon, I moderated a discussion about employment discrimination entitled Employment Discrimination Fifteen Years after the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The panel featured four professors from across the South who analyzed some of the issues that have arisen under the act. Dean Steven Kamenshire, Georgia State University College of Law, talked about the difference burden of proof in mixed-motive and pretext Title VII cases. Professor Terry Beiner, University of Arkansas–Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, discussed the need to increase damages awarded in discrimination claims, especially sexual harassment cases, depending on the severity of the facts. Professor Elizabeth Pendo, St. Thomas University School of Law, looked at the difficulty of disability plaintiffs availing in claims, and Professor Michael Green, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, focused on the challenges in using arbitration to settle employment discrimination claims.

Directly following the panel, I attended a session about law school accreditation issues. The notion is, as explained by Dean Steve Smith, that law school accreditation has two themes. The first theme is protecting the public by making sure students are well-prepared to serve in the legal profession. The second theme focuses on holding law schools to high standards and producing “value-added” students . The panel discussed whether law schools should be required to have research missions, but some felt it was not within the role of the ABA to require research, but that that goal fell within the purview of the AALS. This lead to a discussion, initiated by Dean Lawrence Dessem of Missouri Law School, on the differences between the accreditation methods of the American Association of Law Schools and the ABA. He suggested that over time, there will likely be a distinct division between the roles each organization plays in the accreditation process because over time each will tend to focus on different areas of emphasis. There was also a great deal of discussion around the proposed language on the bar passage interpretation. It was recommended that it be tabled for further study.

After a quiet dinner, I attended the Deans’ Dessert for a little while because the next morning was an early one. My shuttle would arrive the next morning at 6:45 a.m.

After the spending three days at the SEALS Conference, I headed to Iowa City, Iowa to the Midwest School for Women Workers, sponsored by the University of Iowa Labor Center. The school is designed to bring together union women to develop leadership skills, understand challenges and issues facing the labor movement and to equip women to be more active and effective leaders in their unions.

While settling into my hotel room to get caught up and to prepare for my speech, I found out that the internet only worked in the lobby of the hotel. About half way through the afternoon, I looked out the lobby door to see a labor rally in full bloom. It turned out to be the women from the Midwest School. They were marching and picketing to express support for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. About 75 union members and supporters gathered for the Rally for Workplace Democracy in downtown Iowa City which received media coverage.

The next morning, I delivered a speech to about 60 women who were attending the school. The speech was entitled “We Still Can” after the famous Rosie the Riveter campaign during World War II. It focused on how women in the workforce have played a significant role in transforming society.

I was especially happy to go back to one of my alma maters. I worked as a labor educator at the Labor Center on campus while I was a law student and during my first year of business school. My experiences there played a major role in shaping my views of the workplace. It was a great chance to visit with former colleagues (including Matt Glasson who gave me my first law clerk job and Roberta Till-Retz whose commitment to and love for labor is amazing).

Thursday afternoon, I started on the last leg of my trip to Banff, Alberta, Canada for the Law School Admissions Council Board of Trustees retreat. I arrived Thursday in Banff, which is a beautiful resort town set in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. The retreat was a chance for the board members to get to know each other and for all of us to get to know LSAC’s new CEO Dan Bernstein. We spent a lot of time discussing the future of the organization and the possibilities of internationalizing the organization (beyond Canada). We also focused on continuing to improve the LSAT and thought about what other service/products would be appropriate for LSAC to think about offering. We also spent time thinking about and looking at the structure of the organization and the relationship between the board and the staff. After our discussions were over, we engaged in a little “board bonding” and took a whitewater rafting trip. And bond we did. Our raft worked very hard to keep everyone in and to counter the splash attacks of the other rafts.

The whirlwind trip ended with a return to Fayetteville and the excitement of the new school year. This trip was a reminder of the many experiences that come with this role and the gift of terrific friends from many places. For both, I am extremely thankful.

My flight was delayed out of London (after three hours working through the flight transfer system, including being sent to the wrong terminal and waiting in the wrong line for an hour and a half). Once I arrived in Turkey, I followed the advice of the travel books and stayed up until normal bedtime. Nejat (Jonathan Kwan’s friend from USC) lives in Istanbul, and, at Jon’s urging, agreed to keep an eye on me.

I got to the hotel at 5:30 p.m., and Nejat was already there with his friend Turol. We had dinner at a place called the Green House, in a beautiful garden setting. The food was great. I was introduced to boreks, which are a yummy pastry filled with cheese, veggies or meat. After dinner we came back to the hotel and shared a bottle of wine at the rooftop café, with a view of the Bosphorus Bridge. There was a huge orange moon, and it was a nice ending to a very long day of travel.

Monday: I decided to set out to see the sights of the city. First though, I needed to exchange money. That is when I realized two things: it was hot as Hades (to me, so you know that’s hot), and it seemed as though everywhere I needed to go was uphill. I found a bank, and after along wait, during which someone cut in front of me to the “tsk, tsk” of locals, I got the cash. Then I walked back to the hotel, took a shower and changed before starting out again.

Let me digress for a moment here to tell you about the hotel. It is right in the heart of old town, close to all the major sights, including the Hagia Sophia basilica, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the cisterns and the Archaeological Museum. It is clean, and the staff speaks English very well and is very helpful. Breakfast is free every morning from 7 to 10:30. The rooms are small, but the location and service more than make up for it.

So, I set out to see the sights. The Blue Mosque was amazing. Women have to cover their arms, and all folks have to take their shoes off before entering. It wasn’t long before I picked up my first “host.” He accompanied me into the mosque, answered all my questions, spoke impeccable English and was quite familiar with life in the States.

After the mosque, he explained to me that he and his cousin had a shop close to the
mosque. Would I come and look? The shop was right in the tourist section near the mosque and had beautiful things, but as it turned out this was a whole routine that got old by the end of the day. I entered the shop (very upscale) and received a glass of green tea – delicious. Then they encouraged me to buy overpriced jewelry. After getting out of there, they wanted me to go look at their carpet store.

Dummy me, I went because, supposedly, I could learn about the carpets to know what to look for. An hour later, after green tea and more than I ever cared to know about rugs, I freed myself and was on my way to lunch.

After lunch I headed to the Topkapi Palace. It was amazing – huge, so old and still intact. It was filled with gems, carpets and art that were awe inspiring.

That night Nejat came to get me. We went to dinner at a very nice restaurant next to the Bosphorus Bridge, which connects the continent of Europe to the continent of Asia. It was amazing. He ordered champagne to celebrate my first year as dean, and then we had a fabulous meal – bluefish, white wine, rice pilaf, assorted Turkish appetizers, grilled vegetables and a yummy eclair, covered with chocolate sauce.

Nejat’s mom had VIP tickets to the jazz fest, so we went and saw Latin jazz in the shadow of the Bosphorus Bridge (which puts on a light show at night) and a full moon above a beautiful mosque next door.

At one point, the call to prayer overlay the music from the stage. There was food and drink galore at the concert. Since we had eaten, we merely availed ourselves of the wine. The crowd at this event was made up of the beautiful people of Istanbul. It was quite a treat — lots of dancing and people-watching — and I got in late that night.

Tuesday: I booked a tour which went to the spice market, the new mosque, and out on the Bosphorus on a cruise. The tour was a good idea because I was able to see a number of sights and get some great pictures.

Believe it or not, I met a guy from Mena, Ark., who knows Jake Looney (our former Dean and colleague).

After the tour, I returned to the hotel, picked up a mystery novel and relaxed. Later that evening, I took a cab over to Beyoglu and met Nejat for dinner. That area of Istanbul is funky, artsy and decidedly more Western.

After dinner (meat patties, salad, seasoned potatoes and local beer), we went to the home of two artists, actually an architect and artist. Both Murat and Fuat Sahinler are very well known, prominent artists. They lived on the top floor of a very old building that looked right out onto the Bosphorus, with an amazing view. We talked about politics, religion, the upcoming elections in our countries and our backgrounds.

Afterwards, Murat offered to drive me (and Nejat) around the city because I had mentioned to him that the tours were all limited to tourist areas. So, off we went, careening through town, at times at 100 km per hour on city streets. Driving there is really crazy. We went far north to a local Kurdish tea garden and had black tea and toast (grilled cheese). Then we went to Murat’s studio. He has exhibited and lived all over the world. It was amazing! He gave me an art book of Turkish artists and autographed it for me. Then we drove back through other parts of the city and back to my hotel.

Thursday: I began the day with coffee, homemade granola and watermelon (yeah, I know). Francoise met me at the hotel, and we headed off to the Grand Bazaar, which I later called the “Grand Bizarre,” and Francoise agreed.

We walked quite a ways — as it turns out, quite a ways out of the way. It was hot that day too. Did I mention it was as hot as Hades? Well it was. So we stopped for some apple tea, but it was not very good, so we chugged uphill to the bazaar. An older man (who was tough to lose – another carpet seller) got us going in the right direction and was going to be our escort until we were quite clear that we were fine. Francoise put his business card at a vendor’s stall because she was certain it had a homing device as he kept turning up. It worked!

We each had lists of what we needed to purchase and set out trying to find vendors with the goods. The grand “bizarre” is a covered crazy maze of stalls with vendors who are hawking their wares with varying degrees of aggression. It was air conditioned or not, depending on where you were.

Our tendency was to find the vendors who were the least intrusive and reward them with our purchases. You are expected to bargain, so we each played the tough bargainer for the other’s purchases. This turned out to be a pretty successful strategy. We even got delicious apple tea and free gifts from one vendor with whom we really bargained.

I was able to purchase the bulk of my souvenirs and gifts, and so was she. We wandered around looking, occasionally buying and finally escaping to the light of day. Four bizarre hours had passed. By that time, Francoise was pooped and I felt wilted, so we stopped and had a delicious meal at a restaurant on the tram line (the main drag for the Bazaar and sights). It was air conditioned, but the window was open, and the food was great. I had a Turkish pizza (recommended by Lonely Planet). Francoise had gyro-style lamb and veggies. We both drank tons of water.

We were going to try to see the Cistern, but with our purchases in tow, it was too much. Besides, it had closed by the time we finished our late lunch. We dumped our purchases in our hotels and walked around the neighborhood, up, down and round yonder. I took tons of pictures and we added our own color commentary as we walked. After about an hour, we said good night and agreed to meet the next day to go to the Dolmabahçe Palace, which neither of us had seen but which was highly recommended by the travel guides and locals.

Nejat called about a half an hour after that, and we agreed to meet at Beyoglu. I would meet his dad and mom and have dinner with his family. I caught a cab to Beyoglu. The driver tried very much to converse, but his English was sketchy and my Turkish worse. We went to the same place Nejat and I had dinner before, and his dad and Murat and Murat’s girlfriend were there. After a bit, Murat and his girlfriend left, and we drove to pick up Nejat’s mom. Both his parents were beautiful and urbane.

We ate at a very nice seafood restaurant in the Armenian section of town. The meal was a feast. First, the waiters brought olives and several varieties of cold fish — herring, snapper, octopus and a local fish whose name I’ve forgotten.

Then there was hot calamari with a really yummy sauce; next, appetizers of meat, veggie and cheese stuffed pastries and then a wonderful salad that made me appreciate once again how fabulous a real tomato is. Finally our entrees came. I had grilled sea bass and his parents had sea bass kabobs. Nejat had blue fish, and, surprisingly, had two on his plate when it arrived.

The conversation covered the arts (Nejat and his dad are both artists), Murat, politics, religion, travel and studying abroad. Nejat’s dad, Ahmet, had studied in North Carolina as it turns out, and his Mom, Ipek, spent a year in Lincoln, Neb., during which time she often visited Iowa. We also talked about Ahmet’s and Nejat’s art and they invited me to come later in the week to visit their studio.

Friday: After I had a breakfast of watermelon and coffee, Francoise and I set out to see the Dolmabahçe Palace. Instead of taking a cab, we took the tram. After a few missteps, such as walking up to the wrong booths for tickets and standing on the wrong platform, we were on our way. We attracted a lot of attention, but everyone was courteous.

We bought tickets for both the palace and Harem tour and paid an extra six lira so that I could use my camera. The palace tour, as it turns out, was disappointing because you could only go in groups and they took 60 people at a time, so it was hard to hear the guide. The palace, with 365 rooms was built in Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical styles and also incorporates Ottoman art and culture.

The Harem had 10 separate apartments for the official and unofficial wives. During the tour, it poured rain for the first time during the trip, so we picked a good day for the inside tour. In between the palace and Harem tours, we had to wait a half an hour, so we sipped apple tea in the café.

After touring the palace, Francoise had to meet her hubby, so we parted on the tram. I headed off to see the train station, which was the last stop on the Orient Express and had a small museum. Across from the station was a park in which a hundred or so day laborers gathered seeking work.

From there, I walked around the area, taking pictures of everyday street scenes and then hopped on the tram again. On the way back to the hotel, the tram went past an artist’s studio, so I went in to look and bought three lovely collage-style paintings. After that, I hopped back on the tram and spent an hour in the museum of Islamic and Turkish art.

Afterwards, I returned to the hotel. Nejat was able to meet later, so I decided to grab dinner. At the urging of the restaurant manager, who promised a special dinner, I had another wonderful meal on the roof of the hotel. Because of the rain, the evening was cooler, so I was able to sit outside and watch the sunset in the shadow of the Blue Mosque. The steak, which the waiter recommended, was perfectly seasoned and prepared, served with two ramekins, one of mustard and mayo and another with ketchup, dolmek, vegetables and red wine.

I ordered a small dish of vanilla ice cream for dessert with a Nescafe (all regular coffee is called Nescafe). My table overlooked the street (against the advice of my ROTC friends), and I saw the waiter walking down the street. The manager brought the coffee, and, after a while, the ice cream. But instead of a small dish of vanilla, it was a bowl of vanilla, pistachio and chocolate ice cream covered with chocolate syrup and chopped pistachios. That was a delicious surprise. On my way out, I asked the waiter where he had gone, and he told me that he went to purchase the ice cream. Now, that’s service!

I called Nejat, who asked me to meet him at Beyoglu to go hear live music in Taksim. We walked around the neighborhood a bit looking at all the cafes, galleries and funky shops. In the middle of a large intersection, there was (the Turkish version of) an R&B band. They were playing “Play That Funky Music, White Boy.” There was a pretty large crowd of young people dancing. It was surreal. Afterwards, we headed to the Nardis jazz club. It could have been any club in the Village. The people in the crowd were young intellectuals, he explained to me. One of the unusual things about it was that the crowd treated the music the way we would respond to a classical concert. There was almost a quiet reverence for the performers. Nejat explained that jazz was very respected and taken quite seriously, so it would be rude to be noisy.

We had arrived early, so we were able to get seats on the top floor looking down over the balcony. From there we could check out the crowd as well as the music group. The group was a trio — singer, guitarist and pianist. I got great photos and a video of the performance. They performed jazz standards, with Turkish twists. When we got ready to go, the singer stopped the music and called up, “Are you leaving?” I didn’t hear him, but Nejat told me, “He is talking to you.” I explained that, yes, we were leaving, and he asked if we would stay through the end of the set, so of course we did.

Afterwards, as we came down and were leaving, he introduced himself and said, “I am so honored to perform the music of your culture. I hope you enjoyed it, and it was good.” I told him it was great, and I appreciated the fact that he too enjoyed jazz and was helping to spread its message to folks in Istanbul.

Nejat stopped at a street stall to purchase a snack. He walked up to the stall, grabbed what looked like mussels and started to munch. The vendor kept track of how many each customer ate. The second course of his snack consisted of a sandwich that Nejat described as sheep guts and sauce.

From there we went to some clubs in the area. They were a mixture of dance clubs, meat markets and hipster bars (at least to my eyes). We settled on the rooftop of a bar that Nejat called punk, but to me was more like a bar for the intellectual, young and cool crowd. Several of his friends were there, and they were obviously very curious about what was going on between us. We had a beer there and crowd watched, and by that time it was 4 a.m., so we left.

Saturday: Since Saturday was my last day in Istanbul, I decided to walk around and get more pictures of everyday street scenes. I also hadn’t seen the Cistern yet, so I set out to do that first thing, and it was amazing. All I could think of when I was there was, “How the heck did they do that?” I was able to get some great photos by turning off the flash.

From there, I started walking and took pictures of cafes, construction workers and anything that captured, for me, the essence of the city.

I ran into Mehmet, who had a carpet shop and who I had seen at least four times before while walking around the Sultanahmet area. When he had approached me earlier, the first thing out of my mouth was, “No, thanks. I don’t want a carpet or a boyfriend,” and we had visited briefly about being hassled. Every time after that, he spoke, and I said, “Hi.”

So, on Saturday, he said, “Hi. I see you again,” and I said, “Yes.” And he walked with me, making me laugh and sharing insights about the city and the culture. To make a long story short (no, it ain’t that kind of story), I spent about four hours walking around with Mehmet, sharing his favorite spots and answering my (many) questions.

We had lunch at a fish restaurant under the bridge, and he helped me pick out and bargain for a few last gifts. Mehmet’s English was impeccable, and he had a terrific sense of humor. He wanted to have something more, and invited me to stay for dinner, to go to his house in the south of Turkey, but … He was a bit annoyed with me, but it just wasn’t that kind of trip. He even quoted the “what happens in Istanbul” line, but in the end, I went back to the hotel alone.

I spent the last night with Nejat, his family and my former law professor from Iowa, Adrien Wing, and her friend Lufftke, from Tunisia. Adrien was there for a class she taught and to perform a site inspection of another law school’s international program an hour outside of Istanbul.

But first I met Nejat again at Beyoglu, and we walked to his and his dad’s art studio. There, I met their art teacher, who gave me an autographed perspective of his work. I don’t know if you saw the article about the international artists from nine countries who were commissioned to paint pictures of the Grumman fighter jet, but he was the artist selected to represent Turkey.

We called Adrien, and, as it happened, her hotel was right around the corner, literally, from the studio, so she joined us, and we all had tea and talked culture, art and politics. Then we all went to another fabulous rooftop restaurant (off a narrow alleyish-looking street — you wouldn’t know it was there) with a view of the Bosphorus. The elevator was so small we had to ride up two by two. The meal was great, and I was glad they were able to meet Adrien.

After that, we parted from Nejat’s parents who went to get some ice cream, and we walked around taking in the night scene before going to a shisha bar to smoke apple tobacco, sip tea and visit. It was getting late, and my ride to the airport was coming at 7 in the morning, so we all said goodnight, and Nejat escorted me to the hotel.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip, and I intend to go back to Istanbul again soon. But next time I’d like to also see the resorts in the south of Turkey. Many thanks to my wonderful hosts for your warm, generous hospitality!

What an amazing experience! I had been invited to speak at the Clinton School of Public Service, and although the invitation had been extended early last semester, as the day drew closer I developed a serious case of the jitters. Being asked to speak there was a special honor, especially in light of the prominence of the distinguished speakers who have lectured there. On a more personal level, speaking at the only school of public service connected with a presidential library seemed like a long way from the south side of Chicago.

Malcolm, Natasha and I arrived and were warmly greeted by Dean Skip Rutherford, Elizabeth Brill, and Nikolai DiPippa. We received a tour of the school, and then I was ushered into the library to give a brief interview to Dana Bradley of KARN radio. Almost immediately afterwards, it was time for the lecture — with or without butterflies.

My talk, entitled “Challenges in Access to Justice,” focused on two specific access issues and the programs being developed to address these challenges. The first challenge I described is the need to plug the leaky pipeline to higher education and hence to law school. The second is the need to make legal representation more accessible.

One of the best things about this experience was the wonderful, warm support I received from the audience, many of whom were members of the Arkansas Bar. During the question and answer session, I was asked how it felt to be dean, and I had the opportunity to publicly acknowledge the support and encouragement I have received over the years from my colleagues, our students, and the bar. It is impossible to stress how important they have been to me as I have assumed this new role. I was also able to sing the praises of Dean Miller and the centrality of his efforts in promoting the level of diversity we have achieved at the law school.

The last order of business was an interview with John DiPippa for KUAR public radio in which we talked about the future of the law school and legal education and encouraged any listener who may have a dream of going to law school to take the next step to pursue it. Then it was time to head on up the hill.

My thanks to the Clinton School for the warm hospitality we received and for the opportunity to share my thoughts on challenges facing the legal profession.

It was, ironically, a meeting of the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section, Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee. The American Bar Association (ABA) Web site for the section explains that the Labor and Employment Law section consists of “22,000+ members [who] represent all perspectives of labor and employment law: employer, union, employee, public, and neutral. All are committed to a balanced discussion of employment issues in the United States and abroad.”

The ethics committee is one of the smaller and more close-knit committees
(http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=LL124000.) of the section. It is a diverse, work-hard and play-hard group that warmly welcomes new attendees at the meeting. The quality of the papers is very high, and the members are very thoughtful about the ethical issues presented.

I owe my membership on the committee to Phil Lyon, ‘67, who would not take “no” for an answer when he asked me to join. I’m glad he didn’t. Several other Arkansans are also members of the committee, including Terri Beiner ( UALR William H. Bowen School of Law ), Carolyn Witherspoon ( Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus ), and Steve Jones (Jack, Lyon and Jones ).

Manzanillo was beautiful, sunny and warm—a welcome break from the cold rain and sleet in Fayetteville. It is not as developed as other Mexican tourist destinations and had a sleepy laid back feeling. The conference resort (Las Hadas, the fairies) was the setting for the Bo Derek movie “10” and for that reason in Twilight Zone-esque fashion, the movie looped continuously on the television. in all of the hotel rooms.

And although the temptation was very great to avoid it, we did work while at the conference. The panels included topics ranging from ethical issues in class- action litigation and trial publicity to the challenges in arbitration when one of the parties is unrepresented. Carolyn Witherspoon, Steve Jones and I participated in an all-Arkie panel on “Developing Confidentiality Issues Affecting Attorneys’ Ethical Obligations in Our Increasingly High-Tech Landscape.”

One of the most fortuitous things to occur at the meeting is that I had the chance to have lunch with the Wage and Hours Administrator from the Department of Labor, Paul De Camp. Now I know for most people this is probably a snoozer, but for me it was the opportunity of a lifetime. How often do you get to pick the brain of the man who oversees the enforcement of all federal wage and hours laws? It was great! Seriously, because of my past involvement with workers rights’ advocacy, I was able to talk with him about our concerns and to visit about the agency’s policies and priorities. (And you thought it was just a boondoggle in the sun . . .)

Anyway, I must not have been too scary because we will be hosting Administrator DeCamp at the School of Law this September. He has also agreed to give a keynote speech at the Society of Human Resource Manager’s Diversity Conference and to speak with a number of classes in the Walton College of Business, the Northwest Arkansas Worker Justice Center and a group of supervisors on campus. So you might say that while I was at the conference I was “working overtime” to make connections for the law school. Sorry, couldn’t resist!

The time finally came to attend my first law deans’ conference, “Competitive Success and Academic Values: Balancing Competing Pressures.” Each year the conference is held in conjunction with the mid-winter meeting of the American Bar Association. This year it was in Miami. Yeah, I know, tough life. (Did this mean I could wear sandals?)

I arrived mid-afternoon on Wednesday, Feb. 8. That evening was the opening reception. It was fun to go and see a number of the deans I’d met through Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), including Gil Holmes, Joe Knight (my law school Commercial Transactions professor), Leroy Purnell, Rudy Hasl, Shelly Broderick, Doug Ray and Parry O’Hara, now as a fellow dean. Many of them had mentored me through the toughest times of being a junior professor. The former dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law was there, Len Strickman. Having given me my first academic job, he was quite proud now of Dean Nance.

After the reception a few of us went to dinner at Oceanaire restaurant including Melissa Essary, the dean of Cumberland School of Law who I had never met, but who was a newbie like me. It was at this meal that we were initiated into the secret society of deans and learned the handshake and secret password. Just kidding! Actually, the best thing about dinner and the gathering generally was the ability to ask questions and voice concerns with experienced deans who gave us very helpful feedback and encouragement.

The next day was the first plenary session called “The Law School and the Marketplace,” which focused on the business of running a law school and the choices deans have to make in doing that. (I sat with Chuck Goldner, the dean of University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law during this and many of the other sessions in a show of Arkansas solidarity.) In one of the more interesting presentations, Dean Richard Matasar (my first-year Civil Procedure professor) said law schools sell two things. We sell the school to the students and then we sell our students to the legal market. He suggested that that model is collapsing on the weight of the rising levels of student debt relative to student salaries. He encouraged us all to find ways to lighten this burden for our students.

Another speaker was a former law dean who had served as the provost at Rutgers, Roger Dennis (He is the new dean at Drexel Law School). He shared his provost’s perspective about how a law school should interact with the central administration. He said that the strengths the law school brings to the university include the fact that our alums were likely to be the leaders of the state (for example, Governor Mike Beebe, ’72), and that we had a service mission. University of Arkansas’s service mission is apparent, one need only look at our clinical program, pro-bono program, Legal E-source and the Habitat for Humanity Wills project. He cautioned us not to become too isolated from other colleges and units on campus.

And so the day went. Our lunch was sponsored by National Association for Law Placement (NALP) and the speaker focused on the placement data for graduates. We learned about where graduates were being hired (e.g. government, non-profit or private law firm), their satisfaction levels within their jobs and their debt load. The data was fairly startling. The NALP presenter again suggested that there needs to be a concerted effort to develop funding for loan forgiveness programs.

The most interesting panel of the day for me was the last. It focused on, “Subjective and Objective Assessments of Performance.” As a new dean it was fascinating to learn of all the measures fellow deans used to asses faculty and staff. For example, one dean performed a citation report on each faculty member to evaluate the impact of the faculty member’s scholarship. This same dean similarly looked at how many places a faculty member’s textbook had been adopted as a measure of its impact. His approach was very quantitative and involved a formula that measured teaching, scholarship and service. Faculty members were only given a meeting about their evaluations if they were in trouble. In listening to the scuttlebutt about the talks, his approach was considered the most novel by comparison to other law schools.

Another dean on this panel talked about how to evaluate the progress of the law school itself. He used several factors — including the school’s mission statement, increases in private giving, leadership of the faculty, reputation amongst alumni and award-winning publications. He also used the data from the Law School Survey of Student Engagement to see how his students were feeling about the school. I found these all to be very helpful suggestions.

Later that evening there was another reception sponsored by Florida’s approved law schools. It was a relaxing event with lots of mixing and mingling. The highlight of the evening, though, was dinner with the deans of color. It was very moving to hear the longer serving deans tell the story of what it was like for them when they could be counted on one hand. They all welcomed us and in essence passed the torch to those of us who are newer entrants to this role.

This was a very personal night for me because I knew many of these deans from the people-of-color gatherings. They have been very supportive friends and mentors to me over my 13 years in the academy. Leroy Purnell met me as a Council on Legal Education Opportunity teaching assistant while I was a rising second-year student at Iowa.

Gil Holmes of Baltimore met me as a first-year assistant professor and has been my friend and encourager ever since. Joe Knight, my professor at Iowa prepared me for my interviews at the AALS hiring conference. Both of them are leaving deaning this year and many a tribute and toast was given to them both.

The dinner was also special because all four of the black women deans were together in one place for the first time. It is hard to explain what a powerful feeling of camaraderie, love and support we all experienced. This is a memory I will keep with me for a long, long time. (But sadly, no one thought to bring a camera).

Breakfast on Friday was sponsored by LSAC, and consisted in part of a tribute to Phil Shelton, the CEO who is retiring this year. One of the coolest things about Phil to me, besides his wicked sense of humor, is how approachable he was from the very first time I met him as a new assistant professor serving on LSAC’s Audit committee. There will be a symposium honoring him on April 12, 2007, at Washington University and I am honored to be a panelist on that program.

I was member of the morning’s first panel, “Competing for Students: The Admissions Game.” Fellow panelists included Deans Mary Daly (St. John), Kent Syverud (Washington University and current chair of the LSAC Board), Frank Wu (Wayne State) and Evan Camiker (Michigan). My topic was diversity, specifically the perceived tension between rankings’ pressures for increased credentials and increasing diversity. Fortunately, I was in the wonderful situation of being able to point to the University of Arkansas’s success at doing both simultaneously. I also talked about the need to be thoughtful about how to “manage” a diverse student body and a few of the growth opportunities diversity brings to the community. The other speakers on our panel talked about attempts to game the rankings by accepting large numbers of transfer students, Post-Grutter admissions strategies, part-time programs and merit-based scholarships.

Friday night was special and fun. I had been invited by Dean Strickman to attend Florida International University College of Law’s building dedication dinner. Dean Strickman brought FIU’s law school from a fledgling start-up to a fully accredited school with a beautiful new building. It was a special occasion to be with Len and Danielle again and to share in the happiness of his successes there. (They both looked terrific). There were a number of politicos in the crowd including Joe Biden, Governor of Florida Charlie Crist and Drew Days. It was a very fancy event, the food great, the setting lovely and I managed to find a table of like-minded folk to sit with to talk politics, law and food. In fact, I was in the back visiting with my new acquaintances when Dean Strickman introduced me to his guests as his protégé and told everyone how very proud he was. It was an amazing moment. Saturday a group of deans went to the actual dedication at which Justice Ginsburg was the speaker.

There was one strange moment during the conference. On Sunday morning I had a meeting of an LSAC committee on the club floor of the hotel. When I walked out into the dining room to get some coffee, an older woman asked me to please put out some more grapefruit juice. After I explained I did not work there and motioned for someone to help her, I went back to the meeting room. A few minutes later, I went back out to get a yogurt. This time a woman my age, dressed in sweats, asked me (with an attitude) if I would “please get some wheat bread for toast.” Ironically, this was a fellow law dean with whom I had just spent 2 1/2 days in meetings, including a women deans’ caucus. I introduced myself and went back to the conference room where the joke was that I had now become the “toast of the town.” Smart alecks! All in all the conference was a good one including time spent learning, meeting other deans and sharing time with good friends.

I had just arrived in Baltimore from Fayetteville – after what else??? – a long delay. I was tired, cold and grouchy when my cab driver asked me about my trip. He asked if I were here for business and/or a convention. Read the rest of this entry »