Access Restricted to Northwestern Law Community
Fall 2007
Envision: Fall 2007
Cover story
Paving their own paths: Lawyers find different routes to general counsel
Featured: Barbara Caulfield (JD ’72), Thomas Cline (JD ’80), Jared Bartie (JD ’93)
Law School Update
Meet the Student Bar Association
Featured: Emily Quick (JD ’08), Assad Clark (JD ’09), Lauren Foster (JD ’09), Leslie Garbarino (JD ’09)
Space matters: Facility improvements and renovations
Following the completion of the renovated Bluhm Legal Clinic last spring, the Law School keeps the momentum going by completing a number of other facilities upgrades and renovations.
Envision also available as a pdf | View all Class Notes and submit your own.
Paving their own paths: Lawyers find different routes to general counsel
A Northwestern Law education provides graduates the flexibility to move among all different areas of the law as well as outside it. In this issue of Envision, we feature three general counsels who didn’t take a straight path to their current positions.
“I’ve made more career moves than most people,” Barbara Caulfield (JD ’72) observes. “They were opportunistic, not planned — and I was very fortunate in being equipped by the Law School to take advantage of great opportunities when they became available.”
Executive vice president and general counsel at the biotechnology company Affymetrix, Caulfield developed her expertise in life sciences and computer technology mediation as a partner in two California law firms. Prior to that she was a U.S. district judge in northern California, and before then a corporate litigation counsel, a law firm partner, and a professor at two law schools.
“The Law School gave me the confidence to feel that what I learned I could apply,” Caulfield says. “Northwestern taught me to think critically with precision based on data. Once you understand the fundamental propositions, you can apply them to new circumstances if you are precise and rigorous.”
It is a skill that allows a lawyer not only to apply the law but also to make new law, Caulfield notes. “I went from trial lawyer for product liability to trial lawyer for complicated patent cases in biotechnology. When you go into an evolving field, you actually make the law, make new applications. The challenge to ask not just what is the law but what should it be, I received that from Northwestern.”
Caulfield, who sits on the Northwestern Law Board, says that “pushing the envelope is the approach we need to keep up. I’m interested in making sure the next many generations are properly equipped. I want to contribute because I have had unusual adventures and opportunities, and I’d like others to have them, too.”
Comparing his current position as vice president and general counsel for Northwestern University with his previous work in private practice, Thomas Cline
(JD ’80) notes two major differences. First, lawyers in private practice usually specialize, whereas general counsels, as the name implies, must be generalists. Second, general counsels must be proactive rather than reactive.
“The typical outside lawyer is brought in to respond to events or circumstances, but general counsels must anticipate issues and help the institution avoid problems that could become lawsuits,” Cline says. General counsels tend to have even broader range in university legal departments than in corporations because their ranks are smaller, Cline adds. “A university presents the full range of legal issues one finds at a McDonald’s or a General Motors and then some. At Northwestern we have employment, intellectual property, and real estate matters and also have legal questions in student affairs, athletics, technology transfer, tenure, student privacy, and federal research compliance.”
His job, Cline observes, is “only partly about practicing law.” He has management responsibilities include work flow supervision, budget and personnel issues, and strategic planning. Before he joined Northwestern’s legal staff, Cline was general counsel for a trade association, worked in a private law practice, and served on a U.S. Senate committee staff.
“My own career path has required me to move from a more insular and specialized practice to a more general one, and along the way I’ve had to learn entirely new substantive areas of the law as well as acquire management and other skills,” he says.
Noting that online research, rapid electronic communications, globalization, and new regulations have all changed the practice of law, Cline believes the Law School has kept up. “The Law School has a much more cross-disciplinary focus than when I was a student,” he says. “Law isn’t just an isolated study.”
Jared Bartie’s (JD ’93) career in the sports and entertainment industries has encompassed both legal and management positions. Chief administrative officer and general counsel for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association since January 2007, Bartie is now both lawyer and business executive, with day-to-day responsibility for all legal aspects of business operations and basketball operations as well as administration of arena operations, event booking, finance, human resources, IT, security, and hospitality services.
In his previous job as vice president of team marketing and business operations for the NBA, “I did not function as an attorney at all,” Bartie says. “Instead, I consulted teams’ executive management to help them improve their revenue-generating opportunities, a role that involved marketing, ticket sales, sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, and community and public relations.”
Before his involvement in professional basketball, Bartie was chief legal officer and general counsel for the United States Tennis Association (US Open) and vice president of new business development for Radio City Entertainment. He also held senior positions at the XFL football league, which he helped launch, World Wrestling Entertainment, Dennis Publishing (Maxim magazine), the children’s book publisher Scholastic, and Black Entertainment Television. He began his career in the labor and employment and sports law groups in the New York office of Proskauer Rose.
“My experiences have allowed me to function as a well-rounded business executive, with my foundation being my legal experience and background,” Bartie says.
Bartie, a member of the Law Board, says that he’s benefited both personally and professionally from his affiliation with the Law School. “When Dean Van Zandt asked me to join the Law Board, I said ‘yes’ without reservation. I saw serving on the Law Board as a way to contribute to the continuing development of the Law School and as a way to give back to the student and alumni communities.
“Kudos to Dean Van Zandt and the faculty for recognizing the need to prepare students for the ‘real world.’ The Law School’s emphasis on developing teamwork and communication skills is critical to succeeding today as an attorney and especially in the business world.”
Meet the Student Bar Association
At the very heart of Northwestern Law’s strong community are the students. Northwestern Law students take an active interest in their education and environment, and play a leading role in the Law School’s governance. Students help set the future direction of the Law School and have input into many major decisions — a concept that is almost unheard of in academia.
Northwestern Law’s student government, the Student Bar Association (SBA), gives students a voice in curriculum and administration. The scope of SBA involvement ranges from coordinating and running events to participating on the Law School’s faculty appointments committee.
Each spring, the student body elects the four-member SBA Executive Board for the following academic year, as well as 2L, 3L, JD-MBA, and ABA Representatives. Early in the fall semester, 1L and LLM Representatives are elected.
The Executive Board governs SBA decisions, based on input directly from the student body and through SBA committees. The primary conduit between students and the administration, the SBA Executive Board holds bi-monthly general assembly meetings open to the entire student body during which students address topical concerns and committee chairs provide updates on their efforts, achievements, and future goals.
The SBA serves as an information source and direct line of communication with Law School staff, administration and the Dean, with whom the Executive Board meets on a weekly basis.
Executive Board
President
Emily Quick (JD ’08)
Emily graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor of science in business administration and a minor in music (emphasis on trombone). As an undergraduate, she performed in Ohio State’s marching band, served as a gubernatorially appointed member of the Board of Trustees, and helped develop a path through campus that marked the route that the Underground Railroad had followed before the campus was built.
At Northwestern Law, in addition to her SBA duties, Emily is also an active member of the Black Law Student Association (BLSA), the Law School Fund Board, and the Graduating Class Gift Committee.
Vice President
Assad Clark (JD ’09)
After graduating from George Washington University with a degree in economics, Assad helped start GMD Consulting Inc., located in Hamilton, Bermuda, where he lived and worked for a year. While at GMD, his areas of focus were business strategy and IT consulting. Part of his duties involved managing a construction company, including overseeing the company’s growth and managing relationships with the architects and the clients. At Northwestern Law, Assad participates in BLSA and the Asian Pacific Law Student Association (APALSA). He also tutors under-privileged middle school kids as a part of Chicago Youth Programs (CYP) and organizes monthly off-campus social outings with the students in the hopes of showing them positive examples of successful law students of color.
Vice President of Operations (Secretary)
Lauren Foster (JD ’09)
Lauren holds a bachelor of arts in political science and history from the University of Southern California. During her four years at USC, she recruited for the school’s football team. Prior to beginning law school, Lauren worked at Sidley Austin for two years as a lobbyist and legal assistant. In addition, she has served in a number of internships — for the U.S. Department of State (as a Congressional Liaison), the Governor of Nevada, the Attorney General of Nevada, and the Alternate Public Defender of San Diego.
In addition to her role on the SBA, she is also the professional development chair of the Women’s Leadership Coalition, a member of the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy, and a Law School tour guide.
Vice President of Finance (Treasurer)
Leslie Garbarino (JD ’09)
Leslie graduated from Harvard University in 2004 with a degree in biology. After graduation, she worked in recruitment and as an in-house paralegal for a technology consulting company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She participates in a number of Northwestern Law organizations, serving as the orientation and mentorship chair of the Women’s Leadership Coalition and as a staff member of the Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property. A member of Northwestern’s ABA Negotiation Competition Team, Leslie and teammate Jacob Babcock (JD ’09) recently placed first in the ABA Regional Negotiation Competition and will represent Northwestern at the National Competition in February 2008.
Class and Program Representatives
3L Representative
Seema Ganatra (JD ’08)
2L Representative
Nicholas Stabile (JD ’09)
1L Representative
Doug Winnard (JD ’10)
LLM Representative
Sansanee Kaewpornsawan (LLM ’08)
JD-MBA Representative
Tom Coenen (JD-MBA ’08)
ABA Representative
Charles Lee (JD ’09)
Honor Code Board of Appeals Representatives
Alejandro Aixala (JD ’08)
Ronit Arie (JD ’09)
Matthew Arnould (JD ’09)
Benazir Bolwar (LLM ’08)
Dana Brusca (JD ’10)
Rami Fakhouri (JD ’10)
Space matters: Facility improvements and renovations
Alumni who returned to Northwestern Law for Reunion this fall may have noticed some changes around campus. Following the completion of the renovated Bluhm Legal Clinic last spring, the Law School keeps the momentum going by completing a number of other facilities upgrades and renovations.
When the American Bar Association (ABA) vacated the Arthur Rubloff Building in 2005, the Law School had the opportunity to expand into some of this space. Now that those space reallocations and renovations are nearly finished, the Law School continues to improve and update other areas on campus to enhance student classroom experiences and increase student access to faculty and administration.
Changes this fall include two new classrooms on the Rubloff first floor, a new corridor linking the Rubloff lobby to the Law School Atrium, and a new Admissions Office in a central spot close to the Rubloff entrance at 375 East Chicago Avenue.
The corridor provides easier indoor access to the Bluhm Legal Clinic, which took over the entire eighth floor of the Rubloff Building last year, and to the law journals offices and new Searle Center on the fifth floor.
“The new corridor between Rubloff and the Atrium helps us to integrate the parts of our community,” said George Langford, the Law School’s director of facilities and space planning. “The two new classrooms in Rubloff create more intimate learning environments. The move of the Admissions Office from the far southeast corner of the Rubloff lobby to the former space of the Gary Library gives the front door to the Law School more accessible, updated space.”
Compared with many Law School classrooms designed for larger lecture classes, the two new classrooms have maximum capacities of 70 students. They have state-of-the-art technology, integrating computer projection as well as audio and video conferencing capabilities.
The Admissions Office is now in a more accessible location close to the other student service areas (the Center for Career Strategy and Advancement, and Student Affairs). Langford describes the new offices as “dramatic, with a double-height entrance cut right through the limestone facade of the old Gary Library, and rear windows right on the courtyard.”
Along with accessibility and more visual appeal, the move gives the Admissions Office much-needed additional space, said Don Rebstock, associate dean of enrollment, career strategy, and marketing. At 2,338 square feet, the new office has twice the square footage of the previous location. “Given our huge admissions interviewing program, we needed more space to accommodate the staff and our numerous student volunteers, and a much larger reception area to accommodate the interviewees,” Rebstock said. “We also needed more file processing space — applications to the JD program have grown from about 3,500 in the mid-’90s to about 5,000 today. Application volumes have grown as well for our international LLM programs, which has expanded from about 40 students to about 125, and we also added the Tax LLM program.”
In another project expected to be completed in early 2008, the second and third floors of the McCormick Building — previous home of the Legal Clinic — are being remodeled for new occupants. The communication and legal reasoning faculty will move from the fourth floor of Levy Mayer Hall to 14 new offices in McCormick. “Every student takes a CLR class, so we wanted to make the faculty easier to access,” Langford said.
Moving from Abbott Hall are the Development, Executive Education, Professional Education, and Marketing and Communications offices. “It has always been the plan to bring them in closer proximity to the other departments,” Langford said. “The ABA’s move out of the Rubloff Building was the opportunity we had been looking for to improve adjacencies and workflow on a number of fronts.”
Langford has been working on these projects with architects from Griskelis, Young, Harrell, the same firm that designed the much-admired new space for the Bluhm Legal Clinic.
