On Sept. 5, 1972, 427 students and seven full-time faculty members came together to usher in a new era of legal education.
What began as the University of Puget Sound School of Law in a business park on South Tacoma Way has become Seattle University School of Law, one of the nation’s premier private law schools, committed to educating outstanding lawyers who are leaders for a just and humane world.
As the law school nears the end of its 35th academic year and prepares for a spectacular celebration on April 25, it is a wonderful opportunity to thank the visionaries who founded the law school, the faculty who have been amazing teachers and scholars, the nearly 9,000 alumni and the legal, business and civic communities who have played such an important role in the school’s success.
Seattle University School of Law graduates are making a difference in their communities and the legal profession throughout King County and Washington, as well as across the country and internationally. Alumni include successful solo practitioners, attorneys in small and large firms, government and public interest lawyers, entrepreneurs, and judges, including Washing-ton Supreme Court Justice Charles Johnson (Class of ’76).
The foundation for their success was laid decades earlier. The late Joe Sinclitico, who had been dean at University of San Diego School of Law, was hired to lead a new law school that would provide more opportunity for those wanting a legal degree.
His first hire was James Beaver from the University of Indiana-Indianapolis Law School. Dick Settle, Tom Holdych, Chuck Wiggins, Peter Tillers and John Weaver followed, coming from diverse backgrounds of practice, teaching and government service. Anita Steele was hired as librarian and charged with creating a library from scratch.
One of Sinclitico’s first decisions was to make the Benaroya Business Park in South Tacoma the first home of the law school.
The first year, women made up just 10% of the class and there was only one African-American student. Today, women account for half the enrollment and nearly 30% are students of color. The law school has played a defining role in diversifying the bench and bar.
In August 1974, the law school graduated its first 18 alumni. They and the additional December graduates were remarkably successful in the first bar exam for the school, with a 91% pass rate, and the school’s graduates have continued to excel academically..
Academic year 1974–75 brought on board professors Doug Branson, John La Fond, Shelly Frankel, Bill Oltman, George Priest, Dave Roberts and John Strait. The next year, the law school hired its first women on the faculty, Frances Olsen and Barbara Hoffman. Wallace Rudolph was named the next dean. He made the switch from part-time to full-time instructors in the Legal Writing Program and laid the foundation for what is now a national leader.
Dean Rudolph came up with idea of shaping the former Rhodes Department Store Building in downtown Tacoma into a law center. During Rudolph’s time as dean, Don Carmichael, Mark Reutlinger and Marilyn Berger, among others, joined the faculty. Professor Berger became the first woman to be granted tenure, breaking tough ground for those who followed her.
Under the leadership of interim Dean Donald Cohen, now partner at Gordon Thomas Honeywell, the law school moved into the $9 million Norton Clapp Law Center in 1980 with gala ceremonies, including an address by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.
Fred Tausend was named dean in 1980. He has, with the exception Tim Lowenberg, the earliest teaching date of any current adjunct faculty member.
The move to the new building brought more new faculty: David Skover, David Boerner, David Engdahl and John Mitchell all came within the first two years, as did legal writing faculty members Laurel Oates, Anne Enquist and Chris Rideout. All of these members are still on the faculty today. Eric Chiappinelli arrived in 1985.
Dean Tausend decided to return to private practice and Jim Bond was hired in 1986. Dean Bond was committed to making the law school an excellent place for legal education and part of his legacy is the people hired, including: Janet Ainsworth, Paula Lustbader, Melinda Branscomb, Annette Clark (’89), Sid DeLong, Raven Lidman (’77), Ken Wing, Julie Shapiro and Kellye Testy (now dean).
Bond left the deanship in 1993 and turned over the reins to Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Don Carmichael as acting dean. Shortly thereafter, UPS and Seattle University announced that the law school would be transferred to Seattle University. Bond returned as dean in 1995 to oversee the transition.
Four years later, the law school moved into the beautiful Sullivan Hall, named for the former university President Father William Sullivan, who had yearned to open a law school on campus. He called the acquisition “the most memorable day of my 20-year tenure as Seattle University’s president.”
When Bond retired, Dean Rudolph Hasl took over in 2000 and the school began its growth in Seattle, nurturing strong connections with the regional bench and bar and starting to expand international programs.
Dean Testy was appointed in 2004 and, after taking office in February 2005, she ignited the school’s growth and advancing reputation. She has continued the work of previous deans in building an outstanding faculty and the law school now has 70 full-time faculty and more than 100 adjunct professors.
Among her accomplishments, Dean Testy has hired several nationally known scholars and teachers, including Richard Delgado, one of the most-cited legal scholars in the nation; brought in well-known lawyers such as Bob Boruchowitz, John McKay and Ada Shen-Jaffe to reinforce the law school’s commitment to providing students with practical experience; expanded global education; and deepened the school’s commitments to excellence, diversity and justice.
Her aspirations for the law school will take it far as it grows into its second generation. “While we’ve accomplished more in our first 35 years than many other schools have in triple that time, I’m convinced that the best is still to come,” Dean Testy said.
“With our outstanding alumni and faculty, we can chart a path of excellence that will ensure that, when we celebrate subsequent anniversaries, we will have commandingly assured our permanent place among the nation’s leading law schools.”
Professor John Weaver is one of the founding faculty members of Seattle University School of Law and co-chair of the 35th anniversary planning committee.
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