Alumni
Resolutely Solving Disputes
Thirty stories up in a downtown Portland law firm, no one seems to notice the spectacular views of the West Hills. Several of the people seated at the long conference table exchange nervous glances. The light pouring in from the sun-drenched morning does nothing to ease the four years of pain, distrust and accusations this group has experienced.
Nine people are gathered, including five plaintiffs who have sued their former employer for age discrimination and the legal teams for both sides. Already this group has been through two failed settlement conferences that left all parties feeling slighted and bruised. Still, everyone realizes that emotional and financial toll will only escalate if this case goes to trial — a process that could drag on seven years or more. So they have come to try an alternative: dispute resolution.
They are pinning their hopes on mediator Susan M. Hammer JD’76, a former partner at Stoel Rives who spent 20 years at the firm before leaving in 1998 to pursue mediation full time. She has pored over summary judgments and met with the lawyers and plaintiffs. Her goal is to have a settlement by day’s end.
Students
International Advocate
“I haven’t had a specific plan for my future,” said Larion Barsukoff, member of the Class of 2007, “but I’ve always had a vision of where I wanted to be 20 or 30 years down the road. I started from that and worked backward. As doors have opened for me in life, I tried to figure out which ones would help get me where I want to be. Law school was one of those doors.”
Faculty
A Broader Appreciation for the Law
Every summer when she was young, W. Warren Binford’s father would pack up the family for a month-long road trip. “He would drive to the end of our street, turn to us and say, ‘OK, where to?’” These excursions took Binford to almost all 50 states and allowed her to see a side of life her childhood in Los Angeles otherwise would not have provided. “Those trips really gave me an appreciation for others — that we are all part of a larger world community,” said Binford, an assistant professor of law and the director of Willamette’s Clinical Law Program.
