May 4, 2011
U.S. Court of Appeals judge to speak at law school
Judge A. Raymond Randolph
In honor of the first visiting Harold S. Shefelman Jurist-in-Residence, the University of Washington School of Law will host Judge A. Raymond Randolph of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Judge Randolph will visit the law school for two days of activities, including a classroom discussion with all first-year Constitutional Law students, a visit with the law school faculty, and a forum titled “A Judges Perspectives on Advocacy.” During the public forum from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on May 13, members of the UW School of Laws Moot Court Honor Board will moderate, and Judge Randolph will share his views on advocacy, which have been shaped by his two decades of service on the federal bench as well as by his own experiences arguing 23 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court (20 of which he won). The forum will be in Room 133 of the law school.
The Shefelman program will bring one prominent jurist to the law school each year for two or three days to engage with students, faculty, alumni and the greater law school community in a variety of formal and informal settings. The goal of the program is to bring to the law school varying judicial perspectives on the judicial process, the day-to-day practice of law, trial and appellate advocacy, and contemporary legal issues and to bridge the gap between legal education and legal practice.
The new Shefelman Jurist-in-Residence Program is supported by the Harold S. Shefelman Endowment, which was established in 1987 in honor of Harold S. Shefelman, a named partner in the long-time Seattle firm of Roberts & Shefelman. Shefelman was a noted municipal bond lawyer with a career that spanned almost six decades. He graduated from the UW School of Law in 1925 and later served as an adjunct faculty member and a UW Regent.
“We are delighted to inaugurate the Shefelman Jurist-in-Residence program by welcoming Judge Randolph to our exciting and collegial community,” said Dean Kellye Testy. “As one of the nations most accomplished jurists, he is an outstanding example of our mission of leadership for the global common good.”
Judge Randolph was invited because of his distinguished service on the D.C. Circuit, a court that some in the country have called the second-most important federal court in the nation behind only the U.S. Supreme Court because it plays a prominent role in shaping federal administrative and regulatory law. Appointed to the D.C. Circuit by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, Judge Randolph earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he ranked first in his class and served as managing editor of the schools Law Review.
After graduation, Judge Randolph served as a law clerk to Judge Henry J. Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. He then worked as assistant to the solicitor general, U.S. Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C. and was appointed deputy solicitor general of the United States, serving from 1975 to 1977. In 1979, he was appointed Special Counsel to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (the Ethics Committee) of the United States House of Representatives.
In the 1980s, Judge Randolph held a number of positions while in private practice, including Special Assistant Attorney General for the states of New Mexico, Utah and Montana.
Judge Randolph has taught courses in civil procedures and injunctions at Georgetown University Law Center and is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law at George Mason Law School, where he teaches First Amendment law.
During his visit to the law school, Judge Randolph will be accompanied by his wife Eileen OConnor, who served in the United States Department of Justice for six years as assistant attorney general for the Tax Division. Ms. OConnor is currently a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where she leads the firms federal tax controversy and tax policy team. Ms. OConnor will engage with students, faculty and alumni during the visit and will give a talk titled “The Use and Abuse of the Internal Revenue Code.”
