TEMPLETemple University James E. Beasley School of Law Alumni News • June 2017ACRES OF DIAMONDS: GREGORY MANDEL APPOINTED DEANInside this issueLAW SCHOOL EVENTSTrial team and basketball victories, “Commerce Court” scholarship, endowed lectures and many, many winter and spring events7COMMENCEMENT 2017Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is commencement speakerCLASS NOTES and other ALUMNI NEWSAlum Hayes Hunt profiled, Carol Tracy honored1728INside back coverALICE ABREUTax prof earns top teaching honor4MURRAY SHUSTERMAN ’36Devoted law school supporter rememberedJAMES STRAZZELLALaw School loses a giant6GREGORY N. MANDEL NAMED TO SUCCEED FORMER DEAN JOANNE A. EPPSMandel is a national expert in the areas of intellectual property law, innovation and the interface between technology and law. MAY 1, 2017 The founder of Temple University Russell Conwell wrote, in his oft-quoted Acres of Diamond essay, that when looking for diamonds, “dig in your own backyard!” This spring, following a national search, Temple University President Richard M. Englert named law school “diamond” Gregory N. Mandel to succeed JoAnne A. Epps as Beasley School of Law’s eleventh dean. Mandel has served as interim dean since July 2016, when Epps was appointed executive vice president and provost of the university. Epps had been dean of the law school since 2008, and taught at the law school for over 30 years before moving into the administration. As dean, Epps guided the school through the recession, when law schools nationwide experienced reduced enrollment, revenue and job opportunities for their graduates. Epps responded by expanding the school’s experiential offerings, and enhancing its business and transactional law curriculum. She also secured gifts from alums to create a center for social justice inquiry and advocacy, and for student scholarships.Mandel joined the faculty in 2007, one year prior to Epps becoming dean, and worked closely with her throughout the period when she was dean. In 2009, Epps named Mandel to the position of associate dean for research, recognizing his talent for overseeing this critical area of growth and excellence at the law school. In 2011, Mandel was further honored by becoming the Peter J. Liacouras Professor of Law.From Hubble Space Telescope to Temple Law With an undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy from Wesleyan University, Mandel was hired straight out of college to work on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in Baltimore. As manager of a team that reprocessed telescope images, he won achievement awards for both individual and group work. Building on that intellectual rigor, Mandel decided to enroll in Stanford Law School. During his first summer of law school he interned for Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Armed with a law degree, Mandel remained in California to practice law with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in San Francisco, after clerking for a year for Judge Jerome Farris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of Appeals.Before joining the Temple Law faculty, Mandel taught at Albany Law School, where he also served as associate dean for research and scholarship. He has held visiting professorships at Paris Nanterre University, through a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant; the University of Canterbury School of Law in New Zealand; and the University of Cádiz Faculty of Law in Spain. At Temple, Mandel teaches courses in intellectual property law, patent law, and property. His publications have been selected as among the best intellectual property and patent law articles of the year three times—including one that was recognized as among the most cited patent law articles of the past decade. continued on next page2 • TEMPLE ESQ. JUNE 2017EDITOR: What are your roots in Philadelphia? I grew up in East Mt. Airy and went to The Miquon School, and then Germantown Friends School for high school. Today, I live in Chestnut Hill with my wife, Alyson Mandel, who has a doctorate in social psychology and works as a research consultant for a health care management company, and our two children, Evelyn and Isaac.Undergraduate study in physics and astronomy shows a pretty strong commitment to science. And a job right out of college working on the Hubble space telescope is quite a plum. What happened that made you decide to enroll in law school? I very much enjoyed the intellectual challenge, problem solving, and learning about the world that are central to astronomy and physics but, although these studies are about the “real world,” I wanted a career that afforded a greater opportunity to have an impact on the “real world” of individuals’ lives and society. I had thought about a career in law for some time, and the analytic rigor, systems of organization, and problem solving challenges share some similarities with physics and astronomy. For me, law added the important component of more directly affecting people’s lives.Following law school, and with your strong science background, you looked to practice in environmental law and intellectual property. What made you leave practice and enter academia? I moved from private practice to academia for a couple of broad reasons. I very much enjoyed my law school experience, feeling that it opened my eyes to new ways of understanding society and the world, and sought the opportunity to try to play a similar role in educating future generations of lawyers. I was also excited about studying and researching legal topics and issues of my own choosing, in an effort to improve the law and the legal system. Both of these aspects of working in legal education have proven highly rewarding for me.What has changed about legal education since you were a student? The core of law school is very similar to my own experience, but there have been some significant changes. Clinical and experiential learning opportunities have grown to take on a much greater role in legal education, international studies permeate the curriculum to a greater degree, interdisciplinary education is growing, and, of particular interest to me, the study of intellectual property law has greatly expanded since I went to law school.You joined Temple Law in 2007. Shortly thereafter, the economy created some difficult challenges for law schools. How do you feel Temple Law has fared?Temple Law School has been lucky in that we were supported by the University in shrinking our class size so that we have been able to maintain our high standards for incoming students. Our students come from a wide variety of both non-traditional and traditional backgrounds, and every student we admit we believe has a strong likelihood of succeeding in law school and in practice.The changes in the economy have caused many students to become more “job-focused” during their legal school careers, and this, for instance, has had ripple effects on how students spend their summers and on participation in study abroad Mandel’s experimental studies have been cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and in briefs filed before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has presented his scholarship over 150 times in more than 15 countries, including for the United Nations, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the American Bar Association and the National Academy of Sciences.Dean Mandel: ‘A Natural Leader’“Greg is a natural leader who is totally committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service,” says Epps. “Those qualities helped him guide Temple Law through a period of transition. “Now the Temple community is going to get a chance to see another side of Greg: his spirit of innovation. I can’t wait to see where he’ll take the school next.”“I look forward to working with President Englert and Provost Epps, and our exceptional faculty and staff, to further strengthen this remarkable law school,” says Mandel. “Our mission to provide a superior, affordable and accessible legal education to a diverse student body sets us apart. I am honored to be a part of advancing both Temple Law’s commitment to being at the forefront of how law schools can contribute to society through scholarship, advocacy, and community involvement, and the role that legal education can play in shaping the next generation of lawyers.”MANDEL NAMED DEANcontinued from previous pageAn interview with Dean Mandel‘I am most proud of our faculty and students.’ TEMPLE ESQ. JUNE 2017 • 3programs. We are very pleased that the employment outlook for our graduates is strengthening significantly and our recent graduating classes have had remarkable success in job placement.Uncertain times can serve as incubators of innovation and opportunity. If you agree, what opportunities and innovations do you envision in Temple Law’s future? One area that I study is how the law must respond to the new legal issues brought about by technological change. These challenges are occurring all around us, from regulatory matters, to financial markets, to the impacts of automation on the workforce, to the effects of social media in myriad ways. We have many faculty members doing exceptional work in this field and Temple Law School has an opportunity to be a thought leader in these areas going forward.We will also be looking at developing additional relationships and partnerships with other institutions for the benefit of our students, faculty, and alumni. This will range from the local, such as potentially the National Constitution Center, to the international. We already have strong institutional connections and programs abroad, and there is room to build upon this by expanding our associations both substantively and geographically.How has Temple Law School approached the problem of debt loads facing students when they graduate? We are very proud at Temple Law School that our tuition and the average indebtedness of our graduates are both in the lowest quartile of law schools nationally (this is one area where we want to be below average). There are only a couple other law schools in the country of similar reputation that can say this. Although legal education is expensive, keeping costs low is a core part of our mission. It takes hard work and careful attention to costs, and we will continue to attend to this need.Klein Hall was built in 1973. In 2002, Barrack Hall added significant administrative and classroom facilities. What additional changes to the physical plant of the law school would you like to see?The method of legal education in the early 1970s, when Klein Hall was designed and built, looked significantly different than it does today. Although large lecture courses still make up a significant component of the curriculum, particularly in the first year, there is now more group work, small seminars, and varied experiential learning experiences for which our buildings are not ideally suited. In addition, we need to be constantly vigilant of upgrading our IT infrastructure. These physical plant challenges all need to be addressed going forward.Temple Law has a long history of working to achieve a diverse student body. How do you think we have fared?We are thrilled that this year’s entering class is one of the most racially diverse classes that we have ever had at the law school (about 35% of the incoming students identified themselves as minority). Maintaining a diverse student body, faculty, and staff, across a wide variety of characteristics, is one of our core values and central to our mission. Doing so requires not only recruiting individuals from varied and diverse backgrounds, but also ensuring that we have an open and inclusive environment at the law school that adequately supports everyone’s development, and that gives people the tools necessary to succeed both in law school and in their careers as graduates.What are you most proud of at the law school? What are some of the objectives that, as a leader, you’ll want to highlight or expand? I am most proud of our faculty and students. I was drawn to Temple Law School initially because of a couple of central qualities: a sense of a cultural fit with an exceptional, diverse faculty that cares deeply about teaching, scholarship, and community, and a mission-driven approach to providing a superior, affordable, and accessible legal education to a diverse student body.Periods of transition and change can be challenging for institutions, but they also present new opportunities. I would like to see us at the forefront of exploring how law schools can contribute to shaping society, though our scholarship, through our advocacy, through our community involvement, and through the role that legal education can play in social mobility by training the next generation of lawyers. When you’re not leading a law school, you’re an avid exerciser and an enthusiastic mountain climber. Are there any parallels you would like to make between tackling a difficult climb and being a dean? An interesting question. This could easily be overstated, but both endeavors require lots of careful planning and preparation in advance of taking action, simultaneous attention to big picture challenges and nuanced details, and the ability to make carefully considered strategic decisions as well as taking advantage of opportunities that unexpectedly arise. No matter how carefully you plan, there are always surprises ahead, and you must be willing to adapt in process.4 • TEMPLE ESQ. JUNE 2017APRIL 25, 2017 From the volume of letters offered in support of her nomination, it is clear that Professor Alice Abreu has been a Great Teacher for a very long time. This spring, Temple University made that official by honoring her with the Great Teacher Award, the highest honor bestowed by the university upon its faculty.Dean Gregory Mandel took the opportunity to heap praise upon Professor Abreu, describing the “universal admiration of all who know Professor Abreu,” not only for her “zeal for tax law,” but also for her “passion for teaching . . . and her excitement for drawing colleagues into the intersection of tax law and their practice areas.”Mandel’s remarks were echoed in scores of letters from faculty, students, and alumni. “I was a tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers when I decided to attend Temple’s Law School,” wrote an alumnus from the class of 2001. “Alice’s tax classes were by far the best tax sessions I had ever attended. She engaged her students, made them think and had a passion for the material that infected the whole class.”One member of the class of 2013 appreciated Abreu’s talent for meeting students where they are and helping them understand the complex subject: “In the classroom, Professor Abreu does not teach to the top students, nor does she teach to the lowest common denominator. Instead, she raises all students up to the highest possible level,” he wrote. “Most importantly, rather than just teaching how to answer specific tax questions, she teaches how to think about tax.”Teaching how to think about tax is at the core of Abreu’s teaching philosophy. “I believe that learning the law does not involve memorizing a set of disembodied rules,” she wrote in a statement about her approach to teaching aptly titled Understanding the Why. “It is a process that explores why those are the rules we have, who benefits, who is harmed, and what forces might change the rules.”Many of Abreu’s faculty colleagues cited that process in their praise for Low Income Taxpayer Policy and Practice (LITPP), an innovative course created by Abreu that has become the model for similar courses at other institutions. LITPP blends reading and reflection on tax policy with hands-on experience preparing returns for low income taxpayers through the IRS’ VITA program, exposing students Alice Abreu earns Great Teacher AwardProfessor engages students with her ‘zeal for tax law’“Professor Abreu tricked me into liking tax. Because it is a bar topic, I signed up for Federal Income Tax. Before I knew it, she had me fully engaged . . . ” —Annie Brophy ’17 TEMPLE ESQ. JUNE 2017 • 5“I was dreading the class. As a math and economics phobe, I was convinced it would be a total disaster. Professor Abreu made tax accessible, and dare I say it, fun. — Kate Williams ’97, Delaware Investments “She always encouraged me to not give in to the temptation to take an easier course load as I grew closer to the end of law school and instead to get everything out of my law school experience that I could, including taking her low income taxpayer course and volunteering with VITA to give back to the community through my knowledge of tax law.” —Samantha Ramagano ’17 “Alice provides countless students with the opportunity to put their knowledge to practice to serve underrepresented communities. Through the tax clinic at the Sheller Center, as well as the other various community-based sites, she is teaching students not only countless practical skills, but also the importance of engaging in service work as part of the legal profession.” — Jennifer J. Lee, Co-Legal Director of the Sheller Center for Social JusticeAbreu ‘made us truly want to geek out’ “I was a tax partner at PwC when I decided to attend Temple’s Law School. Alice’s tax classes were by far the best tax sessions I had ever attended.” — George Gregory ’01, Berwind Corporation “Professor Abreu was extremely important to my development as a lawyer. I loved her class, and her enthusiastic teaching style, so much I opted to take her tax policy course. She was demanding in all the best ways.” — Jim Walden ’91, Walden Macht & Haran LLPto the ways in which tax law meets—or fails to meet—its policy objectives. One colleague described the concept as, “simply brilliant: skills training, service, policy education, and professional reflection in one neat package.”Like all great teachers, part of what Abreu does is to embrace her students’ humanity and ignite their potential, often before they even see it in themselves. One current student wrote that this perceptiveness changed the course of her life. “Professor Abreu believed in my abilities before I did, recognizing my talent for tax even after not performing as well as I should have on my first tax exam. She encouraged me to continue taking tax classes and push myself to be a better student,” she wrote. “Because of Professor Abreu, I now have confidence. I am confident that I can be an excellent lawyer and advocate particularly in the tax field, but really in any field of law I wish.”Abreu, who earned her law degree from Cornell University in 1978, joined the Temple Law faculty in 1985 and was named the Charles Klein Professor of Law and Government in 1993. Before joining Temple Law School, she clerked for Judge Edward N. Cahn in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and practiced tax law with Dechert in Philadelphia. She has been a visiting professor at a number of institutions, including the Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.Abreu has published widely in the area of federal income tax law, with a special emphasis in the formulation of tax policy. She has been quoted in the tax column of the Wall Street Journal, has served as secretary and vice chair for publications of the tax section of the American Bar Association, and is a frequent speaker at national and regional tax conferences.Apparently, Abreu’s passions extend beyond tax law. Since 1999, Abreu has spent many summers teaching in the law school’s program in Rome. In recent years, she has co-directed or directed the program. A native Spanish speaker, she has studied in Rome to develop competency in Italian. And another passion—and area of excellence: Abreu has run the Rome marathon twice and the Philadelphia marathon three times. “Professor Abreu could not have made tax more engaging—she hurled herself unreservedly into the stories and narratives of tax and tax policy in a way that riveted our attention and made us truly want to geek out and get facile with the Code.” — Joyce Koh ’02, Joyce Koh LLC “One day, as we left the classroom, I asked her what she did in her spare time, what she did for fun and relaxation. Alice responded in a flash something to the effect that what she most enjoyed doing was curling up in a big chair, by a warm fire, glass of wine in hand, and reading the latest issue of the Journal of Taxation. It was there and then that I knew that Alice Abreu was special— a rainbow, an original.” — William R. Wanger ‘75, Fox Rothschild ‘She is also a master teacher of her colleagues.’“Alice’s teaching is not limited to her students. She is also a master teacher of her colleagues. When I first joined the Temple Law faculty, Alice took me under her wing and, without me quite noticing it, taught me how to be a law professor.” — Jeffrey Dunoff, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law “Alice’s enthusiasm for teaching has also helped make the Rome [summer] program a success. She has directed or co-directed the program many times, and her energy and willingness to keep making changes to meet the changing legal landscape and needs of our students has kept that program vibrant during difficult times for law school programs abroad.” —Theresa Glennon, Professor of Law “Alice does not see any conflict between being an excellent teacher and an excellent scholar. If you are a student in one of Alice’s classes, you can be sure that you will be exposed to the most current and important trends in scholarship. And Alice herself is a proficient scholar who has earned a notable national reputation.” — Robert J. Reinstein, Clifford Scott Green Professor of Law6 • TEMPLE ESQ. JUNE 2017Longtime member of the Temple Law faculty James A. Strazzella— or “Straz,” as he was known affectionately by faculty and students—taught until a few days before his untimely death on January 28, 2017. Teaching law was his passion. In 2015, upon winning one of many awards, Strazzella said, “I love teaching, I love being able to see young people grow into their true potential. If you do what you love, you never work a day in your life.” As the law school community struggled with this sudden loss, a memorial service was convened on February 24, 2017. Close friend and longtime colleague Professor James Shellenberger offered opening remarks.“Straz was an extraordinary teacher and a terrific lawyer, but even more he was a wonderfully generous, sincere and caring person,” said Shellenberger. “Totally genuine, never arrogant or showy. He never did anything for personal credit or gain or accolades, but because it was the right thing to do. An unwavering moral compass. “Among the many comments posted on the law school website’s guest book in Jim’s memory were two that capture who he was and what he meant to so many people: ‘Can a man who touched so many lives and left so many fond memories really be gone? I think not.’ And, ‘Everyone should have a Straz in their life.’ Temple was fortunate to have Jim Strazzella in its life.”Professor Finbarr McCarthy remembered Strazzella telling him that “the longer he taught, the less he taught. However,” said McCarthy, “he still spent about six hours preparing for each one hour of class, even after all his years of teaching. The students, he said, deserved no less.”Forty-four years on Temple Law facultyStrazzella came to Temple Law in 1973, taught courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, and appellate procedure, and was acting dean from 1987 to 1989. His popularity in the classroom was recognized with the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1983, and the George P. Williams Award for Outstanding Professor in 2010. In 1989, he was named the James G. Schmidt Professor of Law. Prior to joining the James A. Strazzella 1939~2017 Temple Law faculty, he taught and served as vice-dean at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law from 1969 to 1973. Professor Theresa Glennon described the role her colleague and friend played in the law school community. “Jim’s presence was felt in his many individual acts of kindness within the law school community. He always had a kind word, a genuine interest in the lives and wellbeing of others, and he carried this through in his day-to-day life in the law school as well as in his many contributions to public service.”“The Law School has lost one of its giants,” said Professor Rafael Porrata-Doria. “Jim was an incredibly talented teacher. I have never seen anyone who could use the Socratic method so effortlessly and effectively. As acting dean, he successfully managed the law school through a tumultuous transition. He was also a universally recognized expert on Pennsylvania criminal law.” Strazzella’s service on councils, task forces, and commissions reflected his passion for the law and for the people it was written to serve. He was chair of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s criminal rules committee, leading an intensive effort to modernize Pennsylvania criminal procedure. He also served on Pennsylvania’s Judicial Council, and was an advisor to the national program for the continuing education of appellate court judges. Strazzella served on the national stage, first as an assistant U.S. attorney for D.C. from 1965 to 1969. In 1968, he was named designate of the U.S. attorney to the committee on the administration of justice under emergency conditions. In 1970, he was named chief counsel to the Kent State task force. In 1998, he chaired the ABA task force on the federalization of criminal law. With an abiding love for Philadelphia and its history, Strazzella was active in numerous public and charitable endeavors. As chair of the board of Smith Memorial Playground, he helped raise $10 million to revitalize the iconic North Philadelphia playground. The Fireman’s Hall Museum in Philadelphia presented him with the Founder’s Award in recognition of his work on behalf of that institution. He also was a trustee of the Wagner Free Institute of Science, a public library trustee, and a president of A Better Chance in Lower Merion. Born in the central Pennsylvania town of Hanover, Strazzella earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Following law school, he clerked for Justice Samuel J. Roberts of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Strazzella is survived by children Jill S. Dixon, Steve A. Strazzella, Tracy A. Graziano, and Michael Strazzella; nine grandchildren; and a brother, Henry Strazzella. In 2010, James Strazzella helped Mayor Michael Nutter cut the ribbon on the newly renovated Smith Playground. Strazzella joined Temple Law in 1973 after teaching at Penn Law for four years. ‘The law school has lost one of its giants’ TEMPLE ESQ. JUNE 2017 • 7WINTER AND SPRING AT TEMPLE LAWU.S. Tax Court Judge delivers Fogel LectureFEBRUARY 27, 2017 The Hon. Cary D. Pugh presented the Frank and Rose Fogel Lecture: “Impressions of a (Reasonably) Newly-Minted Tax Court Judge.” Judge Pugh says she is the second-most junior member of the U.S. Tax Court, having been nominated in 2014 by President Obama. The tax court is composed of 19 presidentially appointed members. It is physically located in Washington, DC, but the judges travel nationwide to conduct trials in various designated cities. Pugh says that training to serve on the court consists of watching trials, “And then I was sent out into the field.” While Pugh says she’s been told “it takes about ten years to get up to speed,” her background should accelerate that process. Pugh earned a law degree from University of Virginia in 1994, and clerked for Judge Jackson L. Kiser of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. She was an associate at Vinson & Elkins for four years, before being named tax counsel for the U.S. Senate committee on finance, advising committee members on individual and corporate tax issues from 2002 to 2005. From 2005 to the time she joined the bench, Pugh was counsel in the tax department at Skaden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. The Frank and Rose Fogel Lectureship was established in 1987 through a bequest from Frank Fogel ’23.Hon. Cary D. PughMaking Sense of the LEGAL Headlines Lecture series sorts out ‘fact from spin’APRIL 18, 2017 Throughout March and April, the Sheller Center for Social Justice hosted a series of lectures and panel discussions by members of the Temple Law faculty to discuss vital issues dominating the national headlines. In the first in the four-part series, “Making Sense of the Legal Headlines,” Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Herman Stern Professor of Law, and Peter J. Spiro, Charles R. Weiner Professor of Law, were joined by Jonathan Grode, an immigration attorney and adjunct professor at Temple Law, to explore border security and interior enforcement, including Presidential orders concerning a border wall and suspending aid to “sanctuary cities.” At a subsequent panel, Ramji-Nogales and Spiro returned to discuss President Trump’s highly-publicized travel and refugee bans. In a panel titled “Crime and Policing,” Professor Lauren Ouziel, Meg Reiss, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Charles H. Ramsey, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner and co-chair of President Obama’s taskforce on 21st century policing, addressed crime and policing in a time of intense national discussion of police practices and mass incarceration. Last in the series was Professor Amy Sinden, who led a discussion on climate change and federal policy—days before massive Earth Day “Science” marches across the country protested Presidential policies and climate-change denying appointments. Sheller Center seeks to inspire and inform social justice work“The series was borne out of an interest in serving as a resource to the larger Temple University community,” explains Sheller Center program coordinator Len Rieser. “Our goal was to help cut through the confusion surrounding these often complex legal issues so interested people could sort out fact from spin and form more informed perspectives on what’s happening in our country.” Each discussion was supplemented by a resource guide compiled by Temple Law librarians for further research, and students wrote blog posts after each panel. “The increase in civic engagement and interest in social justice in recent months has been extraordinary, and very encouraging,” says Professor Jennifer Lee, who teaches the Social Justice Lawyering Clinic at the Sheller Center. “The series was an opportunity to contribute to the ongoing conversation on Temple’s campus and provide inspiration to students and faculty to engage in social justice work in partnership with impacted communities.”The Sheller Center for Social Justice was created in 2013 by a generous gift from Stephen and Sandra Sheller. The center’s faculty and staff work with law students seeking justice for disadvantaged populations in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania through social justice inquiry and advocacy. Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Herman Stern Professor of Law and Peter J. Spiro, Charles R. Weiner Professor of LawAmy Sinden, James E. Beasley Professor of LawNext >