MINUTES
2000 ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETINGALASKA ADVENTUREThe 27th ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETINGTRIP ATTENDEES:
Justice Richard D. Aldrich (Joan), Westlake Village, CAJustice Jay R. Ballantyne (Elaine), Visalia, CAJudge Raymond Choate (Jeanette), Manhattan Beach, CAJudge Ralph M. Drummond (Mary Jane), Pauma, CA Judge Jack E. Goertzen (Fro), Laguna Beach, CAJudge Margaret Hay (Ken), Long Beach, CAJudge William B. Keene (Pat), Manhattan Beach, CAJudge James G. Kolts (Dorothy), Altadena, CAJudge Mark Soden (Sheryl), Corona del Mar, CAJudge John R. Stanton (Meredith), Long Beach, CA Judge Hugh Stuart (Virginia), Omaha, NEMrs. Marjorie Love, Houston, TXExecutive Secretary Diane Bowen, Los Angeles, CASUNDAY: Academy members arrived in Anchorage and transferred to the Hilton Hotel. A Welcome Dinner was held in the Fireweed Room and members were presented with sweatshirts and tote bags with the Academy logo to commemorate the visit to Alaska and Vancouver.Anchorage is Alaska’s largest city bordered by Cook Inlet and Mount Susitna and the Chugach Mountains rising up to 13,000 feet. Nearly 42% of the state’s population (254,000) live in Anchorage. Anchorage is the main cargo port for the state. Surrounded by wilderness, it is not unusual to see moose in the city in the winter looking for food, and in the spring loons nest. At one time ice in Cook Inlet was 3,000 feet thick. When the ice retreated up Knik and Turnagain Arms at the head of the inlet, shallow estuaries formed as glacial silt was deposited by retreating glaciers. Humans appeared on these shores about 6000 B.C. when Southern Eskimos first arrived and inhabited upper Cook Inlet until about 1650 A.D., then moved to Prince William Sound when Tanaina natives migrated into the area. Russian fur traders were the next in the region followed by Russian priests who established a mission near Knik in 1835. When gold was discovered in 1882 at Crow Creek, about 40 miles south of where Anchorage was eventually established, prospectors came into the area. In 1914 President Wilson authorized construction of the Alaska Railroad with Anchorage the mid-point of the line connecting the coal and gold fields of the interior with the port of Seward. World War II brought the next boom to Anchorage with the construction of Ft. Richardson, Elmendorf Air Force base and the Alaska Highway in 1942. The international airport in Anchorage was opened in 1945, and in 1958, the Statehood Act for Alaska was passed. In 1964 a massive earthquake, the largest ever recorded in North America, devastated the city, but Alaskans quickly rebuilt. The discovery of North Slope oil in 1968 brought the most recent boom as oil and construction companies set up headquarters in Anchorage. MONDAY; In the morning the group took a DC3 flightseeing excursion. The group was originally scheduled to fly over Denali National Park and around Mt. McKinley, however, heavy cloud cover diverted the flight to Turnagain Arm, over to Prince William Sound and Valdez. The group observed glaciers in College Fjord from the unique perspective of the low flying DC3, complete with 1940s beverage service, vintage magazines and big band music.Lunch was in Gridwood at the top of Mt. Alyeska providing a view of Twenty-Mile Glacier at the end of the valley. On the way to Seward for embarkation on the Sun Princess, members visited a Wild Animal Game Preserve with buffalo, elk, reindeer, moose, bald eagles and owls, all being rehabilitated to return to the wild.The group boarded the Sun Princess in Seward and sailed at 10:00 p.m. The Sun Princess is one of the biggest cruise ships launched to date. Sun Princess is nearly as long as three football fields and weighs 77,000 tons. She was built by the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy at a cost of $300 million. She has a capacity of 2,300 passengers in 1,011 staterooms. She carries a museum-class collection of art valued at $2.5 million, including frescoes reminiscent of ancient Rome, paintings evoking the style of 15th century Italian painter Botticelli, murals created in Modena, the ceramic tile capital of Europe, as well as stained glass domes, monumental sculptures, dramatic ceiling murals, colorful landscapes, and elegant tapestries. In keeping with the ancient Roman motif of the main dining room, three large mosaic fragments dating to the early Roman empire are displayed.TUESDAY: The Sun Princess began her southern voyage sailing from the port of Seward, and during the night cruising through Montegue Strait, Knight Island Passage, Perry Passage, and Prince William Sound, entering College Fjord during the early morning hours at Latitude 60̊ North. The fjords contain Alaska’s greatest concentration of tidewater glaciers, 20 of which are active. The rest of the day at sea was spent cruising along Alaska’s Gulf Coast surrounded by spectacular scenery of coastal mountains, rainforests and shorelines. A formal dinner was held in the evening preceded by the Captain’s cocktail party.WEDNESDAY: In the morning the Sun Princess entered Glacier Bay at approximately 9:30 a.m. When Captain George Vancouver sailed through the ice-choked waters of Icy Strait in 1774, Glacier Bay was little more than a dent in a mountain of ice. Less than a century later, Naturalist John Muir made his legendary discovery of Glacier Bay and found that the end of the Bay had retreated 40 miles from Icy Strait. Today, the glacier that bears his name is approximately 60 miles from Icy Strait. The resultant re-colonization of plants and animals has fascinated naturalists since 1916. Apart from having the world’s highest concentration of tidewater glaciers, Glacier Bay is the habitat for a wide variety of marine life: whales, harbor seals, porpoises, sea otters, brown and black bears, wolves, moose, mountain goats and over 200 species of birds make their home in Glacier Bay. In the afternoon a pod of five killer whales were observed from the ship.Glaciers are formed when years of snowfall compact into ice and begin to slide down the mountainside. Gravity and meltwater combine to drag the ice mass towards the sea. The glaciers in Glacier Bay are remnants of the Little Ice Age which began 4,000 years ago. Glacial ice is blue because blue is the only color not absorbed by the physical characteristics of the ice molecules. Compressed air trapped inside glacial ice creates a phenomenon called ice sizzle. As the ice melts the bubbles burst creating an audible snap, crackle and pop. Although it took thousands of years for Glacier Bay to fill with ice, it only took 200 years for it to melt. The Margerie Glacier has a face 600-700 feet tall, 250 feet are above sea level and 200 feet are being melted below the sea’s surface. The Grand Pacific and Lamplugh Glaciers each rise about 150 feet above the sea. All glaciers contain rock debris, particularly at the sides. Avalanches, rock slides and the scouring of the valley by the ice add to the accumulation. Some glaciers are dirtier than others. These glaciers may be fed by many tributary glaciers, each adding a load of rock to the main glacier, and at times the glaciers look more like rock than ice. Glacier Bay is in the Pacific Ocean and was carved out by a glacier and then filled in with saltwater as the glacier retreated, creating a fjord. Much of Glacier Bay is over 1,000 feet deep.In the evening members enjoyed a private IATJ Cocktail Party in the Shooting Star Lounge prior to dinner. A guest at the party was a former United States District Court judge from Pennsylvania whom Judge Aldrich met on board the ship.THURSDAY: Throughout the night, the Sun Princess sailed northbound in the Lynn Canal. At approximately 4:00 a.m., the Sun Princess passed Eldred Rock Lighthouse, entered the Chilkoot Inlet, passed Battery Point and the City of Haines and proceeded through Taya Inlet to Skagway, docking alongside the Railroad Dock at 5:00 a.m. The morning was free for members to enjoy the Gold Rush Boomtown of Skagway. Gold was found in 1896 in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory. During the first year of the rush, up to 30,000 gold seekers passed through Skagway and nearby Dyea. “The hardest part about getting rich in the Klondike was just getting there. The Royal Northwest Mounted Police eyed the thousands of tenderfeet (called “cheechakos”) challenging the Chilkoot Trail and decreed that each man would have to haul enough food to last a year. It amounted to 2,000 pounds and most had to carry it on their backs, 200 pounds at a time. Of all the images of this period, perhaps the most vivid is a photo of an unending line of black specks arching up and over the mountain. Men back to nose against each other, fearing to rest lest they lose their place in line.” In five months between July and November, 1898, the United States mints in Seattle and San Francisco received $10 million worth of Klondike gold. By 1900 another $38 million had been recorded.Academy members enjoyed a private White Pass Scenic Railway shore excursion in an observation coach car. The White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad was build in 1898 and stretches from Skagway to Lake Bennett, British Columbia. The railway to White Pass Summit, one of the steepest railroad grades in North America, follows the original White Pass Trail that prospectors climbed on their way to the Klondike Gold Rush. From tidewater at Skagway, the railway climbs 2,865 feet in just 20 miles with grades up to 3.9% and cliff-hanging turns of 16̊. The train climbed past Gold Rush Cemetery, resting place of early gold prospectors, and Rocky Point, which provided the group with a spectacular view down the lower valley to Skagway with Mt. Harding and Harding Glacier forming a backdrop for members to see the Sun Princess at dock in Skagway. The train continued past Bridal Veil Falls, which cascade down 6,000 feet from the glaciers, past the Steel Bridge, which is no longer in use, but when it was constructed in 1901 it was the tallest cantilever bridge in the world, and continued to Inspiration Point, where members enjoyed unparalleled, breathtaking views of the Chilkat Mountain Range. The ride culminated at the White Pass Summit, the United States/Canadian border, where the train turned around for the trip back down the mountain.The White Pass & Yukon Railway operates in the northern portion of the 17-million acre Tongass National Forest, the largest National Forest in the United States. The train passed through beautiful forests, subalpine meadows and alpine meadows. Approaching the summit, the forests of the Skagway valley give way to lush subalpine meadows and finally alpine areas that are dominated by stunted conifers and lichens. One of the most interesting indigenous plants pointed out by local guides is the Fireweed, a tall herb with bright pink flowers that is an early colonizer in disturbed areas, such as recently de-glaciated areas. Seeds are windblown and fly like dandelion fluff. The appearance of this fluff is a sign that winter is on the way. Fireweed, profusely growing along the railway tracks, is the Territorial flower of the Yukon.The Sun Princess was in port in Skagway until 8:00 p.m. and then sailed on a southerly course through Taya and Chilkoot Inlets, proceeding through Lynn Canal and Stephens Passage on its way towards Juneau.FRIDAY: At 6:30 a.m. the Sun Princess arrived in Juneau, the capital city of Alaska, and third largest city in the state, with a population of 30,000. Juneau’s longest day is June 21st, where the sun rises at 3:51 a.m. and sets at 10:09 p.m. Juneau is home port to Alaska’s largest fishing fleets with over a thousand boats docking year round. Tourism is the leading private-sector industry in Juneau. Each summer half a million cruise passengers visit Juneau, a major port of call for ships sailing the Inside Passage. The ships pull into Gastineau Channel and Juneau residents can watch live coverage of the Gastineau Channel on their local cable channel. The first footage of Gastineau Channel was used as a filler during a technical glitch, but the soothing footage of maritime traffic became so popular with local residents, the cable network decided not to replace it with commercial programming. Gold was first discovered on the beach in Gastineau Channel in 1880. A mine was built and the mining complex eventually became the largest in the world, extracting more than $70 million worth of gold. Visitors can still see the mine today, and the local guide told the group that the mine had been re-opened and recently closed down again. Between 1881 and World War II, the Juneau Gold Belt yielded 6.7 million ounces of gold and 3.1 million ounces of silver.The group enjoyed a private shore excursion to the Gastineau Salmon Hatchery, historically the local fishing grounds of the Tlingit people. The hatchery continues to raise and harvest salmon, and the group observed hundreds of salmon which were returning to spawn and die at the hatchery, jumping out of the water, swimming up funnels to reach the point where they were hatched. The usual cycle for this is three years. The next stop was a visit to the Green Angel Gardens, built by a young woman, Jane Svinicki, over one summer, supplementing the forest with plants and vegetation indigenous to the region to offer visitors a “glimpse into the diverse botanical micro-environment of a Southeast Alaskan rainforest.” The members enjoyed an leisurely stroll through the trails observing tiny muskeg flowers, mushrooms and berries under the towering forest canopy overhead. After the walk, a very civilized tea and scones were served.The group then went to the Mendenhall Glacier, one of the most scenic and accessible glaciers which flows 12 miles down the Mendenhall Valley to its terminus near the visitors center. The ice flows forward at an average rate of two feet per day, but at the same time it wastes away at a slightly faster rate. When the rate of melting exceeds the rate of flow, a glacier recedes. The Mendenhall Glacier has been receding since the late 1700s and currently retreats at a rate of 25-30 feet per year. The group remarked that they had now observed glaciers from the air, from the ship and now from the ground. Trails were available to hike closer to the glacier, and some members enjoyed short walks to the edge of the lake and observed ice floes, waterfalls, beaver dams, and seeing the fall foliage in the area.The Sun Princess departed from Juneau at 5:00 p.m. In the evening there was a semi-formal dinner followed by a variety show in the theater. SATURDAY: The Sun Princess arrived in Ketchikan at 8:45 a.m. after sailing through Cape Decision, Summer Strait and Snow Pass overnight. There were no private shore excursions scheduled in Ketchikan and several of the members arranged for various activities such as pontoon planes to glaciers, canoe trips and visits to streams to watch bears catching and eating salmon. Because of very heavy rain, shore trips were canceled. Most members then went into town to shop in the vast array of stores. Ketchikan is rich in Indian heritage and has the world’s largest collection of totem poles. Contrary to early belief, totem poles were not carved as monuments to deities and were never worshiped. They bore the likenesses of ancestral symbols and told the tale of heroic deeds making them family trees. Not an ancient art form, the huge carved red cedar poles found all over Ketchikan are largely a 19th century phenomenon, dependent upon chisels, steel axes, curved knives and other metal tools introduced by European settlers.Unlike prior ports, Ketchikan was not established as a gold mining town. Because of the presence of salmon in the area, Ketchikan was established in 1883 when a saltery for processing salmon was built, followed by a cannery a few years later. As more canneries were opened, a boardwalk town sprang up along Ketchikan Creek, a major spawning river for salmon. In 1903, a sawmill began making boxes for the cases of salmon being shipped out. Gold was discovered in the area in 1897 and copper shortly thereafter. Today, tourism is a thriving industry. In addition to its turn-of-the century boardwalk streets and buildings, the town has become a showpiece of Tlingit culture with totem poles and other native art on display. The name Ketchikan is based on a Tlingit word which, loosely translated, means “thundering wings of an eagle.” Ketchikan’s numerous church spires serve as perches for eagles attracted to the salmon in Ketchikan Creek.In the evening a formal dinner was preceded by a IATJ cocktail party hosted by the Aldriches and the Stantons in their suites on the bow of the ship.SUNDAY: The Sun Princess left Ketchikan at 5:45 p.m. and was at sea all day cruising through the islands of the Inside Passage. In the morning the Academy members were invited by the Maitre d’hotel to a private tour of the ship’s galley, which members found quite interesting. The number of food items used for a 7-day cruise was astounding.BUSINESS MEETING
The annual business meeting was held at 2:30 p.m. in the Shooting Star Lounge aboard the Sun Princess. All members were in attendance. President Richard Aldrich thanked everyone for coming and noted that this past year he had focused on increasing the membership. He has had great success generating interest among the judges and felt that the coffee mug was very successful and brought in numerous nominations. In the future he would like to do similar logo items and, of course, encourage the new members to participate in the annual meetings.The minutes of the 1999 meeting held in Costa Rica were approved as written.The Treasurer’s Report submitted by Judge Keene showed a balance of $4,645.90 on hand at the 1999 business meeting, income of $9,196.00, expenses of $6,272.27 with a balance on hand this date of $7,569.63 (with trip expenses outstanding). Motion by Judge Stuart to approve the Treasurer’s Report, second by Judge Drummond; unanimously approved.The delinquent dues report was presented. Four members did not pay the dues for 2000 and one member did not pay the dues for 1999 and 2000. Judge Aldrich will write a letter to the delinquent member who owes for the last two years. If there is no response he will be dropped from the membership records; so moved by Judge Keene, second by Judge Stanton, unanimously approved.The Academy took in seven new members in 1999; ten members resigned. There are nine pending nominations. Scholarship donation funds were reported: In 1999, $735 was collected; in 1998 a donation was not made, leaving a total of $1,365 in the fund. In 1999, a $1,000 donation was made to the Universidad de Costa Rica School of Law. The Academy received a thank you letter from Dean Saenz-Elizondo informing the Academy that they had used the money to refurbish a classroom and purchase sound equipment. In 2000, $1,035 was collected, for a total on hand of $1,400. It was decided that a donation of $1,000 will be made to the British Columbia School of Law when the group visits the campus in Vancouver.Judge Keene, chair of the nominating committee, presented the slate of officers for 2001: Because Judge Aldrich has done such an outstanding job as president, bringing vitality to the office and the organization itself, Judge Keene stated the members would like to see him finish some of the things he has started. Therefore, it is the hope of the membership he will agree to a second term as president. Judge Margaret Hay, a first time-traveler, has agreed to be Chancellor, and Judge Keene will continue as Secretary-Treasurer. Judge Aldrich graciously accepted the position of President for a second year. Judge Kolts moved to close the nominations; second by Judge Drummond; Judge Goertzen moved to accept the slate and the officers were unanimously elected.The 2001 meeting site was discussed. Suggestions included Australia/New Zealand, Danube or Rhine River cruises. Under New Business Judge Aldrich proposed that the initiation fee be raised to $200 as the new member plaques are now costing approximately $160 each, second by Judge Ballantyne, passed unanimously.The following nominations of new members were made: Judge Aldrich nominated Judge Dickran Tevrizian of the United States District Court, Central District of California; second by Judge Stanton. Judge Aldrich nominated Judge David Danielson of the San Diego Superior Court, second by Judge Drummond. Judge Aldrich nominated Judge Linda Wilde of the San Bernardino Superior Court, second by Judge Drummond. Judge Aldrich nominated Judge Ana Marie Luna of the Los Angeles Superior Court, second by Judge Stanton. All the nominations were approved by the members.At 4:15 the meeting was adjourned.MONDAY: In the morning the Sun Princess arrived in Vancouver for disembarkation. The group was met by a local guide for a city tour. The first people to make Vancouver’s natural harbor their home were the Squamish tribe of Coast Salish natives. In 1792 Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy sailed into the harbor looking for a Northwest Passage. It wasn’t until 1857 when gold was discovered in the Fraser Canyon that settlers moved into the area. Over the centuries, Vancouver has seen everything from dugout canoes and square-rigged sailing ships to deep sea freighters and luxury liners in its harbor. Tall ships have been replaced with tall buildings and a large diversity of cultures make Vancouver a cosmopolitan city. Vancouver celebrated its 100th birthday in 1986 by hosting an international transportation fair.During the city tour the group drove through Gastown, Chinatown, Queen Elizabeth Park and Stanley Park. Stanley Park is a 1,000 acre park encircled by a 5 ½ mile pedestrian seawall; a popular viewing site is the Brockton Point containing a display of north coast totem poles. Lunch was in Stanley Park at the Fish House Restaurant.In the afternoon the group arrived at the Metropolitan Hotel in downtown Vancouver and had the afternoon and evening free.TUESDAY: In the morning the group left the hotel for a ferry ride to visit Victoria on Vancouver Island. Victoria began as a fur trading post of the Hudson Bay Company in 1843. Britain made Vancouver Island a Crown colony in 1849. The two colonies of Vancouver and Vancouver Island merged to form British Columbia in 1867 and Victoria became the capital. With the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867 British Columbians decided not to join with the United States but, in 1871, with the recently-formed Confederation of Canada. The group visited famous Butchart Gardens, which include a Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Italian Garden, Concert Lawn and a Fireworks Viewing area. Butchart Gardens has more than a million visitors annually. After spending time in the gardens the group went to the Empress Hotel for High Tea. The Empress Hotel was established in 1908 and has been restored to Edwardian opulence. The afternoon was free for shopping and touring downtown Victoria, and the group returned to the hotel in the evening.WEDNESDAY: In the morning the group met with Tiffany Lee, the Law Courts Education Society coordinator, and Marilou Keung, a Canadian attorney and docent for the Law Courts Education Society, who took Academy members on a tour of the Law Courts Building. “The Vancouver Law Courts are the largest court facility in British Columbia. The Law Courts Education Society provides educational programs about the justice system to the public and in turn encourages those involved in the justice system to be aware of the needs of the community . . . working in partnership with the Ministry of Attorney General, the Ministry of Education, the judiciary, the Canadian Bar Association, schools and the communities . . . [to] help maintain an accessible justice system for everyone.” The Law Courts Education Society publishes booklets explaining the structure of the British Columbia Law Courts in French, Arabic, Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Iranian, Polish, Farsi, Vietnamese and Korean.The organization of Canada’s judicial system is under the Constitution Act of 1867 which divided the judicial system between the federal (or national) government and ten provincial governments, which have jurisdiction over the provinces. The power to appoint the judges to the superior courts in the provinces, which include provincial courts of appeal as well as trial courts of general jurisdiction, is given to the federal government. The courts of Canada are organized in a four-tiered structure: The Supreme Court of Canada sits as a general court of appeal for Canada and hears appeals from all other courts of law. The Supreme Court sits only in Ottawa. There are 700 provincial and territorial courts in Canada, with 14 appellate courts, one in each province and territory and two each in Quebec and Alberta. The Provincial Court is the first level of court in which the majority of cases are heard. There are no jury trials in the Provincial Courts, which handle 95% of criminal cases of a less serious nature, family matters, youth matters, traffic and municipal bylaw matters and small claims cases involving sums of less than $10,000. Over 20,000 civil cases are filed each year. The Court assists lay people in filing their cases. It takes a civil case approximately 18-24 months from filing to trial. Since Canada has a Monarch, the Crown prosecutes all criminal cases.The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the province’s trial court. There are 100 Supreme Court judges who sit in eight judicial districts. There are also 14 Supreme Court masters who deal with pre-trial matters. The Supreme Court hears civil cases including divorce, libel, and disputes over $10,000, and criminal cases such as murder, manslaughter, bank robbery, and major drug cases. The Supreme Court also hears appeals from the Provincial Court.Jurors are selected from the electoral roll. Jurors are only asked their names and addresses on voir dire and only challenged for “content.” There are 4 challenges in routine cases, 12 in cases where imprisonment will be over 12 years, and 20 in murder treason trials. According to Ms. Lee, lawyers don’t care who is on the jury “everyone is acceptable to the Crown.” Jurors cannot be excluded based on gender, nationality or occupation. In a criminal trial 12 jurors are selected to sit on a case. The number can be reduced to 10 and they can still deliberate; if the number goes below 10 a mistrial has to be declared. If a civil jury starts their deliberations with 12 jurors and loses 2, the judgment has to be unanimous. If jurors bring back a verdict within three hours, the verdict has to be unanimous. If they deliberate more than three hours, the verdict need only be 75% unanimous.The Court of Appeal is the highest level of court in the province, headed by the Chief Justice of British Columbia, with 21 Court of Appeal judges and 13 regularly sitting judges and the remaining judges sitting at least half-time as “supernumerary” judges. Groups of three to five judges hear appeals from the two lower courts in both criminal and civil cases. Court of Appeal judges sit regularly in Vancouver, and sometimes in Victoria, Kamloops and Kelowna. Appeal cases involve only the judges and lawyers; there are no witnesses except in very rare instances. The judges do not re-hear the evidence, they review the record of the original court, and hear argument from the lawyers based on that record.All members of the judiciary in Canada, regardless of the court, are drawn from the legal profession and are required to have been a member of a provincial or territorial Bar for at least ten years. Lawyers wishing to become judges must apply to committees established in various jurisdictions for that purpose; the ultimate power of appointment lies with the federal cabinet. All judges in Canada are subject to mandatory retirement at either 70 or 75, depending on the court. “The independence of the judiciary in Canada is guaranteed both explicitly and implicitly by different parts of the Constitution of Canada. This independence is understood to consist in security of tenure, security of financial remuneration and institutional administrative independence.”Academy members divided into small groups and visited courtrooms where trials were in session in the Provincial Courts involving malpractice damages, assault causing bodily harm and drug trafficking. Members then observed two Supreme Courts hearing cases involving murder and conspiracy to traffic in drugs.At the noon hour, Academy members met in the Law Courts Inn with judges of the Provincial Court: The Honourable Associate Chief Judge Dennis Schmidt and The Honourable Associate Chief Judge Hugh Stansfield. Judges from the Supreme Court: The Honourable Chief Justice Donald Brenner and The Honourable Associate Chief Justice Dohm; and from the Court of Appeal: The Honourable Chief Justice Allan McEachern, The Honourable Mr. Justice Hollinrake, The Honourable Mr. Justice Thomas R. Braidwood, The Honourable Mr. Justice Richard T. A. Low and the Honourable Mr. Justice William A. Esson. A luncheon at the Inn was hosted by the Academy and the members enjoyed informal discussions with the British Columbia judges. Justice Aldrich, the Academy President, presented Academy logo coffee mugs to the British Columbia judges and invited them to become members of the Academy.At 2:00 p.m. the group concluded the judicial visit to the Law Courts and traveled to the University of British Columbia Law School to meet with Dean Joost Blom, Assistant Dean Bob Reid, Associate Dean Liz Edinger, and Danielle Raymond, Career Development Officer for the Faculty of LawThe first graduating class from the Faculty of Law was in 1948. “UBC law graduates have achieved positions of leadership and dedicated service in British Columbia, in Canada, and in many other countries. They have brought to their careers their own talents, honed by UBC’s tradition of excellent teaching, scholarly distinction and a close-knit student life.” Dean Blom teaches Contracts, Torts, Conflict of Laws and Intellectual property. Assistant Dean Reid teaches Real Property and Professor Edinger teaches Constitutional Law, Conflict of Laws and Creditors Remedies. Student enrollment is approximately 600. Only 200 out of approximately 1,500 applications are accepted for first year enrollees. First year students take compulsory classes. The second and third year students have a selection of mandatory classes and elective classes, and must obtain a total amount of credits to receive a LL.B. degree. Many students obtain summer employment with law firms that often will pay for the student’s third year tuition fees and provide a book allowance. The Career Development Office, under the supervision of Danielle Raymond, assists students with law firm recruitment, the Canadian Bar Association and employers across Canada and the United States. Danielle organizes lectures and workshops on resume preparation, interview techniques, United States legal opportunities, clerkships, articling and placement opportunities.One of the premier programs at the Faculty of Law is the “First Nations Legal Studies.” Since 1975, over 150 Aboriginal LL.B. students have graduated from USC. Many of these students are now community leaders and have helped to redefine First Nations legal issues in Canada. Since May 1999, First Nations Legal Studies staff has undertaken efforts to expand the program into a Centre for International Indigenous Legal Studies. The Centre will provide educational opportunities for Indigenous communities worldwide, and students and academics working in the field of legal issues that relate to Indigenous Peoples.Academy President Aldrich presented coffee mugs to the faculty members as a memento of their visit, and made a donation of $1,000 to the Faculty of Law to be used for a scholarship program.In the evening a Farewell Cocktail Party and Dinner was held at the Metropolitan Hotel in the Cristal Room. Mr. Justice Thomas Braidwood, from the Court of Appeal, and his wife Anne, attended the dinner. The Academy presented Justice Richard Aldrich and his wife Joan a totem to commemorate the Alaskan and Canadian trip, and to thank them for all their hard work.THURSDAY: In the morning the group departed for the United States.Written By Diane Z. Bowen, Executive Secretary
Richard D. Aldrich, President
