Passing the Gavel

After 13 years of outstanding service to Lewis & Clark Law School as dean, James Huffman recently announced his plans to return to a faculty position at the law school in fall 2007. He stepped down as dean on June 30. 

“Jim Huffman has enriched both life and learning at Lewis & Clark for more than 30 years,” says Tom Hochstettler, president. “His leadership and his wisdom during his tenure as dean have advanced the ways we understand and think about legal education.”

Under Huffman’s leadership, Lewis & Clark Law School has attracted faculty and students of the first rank and maintained a top national ranking for its environmental law program; focused on balancing scholarly research with a commitment to teaching; engaged in scholarship at the national level; improved facilities, including the expansion and renovation of Paul L. Boley Law Library and construction of Louise and Erskine Wood Sr. Hall; and built strong connections to the Portland legal and business communities.

“I’ve been honored to have the opportunity to serve as dean all these years,” says Huffman. “Lewis & Clark Law School has made enormous strides over the last decade thanks to an extraordinary faculty and top students drawn from every corner of the country. We have a law school in which our alumni and the Portland community can take pride. It will be a pleasure to return to the faculty and devote my energies to teaching and scholarship. I have no doubt the law school has a very bright future.”

Hochstettler appointed Lydia Loren, professor of law, as interim dean effective July 1. She is the first woman to lead Lewis & Clark Law School. Loren joined the law faculty in 1996. Her areas of expertise include intellectual property, copyright, cyberspace law, and international intellectual property.