Columbus School of Law

Flanked by Dean Veryl Miles and Professor Ralph Rohner, Flor de Maria Salvador receives her certificate for having completed all requirements of the Comparative and International Law Institute.

Certified Excellence

Thirty-nine members of the Class of 2009 received extra recognition during graduation week as certificate recipients of the Columbus School of Law's Institutes and Special Programs.

Surrounded by family members and accompanied by live music, the students were formally presented their certificates by the faculty directors of each program during a 90-minute ceremony on Thursday, May 21, one day before general commencement.

"You have taken many challenging courses and worked extremely hard to master the legal skills and competencies that these certificates represent," said Dean Veryl V. Miles. "You depart the Columbus School of Law ready to hit the ground in some very specialized areas of practice."

For more than 20 years, the law school's certificate-granting institutes have offered students the opportunity to develop a higher level of expertise than a typical law student has in a chosen area of law. The specially designed curriculums allow them to delve into cutting edge legal, political and social topics through their own research and writing.

Each institute also sponsors lectures, symposia and conferences throughout the year that bring some of the most distinguished thinkers and scholars in the nation to the law school to examine the leading issues of our day.

Dean Miles offered several examples from the 2008-2009 academic year, including:

• Several in-depth discussions sponsored by the Securities Law Program about the factors that led to this year's great economic meltdown
• "Interference: Wireless Innovation, Public Interest and Regulatory Response," a spring symposium offered by the Institute for Communications Law Studies
• The Comparative and International Law Institute's presentation of "The Trading World at the Threshold of Global Depression"
• Law and Public Policy programs that dealt with election law, immigration and human rights law and education law

The directors of each institute spoke in turn, complimenting their students on a job well done and then formally presenting their certificates. The faculty professors included Sarah Duggin, director of the Law and Public Policy Program; David Irwin, director of the Institute for Communications Law Studies; David Lipton, director of the Securities Law Program; and Ralph Rohner, standing in for Rett Ludwikowski, director of the Comparative and International Law Program, who was in Poland and unable to attend in person.

The mood was upbeat throughout. Professor Lipton (above) did refer to the current challenging legal job market, urging students to maintain "the ability to rethink your path" for the short term if necessary, until the economy rebounds.

After final remarks by the dean, a two-hour reception concluded the afternoon.

2009 Certificate Recipients