April 2008

A Conversation with Dean Earl Martin

Gonzaga University School of Law Dean Martin talks about preparing for a legal career

This month I want to introduce you to Earl Martin, the dean of the Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane. Dean Martin arrived at Gonzaga in July 2005 after several years with the U.S Air Force JAG Corps and teaching at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a fourth-generation lawyer from Kentucky, and was educated at the University of Kentucky and Yale Law School. I met him last year during a visit to the law school for a Bar-related function and was impressed with his dedication, enthusiasm, and energy. It was clear to me, even after only a brief visit, that Dean Martin is committed to both his school and its students.

The law-school experience is evolving beyond the traditional case dialogue method of instruction that most of us remember, and Dean Martin is one of the leaders of this change. Law students at Gonzaga are challenged to do more than just learn to “think like lawyers.” They are encouraged to approach the legal profession as a path to power — the power to serve, the power to help, the power to change society, and the power to positively affect the lives of others. His students learn that this power comes with the responsibility to serve and improve both their chosen profession and their community.

Dean Martin graciously agreed to answer some questions, and I hope you find his answers interesting.

Stan Bastian: What are your plans for the law school? How will it be different in five years than it is now?

Dean Martin: Strategic planning is now underway with an effort to revise and reform our curriculum. This work is being led by our faculty, with input from students and alums, and we hope to have it completed within the next 18 months. The planning is focused on reorganizing our curriculum around three guiding principles: acquisition of knowledge, enhancement of professionalism, and mastering lawyering skills.

Three of our most exciting initiatives are a new enrollment plan, the creation of a new Center for Commercial Law, and a new Indian Law Program. Our enrollment plan, which calls for the law school to decrease its student body by 75 to 100 students, will put us in the best possible position to deliver the excellent legal education that we promise to our students. The Center for Commercial Law and our Indian Law Program present us with a chance to build on current and historic strengths, and to connect our students and faculty with important external constituencies.

SB: If given a choice, why should a student choose to attend law school at Gonzaga instead of one of the other law schools in this state?

DM: Gonzaga University School of Law is a student-centered institution. This is exemplified by our mission promise of providing an excellent legal education informed by our humanistic, Jesuit, and Catholic traditions and values. This means that our students get personal attention from professors whose number-one priority is the education of their students. It also means that our students are supported by a staff that is committed to making the entire experience as rich and rewarding as possible. The physical beauty and wonderful outdoor activities offered by the Inland Northwest are added benefits that round out what is a perfect law-school experience in Spokane.

SB: Law-school graduates are entering the profession with large debt from student loans. Is this a problem for the legal profession, and if so, what can the Bar Association do to help?

DM: The amount of education debt (including undergraduate, graduate, and law-school debt) that new lawyers bring with them into the profession is a problem for the entire Bar in a number of different ways. First, the need to repay this debt severely limits the ability of many law-school graduates to take jobs in public service, where salaries are usually lower than the private sector. Second, the amount of debt is having a negative impact on the sense of job satisfaction that new graduates find in the profession, leading to more frequent job changes and greater costs for firms and other employers. And third, the imbalance between the cost of a high-quality legal education and the ability of new graduates to finance that cost with starting salaries that have generally lagged over the last 15 years threatens the ability of our law schools to continue to provide the excellent legal education that has become the standard.

Members of the Bar can do a number of things to help alleviate this problem. First, any member who has the ear of an aspiring lawyer should counsel that student to make wise choices when it comes to borrowing for their education and how that money will be spent. The old adage “Live like a lawyer when you are a law student and you will live like a student when you become a lawyer” has application here. Second, individual members of the Bar can make an impact by providing financial support to their alma maters. The only way law schools will be able to provide a high-quality education at a reasonable cost is if our graduates continue to increase the support they provide to their schools. Third, the Bar Association and its members should seriously invest in a loan repayment program that supports graduates who go to work in public service. These essential jobs will get done only if graduates can afford to take the jobs in the first place, and a vigorous loan repayment program is an important part of the solution to this problem.

SB: I have heard you comment to students that the legal profession is a “path to power.” What do you mean by that?

DM: Relative to other work environments and professions, lawyers are given the opportunity to have a disproportionate impact on society. Judges and lawyers in private practice and public service routinely make decisions and take actions that affect the lives of many people. This is a “power” that is not possessed by many others, and with it comes the responsibility to exercise this privilege in good faith and with good judgment. I have made this observation most often when talking about the imperative to ensure that the Bar reflects the diversity found in society so that no segment of our community is denied the opportunity to use the profession’s inherent power to positively affect society.

SB: Have law-school students changed in the past 25 years?

DM: I think they have changed, and especially in the following four ways. First, they are far more capable and comfortable with technology. You rarely encounter a student who is not armed with a laptop, cell phone, and iPod. Second, they appreciate the benefits of living in a diverse world, and they expect that their educational and work environments will reflect and celebrate that diversity. Third, they are oriented to the global economy and are very interested in connecting to people, entities, and institutions from around the world. And fourth, they expect that their classroom environment will be dynamic and that the material will be presented in a variety of ways. The “talking head” lecture doesn’t cut it with today’s students.

SB: In your opinion, is the job market different in eastern Washington than western Washington?

DM: The big difference is the pay scale. The “Cascade Curtain” exists here, just as it does in so many other aspects of life in Washington. Beyond the pay issue, I see both parts of the state as offering a lot of opportunity to our young lawyers. The business climate is strong in both places, and the entire Northwest region offers an outstanding quality of life.

SB: Diversity is a core value of the WSBA, but unfortunately, the legal profession in this state is not very diverse. Based on self-reporting statistics, 90 percent of the members of the WSBA are Caucasian. Only 2 percent are African-American, 1.8 percent are Asian, 1.7 percent are Latino/Latina, 0.8 percent are Native American, and only 36.9 percent are women. What is the law school at Gonzaga doing to foster diversity in the legal profession?

DM: Gonzaga University School of Law has efforts underway across the entire spectrum of our program that will increase the diversity of our student body and enhance the experience that minority students have at our institution. I will briefly describe some of these efforts.

In the fall of 2005, we began hiring one of our recent graduates to serve as a traveling recruiter for the school with a special emphasis on connecting with potential students from diverse communities. This coming fall, we will be going back to meet with students we have been talking to for three years running, and, by doing that, they can see we are serious about wanting them to join us in Spokane.

Since the fall of 2005, we have greatly increased the amount of scholarship support that we are offering to students who will foster diversity in our law school. For the entering 1L class of 2005, we offered 61 racially/ethnically diverse applicants $339,000 worth of scholarship support. In our recruiting efforts for the 1L class of 2007, we offered $1,455,000 worth of scholarship support to 144 students from racially/ethnically diverse communities. Our hope is that we will be able to increase this support in the future.

Starting in June of this year, we plan to have our first-ever diversity coordinator for the law school. This person will have jurisdiction over all of our diversity efforts and will be tasked with making sure that we offer our diversity students as welcoming and supportive a learning environment as we possibly can. Creating this position was one of the initiatives to come out of the first round of our strategic planning process.

This past fall, we began implementing another strategic planning initiative that called for us to create an Indian Law Program. Efforts in this area already include working with the Kalispel Tribe of Indians to draft a commercial code for the tribe, and partnering with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to put on a water law program. We are presently putting together an advisory board for the program and seeking to hire a director who will start this summer.

In partnership with the Spokane County Bar Association Diversity Section, we have enlisted a number of local law firms to create paid summer internships for diversity students who have completed their first year of law school. These internships will provide our students with a wonderful opportunity to gain valuable experience under the watchful eye of a mentor within the Spokane legal community. It is anticipated that the experience will encourage more students from diverse communities to stay in Spokane after graduation, thus fostering greater diversity in the eastern Washington bar.

SB: One of the issues that I have emphasized this year is the need for lawyers to practice ethically, professionally, and with civility. What does the law school at Gonzaga do to teach these values to its students?

DM: It has long been the commitment of Gonzaga University School of Law to graduate lawyers who will be compassionate counselors and ethical advocates. In order to accomplish this task, the first requirement is that all of our professors and staff model behavior that exemplifies these values and characteristics. At its most basic level, this means that we must show up on time for class prepared to lead that day’s discussion and that we undertake that task in a way that fosters civility and respect for others.

We also make it a habit of celebrating the professional behavior of our students and, on those rare occasions when it occurs, acting very intentionally about any instance where someone falls short of the expectation. Our Jesuit commitment to public service and social justice goes a long way towards creating an environment that brings out the best of everyone in the school.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, one of the guiding principles for our curriculum reform effort is the goal of strengthening the professionalism training and experience that we provide to our students. I fully anticipate that this effort will put us in the position of being a leader in legal education by fostering a deep commitment to a lifetime of professionalism on the part of our graduates.

SB: What can the WSBA do to help law students prepare for the practice of law? In other words, how can we help them have successful legal careers?

DM: The main thing is for the members of the WSBA to offer themselves up as mentors to the lawyers that follow them into the profession. Nobody graduates from law school ready to do it all as a lawyer — there is still so much to learn and understand. Every graduate could benefit tremendously from an experienced member of the Bar (or two, or three) taking an active interest in their professional growth and development. 

Stan Bastian can be reached at stanb@jdsalaw.com or 509-662-3685.