Special Advisor,

Business Law Programs

• Moot Court: Mock Trial

• Regulation and Ethics of Lawyers

B.A. magna cum laude (Pamplin Foundation Scholarship), 1980 University of Portland
J.D. (Jackson Foundation Scholarship) 1985 Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College

Before coming to the Law School, LeSage was a partner in a private law firm for several years, representing clients in complex multi-party and class actions in state and federal courts, focusing primarily on labor and employment issues. She has tried several high-profile cases including civil racketeering and a peonage case under the 13th Amendment, and has worked extensively on legislative and policy issues related to labor and employment. Prior to entering private practice, she was a staff attorney with Oregon Legal Services Farm Worker Office. Part of her past public service includes an appointment to the State of Oregon Wage and Hour Commission and the Oregon Labor Commissioner’s Advisory Committee on Agricultural Labor where she co-authored a white paper on migrant health. Currently, she is the immediate past president of the Oregon Law Foundation, serves on the Oregon State Bar’s Leadership Advisory Council Board, the Campaign for Equal Justice Advisory Committee, and the statewide Legal Services Governing Council. She has given numerous presentations on a variety of topics, and in addition to her past service on numerous boards has been a vice-president of the Oregon State Bar Board of Governors, is a 2007 recipient of the Oregon State Bar Public Service Award, a 2002 recipient of the Oregon State Bar President’s Affirmative Action Award, and a co-founder of the OSB Diversity Section. She is a member of the Oregon Judicial Department’s Access to Justice Committee, and was the chair of the Oregon Access to Justice Conference 2002. She is admitted to practice in Oregon, the U.S. District Court for Oregon, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

Fulbright Scholar 2009-2010

Lisa LeSage, Associate Dean and Director of Business Law Programs at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture at one of Latin America’s top law schools, Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile, in Santiago, Chile, during the 2009-2010 academic year, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

 

LeSage will work with the global business law program, teach law faculty and help the law school create the framework for a law faculty support and enrichment program. She is one of approximately 35 U.S. legal faculty and professionals within the group of 1,100 scholars selected to travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program next year.

 

The Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Program operates in over 155 countries worldwide. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Among the thousands of prominent Fulbright alumni are: Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director and Founder, Grameen Bank, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006; Javier Solana, Foreign Policy Chief, European Union; Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University; and Craig Barrett, Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

 

LeSage, a Lewis & Clark law school alumna who graduated magna cum laude from the University of Portland, has been involved locally and nationally in a variety of educational and legal initiatives. During her four-year tenure as director of business law programs, she has helped to develop the Small Business Legal Clinic, and to raise over $750,000 for the law school’s business law clinical and practical skills programs. She also teaches a trial practice course. She has served as president of the Oregon Law Foundation, as a vice-president of the Oregon State Bar Board of Governors, and as a member of the Oregon State Bar Leadership Council Advisory Board, as well as on several statewide peer review committees for legal services and the statewide public defender program. She currently serves on the Campaign for Equal Justice Advisory Committee, the Oregon Judicial Department Access to Justice Committee, the Statewide Legal Services Governing Council, and the Oregon Law Institute Business Law CLE Planning Committee. LeSage also is a consultant for the Kauffman Foundation’s national web-based project on law and entrepreneurship, and her article, “‘Sustainable Businesses’ Sticky Thicket: Local Enforcement Challenges for Small and Emerging Sustainable Businesses” will be included in the spring 2009 edition of the Western New England College of Law Review. She is the planner and moderator of a panel on cross-cultural communication for business lawyers at the American Bar Association Section of Business Law’s Spring 2009 Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, and a member of the planning committee for the upcoming conference: “Business, Law & Sustainability: Managing Risks While Leading Change,” in Portland, Oregon, on May 12, 2009.