Kathy Black

January 07, 2011

Graduating Year: 2009
Hometown: Greenwood, Indiana
Undergraduate School: University of Colorado
Just for Fun: Hiking, traveling, playing the drums and spending time with my family

What I am doing with my Law Degree:
I am an Attorney-Advisor with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) where I work in several different areas.  I defend the agency in administrative and judicial actions and advise management.  I also advise the research and procurement teams on patent, copyright, and rights in data issues.  Additionally, I provide counsel to management on the BPA relationship with Energy Northwest, operator of the only nuclear power facility in the Northwest.  

Areas of law my work involves:  Employment law, e-discovery, technology licensing, intellectual property management.

Best experience at Lewis & Clark:  Participating in mock trial was an amazing experience because it provided an opportunity for hands-on trial practice.  My partner and I won the school competition and had the honor of representing the school in the regional competition.  I used the skills from mock trial class to represent BPA in a real-life administrative hearing, which ended in a favorable decision for BPA.

My favorite Course:  Employment Discrimination, because it applied to the work I do at BPA and is a fascinating subject in general.  The class was also small yet diverse, giving everyone an opportunity to participate and gain a deeper understanding of anti-discrimination law.   My favorite professors come from the business law faculty: Professors Johnson, Brunet, Drummonds, and Newell. 

What I am most proud of:  Having an article published in Environmental Law.  As a student 25 years out of an undergraduate program, the idea of writing a scholarly paper represented a significant challenge and was pretty intimidating.  I had set many goals for myself at the start of law school, but it had never occurred to me that publication would ever be a possibility.