President

Linli Pao

Personal Statement:
This past year, I served as the 2012-2013 Budget Committee Student Representative. For the first time in the last decade, the Budget Committee representatives engaged in initiating online discussions to obtain student input, held town hall meetings to give students the opportunity for face-to-face questions and answer periods, and conducted a budget survey to facilitate the Committee’s access to school-wide student input on the FY2013-2014 budget.  As SBA President, I would continue to implement and promote this type of student engagement between the SBA and the student body. Decisions made now will impact both students presently and into the future, making meaningful student input particularly relevant.

Goals:
I am committed to improving the law school experience. In particular, three areas that the President can improve are communications between various student and faculty bodies, fostering community among the students, and connecting students with useful and necessary information.

COMMUNICATION: There are three areas of communication that I believe need improvement immediately: (1) communication between SBA members, (2) communication between SBA and students, and (3) communication between SBA and faculty. The first change I would make is ensure that all external student representatives take notes in their meetings, and make those notes (excluding confidential material) available online for the student body because doing so would improve transparency between the student body at large and the various committees and boards, as well as facilitate the distribution of information within SBA meetings

COMMUNITY: Approximately 70% of our student body is from out of state. The absence of community is especially poignant to 1Ls who are living alone or separated from family for the first time. SBA can help foster a stronger sense of community at the law school for all students through events and outings. Group volunteering, rafting trips, or a night at the opera for cheap: these can help students develop connections that they will carry forward into their careers.

3. CONNECTING - Connecting students to the right information is very important to me. Due to high turnover in student groups boards, new group leaders struggle to learn the ropes with little guidance. What guidance they obtain is often too scattered and hidden to be of use, without reinvention of the process annually or individually. For example, there is no step-by-step walkthrough for setting up a school event—students have to approach multiple resources before discovering which things must be accomplished before an event can be held. Time is unnecessarily wasted planning an event for the first time. I intend to compile a handbook that connects-the-dots and addresses the basics of running a student group: how to reserve rooms, how to print flyers, who can help with what issue, etc. I will also encourage individual groups to assemble group-specific handbooks to guide future leaders. SBA can help by keeping these handbooks on file, or by hosting them online.

Jeremiah Rigsby

Personal Statement:
Our Student Bar Association has the ability to advance the goals, ambitions and innovative ideas of our collective student body. The 2013-2014 SBA will have the opportunity to build upon the success of past years, while using what we have learned in previous years to improve in the future.  As a board member for the ACLU Student Group, and as Treasurer of the Black Law Student Association, I am well aware of how important student groups are to the law school community. As a current SBA representative, I know a strong working relationship between the SBA and our student groups must exist in order to ensure the advancement of interests that are often aligned. My time as an SBA representative has also provided me with the opportunity to learn the structure and dynamic of our student government system. If granted the honor of serving as your next SBA President, I would use my experience to lead the SBA in a manner that best represents the interests, ideals and goals of our student body.

I believe our student body will realize its full potential if the SBA can function as a partner to those active in our law school community. As SBA representatives, we serve on behalf of our fellow students. I think it is important to emphasize the word “serve”. While the SBA has the power to make decisions for the student body, with each decision we should always keep in mind that our role is to serve our fellow students in the most equitable and efficient way possible. We can best serve our fellow students by capitalizing on the strength of our relationships with each other, by inviting and facilitating the efficient discussion of all perspectives, and by working with all interested in advancing the goals and ideals of the Lewis and Clark Student Body.

Goals:
-Work closely with each student group to align our budgetary goals with the interests of each student group. Our student groups do so much to represent our school at the local, state, and national level. The SBA should work to facilitate the success of our on-campus student organizations in any way possible.

-Ensure our law school engages in issues affecting the local community. As the only law school in Portland, we have a unique opportunity to act on the issues that impact the largest city in our state.

-Facilitate debate and discussion between the academic and legal community, legislators, policymakers, and community leaders. Our school should continue to function as a forum where the brightest minds can debate issues of local, national, and international importance.

-Represent YOU. Our school is small; therefore, every voice should and can be heard. While the SBA is not a pure democracy, we should always be available to hear the concerns and ideas of students.