February 08, 2022

Distinguished Honors Awards Recognize Graduates, Former Dean

The Distinguished Honors Awards April 2, 2022 recognize three alumni and a former dean for their accomplishments and service to the law school and the community.

The Lewis & Clark Law School Distinguished Honors Awards April 2, will recognize three alumni and professor and former Dean of the school for their accomplishments and service to the law school and community. Román D. Hernández ’00 will be named Distinguished Graduate, Professor and Former Dean, Jim Huffman will be named Honorary Graduate, Jeremiah Rigsby ’14 will receive the Rising Star Award, and Amira Streeter ’13 will receive the Community Spirit Award.

Román Hernández is currently working as office managing partner of Troutman Pepper’s Portland Office. He has a national litigation practice and focuses on employment law and commercial litigation. Hernández is the former National President of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), a voluntary, nationwide bar association. Hernández also served as the first-ever chair of the Oregon Community Foundation’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion board. In March of 2020, Hernández was selected by Mayor Wheeler to serve on the Mayor’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force.

Professor Huffman originally joined the Lewis & Clark Law School faculty in 1973. He was appointed Acting Dean in 1993, Dean in 1994, and returned to full-time teaching in 2006. Huffman has been a fellow at the Humane Studies Institute and a Distinguished Bradly Scholar at the Heritage Foundation. Huffman now serves on the board of the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Environment and Property Rights Practice Group of the Federalist Society. Huffman is the author of three books and more than 100 articles and chapters on a wide range of topics.

Jeremiah Rigsby, who graduated in 2014, has joined CareOregon to develop and advocate for Medicaid and Medicare policy. Before moving to Oregon, Jeremiah was a congressional aide to Congressmen Henry Cuellar and Kurt Schrader. Throughout his time in Washington, D.C., Rigsby remained focused on health care policy through the development and passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Amira Streeter currently serves as the Climate, Energy, and Transportation Policy Advisor for Governor Kate Brown. Prior to this position, she worked as a policy director for the Portland City Commissioner, and as a policy analyst and legislative liaison for Senator Lew Fredrick. Streeter has also had many leadership positions with environmental organizations, such as the Environmental Professionals of Color, the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Oregon Environmental Council. Streeter is also a recipient of the 2020 Women of Achievement Award from the Oregon Commission for Women.

The dinner will be held April 2, 2022 at Waverley Country Club. RSVPs are required. For more information and to secure tickets, click here.