NEWS RELEASE
May 9, 2007
Thomas Jefferson School of Law May Graduation
138 Students Will Receive Juris Doctor Degree
WHEN: Saturday May 12, 2007 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: The Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park
SAN DIEGO - One-hundred-thirty-eight Thomas Jefferson School of Law students
will graduate on Saturday, May 12, at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park in a colorful ceremony which begins at 10:30 a.m.
The commencement speaker will be The Honorable Lillian Y. Lim, San Diego Superior Court Judge and a 1977 graduate of Thomas Jefferson.
Judge Lim is the first Filipino-American woman appointed as a judge in the United States and the first Filipino-American appointed to the San Diego bench.
After graduating from the law school, Judge Lim was a Deputy Attorney General in San Diego until her appointment to the bench by then California Governor George Deukmejian on January 17, 1986. She will retire from the bench this summer.
She has earned many honors during her distinguished career and has been active in several professional organizations, including the Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego and the Filipino Lawyers of San Diego. In addition to teaching “Trial Practice” and “Peace & the Law “courses at TJSL over the years, Judge Lim was instrumental in helping students organize their own Pan Asian Law Society (now known as Asian Pacific American Law Students Association) in the mid-1990s and has remained a constant
supporter and advisor of the group.
Judge Lim, who was named “Outstanding Jurist” by the San Diego County Bar Association at its 2007 Law Week Luncheon on May 4th, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa degree at the commencement.
The valedictorian is Donald Ostertag, who has served as the editor of the Thomas Jefferson Law Review, and is listed in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. He is graduating Summa Cum Laude.
Other distinguished graduating students include:
Christie Edwards, who is graduating cum laude, recently was honored as the 2007 recipient of the Sandra Day O’Connor Scholarship, that is awarded by the National Association of Women Judges, based in Washington, D.C.
Edwards, who has served as the president of the International Law Society for the past two years, also is highly active in community service, especially with the Sudanese Refugee Network. Edwards, listed in the 2006-2007 Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, plans to practice law in the field of international human rights.
Matthew Zelasko-Barrett has been awarded the prestigious Belle Cummins Memorial Scholarship by the Association of Administrative Law Judges.
Zelasko-Barrett is committed to public law, and currently interns with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, working with victims of domestic violence. He was selected for the Belle Cummins Scholarship because of his work with the Volunteer Lawyer Program.
In addition to Christie Edwards and Donald Ostertag, Yuliya Ivanov (summa cum laude,) Erik Laakkonen (magna cum laude) and Mary Hirschauer Stiles (summa cum laude) were recognized by Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities for their academic excellence on a national level.
Diana Elston (summa cum laude) and Joesph Visic (summa cum laude) were part of the Thomas Jefferson Moot Court Society team that won the Roger J. Traynor trophy as the top oral argument team on April 14th at Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley Law School.
These students will join more than 5,000 who have graduated from the law school since it opened in 1969.
Thomas Jefferson School of Law, located in historic Old Town, is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State of California.
Editors: Media Coverage is Welcome