The State Bar Association of North Dakota Fall 2014 Gavel Magazine | Page 12

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE—

BRICK BY BRICK
hear our distinguished speakers. Centennial
Drive opened back up for truck traffic before
the mortar hardened. The crane on the
construction site boasted a UND flag that
flew straight out in the brisk breeze. And the
focal point was the Construction Engineers’
semi parked near the law school and proudly
bearing the slogan, “We’re laying down the
law. Brick by brick.”

K AT H R Y N R . L . R A N D
Dean, University of North Dakota
School of Law

On a sunny October afternoon during
UND Homecoming, the School of
Law held a ceremonial bricklaying
‒ our version of a groundbreaking
ceremony. Wearing green UND Law
hard hats, officials from state and federal
government, the state and federal
courts, the state legislature, the State
Bar Association of North Dakota, and
the State Board of Higher Education
participated in building a brick wall near
our construction site. The symbolism was
moving ‒ we were thanking the many,
many people who are helping us build the
School of Law, brick by brick.
“It’s a glorious time for North Dakota,”
said Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley.
“We have a law school, and it’s North
Dakota’s law school, and we couldn’t be
more proud.”
That set the tone for the celebration of the
start of construction of the major addition
to the law school building. Work on the
site stopped during the ceremony ‒ but
only as long as absolutely necessary to
12

THE GAVEL

Four out of five North Dakota Supreme
Court justices and 39 out of 47 North
Dakota district court judges are UND law
graduates, pointed out Chief Justice Gerald
W. VandeWalle in his remarks. “This law
school teaches and trains most of the lawyers
and judges in this State and, perhaps a selfserving statement on my part, does so very
well.”
Chief Justice VandeWalle went on to
emphasize the importance of the School
of Law’s role in North Dakota’s legal
profession, and in serving the people of
our state. “So this building was, is and will
be an integral part of the legal education
of the future lawyers of North Dakota. I
mince no words when I say this law school
is essential not only to the legal profession
of the State but to the most basic functions
of our government as well. [The graduates
of this law school] are the lawyers who
provide advice and counsel on some of the
most significant and personal issues which
face our citizens. I want those law students
to live among us while pursuing their legal
education in order to come to understand
the ethos of our North Dakota populace.
But we also want those lawyers to be good
lawyers and this building, while not alone
assuring the quality of its inhabitants, will
surely help maintain that excellent quality.”
I could not have said it better. The School of
Law is committed to values-centered legal
education ‒ this is the fundamental promise
I made as dean ‒ and those values include
the ideals of our profession and the character
of our state. A UND educated attorney is a

North Dakota educated attorney, one who
will contribute to the integrity of the legal
profession in North Dakota and our nation.
And while our building by itself won’t instill
the values essential to ethical and effective
law practice in our students, our building
will serve as a constant reminder of the
importance of what we do inside and out ‒
we are shaping the future of our profession,
the future of our state, and the future of our
world.
The law school building project will bring
dramatically increased and improved
educational space, including classrooms and
courtrooms tailored to skills instruction,
updated and expanded student study and
work space, a state-of-the-art law library
focused on service rather than shelving, and
collaborative commons areas. The design
of the building reflects the values-centered
approach to legal education at UND School
of Law ‒ where faculty and staff are invested
in the success of our students and graduates,
where ethical practice is a given rather than
a goal, where practical skills are as important
as theory and philosophy, where a strong
work ethic is expected, and where service to
community is a welcome obligation.
The future of UND School of Law is the
future of our profession. You can be a part of
helping us build not only a law school, but
a legacy.
We need your help.
With rapidly increasing construction costs
in the state, we need private donations
to help us complete the full scope of our
building project. As you already know, the
full scope of the building project is critical
to our status as an accredited law school,
critical to the quality of our educational
program, and critical to the future of the
School of Law and North Dakota’s legal
profession. The students educated in the
new and improved law school building will