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School of Law honors two alumni at graduation ceremony
160 students graduate from KU's School of Law

School of Law honors two alumni at graduation ceremony

The KU School of Law honored Donald W. Giffin, c'51, l'53, and James M. Haughey, l'39, at the school's hooding ceremony May 20 at the Lied Center.

Donald W. Giffin was a founder and editor-in-chief of the KU Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif. He is a member of the Dean's Club, a recipient of the James Woods Green Medallion and a founder and the second president of the KU Law Society. He is an adviser to the LLM Elder Law program and, with his family, has funded the endowment for this program.

Giffin, a retired partner from Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP in Kansas City, Mo., was an active trial lawyer from 1957 to 1995. He advised antitrust clients and served as lead and appellate counsel in several antitrust and other civil and criminal cases. Giffen successfully defended one of the early nationwide class action antitrust lawsuits.

James M. Haughey has served as a member of the KU School of Law Board of Governors.

Haughey started practicing law in Montana in 1943, where he had a distinguished career and was widely recognized for his expertise in mineral law. Haughey is a retired partner from the Billings, Mont., firm of Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole & Dietrich. He served in the Montana Legislature from 1961-'65 and the Montana Senate from 1967-'81. He was senate minority leader from 1969-'81.

Haughey has strong connections to the roots of KU law. He and his wife, Katherine Hurd Haughey, f'38, gave a set of Civil War era furniture to the law school. The set first belonged to his great-grandfather, Judge Nelson Timothy Stephens, who practiced law in Lawrence. Afterwards it was passed along to Stephens' son-in-law, the school's first dean, James Woods "Uncle Jimmy" Green. Green and his wife, May Stephens Green, passed the furniture to her niece, Elizabeth Stephens Haughey, who in turn gave it to her son and daughter-in-law, James and Katherine.

Haughey has enjoyed a second career as an accomplished artist. A portrait of the Stephens' family home painted by Haughey hangs on the third floor of the Wheat Law Library. He has presented numerous one-man exhibitions of his work around the world and received many awards.

160 students graduate from KU's School of Law

On May 20, 160 law students graduated from the KU School of Law and were hooded at the Lied Center.

According to the school's Office of Career Services, 64.1 percent of students in the Class of 2007 were employed at graduation. The preliminary figure is expected to increase slightly as additional students report more complete information to the office.

In comparison, the Class of 2006 reported a 67.5 percent rate of employment at graduation, while the Class of 2005 reported a 69.9 percent rate of employment at graduation. The 2006 statistic will be reported to U.S. News & World Report in October for inclusion in the magazine's April 2008 rankings issue. The employed-at-graduation rate accounts for four percent of the overall U.S. News ranking formula. The percentage of graduates employed nine months after graduation accounts for 14 percent of the formula.

Eight graduates honored
The school honored eight graduating students at the same ceremony.

Crissa Cook, Leawood, and Katie Lula, Shawnee, the Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement
Saraliene Smith, McCune, the Walter Hiersteiner Outstanding Service Award
Katie Gates, Overland Park, the Lloyd Kagey Outstanding Leadership Award
Will Zorogastua, Wichita, the Samuel Mellinger Scholarship, Leadership and Service Award
Adrienne Strecker, Olathe, the Janean Meigs Memorial Award
Michelle Rushing, Kansas City, Mo., the Class of 1949 Leadership Award
Ashlea Schwarz, Derby, the Robert F. Bennett Award

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