College , drank coffee at The Sippin ’ Chicken in Elgin , toured Richland County ’ s beautiful courtroom in Wahpeton , and I was thankful the police officer parked in Amidon did not pull me over . For the record , I was not speeding !
Most importantly , I am hearing what it is the law school can do to better serve our great state . I am largely hearing the same message everywhere I go : We need more lawyers ! Even our larger counties are struggling to recruit and retain lawyers . In our small communities , it is an exceptionally difficult task . Not only do lawyers provide essential services in areas like family law , real estate , wills and trusts , and contracts , but they are part of the fabric of a community . When one or two families drive a long distance to do their shopping and socializing in a larger town , the community may not feel the difference . However , when everyone does it , we start to lose our core community institutions , like grocery stores and professional services . Can we utilize Zoom to provide legal services to our rural counties ? Sure . Is it as effective ? I think that ’ s up for debate . What is not in question is that it means losing a source of expertise and leadership in small communities . This is an issue near and dear to SBAND and our legislature , and I know there are a lot of smart and talented people working on how we can support solo practitioners and the legal needs of rural North Dakotans .
students on a bus tour across the state to show them the amazing things I ’ ve seen . I am examining opportunities for a rural practice conference bringing lawyers , judges , policymakers , and legislators together with faculty and staff to think critically about how we can make a difference .
We are doing incredible work at the school of law . There are too many great things happening to mention them all . We have a strong and vibrant Indian Law Program , and our Family Law Practicum is helping students gain litigation experience while serving clients in need . We recently added an Oil & Gas certificate . Our moot court , lawyering skills , and trial advocacy programs are strong . This fall , 86 members of the class of 2025 began law school in Grand Forks . We also added four new faculty members
( who will continue to be introduced in upcoming Gavel features )! There are amazing things happening , and I am very excited for what comes next .
Matthew J . Bunkers , Ph . D . | 605.390.7243
Certified Consulting Meteorologist ( CCM ) What does a CCM do ? Check out : https :// npweather . com / forms / CCM-article . pdf
• 27 + years of weather / forecasting experience
• Consulting , reports , depositions , & testimony
• Specialties : forensic meteorology , weather & forecasting , radar , satellite , severe storms , rainfall & flooding , fog , winter weather , fire weather , applied climate & meteorology , ag weather , education & training , and technical editing
Thank you for your warm welcome as I began as dean . I share Judge Ralph Erickson ’ s goal , proclaimed as he accepted SBAND ’ s 2022 Gerald W . VandeWalle medal . I invite all members of the North Dakota Bar , as he did , to join us in our effort to make our law school the best public law school in the country .
https :// npweather . com | nrnplnsweather @ gmail . com
As the dean , I pledge that our law school is a willing collaborator , and we will work to train and place more talented law students across our state . Talent is not distributed to only certain parts of our society or geography . We will focus our admissions and recruitment efforts to help discover and recruit more law students from communities across North Dakota . It will mean reaching out to high school and middle school students to let them know of the amazing opportunity and incredible honor it is to serve as a lawyer in this state .
We will focus our career services efforts on helping the law firms and communities of North Dakota showcase the amazing places and opportunities that exist all across our state . I am exploring the idea of taking
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