February 28, 2002
Shidler law center dedicated; Neukom gives $1 million
More than 150 scholars, students and attorneys helped celebrate the dedication this week of the School of Law’s Shidler Center for Law, Commerce and Technology.
The 3-year-old center specializing in the new frontiers of Internet consumer rights and e-commerce was renamed in honor of the law firm of Shidler, McBroom, Gates and Lucas, a prominent Seattle firm from 1924 to 1990.
Alumni of the firm — which was known for embracing new-technology clients and cases — made numerous key contributions to the center, including a $1 million gift from William Neukom, who will soon retire as Microsoft’s executive vice president of law and corporate affairs.
“It’s fitting that center will carry the Shidler name,” said UW President Richard L. McCormick. “The firm was an early pioneer in protecting intellectual property rights and recognizing business opportunities and new technologies.”
The Shidler firm — famous for representing bondholders of the Washington Public Power Supply System and other noteworthy cases — ceased to exist after a 1990 merger, but McCormick and other speakers at Monday’s ceremony in the HUB auditorium said the firm’s spirit endures in the successor firm of Preston, Gates & Ellis, where many Shidler lawyers continue to practice.
Joe Knight, dean of the School of Law, called Neukom a visionary in recognizing the University’s need to respond to changing technology.
“I am thankful that he and his colleagues saw the important role that the University of Washington School of Law might play in training technology-savvy legal professionals,” Knight said.
Knight also lauded the Shidler firm’s non-hierarchical corporate culture.
“That type of special and inclusive community,” Knight said, “is what we are striving to create here at the University of Washington and especially at the School of Law.”
The law, commerce and technology center already has made an impact, Knight said, in such areas as protecting consumers from online fraud and invasion of privacy, and helping businesses preserve their intellectual property rights in the computer age.
Sharon Nelson, former state utilities chief, is the center’s director. The associate director is Anita Ramasastry, an assistant professor of law. The Shidler name will be on the center’s door when the School of Law moves into its new building, William H. Gates Hall, in summer 2003.
