Submitted March 2012 by Megan Knize, who is clerking for the Supreme Court in Palau, an island nation east of the Philippines.
When I graduated from King Hall in 2008, I had no idea that four years later I would be clerking for the Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau. In fact, I don’t think I had even heard of Palau, or the surrounding region, Micronesia. But, after completing two trial-level clerkships in Southern California, I was intrigued by the promise of clerking for a fledgling appellate court and living overseas for a year. I have remained intrigued — and delighted — by my life here, and I am so thankful for this opportunity.
I am one of three Court Counsel recruited from state and federal courts in the United States. Our job is to write the opinions of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. The Judiciary here is modeled on the U.S. system, so we apply Palau’s statutes and caselaw and look to U.S. caselaw as persuasive authority. Because the Supreme Court has both a Trial Division and an Appellate Division, we do some trial work, in addition to other tasks. I work as the Land Court clerk, writing opinions for the special court designed to mediate the many disputes that arise from years of administration by German, Japanese, and American governments. I also write content for the court’s newly designed website, and I handle recruiting.
I enjoy the variety of work here because I can act upon the reason I chose King Hall for law school in the first place: to be a public servant. It’s incredibly exciting to handle issues of first impression, or to think about ways litigants can access the court system in a more efficient manner. Recently, one of the Justices asked me to amend the civil procedure rules to allow fee waivers for those filing civil complaints. With an average annual income of approximately $8,000, and a minimum wage of $2.50 an hour, one can imagine the hardship of saving $50 to file a divorce case or to probate an estate worth $100.
Life in Palau reminds me of life in Davis in other ways. For a start, the community is really small: 20,000 people. I like that I can drive down the one road in town (no stoplights) and people I know. And while biking here is not nearly as lovely as it was in Davis, I still manage to bike into work a few days a week. (With gas prices at $5.50 a gallon, I may be biking even more). Plus, the fresh fruit selection is much better than the other islands in the region, although most of the produce here still comes in via air freight from, you guessed it, the Central Valley. Outdoor activities are really big here, too: I completed my SCUBA diving certification in November and have competed in triathlons and road races. And, I have recently started playing basketball on a women’s team with one of the Associate Justices. What I lack in skill, I make up for in height!
Looking back on my first five months here, I feel truly blessed to have this opportunity. I will finish my term in October and travel around Asia before heading back to California. I am not sure what kind of adventures the next year holds, but I am excited to find out!
Megan Knize, ’08, is a former board member of the King Hall Legal Foundation and was Editor in Chief of the UC Davis Law Review from 2007-2008. You can read more about her adventures on www.penpalau.com.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class Notes Updated August, 2009
Joan Chan:
Working for Knobbe Martens in Orange County.
Six year old son finished first grade. Daughter became 15 months end of July.
(Please update email: [email protected])
Julia Wiley:
I got marriedon August23, 2008 and am now Julia Gahagan.
Kari Gannam
I'm currently working at the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office as a Deputy DA. In August 2008 I got married,taking on my husband's last name"Gannam." InNovember we went to Japan and Thailand for our honeymoon...where we ended up in the middle of a huge Thai protest that shutdown the international airport for a week. We were stranded in Bangkok for 6 days before flying out of the military airbase on a two-day trip back to the states.In more recent news, we have a new addition to our family...Max, our new 3 yr. old boxer-puggle dog.
Dina Randazzo:
Nothing too exciting but here is what is going on in my life: got married in October and moved to Huntington Beach. Working at Latham & Watkins in Orange County doing litigation
Eddie Cohen:
I have spent the past nine months clerking for the Los Angeles Immigration Court through the Department of Justice Honors Program.
I will continue with the Honors Program and will move on to DC in September to begin working as a trial attorney
with DOJ'sOffice of Immigration Litigation, representing the governmentin immigration appeals at the circuit court level.
Heather Melton:
I am working at the Social Security Administration in downtown SF as an Assistant Regional Counsel. I work on disability appeals to Federal District Courts and represent the agency in employment and labor law suits.
Ryan Holte:
I'm currently finishing up my clerkship with Judge Smith at the US Court of Federal Claims, staring a secondclerkship with Judge Birch at the US Court of Appeals for theEleventh Circuit in August, and just published my third law review article on Internet law. After the 11th Circuit I'll head back to Jones Day, and will be looking forward to staying in Atlanta.
Sarah Asplin:
For the past year I've been working as an associate at Greenberg Traurig LLP in the Sacramento office. My practice involves products liability, business litigation, and employment litigation and counseling. In March, my wife Elizabeth and I celebrated our wedding, having been legally married by Professor Oakley's wife, Freddie last June, before the passage of Prop 8. Looking forward to many new adventures in the coming year.