Third-year law student receives inaugural Linde award

University of Oregon law student Elizabeth Brown has been awarded the Hans Linde Fellowship for Spring 2013 by the UO's Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics.

The fellowship honors former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Hans Linde. It supports legal research and activities, and the development and operation of institutions that address issues extending beyond traditional borders. 

Brown's research proposal focuses on damage and permanent loss associated with climate change impacts, particularly in developing countries. She will explore the potential legal obligations of an international mechanism that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change may establish to address the issue. 

Brown, a third-year law student, was selected for the inaugural fellowship term from a group of several qualified applicants with diverse research proposals.

Margaret Hallock, director of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, said Brown is an excellent candidate for the inaugural Hans Linde Fellowship.

"She is a big-picture thinker on issues of climate change, but she also understands the importance of creating avenues for successful action in the face of global climate disruption," Hallock said. "This is very much in the spirit of Justice Linde's work."

The Hans Linde fellowship pays tribute to Linde, who served as justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1977 to 1990. Linde is a former professor of law at the University of Oregon and held the Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics. He is currently the Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Willamette University College of Law.

His publications include a course book on legislative and administrative processes and more than 75 articles, lectures and reviews. He is a member of the Council of the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Each year, the fellowship will provide a stipend to a second- or third-year Oregon Law student who is actively interested in addressing legal problems that extend beyond national or state borders.

- from UO School of Law