2008-2009 GBI Executive Board

Matt Schroettnig, '10

Matthew Schroettnig grew up Warwick, NY, a small suburb of New York City. He received a BA in Philosophy from the University of New Hampshire, with a pre-law concentration. Before attending law school, Matthew worked in the finance industry with Sun Life Financial, near Boston, MA.

Matthew firmly believes that energy independence will come from new business ventures, along with environmental entrepreneurialism, and seeks to position himself as a leader in the field in the Pacific Northwest.

Matthew was a clerk for the Oregon Department of Justice in Eugene, and is a Research Assistant for Professor Robert Illig. He hopes to gain experience in both litigation and transactional law in order to provide meaningful legal services to tomorrow's business owners.

Anika Leerssen, '10

A second year law student, Anika spent this past summer in Sacramento, California as a law clerk at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Environmental and Natural Resources division. She is currently a member of the Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation (JELL), the Moot Court Board, the Executive Board of the Women's Law Forum, and serves as an Environmental and Natural Resources fellow for the Oceans, Coasts and Watersheds Project. She will be working next summer as a law clerk at the firm of Ellman Burke Hoffman & Johnson in San Francisco, California, which specializes in real estate transactions and finance, land use, environmental and related areas of law.

Prior to law school, she worked as a Legal Assistant / Office Manager for the law firm of Rossmann and Moore, LLP--a small, private environmental law firm that specializes in water law in San Francisco, California, and before that as a Development Associate (Major Gifts) at Stanford Athletics. Anika graduated from Stanford University in 2000 with a B.A. in English, where she was also captain of the varsity sailing team. She is originally from Newport, RI.

Jocelyn Pease, '09

Jocelyn Pease is currently working towards a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. Her focus is on the intersection of water and energy, specifically planning for compliance with emissions reductions mandates. She has experience working in the Natural Resources and Water Practice at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP.

Currently Jocelyn works as an extern for in-house counsel at PacifiCorp. In her capacity as an extern, Jocelyn is exploring regulatory and technical barriers to linking in additional sources of renewable generation onto the grid. In addition, she is looking at siting for charging stations for electric cars in Oregon.

Scott Schneider, '09

Scott Schneider grew up in Boise, Idaho, and obtained a B.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Prior to attending law school, Scott first interned with the Colorado Venture Center, a Denver-based business incubator. He subsequently worked as an accountant for a small private-label manufacturing firm, and then as a Strategic Sourcing Manager for Supervalu, Inc., where he negotiated contracts for corporate services. Scott is optimistic about the potential of the sustainable business industry to attract investment and generate innovation. As the industry itself matures, the legal profession will need to evolve to meet its emerging needs. He seeks to become a part of this movement and to help both new and existing business succeed in this growing market.

While in law school, Scott has externed with the Lane County Circuit Court, and within the in-house counsel department of Knowledge Learning Corporation in Portland, OR. He spent last summer working as a law clerk for the Office of the Governor's General Counsel, and the Governor's Sustainability Advisor.

Gordon Kuehl, '11

Gordon Kuehl was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a B.A. in English form Louisiana State University and Masters of Arts in English from the University of New Orleans.

Prior to, and while working on his Masters, Gordon wrote for a variety of Louisiana-based entertainment publications, including Where Y'at, Speed, and Warning magazines. As an undergraduate, Gordon also served as Webmaster for the Environmental Engineering Department at Louisiana State University. As his legal education progresses, Gordon seeks to learn about and participate in the burgeoning nexus of environmental policy and business developing in the Pacific Northwest.

Symposium Committee

Vinnci Lam, Chad Marriot, David Hall, and Casey Gillham

David Hall, '09

David Hall was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He received his B.S. in Political Science with a minor in History from the University of Oregon.

During law school, David has interned in the legal department of ESCO Corporation, a global manufacturer of mining, construction, power generation and aerospace products, located in Portland, Oregon. David is currently a research assistant for Professor Nancy Shurtz, assisting her on projects involving local tax and financial incentives for green building and curriculum planning for the Sustainable Tax and Business Practices class being taught at the law school.

From his experiences, David has come to believe firmly that the key to our country's future competitiveness in the global market and its energy independence is the development of green technologies and sustainable business practices, particularly in the areas of building and construction.

After law school, David plans on practicing business law and is especially interested in aiding large businesses in the challenges of adapting to and succeeding in a greener marketplace.

Chad Marriott, '09

Chad Marriott is a third-year student at Oregon Law. During the summer of 2008, Chad worked in Portland, OR as a summer associate at Stoel Rives LLP. There, Chad focused on issues related to renewable energy project development including offshore regulations, siting and permitting challenges for various technologies, and third-party ownership of solar facilities in Oregon. In 2007, Chad worked as a legal intern for the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in Washington D.C., and as a law clerk for the U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division in Sacramento. He joined GBI in 2007.

Vinnci Lam, '11

Vincci Lam was born in Hong Kong, China and raised in Vancouver, Washington. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with Honors from the University of Washington in 2007. Prior to law school, Vincci worked as a Project Assistant at a Seattle-based strategic advocacy agency specializing in individuals and organizations working in the philanthropic space. Her work there included supporting complex international trip logistics, assisting in high-profile event coordination, and policy research. She has also previously interned for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and in the Law & Corporate Affairs Department of Starbucks Coffee Company.

Through her experiences, Vincci has realized the importance of creating lasting policy changes in promoting human rights in the developing world and plans to apply her legal education in this endeavor.

Casey Gillham, '10

Casey Gillham is originally from Reno, Nevada and a 2003 graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno. Prior to entering law school, Casey served as a Constituent Representative with U.S. Senator Richard Bryan, Crisis Lines Coordinator for Crisis Call Center of Nevada, and a Personnel Analyst with Nevada's Rural Mental Health Clinics. Casey is specifically interested in green construction and comprehensive land-use planning as tools to combat climate change.

Events Committee

Tracy Frazier, Monica Martinez, Paul Thompson, and Mark Kannen

Tracy Frazier, '10

Tracy is a second year law student focusing on business law and commercial litigation. She works at the Oregon Department of Justice and is an editor on the Oregon Law Review. In her free time Tracy enjoys playing indoor soccer and competing in Moot Court. She recently was a finalist in the Corporate Moot Court competition and will attend the national competition in Delaware this Spring.

Tracy was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. She attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, and majored in Linguistics and Sociology.

Mark Kannen, '11

Mark Kannen was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. He obtained a B.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from Purdue University. At Purdue, Mark worked as a laboratory technician and chemist preparing mineral samples for rare isotope analysis on Purdue's linear particle accelerator.

Mark is excited to transition from a background in science to active participation in the emerging sustainable business sector. As businesses continue to embrace environmental technologies, Mark strives to provide legal services to aid them in investment, innovation, and entrepreneurialism.

Paul Thompson, '11

Paul Thompson is originally from southern Mississippi, graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Classical Studies from Millsaps College in 1998.

After graduation, Paul continued on his culinary career, becoming an Executive Chef specializing in Italian, Mediterranean, and California cuisines. This position included teaching cooking classes, wine tastings, and participating in cooking demonstrations. From this position he moved on to industrial sales, working as an account manager for Airgas, a welding, safety, and construction supply company. He won both regional and national sales awards in this position. Paul is now a first-year law student interested in sustainable businesses and making them more viable in the marketplace.

Monica Martinez, '11

Monica Martinez is originally from Newport Beach, CA. She received a B.A. in Political Science from Seattle University. Monica credits her move to the Northwest as the catalyst of her interest in sustainability and environmentalism. While living in Seattle, Monica gained experience by interning for United States Senator Maria Cantwell.

Prior to attending law school, she spent a year in AmeriCorps coordinating volunteer restoration projects for the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, a Seattle based environmental organization. Additionally, she worked as a project assistant for the Resource Conservation District of Monterey County where she focused on mitigating the unintended yet harmful effects of agricultural industry policies on conservation efforts. Through these experiences, she identified the integral role business has in affecting the sustainability movement. Monica's additional interests include the intersection between law, environment, and human health.

View the 2007-2008 Executive Board