Page 25 - Pierce County Lawyer - September October 2024

Huba Huba
ABy John Weaver
‘hub’ is a center of activity where things are connected to one another. Think of a hub airport.
That’s what the South Sound Hybrid Hub is and will be. This Hub is a joint venture between Seattle University School of Law and the University of Washington Tacoma Community Engagement
Hub. On March 11, officials of the two schools celebrated this Hub’s launch in a ceremony on the UWT’s campus.
The South Sound Hub is one of several Engagement Hubs conceived by Law School Dean Tony Varona on his listening tours of Washington and Alaska. Other hubs are planned for Anchorage and in the Yakima Valley.
The South Sound Hub will provide opportunities for in-person programming for SU Law Flex JD Students. The Flex JD Program
is a hybrid in-person and on-line program for part-time students. It is a continuation of the law school’s long time commitment to part-time legal
education. About 20% of the Flex JD students are in the South Sound.
The Hub will work with the UWT Legal Pathway’s program to assist students in being prepared for and choosing and applying to law schools.1
The Hub will foster continued relations between the Law School and the South Sound legal and general community with particular attention to our alums in the South Sound. Pierce County is the second largest site for our alums and also a source of intern and externships and permanent careers.
1 The UWT Legal Pathways Program was begun in 2019 with a mission to provide access to legal education opportunities for UWT and other students in the South Sound. Expect a subsequent article on the Program. Since this is my article you should have expected a footnote.
Patricia Sully, who was the first Director of the Legal Pathways program at UWT and who is an Adjunct Professor at the Law School, will be the Director of the Hub. She is currently the Chief Strategy and Campaigns Officer at Purpose. Dignity. Action.
The first event for the Hub will be a ‘Luminaries in the Law’ session with Chief Justice Steven Gonzalez of the Washington Supreme Court on October 29 on the UWT Campus. More details will be available on both the Law School and the UWT websites. The Luminaries program has preeminent leaders in
the law to present their ideas about the future of the law and legal practice.
John Weaver is a retired Professor of Law from Seattle University School of Law. He began teaching at UPS School of Law in 1972. He is a resident of Tacoma and serves as the Law School Liaison to the Tacoma-
Pierce County Bar Association. He is an honorary life-time member of the TPCBA.
September/October 2024 | PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER 25