Inspired by the Sea: UM Law Student Forms Maritime Law Society
By Lily Soper, UM News Service
MISSOULA – For both personal and professional development, the University of Montana encourages its law students to join student organizations that pertain to the fields of law they want to practice.
But what if your school doesn’t have the right club? If you’re recent graduate Henry Westesen, you simply form it yourself.
Growing up in landlocked Montana, Westesen discovered an interest in maritime law while spending his sophomore year of college in Wales. It was his first chance to spend a substantial amount of time near the ocean.
“A lot of my initial interest came from the mystique of the sea and a passion for history,” said Westesen, who was born in Billings and grew up Bozeman. “People and goods have moved over water for thousands of years, and a lot of the legal doctrine related to maritime law reflects that history.
“I wanted to parlay that fascination for international law into the uniquely national entity of our justice system in the United States,” he added. “A huge facet of international law is maritime law.”
Westesen is the first Alexander Blewett III School of Law student to intern for the Coast Guard Judge Advocate General (JAG) office, an opportunity that took him to Cleveland during the summer of his first year in law school, where he delved deep into maritime legal issues relating to vessels on the Great Lakes. Succeeding in the role, he used his experience to land a remote federal internship with the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the U.S. Department of Transportation’s maritime arm, which he completed remotely all while attending law school.
“As I delved deeper into the specialty, I wondered if I should transfer to a school with a curriculum more specific to maritime law,” Westesen confessed, “but I’m so glad I didn’t.”
Instead of helping him transfer, UM law faculty connected Westesen with institutions that offered the curriculum he needed to finish his studies while still a UM student. That included sending him during his second year of studies to Tulane University’s Summer Maritime Law Program in Rhodes, Greece, the birthplace of maritime law.
“UM facilitated me taking summer classes from Tulane while remaining a UM law student. I don’t know if that hands-on assistance would have happened at another school.” Westesen said. “If you find a unique area of legal study, this school has the means to support you learning more about it.”
In fact, Westesen learned that Montana Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras wrote “The Law of the Sea in a Nutshell” while teaching at UM’s law school.
Westesen had a feeling he wasn’t the only student in Montana interested in maritime law and wanted to introduce it to his classmates before graduating.
“Equipped with this knowledge of international and maritime law, I arm-wrestled Professor Anna Conley into being a faculty sponsor for the Montana Maritime Law Society,” said Westesen. “She has been immensely supportive both of the club and to my own education, sending me interesting prescient maritime and international law issues. After a few conversations, signatures and a lot of red tape later, we were an official group.”
Using connections from both his Coast Guard internship and time at Tulane, he secured leading experts Tulane Professor Gunther Handl and U.S. District Judge John deGravelles as guest speakers to discuss maritime law issues as diverse as tort liability and controversies in the South China sea. Student turnout for both guest speakers was strong, and more than 10 new members joined the Maritime Law Society.
“Beyond specialization, understanding international and maritime law has given me another lens through which to view our own justice system,” Westesen said. “While U.S. law is uniquely insular compared to other countries, the opportunity to learn about it in relation to international law helps students understand it wholly and not in a vacuum. On the U.S. side of things, maritime law is often the exception to the rule, which creates fun wrinkles to iron out.”
Having graduated in May of this year, Westesen plans to pursue a career in maritime law. Given its initial success, he is confident the Maritime Law Society will flourish for years to come and inspire more landlocked students mystified by the ocean to specialize in the field.
“If you have a vision of what kind of lawyer you want to be,” Westesen said, “UM will provide the means to get you there.”
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Contact: Lily Soper, events and marketing coordinator, UM Alexander Blewett III School of Law, 406-243-5730, lily.soper@mso.umt.edu.