Milhai "Mike" Moldoveanu

August 2011

The VLP is pleased to

announce that Mike

Moldoveanu has been

selected as our Out-

standing Law Student

Volunteer for the month

of August 2011.  Mike is

entering his third year at

the U of A and has

participated in the VLP’s

Domestic Relations and

Bankruptcy Reaffirmation

clinics since his first year

of school.  Mike is a stand-

out volunteer with impressive skills in the courtroom.  Mike

wowed VLP staff and volunteers by his ability to discuss the application and the

extension of the law to our client’s case with the federal judges he appeared in

front of.  Federal Court can be intimidating but Mike didn’t bat an eyelash.  He

projects confidence and presence when appearing in court and has the

knowledge and intelligence to back it up.  He is a true asset to our program.

Mike was born in Cluj, Romania but only lived there for a short time.  His family

moved to Vancouver, Canada when he was a kid and stayed there while Mike

was in elementary school.  After a few years, the family decided it was time to

head to the good ‘ole U.S.A.  They settled in Washington, bouncing between

Seattle and Spokane, before they settled down for good in Seattle.  It was

good timing, too, because that was right when Mike headed off to college.  He

decided to stay local and attend the University of Washington where he received

a degree in Law, Societies and Justice.  Mike says the degree focused on “a

critique of law and the principles of law in general” – the perfect warm up for law

school!  We asked Mike, a long-time resident of the northeast, what made him

choose the U of A for law school.  He replied, “It was a decision made on paper.

I mostly looked at the school’s reputation but the great outdoors and weather

also played a big part in my decision.  So far, this has been a great experience

and I know I absolutely made the right decision.”

One of the reasons that Mike is so sure he made the right decision is that he

has been fortunate enough to have Professor Roger Henderson as an instructor. 

Mike says, “He managed to convey the law with lots of entertaining personal

stories that stuck in my head.  This allowed me to memorize and learn the

material with greater ease than having to simply learn from a textbook.”

Mike decided to get involved with our program because he had seen the

difference a helpful lawyer can make in a person’s life during his work with

Seattle’s City Attorney Domestic Violence Unit prior to law school.  Mike

says, “Since I was not in law school, I did not really have a chance to have

first hand experience with the people the office was helping.  I viewed VLP

as a way of getting that experience.”

Since Mike had an undergrad background that focused on principles of law, we

wondered if his opinion of the law has changed after a year of law school and

experience in VLP.  He replied:

        Yes, my view has greatly changed.  I came from an undergraduate

         major that was designed specifically to critique the law and application

         of law.  In that major, I learned several things about the system that

         led me to believe that it was not very fair and that there were a lot of

         things wrong.  However, after coming to law school and having

         interactions with people in the legal community, I understood that,

         for the most part, lawyers are good people who try to do what is right.   

         Moreover, I have been greatly impressed by all the judges I have met

         through either VLP or other circumstances.  Although they have a

         huge caseload, in my experience they have always tried to achieve

        the most equitable results and have always protected individual rights.  

We asked Mike what he likes to do when he isn’t busy studying.  He responded,

“As a responsible young adult I never put off studying for television, but I can’t

say anything about not watching television while studying.”  Not surprisingly, he

is a big fan of most of the Comedy Central shows, like the Daily Show, Tosh.O,

and South Park.  He also likes to hang out with friends and either watch, play,

or talk about sports.  After graduation he’s says he’s going to try and find the

time to return to his favorite vacation destination on the Black Sea coast.  Mike

says, “Although Eastern Europe probably doesn’t sound like an ideal place to

go, I spent most of my teenage summers there.  Being in Europe, I was able

to do a lot of things as a teenager that I could have never gotten away with here.”

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Past Outstanding Volunteer Student Awards