Chicago-Kent College of Law: Alumni E-Brief
Alumni E-Brief
Dean Harold J. Krent

From the Dean

Together, We Succeed

These are tough economic times for most of us, including many Chicago-Kent graduates and the law school itself. Budgets are tight. Even in these difficult circumstances, however, we have been fortunate to have many alumni and friends continue to include Chicago-Kent among their philanthropic priorities. 

Now more than ever, this support is crucial in helping us continue to provide a high-quality legal education, sustaining the clinical programs that make real contributions to the community, attracting top faculty, and reducing the financial burdens of earning a law degree. Your gifts also help the law school build the alumni network and national reputation that are so important to our success and yours. 

As 2008 draws to a close, we hope you will take the time to respond to our end-of-year mailing or make your gift online at www.kentlaw.edu\give

We sincerely appreciate your engagement and support as we pursue our mission of training the next generation of attorneys.  Please consider supporting the Annual Fund or a program of your choice before December 31. Together, we succeed.

Give to Chicago-Kent

I wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season.

Sincerely,

Harold J. Krent
Dean and Professor of Law

President-Elect Obama was the Keynote Speaker at the 2003 Commencement Ceremony.
President-elect Obama was the 2003 Commencement keynote speaker. The video of his address is available online.

In This Issue

News and Announcements

Submit Your Class Notes!

It is that time of year again – submit your class notes for the Spring 2009 Chicago-Kent Magazine.  If you have a class note update, please log on to the Alumni Online Community to make your class note submission and let us know what is going on in your life, or send an email to alums@kentlaw.edu. (If you are not yet a member of the online community, sign up here).

Alternatively, you may also be hearing from your class correspondent in the coming weeks and you are welcome to submit your class note to him or her. We look forward to hearing what you are up to!  

Submit Class Note


2008 Election Postscript

Chicago-Kent congratulates all the alumni who were elected to public office on November 4, 2008, among them Anita Alvarez '86, elected to the office of State's Attorney for Cook County, Illinois as the first Hispanic woman to hold the position; Anne Burke '83, retained as Illinois Supreme Court Justice; Dorothy Brown '96, reelected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois; and Peter Roskam '89, reelected United States Representative for the 6th District of Illinois.

To view other new and retained alumni elected officials, please visit the class notes section on the Alumni Online Community. If you won a local election, please post your own class note.

We are also honored by President-elect Barack Obama's association with the law school. Then State Senator Obama gave the 2003 commencement address to Chicago-Kent graduates. He spoke on the importance of lawyers connecting to those in need and to the larger issues confronting our nation.

To watch President-elect Obama's full remarks at the 2003 Commencement address, please click here.


Chicago-Kent Wins National Health Law Moot Court Competition

Third-year Chicago-Kent students Casandra Rdzak and Sarah Buck are the winners of the 17th annual National Health Law Moot Court Competition, held November 7 and 8, 2008 at Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale.

Chicago-Kent students Casandra Rdzak '09 (left) and Sarah Buck '09, winners of the 17th annual National Health Law Moot Court Competition.
Chicago-Kent students Casandra Rdzak '09 (left) and Sarah Buck '09, winners of the 17th annual National Health Law Moot Court Competition.
The students argued a hypothetical case before the U.S. Supreme Court. At issue was the constitutionality of a state statute that created a process for a small rural hospital to withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a 72-year-old patient against the wishes of the patient and his family. The team from Chicago-Kent beat 34 other teams from 25 law schools.

This is the second time that a team from Chicago-Kent has won the championship. (The Chicago-Kent team of Julie Gerber Sollinger ’96, Kathleen Holper Champagne ’96, and Jennie Schutter Amato ‘96 last won the national title in 1995.)

Winning team member Casandra Rdzak is a native of Romania who came to the United States in 2002. She recently served as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, where she will work as an associate in the Labor and Employment group after graduation in May 2009.

Teammate Sarah Buck recently completed a summer judicial externship in the Immigration Court’s Executive Office of Immigration Review. In 2007, Buck served as a judicial extern for Cook County Circuit Court Judge Lee Preston.


Prof. Thomas H. Hill Selected as an IIT Coleman Foundation Scholar

Thomas H. Hill, a visiting professor at Chicago-Kent, has been named an Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Coleman Faculty Scholar for the 2008-09 school year. The scholars’ program is funded by the Chicago-based Coleman Foundation and provides an opportunity for faculty from various disciplines at IIT to spend a year working with the Entrepreneurship Program.

A visiting professor at Chicago-Kent since 2005, Professor Hill teaches courses in business organizations, business transactions and international trade. He has also taught and lectured at the Catholic University of Lublin and the University of Gdansk in Poland, at Peking University and Bejing Institute of Technology in China, and at Shih Chien University in Taiwan. He has published extensively in the areas of international trade and e-commerce, international law and foreign sovereign immunity.


Shop the Chicago-Kent Virtual Bookstore
One of the great items you can find on the new Chicago-Kent Virtual Bookstore!
Shop the New Chicago-Kent Virtual Bookstore

Looking for some Holiday gift ideas? Find gifts for friends and colleagues, or shop for yourself and show off your school pride at the Chicago-Kent online bookstore: http://dtc.bkstore.com


Become an Alumni Ambassador

Help us recruit the best and brightest law students to Chicago-Kent by serving as an Alumni Ambassador. A Chicago-Kent Alumni Ambassador will work with the Office of Admissions to call admitted students that have not yet decided on attending law school at Chicago-Kent. The purpose of the phone call is to introduce the school through an alumnus’ eyes and answer any questions the student might have, and the goal is to match alumni with students that have similar backgrounds or interests. All calls to admitted students will take place in February and March 2009. The deadline to sign up to be an Ambassador is Jan 15, 2009. 

Become an Alumni Ambassador


Virtual Reunions: Class Years Ending in 3 and 8

Participate in your Virtual Reunion! Connect with your classmates via our Alumni Online Community. Chat with your class on your message board, share your career, family, and community milestones by posting a class note, read class notes from other alumni, or use the directory search to see individual profiles of fellow alumni.

Click your individual class year below to get started, or visit www.alumni.kentlaw.edu/reunion.

10-Year Reunion: Class of 1998
15-Year Reunion: Class of 1993
20-Year Reunion: Class of 1988
30-Year Reunion: Class of 1978
35-Year Reunion: Class of 1973
40-Year Reunion: Class of 1968
45-Year Reunion: Class of 1963

Please note: 2003, 1983, 1958 and Golden Alumni Reunions took place earlier this year.


Got News?

Have you won an award, gotten married, or joined a new firm?

Brag about it!

Post a class note on the Alumni Online Community to share your career, family, and community milestones with fellow alumni, or check out the community to discover news about your classmates.

Class notes will be included in the Spring 2009 issue of the Chicago-Kent Magazine.

To read or post class notes, visit www.alumni.kentlaw.edu/notes.

Not yet a part of the community?
Request your login information.

Save the Date

Social Events - Chicago

2008 Alumni Awards & Recognition Luncheon
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Reception: 11:30 a.m. ~ Luncheon: 12:00 p.m.
The Standard Club, 320 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago, IL 60604

Please join us for the 31st annual Alumni Awards & Recognition Reception and Luncheon, hosted by the Chicago-Kent Alumni Board of Directors. Bruce Wolf ’81, Chicago TV/Radio Personality, will emcee this year’s event, which honors our Alumni and Friend volunteers and the 2008 Alumni Award Recipients:

Click Here to RSVP for the Alumni Luncheon

RSVP deadline is TODAY, December 1, 2008. For more information, please visit www.kentlaw.edu/allalumlunch.

Past Event Highlights

Dean Krent (left) recently visited Thailand where he launched a new Chicago-Kent program that will provide training for Thai judges.
Dean Krent (left) recently visited Thailand where he launched a new Chicago-Kent program that will provide training for Thai judges.
Chicago-Kent Launches Training Program in Thailand

Dean Harold J. Krent traveled to Bangkok, Thailand in November where he participated in a formal signing ceremony with the Thai Courts of Justice. Chicago-Kent has launched a new program to provide training for judges throughout Thailand. While in Thailand, Dean Krent also had the opportunity to spend time with Chicago-Kent alumni, among others.


Thank You to our Latest Dean's Roundtable Speaker

Thank you to Catherine Sigmar ’95, President of RegistryPro, the exclusive operator of the .Pro top level domain for professionals, for participating in our most recent Dean’s Roundtable program. The Roundtable series was introduced by Dean Harold J. Krent to allow for student interaction with alumni in an informal lunch setting. It highlights successful alumni who work in careers outside the legal profession but who still utilize their legal education.


Video Webcast: The Impact of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy

On November 11, 2008, Ronald H. Filler, Professor of Law and Director of the Center on Financial Services Law at New York Law School, gave a lecture at Chicago-Kent on how the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy has and will continue to impact the International Future Derivatives Market.
 
An expert in financial services law, Filler was previously the Managing Director in the Capital Markets Prime Services Division at Lehman Brothers. Filler also serves as a member of the Chicago-Kent Board of Overseers.

This lecture is now available as a video webcast! Please click here to view the video.

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