Law Offices:
News & announcements for the week of
October 25, 1999

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LAW OFFICES - SPRING REGISTRATION 
FOR IN-HOUSE PROGRAMS

Students who would like to learn how to practice law while they are in law school should apply for the in-house clinical education program, LAW OFFICES.  Applications for the spring 2000 semester are now available in Suite 600.  The spring applications are due no later than 10:00 a.m. on November 3, 1999.    

Students may apply for Law Offices after they have completed the equivalent to their first year of law school.  To be considered for a place, ALL students must return a completed Law Offices application.   

Students who have previously taken or who are now taking Law Offices (called Continuing Law Offices Students), and who submit their applications by the due date will be given preference in their same practice group if availability permits.   New students who have submitted their applications by the due date will be selected tn the Law Offices lottery.  The total number of available places during the fall semester is dependent upon the number of supervising attorneys in each practice group.  The number of available new places is dependent upon the number of continuing students and has not yet been determined.   

There are five in-house practice groups from which to choose this Spring -- employment discrimination/civil rights with some general practice, tax litigation, mediation & other ADR procedures, criminal defense, and health with some family law.   

In three of the in-house programs - employment discrimination/civil rights litigation with some general practice program, mediation & other ADR procedures, and the criminal defense litigation program - students are given the option of enrolling for three or four credits.  Students who enroll for three credits put in a minimum of twelve hours per week during the fourteen-week semester.  

Students who enroll for four credits put in a minimum of sixteen hours per week during the semester.  In both the tax and health law litigation programs, students enroll for three credits and put in a minimum of twelve hours per week.   

For more information, you may talk to the clinical professors who supervise the various practice groups — Professors Gonzalez (Room 629), Norton (Room 623) and Leader (she will join the Law Offices on December 1, 1999) for employment discrimination/civil rights with some general practice; Professor Kentra (Room 611) for mediation & other ADR procedures; Professors Kling (Room 613), and Thomas (Room 609) for criminal defense; Professor Abbott (Room 625) for tax litigation; and Professor Kraus (Room 627) for health with some family law.  Professor Laser (Room 631) is also available to answer your questions.   
                                        
DEADLINE   
Please note that applications for the spring 2000 semester must be submitted to the Receptionist in Suite 600 no later than 10:00 a.m. on November 3, 1999.   

 
 
ADVANCED EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM
SPRING 2000

THIRD YEAR STUDENTS ONLY

Do you wish to develop your legal skills, gain practical legal experience in a specialized area of law with a corporation, firm or government agency, and make yourself more marketable to prospective employers upon graduation?  If so, consider applying to the Advanced Externship Program for Spring 2000 Semester. 

The Advanced Externship Program is a 4-credit hour non-graded program.  The program is open to students in their last two semesters of law school.  The student selects the area of law in which he/she wishes to extern. 

For the fieldwork component, an extern is placed in a private or public, civil or criminal practice and is required to work a minimum of 16 hours a week at his/her designated placement.  Externs interested in civil law may select to work under the supervision of general counsel in major corporations or under the supervision of designated teaching lawyers in well-known firms or specific government agencies.  Externs may specialize in such diverse legal areas as tax, commodities, securities, corporate, health care, medical malpractice, general corporate law, etc.  Those interested in criminal law may select to work with designated supervising lawyers at the States Attorney's Office, Public Defender's Office, or the U.S. Attorney's Office.  Many externships offer the externs opportunities to obtain a 711 license and appear in court. 

In addition to your fieldwork, on designated Wednesdays at 4:00 - 4:55 p.m. all externs meet as a group. 

If you are interested in learning more about externship opportunities or in applying to the program, please see Professor Vivien Gross in Room 617.  More information about the program and an accompanying application form will be available in the Law Offices reception area  and in the Careers Services office as of Monday, October 11, 1999.  Applications must be turned in to Room 612 by 5:00 P.M. on Friday, November 5.  All applicants must have scheduled and completed an interview with Professor Gross prior to turning in their applications. 

 
EXCITING OPPORTUNITY FOR THIRD YEAR STUDENTS
SPRING 2000 SEMESTER  
COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY and PUBLIC DEFENDER
FOR-CREDIT EXTERNSHIPS
                             
If you are interested in being in a felony trial courtroom and using a 711 license to work on actual criminal cases while getting law school credit, please contact Professor Gross immediately for an interview (e-mail vgross). 

Advanced Externship information and application forms are available in Room 600 (Law Offices reception area) and in the Career Services Offices and are due on November 5th.

 
LADR!
LITIGATION AND ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROGRAM
 

This program in which first-year students may apply is different from anything at any other law school!  The first- year students who are accepted begin the program during their second year of law school.

Becoming a lawyer takes more than sitting through three years of law school lectures.  It involves more than learning how to cross-examine hostile witnesses, write persuasive briefs, and talk to clients.  Reading about subjects such as legal ethics or law practice management is not the same as learning about them from experience.

Throughout the LADR program, you will learn legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional values, and work in Chicago-Kent's teaching law firm, supervised by clinical professors who are expert practitioners and mentors.  You will learn the art of lawyering through two years of intensive skills and clinical training.  Your experience will teach you how to become a competent, ethical, socially responsible lawyer.

To learn more about this program, please contact Prof. Gary Laser, Room 631, or pick up an application and curriculum memorandum in Room 600.  Please continue to check The Record for upcoming LADR information meetings.

APPLICATIONS FOR THIS PROGRAM MUST BE TURNED IN BY JANUARY 31, 2000.  Please turn in applications in Room 600.
 

 
PROFESSOR DAVID THOMAS to
LECTURE IN JAPAN

Professor David Thomas will be part of a delegation of lawyers from the United States affiliated with the Lawyer's Guild to conduct a lecture series throughout Japan at the end of October.  Topics of the week-long symposium  include criminal, corporate labor, and peace and war issues. 

Professor Thomas will discuss United States criminal procedure to an audience of Japanese lawyers interested in reforming their system, and will address concerns with members of the Japanese Bar involving the rights of suspects and defendants.  An overview of the American justice system will explain how and to what extent the rights of suspects and defendants have eroded in the US, the effectiveness of capital punishment and the "three strikes and you're out" statutes, and how the jury and public defender systems work.  Questions about the decreasing American crime rate and whether Constitutional rights are affected by efforts to reduce crime will be addressed, as well as the detrimental effects of preventative investigation measures including wiretapping.

 
 
WELCOME ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR of CLINICAL PRACTICE
LAURIE LEADER
Please join the Law Offices in welcoming Associate Professor of Clinical Practice Laurie Leader, who is scheduled to begin December 1, 1999.  Ms. Leader is a well-known sole practitioner specializing in the practice of commercial and employment litigation.  She will lead an Employment Discrimination / Civil Rights practice group. 
 
 
CLINIC STUDENTS ASSIST IN LITIGATION VICTORIES

Clinic students working with Prof. Richard Gonzalez have helped bring about two major litigation victories.  In one, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that employers have a duty to investigate hate crimes perpetrated by co-employees, reversing a District Court decision.  In the other, the Human Rights Commission has awarded a quarter-million dollar verdict to a white male accountant who proved at trial that he lost his job due to race discrimination.  Congratulations to students Erin Foley, Jignasa Gadani, Debbie Cohen, and Carolyn Sperl who made huge contributions toward these victories. 
 
 

LAW OFFICES OF CHICAGO-KENT

           The Law Offices of Chicago-Kent offers nine long-standing programs in live-client clinical legal education which accommodate over 150 students in the fall and spring semesters and over 50 students in the summer semester. 

           For a complete description of all clinical programs, please visit the Law Offices Home Page at www.kentlaw.edu/academics/clinic. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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