Law Offices:
News & announcements for the week of
December 4, 2000

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SEE LAW OFFICES' BULLETIN BOARD ON 6TH FLOOR
FOR SPRING 2001 LOTTERY RESULTS

The results of the Lottery for the In-House Clinic Programs for Spring 2001 is posted on the bulletin board outside the Law Offices.   On-line Registration has commenced; if you have any difficulties registering for the clinic in which you were accepted, please contact the Administrator, Arnold Hoskins, Room 619 or ahoskins@kentlaw.edu, or Rosemary Alexander, the Assistant Office Administrator, Room 616, or ralexand@kentlaw.edu .

We look forward to working with you in Spring 2001!
 


NEW COURSE:  TAX FRAUD AND RELATED CRIMES

This two-credit course (no paper) will focus on the elements, defenses, sentencing  trends and emerging legal issues associated with the major federal tax crimes,  including the grandaddy of them all, attempted tax evasion. We will discuss IRS and Department of Justice investigative authority, techniques, and prosecution policies, as well as the government’s substantial forfeiture power. Other topics will include the interplay with civil tax penalties, an overview of applicable federal sentencing guidelines, trial tactics, and select ethical issues.  Special attention will be devoted to analyzing the evidentiary proof necessary to sustain the substantive crimes, and particular strategies that might effectively weaken or even terminate a pending administrative investigation.  The class will be taught by Professor Jonathan Decatorsmith, a former senior trial attorney with the IRS and tax fraud specialist, and currently the Supervisor of the Tax Litigation Clinic.   Though not required, it is recommended that students have completed Tax Procedure, Evidence, and one Criminal Procedure class. 
 
 

EXCITING SUMMER EXTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS WHO WILL HAVE COMPLETED THEIR SECOND YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL BY MAY, 2001

SUMMER 2001 SEMESTER:  EXTERNSHIPS WITH U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

If you are interested in exposure to and possible participation in federal trial and appellate practice while assisting the U.S. Attorney’s Office in handling its multitude of important cases, please pick up an application from Professor Gross in Room 617. 

Completed applications must be received at the Office of the U.S. Attorney by Friday, December 8, 2000.  The reason for this accelerated date is because each accepted extern must go through a security clearance, which takes several weeks.

To receive law school credit for this externship, should you be selected by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, you must enroll in the law school’s Summer Legal Externship Program. 

Professor Gross will be happy to answer any questions you may have about either the Externship Program or the externship position with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
 
 

A NEW CLINICAL PROGRAM -
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & ENTREPRENURSHIP CLINIC (ITEC)

Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Information Technology & Entrepreneurship Clinic (ITEC) fills two needs in the Chicagoland technology community. First, ITEC provides competent technology law services to small technology firms and local start-ups, at affordable rates through its unique fee generating model (hyperlink).  ITEC attorneys and students help these companies stay abreast of the rapidly evolving legal issues relevant to the technology entrepreneur. 

Second, and most importantly, ITEC provides Chicago-Kent law students with practical, hands-on experience working on cutting-edge legal issues, under the supervision of experienced technology attorneys.  These students will then travel into the Chicago legal market upon graduation, providing Chicago with technologically savvy lawyers to meet its developing technology law needs.

ITEC assists new ventures through the each stage of developing a start-up -- business organization; protection of intellectual property rights; transactional and contract drafting; and, current advice regarding evolving legal issues relevant to doing business on the Internet.  Students who intern in ITEC will assist in providing legal services to established IT companies and Internet start-ups.
 
 

A NEW CLINICAL PROGRAM - 
FIRST DEFENSE LEGAL AID

First Defense Legal Aid (FDLA), the only program of its kind in the country, fills the gap in Illinois’ public defender system by providing 24-hour free legal representation to adults and children in police custody or under police investigation.  FDLA provides a unique “frontline” criminal defense experience for students, enabling them to see: how evidence is collected and created; the tactics of the Chicago Police Department when trying to extract a confession or question witnesses; the role that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Felony Review Team plays during the beginning stages of a criminal investigation; and the utter vulnerability of children and adults when under intensive and sometimes abusive interrogation.  In addition to this stationhouse representation, DSLA also works toward the permanent improvement of our criminal justice system by educating the public, organizing community residents to combat police misconduct, by engaging in legislative and community advocacy, investigating patterns of misconduct by the Chicago Police, taking select criminal defense cases to trial, and initiating 42 U.S.C. §1983 litigation to improve the policies and procedures of the Chicago Police as they relate to the treatment of persons in police custody.

Students participating in the FDLA class must be eligible for a Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 license.  Students representing FDLA clients at Chicago Police Stations will gain unique insight into the criminal justice system at its earliest stage and be able to:
 

1. View and Document Line-Ups, DNA testing, and Halt Lie Detector Tests.
2. Assert a Client’s 5th Amendment Right to Remain Silent and 6th Amendment Right to Counsel.
3. Gather Information from the Police on the Progress of the Investigation.
4. Document Police Brutality and other Misconduct.
5. Counsel Clients and Provide Information to their Families.
6. Interview Witnesses.
7. Demand a Client’s Immediate Release at the Police Station and in Court.
 
 

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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