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Week of November 11, 2002


CLINIC APPLICATIONS FOR

SPRING 2003 ARE AVAILABLE

Applications for Spring 2003 are located in the Reception area in the turnstile in Room 600 of The Law Offices.


LEGAL EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM
SPRING 2003


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 Legal Externship Program for Spring 2003 Semester.

The Legal Externship Program is a 4-credit hour non-graded program. The program is open predominantly to students in their last two semesters of law school.

An extern can choose a private or public, civil or criminal practice and is required to work 16 hours a week for a minimum total of 224 hours 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 choose to work with 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.

Here are some samples of the many choices:

  • A leading Chicago investment management firm enables the extern to work in-house in a small legal department. The extern deals with current business issues that have legal and regulatory implications by engaging in fact-finding, research, analysis and writing. Securities-related courses are desired for this externship, but are not required

  • A non-litigation firm with general business and federal tax practice

  • A public interest organization which provides pro-bono legal representation for low-income refugees fleeing political persecution in their homeland. Their clients are people who face deportation to countries where they are at risk of being murdered, tortured, or imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political beliefs

  • Office of the Public Guardian: Juvenile or Adult Division


EXTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY WITH

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE - MAY 2003

SUMMER 2003 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 Tuesday, December 10, 2002.

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. The law school's externship applications are available in Room 612 of the Law Offices and in the Career Services office.

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.


PUBLIC INTEREST JOB OPPORTUNITY:

Announcing a unique opportunity for a new lawyer with an interest in gaining experience in Public Interest work:

The Advice Desk, a program run by Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Daley Center, offers pro bono legal assistance to defendants in civil actions who cannot afford an attorney. Cases involve housing, contract, tort and other legal matters.

The Advice Desk is hiring a full-time attorney, with an interest in public interest. Applicant needs to be licensed in Illinois. Pay is $30,000.00 per year with excellent benefits. Interested applicants send resume to:

Professor Pamela Kentra
Chicago-Kent College of Law
565 West Adams Street, Suite #600
Chicago, Illinois 60661-3691

LAW OFFICES DEBUT COLUMN IN
NOVEMBER ISSUE OF THE COMMENTATOR

The Law Offices will debut its monthly column with an article in the Commentator regarding the clinic.


CHICAGO-KENT ESTABLISHES A FAMILY LAW CLINIC

Chicago-Kent College of Law has established a clinical program in family law. The family law clinic will operate on a sliding scale fee basis, depending on the financial circumstances of the parties. The clinic will represent clients in matters limited to cases to be brought before the Cook County Circuit Court. Client referrals will be actively sought from the practicing bar, labor unions, employee groups, and educational institutions.

In addition, the clinical program will provide a teaching platform for Chicago-Kent students who are interested in practicing in the area of family law. All student work will be under the direct supervision of an attorney.

Attorney Ira C. Feldman has been named to oversee the new program. Prior to his appointment, Feldman was a partner at the law firm of Wildman, Harrold, Allen and Dixon. From 1981 to 1991, he was a partner at Naumark, Bonner and Feldman. Between 1975 and 1981, he headed Feldman and Associates. Feldman completed his undergraduate at American University and earned his law degree at the university’s Washington College of Law.

“Professor Feldman is a highly regarded and experienced practitioner of family law. He will expand the services of the Chicago-Kent Law Offices to include representation in matters of legal separation, divorce, child support, child custody, visitation, guardianships and other related matters,” said Professor Gary S. Laser director of clinical education.

Chicago-Kent Law Offices was established in 1976. The program is a fee-generating teaching law firm that provides clinical practice experiences under the close supervision of teaching attorneys. The program delivers outstanding legal services to its clients and provides high-quality clinical education to more than 150 students each semester. Practice areas include employment discrimination and civil rights, general practice, criminal defense, health law, alternative dispute resolution, tax law, and an advice desk program at the Daley Center.

Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. Last year, Chicago-Kent educated more than 1,200 students from 45 states and more than 100 colleges and universities.



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, FDLA 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.

Students will be trained to provide legal representation to adults and children under criminal investigation. In addition to a weekly, one-hour class (Mondays from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.), students will be available to represent persons in custody six hours each week and actually go to the police station to represent them. Students will be provided with pagers and FDLA will reimburse transportation expenses. Three supervising attorneys will be available at all times to assist students and provide support. For more information, contact Presita R. May, at 773/602-5144, or presita2000@aol.com .

 

LOW INCOME TAXPAYERS CLINIC

For information on the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, please visit the website: 

                        http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/clinic/tax/
 
 


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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