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Week of April 10, 2006

LAW OFFICES - SUMMER AND FALL 2006

Applications for the Law Offices, Fall 2006 semester are available and can be picked up in room 600 and outside of the cafeteria. Please email Tracy Kish if you have any questions.

Results for the Summer lottery can be found here.

NEW CLINICAL PROGRAM

Students in the newly established Startup Law Program will, under faculty supervision, counsel startup companies and entrepreneurs on transactions and other matters common to new ventures. Projects may include advising on business plans, entity formations, financings, trademarks, website content, contracts and business licenses. In addition to completing substantive projects, students will be expected to have an initial meeting with their clients and to communicate with them thereafter, as needed. Students will also help build a website to serve as an educational platform for current and future students as well as others interested in the legal aspects of startups.

Professor Jeff Thomas will supervise the Startup Law Program in addition to teaching Legal Aspects of Startups (a related course). Professor Thomas has counseled startup companies as an attorney in private practice (at firms in Chicago and Silicon Valley) and as an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University School of Law’s Small Business Opportunity Center. Professor Thomas is a graduate of the University of Michigan Business School and Harvard Law School. Students with questions may contact Professor Thomas at jthomas@kentlaw.edu.

LEGAL EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM
SUMMER/FALL 2006

Do you want to develop your legal skills, get practical legal experience, see what it is like to work in a corporation, firm or government agency and -- at the same time -- make yourself more marketable to prospective employers? If so, then consider doing a for-credit externship and signing up for Chicago-Kent’s Legal Externship Program (LEP).

LEP is 4-credit hours, non-graded, and open predominantly to students in their last three semesters of law school.

Externs interested in civil law may select to work in such diverse legal areas as immigration, tax, commodities, securities, health care, medical malpractice, or general corporate law. Externs in criminal law may choose to work with the States Attorney's Office, Public Defender's Office, or the U.S. Attorney's Office. Some externships offer the opportunity to obtain a 711 license and appear in court.

More information about Legal Externships and an accompanying application form are available in the Law Offices reception area, Room 600, and in the Career Services Office.

If you want to know more about available externship opportunities, please e-mail Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) to set up an appointment.

SUMMER EXTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Summer Externships in Family Law
Cook County Domestic Relations Court

Preference is given to students who have either taken Family Law or Family Law Clinic or who will be concurrently enrolled in either of these courses while doing the externship.

Enjoy this exciting opportunity to observe and participate in the day-to-day operations of a busy domestic relations courtroom and to assist the judge in researching law and drafting orders and observe cases involving dissolution of marriage, legal separation, custody, orders of protection and visitation, etc.

If you are interested, please contact Professor Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) as soon as possible to set up a meeting and to submit your resume and transcript.


Asian Human Services
(Students who will be 3Ls are strongly preferred)

Asian Human Services, located in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, has an opportunity for externs to work with a practicing public interest attorney in the areas of family law, domestic violence and immigration law.

Asian Human Services (AHS), Inc. exists as a community-based non-profit organization which provides quality, compassionate, culturally appropriate services to the pan-Asian, immigrant and refugee community of metropolitan Chicago. AHS’s Legal Department advocates for the needs of the pan-Asian immigrant community through research, targeted programming, community outreach, and client representation. The Legal Department works in tandem with other programs at AHS to provide holistic social services in the client’s native language. The AHS Legal Department has given advice to or represented over 800 clients since September 2002 and has received awards for its commitment o the underprivileged community of Chicago by the State Attorney General.

Extern responsibilities include:

  • accompanying attorney to court for divorce trials, prove-ups, orders of protection, etc.;
  • writing motions, petitions, briefs and other court documents;
  • interviewing clients;
  • performing legal research;
  • filing court papers at Daley Center;
  • preparing grant proposal letters.

Interested students should send their resume to:

Molshree Sharma
Suite 700
4753 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
lawyer@asianhumanservices.org

and notify Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) if and when they are selected as externs.


U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Division of Enforcement

(Students should be 3Ls by Fall Semester)

The Chicago office of the Division of Enforcement is seeking externs who will receive law school credit.

The Division of Enforcement investigates and prosecutes alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Violations may involve commodity futures or option trading on domestic commodity exchanges, or the improper marketing of commodity investments. The Division may, at the direction of the Commission, file complaints before the agency’s administrative law judges or in the U.S. District Courts. Alleged criminal violations of the Commodity Exchange Act or violations of other Federal laws which involve commodity futures trading may be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution. The Division also provides expert help and technical assistance with case development and trials to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, other Federal and state regulators, and international authorities.

Primary duties include conducting legal research, writing memoranda, aiding in the preparation of court pleadings and papers in the U.S. District Courts across the nation as well as in an administrative forum; aiding attorneys and investigators who are preparing to take investigative testimony and depositions, working with exhibits, Freedom of Information Act responses; aiding with the discovery process and interacting with and/or interviewing customers or investors with complaints. To apply, interested students should e-mail a cover letter, resume and writing sample to:

Ms. Ava Gould
Trial Team Leader
Commodities Futures Trading Commission
525 W. Monroe Street, Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60661
agould@cftc.gov

and notify Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) if and when they are selected as externs.

 

FALL EXTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Fall Externships in Family Law
Cook County Domestic Relations Court

Preference is given to students who have either taken Family Law or Family Law Clinic or who will be concurrently enrolled in either of these courses while doing the externship.

Enjoy this exciting opportunity to observe and participate in the day-to-day operations of a busy domestic relations courtroom and to assist the judge in researching law and drafting orders and observe cases involving dissolution of marriage, legal separation, custody, orders of protection and visitation, etc.

If you are interested, please contact Professor Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) as soon as possible to set up a meeting and to submit your resume and transcript.


Office of the Chief Counsel, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
Immigration and Customs Enforcement

You will assist in the representation of the U.S. Government in deportation, removal and bond proceedings; draft motions and briefs for practice before the U.S. Immigration Court and Board of Immigration Appeals; and prepare memos dealing with complex and novel legal issues. In addition, you will have an opportunity to assist the Office of the Chief Area Counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on adjudication, asylum and citizenship issues.

If you are interested, please submit a copy of your resume and transcript to Professor Gross in Room 617 as soon as possible.


In-House Legal Externship
(Students should be 3Ls by Fall Semester)

The General Counsel of a small independent retail electric supplier serving non-residential businesses throughout Illinois, with headquarters in downtown Chicago, is willing to supervise an extern for summer semester. The General Counsel oversees all legal matters, running the gamut from drafting contracts, reviewing contracts, regulatory filings with city, county, state and federal agencies, litigation before the Illinois Commerce Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, drafting and handling lawsuits against customers, negotiating contracts, and pretty much everything else that comes up. As a member of senior management, the General Counsel is also involved in almost every aspect of business decisions as well.

The right Kent student would have an excellent experience working there. If he/she has a particular interest in energy law, he/she would be able to gain invaluable experience. If he/she is interested in learning how to be a “business” lawyer, this would also be a perfect fit. If accepted, the extern would enroll in the 4-credit hours Legal Externship Program.

Any interested student should submit a resume and transcript to Professor Vivien Gross, Room 617, immediately.


U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Division of Enforcement

(Students should be 3Ls by Fall Semester)

The Chicago office of the Division of Enforcement is seeking externs who will receive law school credit.

The Division of Enforcement investigates and prosecutes alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Violations may involve commodity futures or option trading on domestic commodity exchanges, or the improper marketing of commodity investments. The Division may, at the direction of the Commission, file complaints before the agency’s administrative law judges or in the U.S. District Courts. Alleged criminal violations of the Commodity Exchange Act or violations of other Federal laws which involve commodity futures trading may be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution. The Division also provides expert help and technical assistance with case development and trials to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, other Federal and state regulators, and international authorities.

Primary duties include conducting legal research, writing memoranda, aiding in the preparation of court pleadings and papers in the U.S. District Courts across the nation as well as in an administrative forum; aiding attorneys and investigators who are preparing to take investigative testimony and depositions, working with exhibits, Freedom of Information Act responses; aiding with the discovery process and interacting with and/or interviewing customers or investors with complaints.

To apply, interested students should e-mail a cover letter, resume and writing sample to:

Ms. Ava Gould
Trial Team Leader Commodities Futures Trading Commission
525 W. Monroe Street, Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60661
agould@cftc.gov

and notify Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) if and when they are selected as externs.


In-House Legal Externship
(Students should be 3Ls by Fall Semester)

The General Counsel of a small independent retail electric supplier serving non-residential businesses throughout Illinois, with headquarters in downtown Chicago, is willing to supervise an extern for summer semester. The General Counsel oversees all legal matters, running the gamut from drafting contracts, reviewing contracts, regulatory filings with city, county, state and federal agencies, litigation before the Illinois Commerce Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, drafting and handling lawsuits against customers, negotiating contracts, and pretty much everything else that comes up. As a member of senior management, the General Counsel is also involved in almost every aspect of business decisions as well.

The right Kent student would have an excellent experience working there. If he/she has a particular interest in energy law, he/she would be able to gain invaluable experience. If he/she is interested in learning how to be a “business” lawyer, this would also be a perfect fit. If accepted, the extern would enroll in the 4-credit hours Legal Externship Program.

Any interested student should submit a resume and transcript to Professor Vivien Gross, Room 617, immediately.


Office of the Attorney General of Illinois

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office provides excellent opportunities for law students to improve their skills and knowledge in a wide range of subject areas, including consumer protection, government representation, civil rights, environmental enforcement, antitrust, complex civil litigation, civil and criminal appeals, and criminal law enforcement.

Working closely with attorneys in the Chicago office, externs investigate facts, review documents, research legal issues, and draft legal memoranda, correspondence, and pleadings. Students who qualify for a 711 licensed may appear in court under the supervision of an Assistant Attorney General.

For further information, and to download an application form, please visit the Illinois Attorney General’s website at: www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/about/index.html. Inquiries may also be directed to Adelaida Otero at 312/814-5197, aotero@atg.state.il.us.

If you are interested in externing at the Illinois Attorney General’s Office during the Fall 2006 semester, you should submit your application no sooner than April 1, 2006 and no later than July 1, 2006.

In addition, to receive law school credit for either Kent’s Fall Legal Externship program, please contact Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) to set up a meeting.


Clinic Students Help Make Illinois Law

Clinic students Anthony Loizzi and Shannon O'Dell were instrumental in the defeat of a motion for summary judgment in a significant case being handled by Clinical Professor Richard Gonzalez. The suit is based on the tort of fraudulent misrepresentation, which has been rarely used in Illinois as a cause of action for knowingly false oral promises made by an employer to an employee and upon which the employee relies to his detriment. Anthony and Shannon exhaustively researched and analyzed Illinois law and that of other jurisdictions and, with little precedential guidance, were able to persuade the Court that this is a viable theory for employees who have been misled by an employer to their detriment. It is particularly important because of Illinois law's disfavor of oral employment contracts, which severely limits the possibility of wrongful discharge actions based upon oral promises.
 

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

 

 

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