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Week of March 5, 2007

LEGAL EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM SUMMER AND FALL 2007

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 will be available in the Law Offices reception area, Room 600, and in the Career Services Office in mid-March.

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

 
Fall 2007 Externship: Litigation Technology

Adjunct Professor Mike Rogers, in his capacity as President of Ronin Consulting, Ltd. is interested in interviewing qualified Kent students for a Fall 2007 externship. Students will learn how to organize and present civil and criminal cases with computers and will work on real cases that are set for trial or on their way to a trial. In appropriate circumstances students will participate in mock trials against real trial lawyers, participate in jury focus groups, create story boards for trial presentations, create demonstrative trial presentations and set up and run trial technology during trials.

The externs will work on cases that range from medical malpractice or complex commercial litigation to first degree murder, and will work extensively with video capture software, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat Professional, CaseMap, TimeMap, SmartDraw, PowerPoint and Sanction.

Students must have completed Evidence, Trial Ad 1 and Litigation Technology. If accepted, the extern would enroll in the 4-credit hours Legal Externship Program.

Applications for this externship must be submitted directly to Professor Vivien Gross, Room 617, by Friday, April 6, 2007. Interviews will occur thereafter. Students should have a portfolio of demonstrative presentations ready to display at the time of the interview.

 
Fall 2007 Semester: Intellectual Property (IP) Legal Externship Opportunity 3Ls only; IP Certificate Program with minimum 3.27 Cumulative G.P.A.

Chicago-Kent’s IP Legal Externship Program is a 4-credit hour, non-graded program which enables a 3L student enrolled in Kent’s Intellectual Property Certificate Program to receive academic credit, not pay, for working 16 hours a week in an approved legal placement under the supervision of a designated attorney. The program is unique in that it enables students to gain practical experience and develop legal skills while making themselves more marketable to prospective employers.

A well-known national firm will select a qualified 3L Kent IP Certificate student for a Fall externship their IP division. If you are interested, please submit your resume and transcript to Prof. Gross by Thursday, March 29th, at noon. Professor Gross will then forward the information to the participating firm to make its selection.

For more information about intellectual property externship opportunities generally, please contact Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu).

 
Summer 2007 Semester: In-House Corporate Legal Externship

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.

If the extern 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 must enroll in the 4-credit hour Legal Externship Program.

Interested students should submit a resume and transcript by Friday, March 23, 2007, to:

Mr. Jon Casadont
General Counsel, BlueStar Energy
Suite 700 West
363 W. Erie St.
Chicago, IL 60610

 
Summer 2007 Semester: Resurrection Health Care

Resurrection Health Care is seeking for-credit legal externs. Resurrection Health Care (RHC) is the parent corporation for a comprehensive health care system that provides services throughout the Chicagoland area through 8 hospitals, a long-term acute care hospital, 7 skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, 4 retirement communities, and numerous community clinics and health care providers.

Externs can choose to work in either of these areas:

Office of Legal Affairs
Resurrection Health Care
7435 W. Talcott Avenue, #345
Chicago, IL 60631

Externs will work closely with the system General Counsel and other attorneys and will engage in a broad range of legal activities, including research and legal analysis, writing, preparation of legal documents and contract review.

Office of Claims and Insurance
Resurrection Health Care
Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital
1127 N. Oakley Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

Externs will work closely with systems Claims and Insurance directors, communicate with outside counsel as needed, and will participate in case management, discovery, and various phases of pre-litigation work.

If you are interested, please submit your resume and a cover letter that specifies (a) the semester for which you are applying, (b) for which RHC department you are applying, and (c) which days of the week you would work at RHC, if known. Please send your materials to: Julie Roknich, Assistant General Counsel, via email at julie.roknich@reshealthcare.org, or at 7435 W. Talcott Ave., #345, Chicago, Il 60631.

 
Summer 2007 Semester: Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM)

CLAIM is a nonprofit agency that represents and advises incarcerated or formerly incarcerated mothers at hearings on child custody, guardianship, and mother-child visitation. With the consent of the mothers, the agency also represents guardians of children in the Probate Division. The attorneys at CLAIM meet with incarcerated women at Cook County Department of Corrections and, after a thorough intake interview with each client, decide whether to represent the client, negotiate or draft legal documents for the client, or simply provide legal advice.

Extern responsibilities include:

  • Meeting with clients at the Cook County Department of Corrections. Students licensed under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 can meet with clients on their own after training by CLAIM staff attorneys. Students who are not licensed will accompany the staff attorney to the Cook County Corrections Center and do intake interviews.
  • Researching client concerns, giving legal advice to clients after consulting with supervising attorney, making referrals to appropriate social service agencies and, if the case does not fit CLAIM guidelines, making referrals to other legal aid providers.
  • Contacting foster care caseworkers or other parties to obtain information or to negotiate for the client.
  • Meeting with formerly incarcerated clients and assisting in legal services in Child Protection, Probate and Domestic Relations Divisions.

711 licensed students may also represent clients in Probate and Domestic Relations Divisions under the supervision of the staff attorney.

If interested in externing at CLAIM, please send your resume and cover letter to Molly Sharma (mollysharma@aol.com). In addition, to receive law school credit for Kent’s Summer Externship Program, please contact Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) to set up a meeting.

 
 

JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIPS:
FALL 2007 SEMESTERS

Judicial Externship is a 4-credit hour Pass/Low Pass/Fail program open to students who have completed at least their first full year of law school and want to do legal research and writing for a federal appellate, district or magistrate judge or a designated Illinois appellate or circuit court judge.

Judicial Externship enables a student to become involved in particular legal problems through research and writing, and to contribute to the resolution of those problems by writing memoranda and drafting opinions. Depending upon the judge, an extern may have the opportunity to observe the day-to-day routine of a judge and discuss with the judge or the judge's law clerk those legal problems which attorneys face in their profession, as well as the specific problems confronted in the courtroom.

 
Application Process

Applications for the Fall Judicial Externships are available both in the Law Offices reception area (Room 600), and in the Career Services Office.

Completed applications for Fall Externships should be submitted to Ms. Carole Ross, Secretary to Professor Gross, Room 612 of Law Offices, by Thursday, March 15th, at 5:00 p.m.

 

Public Interest Positions - Paid Opportunities

There are openings for current Chicago-Kent students who are eligible for work study. The Advice Desk at the Daley Center is now hiring students through a work study program to work in paralegal/administrative positions. The candidates will have an opportunity to work in a fast-paced, public interest environment while helping to provide administrative and paralegal help to make the Desk more efficient and therefore allow more clients to receive pro bono legal assistance. Some of the duties might include: greeting and identifying eligible clients, filling out or updating forms, database entry and administrative support, assisting elderly and disabled clients in retrieving their court files or finding a courtroom, etc.

The Advice Desk provides interviewing, counseling, and limited representation to indigent defendants who seek assistance at the Circuit Court of Cook County. Approximately sixty percent of the cases involve eviction defense and forty percent involve tort, contract, personal injury and collection matters.

This position pays $10 an hour. You must be eligible for work study and your eligibility will be verified upon receipt of your letter of interest. Past completion of the Advice Desk class is a plus, but not required. If you do have previous Advice Desk experience, you will get paid at a rate of $12 per hour. Please submit a letter of interest to Tracy Kish (tkish@kentlaw.edu) in the Law Offices. When we receive your letter, we will check to see if you are work study eligible.

 

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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